The Faceless Servant

Once I found myself, at the Heaven’s gate, sitting;

Observing the Apostle, receiving guests incoming.

Some came in surprised, and some seemed scared;

Though some trembling, and came as never dared.


No one saw Heaven before, all just imagined of it.
It was a great mystery, and nothing to explain with.

When they entered in it, they examined their guess;
Whether it was same or their thinking was a mess.

Then I saw a faceless man, clad in the white so pure,
Accompanied by the Lord, who loved him for sure.

His steps were firm and confident, gait undisturbed,

He walked victorious and Contended, not perturbed.

Heaven seemed his home, and now he’s come back,

From an expedition, yet safe from the devil’s attack.

Who was that holy man, thinking I must know at least,

So Apostle told me of the faceless servant – the priest.

- B. Johnson Maria

FAITH AND PRAYER: SOLUTION TO ALL PROBLEMS

Also in "First Edition" Oct. 01-15 isuue

         Buddha said “Sarvam dukkham.” i.e. Everything is pain and suffering. People grow old; suffer with and in their old age. They die and go. Thus, the whole life of human beings is filled with pain and sufferings. This is worsening with the advancement in the modern and consumeristic world. New problems and sufferings are born, and hope to get rid of them, becomes all the more vague.

          We all have problems of one or the other kind. We have tension, sickness, breaking relationships, mental problems, physical problems and struggle of getting along with the competing world. In fact, problems remind us of our difference with those who lie in the graveyard, without any problem. Only because they are dead! Since we are living beings, so we also have problems, our own sufferings and grievances. There is also a universal fact that no problem is ever born without a solution. But sometimes we are unable to find that solution and these problems become too much, they weigh too heavy. We feel sometimes too weak to withstand so many problems. We feel totally crushed when problems go on increasing and multiplying one after another without any solution..

        In such a situation one is compelled to ask oneself, “Is there a way out? Is there any solution to all these problems?” How nice it would be, if there were someone who could solve all our problems, or how nice it would be if we ourselves had the key to solve all our problems. Reflections on some of the very common problems generally faced by the people and my own reflections attracted me to delve into the problem of ‘all problems.’

           God solves all our problems and at the same time as John McManus would say “to some He grants restored health of mind and body; to others he grants inner healing and new freedom in the Spirit, while to others he grants the interior grace to unite their suffering with the suffering of Christ.”

The Beginning of Journey towards God

            Human beings are on a journey in the world. We come from God and one day we have to return to Him. “The Lord created human beings out of earth, and makes them to return to it again” (Sir 17, 1). We have no permanent dwelling here. However, sometimes we forget this fact and keep ourselves in illusion that we are going to live here eternally and we prepare accordingly. When we forget, from where we come and where we are going to, we lose our way and wander in the dark. To keep ourselves always on the right track, we must always keep in mind our source and destination. We must keep our eyes on ultimate goal and be assured of not going astray. Because He says, “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness” (Jn 18,12b).

          Our journey begins when we are born into this world. When we forget God, we lose the path. We have restlessness because God’s presence is not there in our hearts; we are not at peace with other human beings, because we do not realize His presence in them. We face problems because we do not trust Him. According to St. Augustine, our hearts will be restless until they rest in God. Therefore, to complete this journey successfully, we must be in constant touch with our source and destination. In other words, we need to communicate to Him in prayer and surrender ourselves in faith.

Faith – The First Step

        God is the source of all; trusting him in everything is the first step of getting answer to all our problems. We must have faith and all things will be done for us. Jesus says, “If you are able! – all things can be done for the one who believes” (Mk 9,23). The only thing we need is have faith in God and we will get solutions to all our problems. We just have to ask God to help us because he is ultimate source of us all and we belong to him. Often we don’t find answers to all our problems because we do not take them to the Lord and ask for his help. When we face trials, unexpected situations, failures and defeats, we must have faith in God, just put first step towards God and behold he stands ready to embrace us and rid us of all our problems. It is because of faith, that we get courage to face the challenges and change the things and accept the situations that are not in our hands. George Cheruvil says, “Faith, like life-giving water, refreshes us when the tensions and tragedies of life drain away our strength and energy. It helps us to conquer obstacles and limitations… It heals our wounds and renews us. It brings us back when we have wandered from the right path and are lost.” We are children of God, we need to realize this and act accordingly.

