The Most Excellent Virtue

I would like to tell an Indian folk story and the question which Indian elders use to educate the youngsters.

As usual, the grandfather convened the youngsters and began to narrate the story as follow.

There was a city in which a king and his retinue lived. The palace was guarded by a soldier named Birbar. He has his wife, one daughter and one son to take care. Every night he used to take his sword and shield and go and mount guard over the king’s couch; and when the king roused from sleep, used to call out, “Is anyone in waiting?” then he used to answer, “Birbar is in attendance; what may be your commands?” Thus answered he whenever the king called out, and thereupon, whatever the king ordered to be done, he executed. To perform the duties of a servant is more difficult than to perform religious duties (so serving is the part of the life of believers.)

One day the weeping sound of a woman chanced to come at night-time from the burning- ground. On hearing it the king called out, “Is anyone in waiting?”

Birbar instantly answered “I am here; your commands.”

Thereupon the king gave him this order, “Go to the spot whence the weeping voice of a woman proceeds, and enquire of her the cause of her weeping, and return quickly.”

On receiving this order, Birbar took the direction whence the sound of the weeping proceeded; and the king also, after dressing himself in black, followed him secretly for the purpose of observing his courage.

Birbar arrived there. What he beholds in the burning-ground but a beautiful woman, lavishly decked with jewels from head to foot, crying aloud and bitterly!

Seeing her condition, Birbar asked, “Why art thou crying and beating thyself so violently? Who art thou and what trouble befallen thee?”

On this she replied, “ I am royal glory.”

Birbar asked, “Why art thou weeping?”

She replied, “Impious acts are committed in the king’s house, whence misfortune will find admission therein, and I shall depart thence; after the lapse of a month the king will suffer much affliction and die; this is the sorrow which makes me weep. Further, I have enjoyed great happiness in his house, and hence this regret; and this matter will in nowise prove false.”

Birbar then asked, “Is there any remedy for it, whereby king may escape, and live a hundred years?”

She replied, “If you will sacrifice your son with your own hand and offer it to the God, then the king will reign a hundred years precisely as he now reigns, and no harm of any kind will befall him.”

As soon as he had heard these words, Birbar went home, and the king also followed him. Birbar awoke his wife and related the whole story to her.

On hearing the circumstances, she roused the son but the daughter also awoke. Then that woman said to her son, “Son by sacrificing your life, king’s life will be saved, and the government, too, will endure.”

When the boy heard this, he said, “Mother! In the first place, it is your command; in the second, it is for my lord’s service; thirdly, if this body can be of use to God, nothing in the world is better than this for me; it is not right to delay any longer now in this business. There is a saying, if one have a son, to have him under control, - a body, free from diseases, - a prudent friend – a submissive wife – if these five things are obtainable by man, they are the bestowers of happiness and the averters of troubles: if a servant be unwilling, a king parsimonious, a friend insincere, and a wife disobedient, these four things are the banishers of peace and the promoters of misery.”

Birbar again addressed his wife to know that whether she is willing to give up the child.

She replied, “I have no concern with son, daughter, brother, kinsfolk, mother, father, or anyone, it is from you  that my happiness proceeds and a woman is purified not only by offerings and religious offices but her religion consists in serving and honoring her husband, no matter whether he be lame, maimed, dumb, deaf, blind, a leper, hunch-backed,- of whatever kind he be; if she perform any description of virtuous action in the world, while she does not obey her husband, she will fall in hell.”

 His son said, “Father! The man by whom his master’s business is accomplished – his continuing in the world is attended with advantage; in this, there is the advantage in both worlds.”

The four deliberating with one another somewhat in the above fashion went to sacrifice the boy. The king also secretly followed them.

When Birbar arrived the spot, paid his adoration to God, and joined his hands in supplication, and said, “O God! Grant by the sacrificing of my son, the king may live a hundred years.”

Saying this he struck such a blow with the sword that his son’s head fell upon the ground.

