Living in the Power of the Spirit (Contd):
Living for Empowering Those whom we come in Contact with (The Way Action - Karma Marg) Our devotion and knowledge should issue forth in action that empowers all those who come in contact with us. A person with true devotion and knowledge, as explained in the previous Posts under 'Bhakti Marg' and 'Jnana Marg'. is supposedly suited to empower whoever comes in contact with him or her. On the contrary, those who are without true love and knowledge are likely to enslave others in and by their actions. In other words, only those who are genuinely liberated can liberate others through 'Karma Marg'. Jesus made a similar observation about the Pharisees thus: "Leave them alone; they are blind guides, and if one blind man guides another they will both fall into the ditch" (Matthew, 15: 14). Actions can be of any kind and nature. Some may be able to do wonderful things like building institutions, helping the poor and needy, contributing to the social, cultural, educational, health and various other levels. Do they empower or enslave the people whom they serve? Similarly, all of us interact with others daily one way or other. Do we empower or enslave others by our actions? A simple smile may be enough to empower someone who is in very bad shape due to various stresses and strains accumulated through the daily routines. Any unthinking word or gesture may lead to unmake a person's day resulting in a chain of calamities. Our very presence should be such that it would automatically send forth positive vibrations around us and beneficially affect the lives of other people. If we are self-centered and too self-conscious, it will not be possible for us to give ourselves to others. Without our self-giving, no amount of gifts and good work can produce the positive vibrations that empower others in a genuine manner.
Self-Denial: The Key to Empowerment: Self-denial is the key to our own empowerment as well as that of those whom we want to empower. However, here a clarification about the self and its denial would be in order. We read in Mark 8: 34 thus: "Then he called the people to him, as well as his disciples, and said to them, 'Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross, and come with me'". This injunction goes hand in hand with his commandment in Mark 12: 31: "Love your neighbor as yourself". The two senses of 'Self' should be distinguished in order to follow at the same time both of the orders given above. There is a sense of the 'Self' that is so basic to our life that it stands as the foundation of our existence and through which we understand and evaluate everything else. That is the self like which we have to love our neighbor. That is our real self we have to develop in order to become what we are meant to be. It originates from God's own creation of every human being in His own image and likeness (See Genesis, 1: 26). However, the sin of the first man, Adam, marred God's beautiful creation by disfiguring His image in him and producing a self in him that is to be left behind for becoming what we are originally meant to be. God Himself made man to be like Himself , but man wanted to do it in his own way. Man wants to be like God not by submitting his will to the Will of God, but on his own will power. The result is a self we are endowed with that is useless in humanizing, let alone divinizing us. This is the kind of self we have to get rid of or deny in order to empower ourselves.
The Five Vices: All world religions agree that there are five aspects of our self that stand as a veil between us and God preventing us from being divinized. They are: lust, anger, attachments, greed and ego. These five evil forces dehumanize us and makes us worse than brutes. Brute animals are guided by their instincts by which they are programmed to act and they will not cross the limits set by nature even when they harm us. On the contrary, the humans are meant to be guided by intelligence and will power and if they are degraded they would become worse than the brutes. The reason is that there is no automatic mechanism to stop the humans from evil acts as their instincts are neutralized by the superior faculty of Reason. If this very Reason is degraded by any of those five evil forces, such a person becomes worse than an animal! Those five forces blind a person to one's surroundings, to his or her own dignity and the dignity of others so much so that he or she behaves like a mad person. Even a mad person has lucid intervals when sanity returns and normal behavior is seen! A person with impaired Reason is not able to plan or act premeditatively, whereas the person under the grip of any of those five vices can do so. Often, planning and execution are done with clock-work precision to such an extent that normal human beings are baffled as well as repulsed by the inherent depravity and perversion of the perpetrators of those actions.
Self-Control: Unless we leave behind or deny such a self, how can we ever empower ourselves? What is the way to deny such a self before it overpowers and enslaves our real self? In one word, the answer is self-control. However, self-control is not something that we do by ourselves alone, but in co-operation with the power of God. In fact, in this venture of self-control, the major partner is God Himself through His Holy Spirit. One of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5: 22-23 is self-control. It is not just a gift of the Holy Spirit, but a fruit produced by the Spirit and ourselves in co-operation with Him. We are in constant touch with the Great Architect of our life, i. e., the Holy Spirit Himself so that together with Him we may be able to build a temple worthy of His permanent presence. Thus there is no confusion between the self that is to be denied and the self that is to be developed.