Prayer – A Communication with God

             Not only in our problems and difficulties, we need to talk to our heavenly father, but also we must share our joyful moments with him. Talking to him is called ‘prayer’ though it may be defined in different ways. Some would say prayer is actually asking God to provide us what we need, whereas some would say, prayer is actually thanking God for what we have received. I would emphasize on ‘prayer being a constant communication with our eternal source i.e. our God.’ “Prayer is really just talking to God – sharing our hopes, our dreams, our fears, and our heartaches with the only one who understands us completely.” In the world, there is nobody who can solve all our problems except God. Therefore, it is most apt that we share our problems with him. According to Catholic Encyclopedia, “Prayer is often described in terms of intercourse and spiritual communion with God… By it the petitioner’s will and activities are identified with God, effecting an ultimate personal contact and relationship with him.” Thus it is not only sharing our problems with God but prayer is actually the means to be in constant union with God, whether we are happy or sad.

Advantages of Prayer and Faith

          When we are one with our creator, what else is there that we should desire? We can get solution to all our problems through faith in God and prayerful communication with him. Our faith and prayer bring us healing. Our faith gives us eternal life (Cf. Mt 9:22; Jn 11:25). It gives us healing, from not only our sicknesses but healing in our soul, healing in our relationships, healing in our thoughts and actions. Our whole self is guided by Divine Providence. Faith and unconditional surrender help us to receive divine grace. Whether it is meditation, prayer, introspection or self-enquiry, the route used would depend on person’s temperament and inclination.

         We are rational and spiritual beings, and many of our problems are also because of being away from God. William Johnston in his book Silent Music: the Science of Meditation says- “Assuredly it is acknowledgment that up to eighty percent of modern sickness is psychosomatic in origin, or has a psychosomatic dimension.” When we have no peace within, we are overcome by sickness. To get rid of all problems, we must surrender ourselves to God and pray to Him to help us.

           To summarize in brief it can be said that God created man, and takes care of him in all his adversaries. He has created us out of his own free will, and we will return to him one day. We should not wander away from him; he gave grace, faith, and a method of always remaining in communication with him. The method is prayer. Sometimes worldly may not allow us to communicate with God, so these distractions are to be handled carefully. Actually, most of our problems are only because we forget our real source and real destiny. Many of our problems and sicknesses, difficulties and failures are because of losing touch with our Divine source. To get solution to all our problems, we must try to introspect so as to where we have gone astray from God, and consequently mend our ways. Without faith and prayer, it is impossible to have a permanent solution to all our problems.

- B. Johnson Maria

Gazal

बेक़सी में बेगैरत

मुहब्बत ने जिसे मारा हो, उसे क्या कहोगे आप?

नावाकिफ हैं मुहब्बत से, फिर दर्द का दर्द कैसे सहोगे आप?

जब से बेवफाई ने मारा है, दुश्मन ज़मान हो गया है,
हमसफ़र हुई तनहाइयाँ, आलमे बहार  बेगाना  हो गया है.

मिलने लगा  अँधेरे में सुकून, दर्द बढ़ता है रौशनी  में,
ना बाँटो गम हमारा कभी, ना धूप में ना चांदनी में.

यूं  तो आसन  है मुहब्बत करना, पर मुश्किल तो  है निभाना
बेवकूफी है तमन्ना करना उसकी, जिसे नामुमकिन हो पाना.

बेकसी  में बेगैरत हैं हम, वरना ये दर्दो गम कौन सहता?
हम थाम लेते दामन बेवफाई का, मुहब्बत को मुहब्बत कौन कहता?

- बी0 जोंसन मारिया

Proof of God's Love!!!

God's Love is Eternal!!

I was savoring the pleasing snooze of early morning,

When I heard the Father’s voice; the alarm buzzing,

I knew it was time to wake up, yet liked to sleep,

“Wake up, boy!” I heard His voice in the deep,

I’ve got a gift for ye, won’t you my dear, accept?

If you don’t get up, I would suppose, you reject.”

I opened my eyes, thinking what gift was there?

He gave me a new day, so charming and so fair.

Beholding beautiful morning,

I popped out, and began to shout

“Hurrah! A new day, by jove!

Yet another proof of God’s love.”

                 Why Not an Extra Step....???