On witnessing her brother’s death, the daughter struck a blow with the sword on her own neck, so that her head and body fell asunder.

Seeing her son and daughter dead, Birbar’s wife struck such a blow with the sword on her own neck that her head was severed from her body.

Further, seeing the death of the three, Birbar, reflecting in his mind, began to say, “When my son is dead, for whose sake I shall continue in service? And to whom shall I give my salary, perks and other incentives king grants?”

Having reflected thus, he struck such a blow with the sword on his own neck that his head severed from his body.

Beholding the death of these four, the king said himself, “For my sake, the lives of his family perished: accursed is it any longer to govern a realm for which the whole family of one is destroyed, while one holds sovereignty; it is no virtue thus to reign.”

Having deliberated thus, the king was on the point of killing himself with the sword; in the meantime; however, God came and seized his hand, and said, “Son! I am well pleased with thy courage, and will grant thee whatever boon thou mayest ask of me.”

The king said, “God! If thou art pleased, restore all these four to live.”

God replied, “That shall take place.” And all four restored to life. After that, the king bestowed half of his kingdom on Birbar.

Having narrated the story, the grandpa said, “Blessed is the servant who did not grudge his life, and that of his family, for his master’s sake! And happy is the king who showed no eagerness to cling to his dominion and his life. Children I ask you this, - whose virtue, of those five, was the most excellent?”

The children looked each other.

Grandpa himself answered, “The king’s virtue. It behooves the servant to lay down his life for his master, for this is his duty; but since the king gave up his throne for the sake of his servant, and valued not his life as a straw, the king’s merit was the superior.”

In the Bible, there is a verse, Roman 5:6, for while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Such an example you can see nowhere else.

The Unity of Opposites

            How to find out the truth? We hear a lot of single line principles or verses in our everyday life. Sometimes we may feel that most of them are contradictory. It is the fact that most of them are contradictory, otherwise, they are not truth. What? Yes. The truth is “the unity of opposites”. Let us look into it in a little bit detail. 

             Let us begin with our daily life. What does a day mean? Is it only daylight? No, night is also there. A night and a day together make one day. We can see the unity of opposites here. What we can think about the existence of human race? It is also so if there are only males how is the biological reproduction of human beings and thereby the existence possible? So we both, two opposites, unite to make possible one truth. The man is not woman and woman is not man. In many areas, we both maintain opposite characters, but to make one perfect truth. In the 80s, when I was an ardent communist, I used to read scientific facts about humanity. Thus, I bought a book about sexuality written by the then famous Asian psychiatrist Dr. Santhakumar. He mentioned in it,” as a specialist in this subject, I would say equality between man and woman is not possible biologically because the woman and most of her characters are determined by two hormones known as progesterone and estrogen; and man and his characters are by the hormone testosterone. They produce opposite character but correlative. Never the both become equal in many areas.” If we go for details it will take pages of space. What I try to state is that one truth exists in the unity of two opposite facts. 

            The earth exists because of its bipolar characteristic. So many examples can be located from our daily life. This is true in the case of spiritual life also. Let us consider Bible and a great example of it, the dialogues between Jesus and Satan.

Look into the Book Mathew chapter 4

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

The verses 3^rd and 4^th are opposites but together make the truth. 3^rd one itself is the word of God, but when we consider it alone, spirituality becomes the means of material existence. But when  4^th              is added together it becomes the truth. “Existence is material, life is spiritual”.

     6 and 7 are opposites. 6 alone, faith means to test God’s power. Verse 7 says it is not the matter of testing power. Both, “faith means not to test God but to trust”.

    Verse 9 and verse 10 becomes opposites in a different way 9 is not one quote from the bible but it is the verse of Satan ‘worship for wealth’. 10 worship and serve God. Both; wealth should serve us we should serve God. Otherwise; Satan is after us, we are after God.

  Isaiah very clearly informs us about it. Chapter 34

16 Seek and read from the book of the LORD: Not one of these shall be missing; none shall be without her mate. For the mouth of the LORD has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.

