Christmas, the
festival of jingle bells, plastic pines, polymer stars, carols and donations,
is round the corner. As long as I lived
in Delhi, the festival meant little more to me than a plastic Christmas tree
and a plastic coated star. Now that I
live in a place that will resonate with carols for a few days, I’m tempted to
ask this question: What does Christmas mean to me?
Jesus was an
enlightened person like the Buddha was.
An evolved brain. One of the few
persons who are born once in a few centuries [Sambhavami yuge yuge?] with a mutated brain.
Normal human
beings are descendants of the ape. The
ape continues to dominate our hearts though we have a slightly better brain
which can do more things than the ape like learn the formula of (a+b)2. The heart didn’t evolve much. It carries all the savagery of the ape.
Jesus, like
the Buddha and many others, tried to civilise that heart. This is what I love most about such people.
Take this
story about Jesus. It’s from the Bible [John
8] but retold in my own way.
The religious
leaders wanted to trap Jesus because they didn’t like his teachings which
curtailed their powers over the people. Jesus
was redefining religion and its laws. Jesus was liberating people from absurd
traditions and rituals. Jesus was
helping people to look within and discover god there, in their own hearts.
So the leaders
laid a trap. They brought a woman caught
in the act of adultery. According to the
Jewish law, an adulteress must be stoned to death. Nothing happens to the adulterer, of
course. Religious laws are usually made
by man. It is Eve who ate the forbidden
fruit first. She led Adam to sin. The woman is the incarnation of sin.
There she
stood, dragged and bedraggled, amid a mob of bloodthirsty men who carried
stones with them for the evening’s entertainment. She stood with her head bent down. She knew that many of the men who were
clamouring for her blood had kissed her ruby lips not so long ago.
Jesus looked
at the men. The leaders hurled the question
at him. “What shall we do with this
woman?”
If he let her
go free, they would label him a law-breaker.
If he punished her... Well, could he do that? Did he ever punish anyone really? Except the religious leaders themselves who
converted the synagogue into a market of money-changers and animal traders? Punishing was not his way.
Jesus was
watching the men. Looking into their
eyes. He knew that many of them had
shared the bed with this woman not so long ago.
“The one among
you,” said Jesus slowly, looking into the eyes with a penetrating gaze, “who
has not broken any law so far,” he paused for a dramatic effect – he was good
at it really, “let him hurl the first stone at her.” He had pronounced the verdict. He continued to stare into their eyes. One after another.
One after
another the stones fell to the ground.
There were murmurings in the air.
The religious
leaders were the last to leave. They had
not carried stones; they carried knives in their hearts.
Jesus wished
to clean their hearts. All hearts. “Man is not made for laws,” he declared
boldly to a society which valued their laws more than anything else. Jesus sought to liberate the human heart from
the clutches of rusted laws. “Love.” That was his only law.
That is the
meaning of Christmas for me.
Wish you a different
Christmas this time. If you like :)
I have read this story before and loved reading it again.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and all your loved ones. :)
The story is popular enough.
DeleteThanks for the greetings. May you too be blessed.
A different take. Hope love prevails ultimately
ReplyDeleteHow nice would that be!
DeleteI highly believe in Jesus.I have been reading the Bible and am so affected, so lost in it. I am yet to read "John". This little story was amazing. Merry Christmas! Hope it brings loads of happiness to everyone!
ReplyDeleteAs narrated here, the story gets my own imaginative additions. But the spirit remains unadulterated. Merry Christmas to you too.
DeleteAs always, liked your rendition. Merry X-mas, your and my kind :)
ReplyDeleteWish you too especially since there's something common to our Christmas.
DeleteTomichan Matheikal has blogged on Christmas - One of the best write I have read in my life - rich in thought, emotion and from the head and the heart in unison. The message of love that brings peace and joy has been well explained with conviction that finds acceptance and trust in the reader..
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a rich testimonial.
DeleteYou are on3 writer who inspires me with every post, whether long or short. I wonder when I would get as many followers as you have . Merry christmas
ReplyDeleteA warm and prosperous New year wishes.
Thanks for the compliment, Rakhi.
DeleteWish you too a glorious year ahead as well as the blessings of the season.
The main problem with a famous folklore or an anecdote is that it has always been told and retold umpteen times, and it's nearly impossible to interest a reader, till there is something different. The way you analyzed Christ managed to create an interest. And, loved the realistic way you retold the tale!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about the enlightenment part. All those stalwarts, like Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, Zarathustra, Mahavir etc were enlightened beings with a different plane of understanding. It's difficult to keep one's followers for few years, let alone for millennia without a true substance and preaching. It's the followers, who later turn them into demigods and then use their 'ape' brains to undo the works of those geniuses. The ideas became religion and instead of convincing, the religions started to intimidate and force the skeptics and cynics into submission... and finally they lost!
Beautiful story!
Every time they make a religion out of it, the original teaching is killed. What would Jesus do if he were to see the religions being practised his name today? I'm sure you're familiar with Ivan Karamazov's Jesus and the Grand Inquisitor.
DeleteThat's true for every religion, sir. It's always the religious, than the religions, which are intolerant. Faith, like love, is one of the real white magics in the world. It vests unlimited power in the followers. It heals and brings peace. However, all kind of powers corrupt eventually. That's why the religious forget the teachings and turn into fanatics. Just to preserve that power.
DeleteFydor Dostoyevsky's poem The Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov could be the answer for the dangers of being too good/pious.
ReplyDeleteBuddha was undone by his own disciples when they shifted from Hinayana to Mahayana which ushered in Idol Worship....something which he hated...
Anyways I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year 2017 !!!
Those who create neat systems out of enlightened teachings are the culprits. Both the Grand Inquisitor and the successors of the Buddha made that mistake. On the other hand, only a refined consciousness can live without the crutches of systems.
DeleteThe message of Love is the message of all religions.....but the followers contain that love to include only their kin.....Wish you a great year ahead....Hope your recovery is going well.....
ReplyDeletePeople use religion for fulfilling their selfish agendas.
DeleteWish you too a glorious new year.
I'm recovering rapidly.