Also in "Free Press," Indore, Sunday 01/08/2010

        Human being is the magnum opus of God’s creation. There is no other creature or created thing that can equate with human beings. There are many qualities that make human beings very special and different from other created things. Philosophers say that it is rationality that makes human beings different from other beings, at the same time psychologists say, it is emotional side of human beings that makes them different, whereas religions say that human beings have soul, and God dwells within them and they are created in the image and likeness of God. Whatever may be the case, one thing is lucid enough: Human beings are different and very special creation of the Creator.

             Being so different and so special, we hardly ever realize our own real self and potentiality. Each one of us is extraordinary and unique. Boundaries to many of our capabilities remain yet undiscovered. Many of our potentials lie unrealized and unexploited. It’s only because we never try to do more than the required minimum. We never risk taking an extra step. It is not that all are alike and remain in their boundaries, but there are people who took and extra step, whatever may be the field.

           In the Holy Bible Jesus teaches not to do only what is required but more than that. He says, people love those who love them, but you should love even those who do not love you (i.e. an extra step in relationships). If anybody strikes on one cheek, show him another also (an extra step in patience). If anybody wants your shirt, give him also your coat (an extra step in charity). And those who take an extra step in any field, they prove themselves different and special – the real identity of human beings. Because of such daring act of theirs, they leave and indelible mark in the society for all to look up to.

          On May 22, 2010, Boeing 737 of Air India overshot the runway and hurtled down the cliff, taking 158 lives. It all happened just in seconds. Interestingly some 8 people escaped this fatal blow, to tell the tale of their daring encounter with death and victory over it. We heard it and read in the newspapers, as how they managed to escape. They did not just sat vulnerable and waited for their death but they took a further step… a step to choose life. No one knows when one will encounter with his/her ultimate enemy called death, but we have a choice to choose the kind of death we want. The fortunate survivors escaped because of their daring decision and act. Or this is one way of looking at it. Even miracles are possible, but miracles also take place in those person’s lives who prepare themselves for miracles.

           Many people come in the world, live an unknown life and die. Nobody knows anything about them after sometime. At the time of Mahatma Gandhi, there were millions of people, but do we know all of them? Only few people dared to take an extra step and left the world indebted to them

          One should reflect whether the work done by that person, is done to the full capacity one could employ. Can I not do little extra, can I not take and extra step and contribute a little more to make the world a better place? There are always opportunities around us, that will make our ‘extra step’ fruitful. So what are you waiting for?

- B. Johnson Maria

The Parable of the Teacher

          (Also in 'The Voice of St. Jude" May-June 2011 issue)

          One day a computer teacher in a certain school, set out to reward his students for their hard work and best performance. To decide the right recipient of the reward, he gave them a task, a project to be completed in a certain time.

         All sat on their own respective computers; they were allowed to use internet for any required help.

Now, some them their computer, but their operating system was corrupt, they couldn’t proceed and lost all hope of getting the reward. Others switched on their computer but they had no appropriate antivirus so when they had access to the internet, there were virus attacks; they got entangled in it and could not complete the project. While some others had antivirus and also used internet carefully but never gave a little time to scan their hard disk and it got corrupted and stopped responding. Whereas some facing all of the above problems, persevered till the end and even formatted their hard disk to start anew. They were given a new operating system, totally secure antivirus, safe access to the internet and a strong desire to scan their hard disk regularly after each task. Those who completed their project were given the reward of their choice.

Do you understand the parable? Now listen to its explanation.

           The teacher is God and the students are the followers of Christ. The given project is the individual vocation which everyone has got. The computer is the whole personality of the person and the operating system is the soul of the person. Grace is the antivirus and internet access is the world in which we live. Virus attacks are the temptations to which a person is exposed and the virus affectedness is the sinful state of a person. Scanning the hard disk is the examination of conscience. Reformatting the hard disk is the repentance. Those who complete their project are the ones who live their vocation successfully and faithfully and deserve the eternal happiness in the presence of God as their reward.

Now, read the above parable once again, keeping all these meanings in mind.

- B. Johnson Maria

On Being Obedient…

           Jesus was head among human beings and the son of God. And he was given all the authority and dominion over earth. He had all the power to change the whole world. He had the same power which was used by God, during the Great Deluge, the destruction by water, because the world was filled with sin. Jesus had the power of making everything new, without undergoing even a pinch of pain. But he chose the other way. He chose to be obedient to His Father; he chose to do the will of his Father.

