Positive Elements in Discipleship:
Intention: In order to prove our point that inner processes cannot be essentially private and remain incommunicable and still claim to be real in social life, let us consider 'intention' We shall take a practical example of a court case reported on p.7 of the Times of India, dated October 11, 2001. The title of the news item reads: "Possessing fake notes is no crime, rules SC". About the judgment the report says: The court set aside the Chattisgarh High Court verdict sentencing a youth to a two-year term for using a Rs. 100 denomination fake note to purchase a kilogram of mangoes worth Rs. 5 in 1990. "The Bench explained: 'possessing or even intending to use any counterfeit currency notes or bank-notes is not sufficient to make out a case under section 489-c in the absence of "mens rea" (intention to use the same with the knowledge that the notes were forged or counterfeits)' ".
See how 'intention' has been meant by the court in different senses and depending on the sense one intention is insufficient for culpability while the other one is sufficient for the same. Knowledge or lack of it about the nature of the currency note is given as the crucial point to decide the case one way or the other. This knowledge is again explained as being conscious of the fake currency, having reason to believe that the currency notes are fake, etc.Thus unwary possessors or users of fake currency notes are not meant to be punished by the Indian Penal Code, according to the Supreme Court ruling.
The fact that a High Court ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court shows the intricacies involved in interpreting an internal act like intention. For, the High Court may have taken into consideration the fact that the person who exchanges a Rs. 100 note for the purchase worth something worth Rs. 5 may have done that in order to get rid of the fake note. Although this possibility cannot be excluded, the High Court should have applied its mind to the possibility that the person concerned may have needed change or that he did not have a note of lesser denomination. Thus the intention of the person using a RS. 100 note for purchase of something worth Rs. 5 was not immediately clear. In order to arrive at that intention, as the Supreme Court noted, a host of other things surrounding his purchase had to be taken into account. Therefore, intention could not be discerned except through factors before and after purchase, the nature of the person, his status and education, reasons to believe whether the note was fake, etc.,which reveal the reality of the intention. A person's thinking that a note was fake without any reason will not make a note fake and vice-versa. Therefore, what is essential in intention is not some private feeling but communicable and verifiable data surrounding it. The same can be said about the presence of the Holy Spirit or self-knowledge one may claim to be in possession of. In a nutshell, we may say that whatever is not open to scrutiny is suspect and is dangerous by its secretive nature. That is why even God reveals Himself and we are invited to understand His Mystery as far as it lies with us. Similarly, Jesus invited us to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (See Matthew, 5: 48).
Fruits of Watching: The consequence of watching will be evident in the fruits produced by the person concerned. As you know a tree from the kind of fruit it produces, a person who watches over himself or herself and acquires real self-knowledge will be known from the fruits produced from knowing oneself. One will know one's nature thoroughly; whether it is egoistic, quarrelsome, moody, selfish,cruel, quick-tempered, uncharitable unforgiving, etc. If so, the person will start exercising self-control which is a form of violence to oneself in order to adapt his or her nature to the promptings of God's graces. The grace of God and self-control will produce a new character that will leave deep impressions on the nature of the person concerned.
Spirit of Prayer: The above process is the achievement of the person who watches over himself or herself. Now, what about prayer? Jesus has taught us how to pray and what to pray for in the "Our Father". He has instructed us to pray unceasingly, day and night, in season and out of season, in joy and happiness as well as in sadness and in dire straits. There is no special place for prayer; it can be in the house of God, on the hills and in the sea or air and anywhere one chooses to. It can be standing, sitting, kneeling or prostrating as we see in Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane. It may be on the Cross or while dying. The important point to remember in prayer is the attitude and spirit behind our prayer. There are kinds of prayers which are unacceptable to God and others which are acceptable.
The soul of prayer is contemplation of God and His mysteries resulting in an outpouring of our gratitude to Him for all His gifts. Thus, we praise and thank Him and subject ourselves completely to His Will. The spirit of this kind of prayer is revealed when we pray secretly to the Father in Heaven. Entering into one's room and closing the doors against all worldly distractions in order to commune with the source of everything is bliss itself and is called contemplative prayer. All our prayers in private and in public should be permeated by the spirit of contemplative prayer. If so, we shall not be babbling in words like those who don't know the real God and shouting at the top of one's voice as if to wake up a sleeping person. We shall be praying like the publican and not like the pharisee nor shall we lengthen the duration of our prayers and swallow the widow's house! We shall not be interested in showing others that we are men and women of prayer and are blessed with charisma of healing, curing diseases etc. To do this will be a kind of commercialization of spiritual things which is absolutely foreign to the spirit of prayer. If there is correspondence between prayer and our life, our very presence will be enough to heal the sick and cure illness. It is not done by us but by God Himself using us as instruments in His hands. (To be Contd with Negative Elements in Discipleship).