Our Possessions: In what does the denial of self consist? It is also said that the self should be let behind. Similarly a person should part with all possessions and even hate one's father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even one's own life in order to become a disciple of Jesus (See Luke, 14: 25-33). We know , from the words of Jesus himself that we have to honor our father and mother according to the command of God and no one should disregard it (See Matthew, 15: 1-9). Therefore, hating here cannot be taken in its normal sense besides the fact that a disciple of Jesus should love everyone including one's enemies. Leaving everything behind, including one's own self , and hating everyone points to the attitude of detachment we should have in our spiritual life. We have treated about detachment in one of our previous Posts. In sum and substance, detachment is a requirement of attitude by keeping a distance from everything that attracts us and claims our allegiance. It is a call to liberation of self for being a master of oneself and a ruler of everything that comes our way. Physical separation may help in some cases, but is not necessarily a sure-shot method as our mind could still be attached even after physical separation from all that we love.
In order to obviate this difficulty, Jesus advised the rich man in the Gospels to sell all his possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor before following him (See Matthew, 19: 21). It is a definitive act of dispossession and disempowerment where he could not think of reverting to his possessions. Selling his possessions and depositing in the Bank or leaving them for his brothers and sisters would not sever him from the temptation to revert to his old ways of living. Apart from this kind of exceptional case mentioned in the Gospel and like that of St. Francis of Assisi, it would be enough to be mentally detached from our possessions and our relations. This is evident from the way Jesus himself lived with Joseph and Mary and those who were called his brothers. When it comes to doing the Will of God, his mother becomes "woman" and Peter becomes "Satan". This is the result of complete detachment Jesus practiced, assigning at the same time very important roles to Mary and Peter in the plan of salvation executed by him. Finally, true detachment makes us servants of all out of love for God and our neighbor. (This Section shall be completed by the next Post).
Living for Empowering Those whom we come in Contact with (The Way Action - Karma Marg) Our devotion and knowledge should issue forth in action that empowers all those who come in contact with us. A person with true devotion and knowledge, as explained in the previous Posts under 'Bhakti Marg' and 'Jnana Marg'. is supposedly suited to empower whoever comes in contact with him or her. On the contrary, those who are without true love and knowledge are likely to enslave others in and by their actions. In other words, only those who are genuinely liberated can liberate others through 'Karma Marg'. Jesus made a similar observation about the Pharisees thus: "Leave them alone; they are blind guides, and if one blind man guides another they will both fall into the ditch" (Matthew, 15: 14). Actions can be of any kind and nature. Some may be able to do wonderful things like building institutions, helping the poor and needy, contributing to the social, cultural, educational, health and various other levels. Do they empower or enslave the people whom they serve? Similarly, all of us interact with others daily one way or other. Do we empower or enslave others by our actions? A simple smile may be enough to empower someone who is in very bad shape due to various stresses and strains accumulated through the daily routines. Any unthinking word or gesture may lead to unmake a person's day resulting in a chain of calamities. Our very presence should be such that it would automatically send forth positive vibrations around us and beneficially affect the lives of other people. If we are self-centered and too self-conscious, it will not be possible for us to give ourselves to others. Without our self-giving, no amount of gifts and good work can produce the positive vibrations that empower others in a genuine manner.
Self-Denial: The Key to Empowerment: Self-denial is the key to our own empowerment as well as that of those whom we want to empower. However, here a clarification about the self and its denial would be in order. We read in Mark 8: 34 thus: "Then he called the people to him, as well as his disciples, and said to them, 'Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross, and come with me'". This injunction goes hand in hand with his commandment in Mark 12: 31: "Love your neighbor as yourself". The two senses of 'Self' should be distinguished in order to follow at the same time both of the orders given above. There is a sense of the 'Self' that is so basic to our life that it stands as the foundation of our existence and through which we understand and evaluate everything else. That is the self like which we have to love our neighbor. That is our real self we have to develop in order to become what we are meant to be. It originates from God's own creation of every human being in His own image and likeness (See Genesis, 1: 26). However, the sin of the first man, Adam, marred God's beautiful creation by disfiguring His image in him and producing a self in him that is to be left behind for becoming what we are originally meant to be. God Himself made man to be like Himself , but man wanted to do it in his own way. Man wants to be like God not by submitting his will to the Will of God, but on his own will power. The result is a self we are endowed with that is useless in humanizing, let alone divinizing us. This is the kind of self we have to get rid of or deny in order to empower ourselves.