Obeying is Trusting: When we obey someone, we show our trust in that person. If we have no trust in someone, we will never obey that person. We are familiar with the story of that man, who climbing the mountain, slipped and was heading to embrace his death when he found himself hanging in between with his climbing rope and he called upon God for help, and God asked him to let go the rope. The man, not sure in the darkness how high he was hanging, did not trust in the voice of God and did not obey. In the morning the villagers found him hanging dead, just few feet above the ground.

           Jesus was obedient unto death because he trusted in God, he knew that the Father will not let him die like that; he trusted that he will be raised after death. His obedience shows the degree of trust between the son and the father.

          There is no obedience without purpose or reward. Obedience strengthens the relationship between the obedient and the obeyed.

               As we journey towards priesthood, is there a better way to come closer to the Father, than to say with Jesus: “Father not my, but thy will be done.” Nothing takes place in our life without the knowledge and wish of our Heavenly Father, even so called, “the tough times.” Sometimes we may not understand God’s will and may not obey Him, those are the times when we choose to go away from God.

            Each one of us is chosen by God for completing an assigned task like that of Jesus. Jesus was sent to save the world, and his work does not end on Calvary, but continues till today. It is the duty of the priests, another Christ, to continue the saving mission of Christ. And we can never continue if we are not obedient to Christ, our ultimate commander and head if we have to live our vocation meaningfully, we have to obey Christ, in the form of our superiors, our colleagues, classmates, our friends etc. we may not be so worthy, so holy, so sinless, that we hear God’s voice directly like… God calling our name… son so and so… come on get up, now do this, I command you to go there and do that etc…

              God speaks; God speaks to us through our superiors, through the persons whom he has appointed to direct us. Are we obedient? Christ is our model; let us look forward to him to teach us to be more faithful and obedient to him.

- B. Johnson Maria

The Rejected Stone!

I was a useless stone, rejected by the builders, the society,

I pleaded; please give me a share, in a building so mighty.

But heartlessly, they threw me away in a dark, dreary pit,

All looked down upon me, was it this for which I was fit?

None heard my pleading, no one thought to pay any heed,

‘All are children of same God’ to feel so, who’s the need?

I wondered whether something could be done of poor me,

Or perhaps I was useless, may be that was the stark reality.

Then He came; picked me up and shared His Divine Love,

Wiped my tears; hugged and kissed and gave a new curve.

He carried me with Himself, and made me a corner stone,

A stone with real worth could be recognized by Him alone.

He’s the one, who knows the very real worth of everyone,

He picks up the rejected with love, and all evil is then shun.

He makes ye feel so important, though ye be a rejected stone,

Because you’re His, by the love on the Cross He has shown.

- B. Johnson Maria

The Most Precious Moments!

           Have you ever pondered what your precious moments are? The moments which linger in your mind and heart even you don’t put an effort to recall them. Many times or rather most of the time we don’t realize what are the precious moments.

          Do you ever recall the moments when you introspected within and looked back and changed your course because you realized that you were on a wrong track. Those moments of such realization were the precious moments. Have you ever come across the moments when you realized your mistake of not talking to your old friend just because you had some misunderstanding? When you regained that friend; those were the precious moments.

             Have you ever spent some moments with your pet, some moments to know and understand that your dog, cat or other pet loves you so much and feels greatly happy when you are around? Have you ever spent some moments admiring the beauty in the potato plants or tiny tomato plants in your kitchen garden; or have you ever paid a little attention to that struggling plant on the roadside while you go to your work? Who takes care of it? If you spent moments to think about such things; those were the precious moments.

         Finally, all the moments that you spent to know God and love Him by admiring His creation and realizing that He has created you to love Him and work for Him, and be a better person. The moments spent realizing and doing His will are the most precious moments of your life.

- B. Johnson Maria

gazal

दस्ताने बयाँ

(ग़ज़ल)

हमीं को हमारी दास्ताँ बयां करने को, न मजबूर कीजिये,

सलीके से तह करके हमने रखे हैं अपने गम,

बेतरतीब उन्हें आप ना हुजुर कीजिये.

नावाकिफ नहीं हैं हम ग़मों की उस महफ़िल से 

जो कमबख्त जज्बात बनकर जुड़े हैं हर दिल से,

सब्र कीजिये, मुट्ठी भर ख़ुशी पर  न गरूर कीजिये.

है दिल नहीं बुलंद इतना, के टकरा जाए फौलाद से

फिर भी कमबख्त को सुकून मिलता है ग़मगीन हालत से 

मगर हालातों से टकराने की तमन्ना न हुजुर कीजिये.