  Means every verse has its mate, without it, the truth is not complete. Bible itself is the unity of opposites, Old Testament and New Testament. If we check New Testament, we can see that itself the unity of opposites, Gospels and Epistles.

So, the single part will not make complete truth, but with the unity of opposite part. So whether it is spiritual truths or material facts we have to check both sides to understand full truth. It is like a coin has two sides. Most of us often do not come to the whole truth because we always consider one-half, leave the other. I joined recently a Bible study group on facebook. Some believers are in this vicious circle; whether Jesus is God or son of God? If it so, how is it? Then who is God? To know such truth we have to go deeply using this correlation of opposites.

Does nerve system provide the perfect defenition for Mind?

I was referring practical psychology by EDWARD STEVENS ROBINSON  last week. In that book he explains the mind as the function of nerve system. The basic for this conclusion is that when a man subject to anesthesia his nerve system is affected and becomes unconscious. I thought that it might be true. And I continued reading. 

    Psychology divides organs into two group receptors and effectors. Receptors(sense organs) are those organs that receive stimuli from peripherals and send them to nerve center. When these stimuli reach the nerve center it produce some effect, they send some signals to some other peripheral organs, glands and muscles, and produce effects so they are known as effectors. When we consider these stimuli and their respective effects, it can be seen that these cause and effect are not the same in all individuals. This phenomenon determines the behavior and character to a great extend. How is it? If one person responds to some stimuli continuously in a particular way, it becomes a habit. The reason for that is a neural arc takes place in him. What is neural arc? It is specific route of sending one stimulus to nerve center and its result to effectors. That is why when dusts come to eyes we close our eyes, first we see dusts come, stimulus, and then signal goes to nerve center and as a result some signals from nerve center come to the muscles of eyelids to function it. 

     But in many cases these neural arcs can be altered and we can establish new neural arcs there by new habit can be established. This is the basic of most training and character building and all. But if we want to alter the existing neural arc we have to interfere in it deliberately. It’s a mental training, means our mind should interfere in it. Our mind controls the functions of our nerve system; internal functions are not easy to control so but possible. Here is the contradiction with what the book stated first. “Mind is the function of nerve system”, but here mind interfere in the function of nerve system. What we have to think about it? Anyway psychology is not succeeding in proving that mind is completely the product of the function of some physical organs. 

      Here the important of Chapter 3 of book Genesis in Bible prevails. Eve's mind couldn’t control her sense organs but sense organs controlled her mind and habits. That was the wrong she committed.

If you are OK, You are not OK something wrong!

 

I would like to tell a story from an Indian classic. It goes like this…..

There was a hermit in India. He was very pious and he always adored God in different way. He never hurt any one by deed, word or by mind. He always worshiped and roamed along villages. Seeing his faith and righteousness all villagers used to provide everything what he wanted. But as he had been very righteous, he would not accept anything more than what he needed for his existence. God had also been very happy seeing his pious and faith.  Gradually people began to respect him like anything. He understood that he was the biggest spiritual man in the world. He began to contemplate this thought in his mind. One day he decided to ask God to know whether he was his best devotee. He met God in a vision and asked his doubt. God answered with a smile “My best devotee is there living at the gate of one particular village.” Hearing this he wondered and decided to meet that devotee. He started to that village gate and reached the specific house God mentioned.

 It was a farmer’s house. He inquired about the man of the house. The lady answered that he had gone to farm to plough the field. Hermit waited there till the farmer returned. In the evening the farmer came back with his bullocks, tied them in their stable and entered home. He prayed, “Thanks God you provided a good day, protected us.” Then he turned to the guest who was waiting him. The guest, the hermit, asked about his way of worship, the things he did every day and the spiritual knowledge he posses and all. He had nothing in his hand as answers for hermit’s question to satisfy him. He answered that God was there who provided him everyday; he worked up to his capacity; no scriptures or spiritual routines he knows; he prayed twice in a day, immediately after got up and after returned home. Having heard this hermit surprised. He returned and met God again and asked what had the farmer been doing so specific to please God so much. Only twice he remembered God in a day, nothing else. God smiled and gave him an assignment to round that village with a pot full of oil on his head. One condition was there, not to spill even a drop of oil from the pot. He went around the village with pot full of oil on his head with utmost care and came back to God. God smiled again, hermit couldn’t understand. God asked the hermit how many time he remembered him while he was going round the village. Not even a single time, he concentrated on the pot in order to balance it in such a way that no drop of oil would spill out.