Intention: In order to prove our point that inner processes cannot be essentially private and remain incommunicable and still claim to be real in social life, let us consider 'intention' We shall take a practical example of a court case reported on p.7 of the Times of India, dated October 11, 2001. The title of the news item reads: "Possessing fake notes is no crime, rules SC". About the judgment the report says: The court set aside the Chattisgarh High Court verdict sentencing a youth to a two-year term for using a Rs. 100 denomination fake note to purchase a kilogram of mangoes worth Rs. 5 in 1990. "The Bench explained: 'possessing or even intending to use any counterfeit currency notes or bank-notes is not sufficient to make out a case under section 489-c in the absence of "mens rea" (intention to use the same with the knowledge that the notes were forged or counterfeits)' ".
See how 'intention' has been meant by the court in different senses and depending on the sense one intention is insufficient for culpability while the other one is sufficient for the same. Knowledge or lack of it about the nature of the currency note is given as the crucial point to decide the case one way or the other. This knowledge is again explained as being conscious of the fake currency, having reason to believe that the currency notes are fake, etc.Thus unwary possessors or users of fake currency notes are not meant to be punished by the Indian Penal Code, according to the Supreme Court ruling.
The fact that a High Court ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court shows the intricacies involved in interpreting an internal act like intention. For, the High Court may have taken into consideration the fact that the person who exchanges a Rs. 100 note for the purchase worth something worth Rs. 5 may have done that in order to get rid of the fake note. Although this possibility cannot be excluded, the High Court should have applied its mind to the possibility that the person concerned may have needed change or that he did not have a note of lesser denomination. Thus the intention of the person using a RS. 100 note for purchase of something worth Rs. 5 was not immediately clear. In order to arrive at that intention, as the Supreme Court noted, a host of other things surrounding his purchase had to be taken into account. Therefore, intention could not be discerned except through factors before and after purchase, the nature of the person, his status and education, reasons to believe whether the note was fake, etc.,which reveal the reality of the intention. A person's thinking that a note was fake without any reason will not make a note fake and vice-versa. Therefore, what is essential in intention is not some private feeling but communicable and verifiable data surrounding it. The same can be said about the presence of the Holy Spirit or self-knowledge one may claim to be in possession of. In a nutshell, we may say that whatever is not open to scrutiny is suspect and is dangerous by its secretive nature. That is why even God reveals Himself and we are invited to understand His Mystery as far as it lies with us. Similarly, Jesus invited us to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (See Matthew, 5: 48).
Fruits of Watching: The consequence of watching will be evident in the fruits produced by the person concerned. As you know a tree from the kind of fruit it produces, a person who watches over himself or herself and acquires real self-knowledge will be known from the fruits produced from knowing oneself. One will know one's nature thoroughly; whether it is egoistic, quarrelsome, moody, selfish,cruel, quick-tempered, uncharitable unforgiving, etc. If so, the person will start exercising self-control which is a form of violence to oneself in order to adapt his or her nature to the promptings of God's graces. The grace of God and self-control will produce a new character that will leave deep impressions on the nature of the person concerned.
Spirit of Prayer: The above process is the achievement of the person who watches over himself or herself. Now, what about prayer? Jesus has taught us how to pray and what to pray for in the "Our Father". He has instructed us to pray unceasingly, day and night, in season and out of season, in joy and happiness as well as in sadness and in dire straits. There is no special place for prayer; it can be in the house of God, on the hills and in the sea or air and anywhere one chooses to. It can be standing, sitting, kneeling or prostrating as we see in Jesus' prayer at Gethsemane. It may be on the Cross or while dying. The important point to remember in prayer is the attitude and spirit behind our prayer. There are kinds of prayers which are unacceptable to God and others which are acceptable.
The soul of prayer is contemplation of God and His mysteries resulting in an outpouring of our gratitude to Him for all His gifts. Thus, we praise and thank Him and subject ourselves completely to His Will. The spirit of this kind of prayer is revealed when we pray secretly to the Father in Heaven. Entering into one's room and closing the doors against all worldly distractions in order to commune with the source of everything is bliss itself and is called contemplative prayer. All our prayers in private and in public should be permeated by the spirit of contemplative prayer. If so, we shall not be babbling in words like those who don't know the real God and shouting at the top of one's voice as if to wake up a sleeping person. We shall be praying like the publican and not like the pharisee nor shall we lengthen the duration of our prayers and swallow the widow's house! We shall not be interested in showing others that we are men and women of prayer and are blessed with charisma of healing, curing diseases etc. To do this will be a kind of commercialization of spiritual things which is absolutely foreign to the spirit of prayer. If there is correspondence between prayer and our life, our very presence will be enough to heal the sick and cure illness. It is not done by us but by God Himself using us as instruments in His hands. (To be Contd with Negative Elements in Discipleship).
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