गर की गुस्ताखी आपने जो, हालातों से टकराने की,

ढहेगी ख्यालातों की ज़र्ज़र ईमारत, तमाम ज़माने की,

हाँ मिले कामयाबी तो जनाब, कोशिश ज़रूर कीजिये.

आएँगी मुश्किलें हज़ार, नामाकूल ज़माने को बदलने में, 

है रास्ता अगर नेक है तो, कामयाबी मिलेगी चलने में,

बेख़ौफ़ हो मुश्किलों के खौफ को काफूर कीजिये.

हमें ठुकराया  है ज़माने  ने, आवारा बन गए,

 घर  से बहार हैं, न कोई आशियाँ है न साए,
अपनाके हमें आप हमपे, सितम ना हुजुर कीजिये.

बी० जोंसन मारिया

Just Think!

Live your life fully!

(Also in Inspirational Quote, Mumbai, April 2010)

        Just pull out yourself for few moments from the rat race of the day-to-day life, and recall the way you spent the previous day.... Did you do everything perfectly?.... Did you live each moment to the full?.... The work you did, whatever, was it done the best way it could be done.....

          We certainly make mistakes, and latter on we realize and exclaim, ‘if only I could have been little more careful’ or ‘if only I could pay a little more attention to that.’ If we are given chance to the moments when we made mistakes, we will certainly avoid repeating them. We make mistakes only because we are not fully aware of what is happening around us. We do not live our life fully. We do not enjoy it to the full. Just free yourself from all preoccupations. Just be in the present and live it fully; live it as though there was nothing before it, and the will be nothing after it. Just forget past and future; only be in the present. Live the present moments fully, feel the joy and serenity, and experience the optimum use of your abilities.

- B. Johnson Maria

Women you are Blest!

        Free Press, Weekend, Sunday, March 07, 2010

              “Women you are blest. You have taken upon yourself the creator’s work and are his helpers. You open the way to recovery and ever renew the outworn world. Quietly, bravely is beauty’ form you carry within you the preserving force of universe and for the fallen, the broken, the deformed, the gracious touch of the lovely.”

        These noble words of great Indian poet Rabindra Nath Tagore most aptly articulate the real worth, dignity and place of the women. Philosophically speaking ‘every reality has two sides, whether it is good or bad, light or darkness, knowledge or ignorance and so on. One has no meaning without the existence of the other. Without tasting the acrimony of failure we will not know the syrupiness of success. To put it in context, man is incomplete without woman. Can we imagine a society or world for that matter, without women?

          A man is borne by a woman in her womb, with great care. She brings forth the new life, sacrificing her own comforts; she provides the best circumstances for the baby. The man, in his childhood, has a woman as his sister to play with him. When he grows up and becomes ready to be responsible in society, gets married with a woman; she gives him the real meaning of being a man, a complete man. She is always there to help man in every test and time till the end of life of a man. She is there at every crossroad of man’s life to give a hand to him, to be his aide. But is she only an aide? Doesn’t she have her own independent identity, her own penchant and dislike, her own independent existence? She is not created just to be a helper to man alone, but her existence is complimentary to that of man.

        If we skim through the timeline, it is very clear that women are beginning to comprehend their real dignity. They are not less in any matter. They have their own identity and full right to assert that. Mrs. Indira Gandhi probably meant this when she said, “to be liberated woman should feel free to be herself, not in rivalry to man but in the context of her own capacity. Woman should be more interested, more alive and more active in the affairs of society, not because they comprise half the human race.” These words though spoken in the past are now being fulfilled. Woman is changing her susceptible image into the image of an able and independent being. There are numerous examples of women coming forward to assert their identity and are shining.

            She has been created by God with certain purpose and accordingly endowed with abilities and capacities. She has a compassionate heart with immense patience. Mother Teresa is one of the best examples of how a woman can feel for the suffering humanity. The present president of our country stands as in icon to indicate to the women of our country, that nothing is impossible for a woman that is possible for a man. Kiran Bedi, Medha Patekar, and several other ladies with “iron will” give a strong message that women have the aptitude not only to change somebody’s life but can give a new direction to society. With all the inimitable qualities possessed by a woman one would admiringly say ‘women you are blest.”