Hermit could understand the fault, but he argued that the farmer was living for himself and for his family. But he was solely living for God that were the substantial difference. God answered that were the substantial difference. God continued, that farmer’s devotion was for the sake of the devotion towards him, but hermit’s devotion gradually became for the sake of becoming the 'best' spiritual man(to compare with others), so the thought came that he was the best, none else . But in the case of farmer he didn’t even thought about a comparison to make, because his sole purpose was to please him, to worship him with his capacity.

Then hermit was advised not to compare with others’ spiritual grade, comparing with others’ spirituality was not coming under the devotion, worship or spirituality.

Look in to Bible there is a good example , Luke 18: 10-14

10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed¹  thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Personal growth is not possible comparing or pointing to others qualities. They have their own we have our own. Concentrate to what we have. Whenever we begin to think the other person is not so………….. Or I am the better …….., there the paralysis begins, not the growth. What we need is, finding out the short comings we face in our life, means what we or I don’t have, that is the way to prosperity. Not ostentatious performance.

Role of Heart or Emotions in personal and social Changes

Inthe ancient Roman world the social system that prevailed was slavery.  Men considered men as animals. The slave owners considered the slaves as animals and these owners used the slaves for all works, sometimes for the jobs which were done by animals. So the slaves had not only been deprived of all kinds of human considerations but they had also been driven into the state of irrational or abnormal mental state because of the social treatment they had been subject to. So in behavior there was not much difference between the animals and slaves in those days. Mentally, most of the slaves lead a beast like life. Most of them were without clothes or some times nominal. They used to expose to all kinds of weather and gained high immunity against any kind ofweather. They could sleep in nights anywhere in any situation whether it is in the severe winter, blistering summer or heavy monsoon.    In those days one of the most popular means of income was cattle rearing.  The owners of folks used slaves extensively in this area as shepherds but their lives were as same as that of the sheep, sometimes lower than that of the sheep. The shepherds would lead folk kilometers away searching good place to graze them.  At this time shepherds would eat what allowed to sheep, no better food, and slept in open places along with his sheep to prevent stealing sheep and to keep away cruel animals that might attack them innights. This situation made them away from social life and become like animals.Social and economic immorality together weaved the weft and warp of the then socio-political system.

To this social system the greatest revolutionary, Jesus, that world has ever seen came. He approached the society and the injustice prevailed in it from a different point of view. He approached this ground trodden people not with long teachings and scriptures but with a heart full of emotions and emotional involvements. Look into the book of Luke chapter 8 in Bible

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

 26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,²  which is opposite Galilee. 27 When Jesus³  had stepped out on land, there met him a manfrom the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and hehad not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and felldown before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me,Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spiritto come out of the man (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept underguard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and bedriven by the demon into the desert.). 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said,“Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into theabyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feedingthere on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gavethem permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man andentered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake anddrowned.