The Five Vices: All world religions agree that there are five aspects of our self that stand as a veil between us and God preventing us from being divinized. They are: lust, anger, attachments, greed and ego. These five evil forces dehumanize us and makes us worse than brutes. Brute animals are guided by their instincts by which they are programmed to act and they will not cross the limits set by nature even when they harm us. On the contrary, the humans are meant to be guided by intelligence and will power and if they are degraded they would become worse than the brutes. The reason is that there is no automatic mechanism to stop the humans from evil acts as their instincts are neutralized by the superior faculty of Reason. If this very Reason is degraded by any of those five evil forces, such a person becomes worse than an animal! Those five forces blind a person to one's surroundings, to his or her own dignity and the dignity of others so much so that he or she behaves like a mad person. Even a mad person has lucid intervals when sanity returns and normal behavior is seen! A person with impaired Reason is not able to plan or act premeditatively, whereas the person under the grip of any of those five vices can do so. Often, planning and execution are done with clock-work precision to such an extent that normal human beings are baffled as well as repulsed by the inherent depravity and perversion of the perpetrators of those actions.
Self-Control: Unless we leave behind or deny such a self, how can we ever empower ourselves? What is the way to deny such a self before it overpowers and enslaves our real self? In one word, the answer is self-control. However, self-control is not something that we do by ourselves alone, but in co-operation with the power of God. In fact, in this venture of self-control, the major partner is God Himself through His Holy Spirit. One of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5: 22-23 is self-control. It is not just a gift of the Holy Spirit, but a fruit produced by the Spirit and ourselves in co-operation with Him. We are in constant touch with the Great Architect of our life, i. e., the Holy Spirit Himself so that together with Him we may be able to build a temple worthy of His permanent presence. Thus there is no confusion between the self that is to be denied and the self that is to be developed.
Our Possessions: In what does the denial of self consist? It is also said that the self should be let behind. Similarly a person should part with all possessions and even hate one's father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even one's own life in order to become a disciple of Jesus (See Luke, 14: 25-33). We know , from the words of Jesus himself that we have to honor our father and mother according to the command of God and no one should disregard it (See Matthew, 15: 1-9). Therefore, hating here cannot be taken in its normal sense besides the fact that a disciple of Jesus should love everyone including one's enemies. Leaving everything behind, including one's own self , and hating everyone points to the attitude of detachment we should have in our spiritual life. We have treated about detachment in one of our previous Posts. In sum and substance, detachment is a requirement of attitude by keeping a distance from everything that attracts us and claims our allegiance. It is a call to liberation of self for being a master of oneself and a ruler of everything that comes our way. Physical separation may help in some cases, but is not necessarily a sure-shot method as our mind could still be attached even after physical separation from all that we love.
In order to obviate this difficulty, Jesus advised the rich man in the Gospels to sell all his possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor before following him (See Matthew, 19: 21). It is a definitive act of dispossession and disempowerment where he could not think of reverting to his possessions. Selling his possessions and depositing in the Bank or leaving them for his brothers and sisters would not sever him from the temptation to revert to his old ways of living. Apart from this kind of exceptional case mentioned in the Gospel and like that of St. Francis of Assisi, it would be enough to be mentally detached from our possessions and our relations. This is evident from the way Jesus himself lived with Joseph and Mary and those who were called his brothers. When it comes to doing the Will of God, his mother becomes "woman" and Peter becomes "Satan". This is the result of complete detachment Jesus practiced, assigning at the same time very important roles to Mary and Peter in the plan of salvation executed by him. Finally, true detachment makes us servants of all out of love for God and our neighbor. (This Section shall be completed by the next Post).
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