- B. Johnson Maria

“Watch thou thy thoughts”

           Published in Central Chronicle Feb 23, 2010

        Whatever a person does, is an extension and expansion of that person. If an artist draws a picture, it is the extension of his own thoughts, he expresses his very self. The way one talks, walks or behaves and executes his actions, through all these things a person expresses who s/he is. There is never a time when a person doesn’t express himself. Even when somebody is quiet or silent, s/he still conveys a message. We express ourselves through various ways, by our dressing style, by our walking style, by our talking style even by our writing style. There are experts for each of these fields to read and interpret our style.

          It is said ‘as you think, so you become.’ Our thoughts give direction to our actions and our actions give direction to our life. Good thought will result in a good life and conversely bad thoughts will result in a bad life. So one needs to pay a great attention to one’s thinking and thus the whole life as Great Greek philosopher Socrates would say, ‘Unexamined life is not worth living.’

        From where do we get our thinking? It is simple, human brain works like a computer. It processes huge amount of data everyday and analyses the same for its application. The computer works on the principle of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ means what input a computer is given; it will be the basis for output. So is the case with human beings. Whatever thinking we entertain so will be our actions. We cannot get good actions out of bad thinking neither can we get bad actions out of good thinking. Jesus says, ‘a tree is always known by its fruits. A good tree cannot bear bad fruits and a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit.’ In other words, ‘a good person will not do bad deeds similarly a bad person will not do good deeds.’

         One may ask ‘how are our thoughts affected?’ There are various factors that affect our thoughts. We need to evaluate how we provide input to our mind. Our five senses play very important role in this matter. They provide a variety of food for our thoughts. Gandhiji had hinted when he presented it with three monkeys, two of whom were directly indicating to the input devices of man. Whatever we see with our eyes, it gives platform for our thinking. Watching television can be a simple example. If a child watches programs full of violence; do you think late on that child will turn into a pious and non-violent person? This is the case with everybody, not just children alone. One needs to constantly refine and examine so as to what one chooses to offer to one’s eyes and how that can affect one’s thinking.

       Our thinking also depends on what we hear. Similarly a great role is played by what we read. It is said, ‘reading makes a man perfect.’ But if person enjoys useless reading or unhealthy reading automatically his/her actions will be fruitless and leading to misery. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘even if somebody sits whole life reading all the good books of the world, s/he cannot finish reading all the books in whole life time.’ There where is the time to read bad and useless books? There are several people, no matter to what religion they belong; many of them have not opened their scripture for a long time. We get wisdom and God’s message in the scriptures and once we have God’s message for guiding our life then what else do we need?

- B. Johnson Maria

A Visit to the Monument of Love

(11-02-2010 to 14-02-2010)

        Only God’s love is eternal. No human beings can make their love eternal whatever way they try to do so. However when one comes across the Tajmahal of Agra, one is tempted to think that even human beings have a desire to make their love eternal even they don’t exist eternally. Tajmahal simply keeps the love story of Mumtaj and Shajahn ever alive.

           Though I was born hardly 80 km. away from this monument of love, but whenever I visit it, it gives me always a new insight and new meaning about love. This was a coincidence that we were there on the eve of the Valentine’s Day and what more special can be on this occasion than to be near the world known monument of love. Though our train was late by four hours but our enthusiasm and excitement was not reduced. We stepped down at Agra Cant station at 8:30 in the morning. The bus was ready to receive us. Straight we headed to the Pastoral center of Agra situated at Wazirpura road. There we were fascinated to see the old church built by the emperor Akbar around 600 years back. It is known as Akbar’s Church. After quick breakfast we moved to the great monument. Since we were quite early so we didn’t have to stand in log queue. Each time I go to Taj I find the number of visitors increasing. Everyday is like a festival there. We see people of different languages, different countries, different cultures all together different background. Seeing such a scene one can with ultimate firmness say that love knows no boundaries. All admire it.

           After exploring this beauty we moved on to another beautiful monument the Red Fort. We got a guide here to explain things about it. He told us many things and very interesting to know. After seeing the Red Fort, we came back and had our lunch and immediately moved to Fatehpur Sikri. It is another monument about 40 km away from Agra. It is actually the tomb of a Sufi sage Chisti. Here also people from all faiths come. It was here that Akbar built a mosque, a church and a gurudwara. It was here that he founded an ideal religion known as deen-e-elahi, a mixture of all the prominent religions of India. It is said whoever makes a wish wholeheartedly on this tomb, it is always granted. But those who have direct contact with God don’t need a mediator. After seeing this historical place we came back, had our supper and moved to the railway station. Indeed it was a memorable tour.