Look,where had this man been living? He was deprived of house and all social contacts, he was in abnormal state. No ordinary man approached him. But Jesus became ready to visit him. In those days it was an extra-ordinary deed approaching such a slave with a philanthropist’s view. Masters approached this sort of slaves only to torment or to kill. Because of this situation, either by surprise or by fear he cried out to Jesus asking what he was going to do with him. What made him to visit this mad man? In those days nobody gives a title,award, crown or anything to those who mends the lives of mad slaves. So it is not any such vested interest or personal gain motivated him but the compassion,one of the positive emotions. Emotional involvements make changes. But most of our deeds don’t have the support of positive emotions. If there is any emotion that supports our deeds, that is the desire for personal gains or achievements -selfishness. It will not work in the case of making personal changes. Whether we want to make personal change in our own life or in anyone else’s, we should posses the positive emotions. The set of positive emotions is the right tool to make changes in persons and thereby in society. And these emotions should motivate us. No other tools can make permanent changes. Permanent changes cannot be brought about by guns, bayonets or bombs. The people who try to do so are in the place of the abnormal slave mentioned in the above scripture. They are lead by abnormal psychology; they are slaves of some social, political or economical immorality. They don’t have the tools of positive emotions - love, compassion,mercy, faith, hope, enthusiasm, romance etc.

Jesus’ compassion and love towards this diseased   freed him from his bond. Look what happened? The herds ran and fell into lake and drawn away. When the man became free from the social immorality the same reflected upon the economy. The herds lost. Later we can see when we read Bible; all the villagers came to him and begged to leave that place. Why? They afraid the change Jesus tried to implement. That would reflect not only in social structure but also in economy. Everything would change upside down. That was their fear.  Without personal changes no social change, real changes begin from individual changes, emotional changes in personals. When such changed persons increase quantitatively and reach a particular level, a sudden qualitative change will take place insociety. Simply focusing on economic change or growth without focusing personalchanges and thereby social change, is foolishness. As the men, so the socio-economic system is. Think about a nation infested with revenge, hatred, jealousy, enmity and all. What will be the result? Communal as well as racial conflicts and riots will be the order of the days. How it will make growth in any area? So basically positive emotional involvement is necessary in human life, and that leads to the necessity of training in good doctrine. Don’t misunderstand;learning some doctrine will not bring change. Because change doesn’t come from brain but from heart, means not by knowledge but by emotion. Ex: a criminal can be changed sometime very easily by the emotional involvement (love) of a ladybut not by moral teachings and trainings. Napoleon Hill says in his book “Thinkand Grow Rich” (The first book of practical success psychology in history), a lady either make or brake a man(The opposite is also true). He mentions the importance of the emotional support she provides in the life. As I quoted from Bible some may think about the verses Mathew 28: 19-20. And may claim teaching has importance. OK, let us have a look. It says like this “Therefore go and makedisciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” In the first line we can see what he instructed first,to make disciples, means make change in persons then only the teaching comes to practice. Don’t think go teach and make disciples (changes). It is not possible. The thing is opposite.

If we are motivated with right positive emotions, it would make tremendous changes not only in our life but in others also, no doubt. It will make possible enormous social changes. Jesus’ such positive emotions are still working powerfully. Actual change means change in emotional patterns, emotional habits.That will make changes in behavioral patterns and thereby in relations, means social change. Look how did this mad man in the above scripture behaved in the end?  A successful life means, drive away negative emotions or keep away from negative emotions. It will take a lot of effort, time and help from others to make such emotional changes in personality.We ourselves cannot control our emotions and make changes in them. We need some selfless friends who are interested in making changes in us. Like Jesus in the above example. Then we can also help them in turn, means it becomes a bilateral process, a social process. We need to create a small group specifically for this purpose and meet together, discuss everything without canopy. The involvement should be based on positive emotions. The activities should aim the emotional welfare of the group. The other results will come up spontaneously. One more thing we have to bear in mind that we need the essential awareness about all emotions. I have seen people using emotional concepts interchangeably. Compassion and sorrow are examples. Compassion often leads to sorrow but sorrow is not compassion. Sorrow is selfish, that is the result of the thought of ‘I lost’, but compassion is selfless thought of about the state of others and it is positive. So dealing with emotions needs much preparation and awareness, otherwise it will be like the sharp weapon inthe wrong hands. And don’t take the emotional fault and problems of the group members to the street or to other groups that will not help, but will hurt and will result in negative emotions. That is another principle.