- B. Johnson Maria

Looking through the "Third Eye"

Concern of Every Individual

Central Chronicle Feb. 09, 2010.

Also in Free Press "Weekend" issue, Feb 21, 2010

                 All the created things, animate or inanimate, vegetative or aquatic or belonging to any form or category are interdependent on each other for their existence and subsistence. They directly or indirectly contribute to the growth and co-existence of others on this planet. All play their roles to keep this nature and environment in equilibrium. These facts we learn at our primary schools and are very much familiar with it. But the fact worth-noting here is that we, as human beings don’t apprehend the grade of responsibility that falls on us towards the wellbeing of the nature. Many great heads and organizations talk a lot on this issue trying to draw attention to the plea of the nature. There are also organizations and individuals who take concrete steps to do something concretely for the health of the nature but their contribution is like mite of the poor widow in the donation box.

               The Holy Bible says, ‘God created everything and saw that everything was good and beautiful, and at the end He took a little clay and formed the man (representing all human beings) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. God gave man the dominion over whole of His creation and asked him to be the ‘steward’ to take care of the creation. He put man in the Garden of Eden. But man disobeyed God and faced the consequences.’ Even today human beings disobey the Creator and heartlessly exploit the creation and off course unaware of the repercussions. The frequently occurring natural calamities and disasters remind us of our responsibility towards nature but perhaps we think it to be the job of the experts and environmentalists and not of every individual. The truth is that every one of us individually is responsible to protect the environment and ensure healthy existence of humanity and other species of beings.

         According to Indian spirituality we are made of five elements namely earth, water, fire, wind and sky which are also five elements actually present in the nature. Alternatively, one can say that we are created out of nature thus our very existence is because of the nature. So when there is imbalance in the nature, will not be our existence in danger? Is it not our own responsibility to take care of the nature, to ensure our own existence? If the earth is polluted, the air remains no more pure and the water becomes noxious with chemicals and turned into undrinkable, can we still expect a pure and healthy human race?

             Apart form physical crisis; there will be also spiritual and religious crisis. Man claims to be rational, spiritual and wisest among the creation, but from where do we get this wisdom? We have Vedas and great epics containing wisdom handed down to generations. But remember this wisdom was the outcome of the deep contemplation and reflection of the ancient sages who sought it amidst the nature. Our religious sense and civilization have their origin in the nature. If there will be no trees and forests, will the spiritual seekers seek wisdom and peace on the busy crossroads? What do we have in stock to pass on to the coming generations, the looted nature? God dwells in the nature, we know it well. If the nature is destroyed then where do we stand?

- B. Johnson Maria

The author can be contacted at

johnsongwlr@gmail.com

The Superhuman Within!

Central Chronicle, Jan. 28,2010

                Many people died in the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The media report the toll to reach over two hundred thousand people losing their lives and a large number of people loosing their homes and families. But it is a great matter of inspiration that many were discovered alive under the debris even after a week. The rescue operations are still on. Just imagine a person who is not sure whether s/he will be rescued or not, yet incredible spirit of hope and entrenched will power to live, is not only worth noticing but a great inspiration for those who are easily disheartened with small difficulties in life. Their courage is to be greatly praised.

          There is nobody whose life is only bed of roses. Everybody, one or the other time, faces challenges and situations of trial and tribulations. There is sometime when one finds oneself in a condition where one feels totally vulnerable to the situations around. Things seem to move out of control. And yet, in spite of so much distressing state, we survive, we undergo it sincerily and come out of it successfully. There is something extraordinary within human beings that makes them different from other beings. This ‘extraordinary self’ expresses itself in various ordinary ways.

           Superman or superwoman is somebody we imagine, having extraordinary powers and abilities, but the fact is the special powers we attribute to these imaginary beings are actually possessed by us. Each one of us has a superhuman within us. At times this superhuman surfaces according to the need of the situations. Sometimes we ourselves force it to come up and be active in us, and sometimes it comes up on its own. Sometimes even the environs around us make it to show itself.

            When one has strong will power great things can be achieved. What seems impossible can be turned into possible. Only thing is, one needs to convince oneself that what one wishes to achieve and the abilities required to achieve it, are already within oneself.

- B.Johnson Maria

Do Good to others

Why are we here?

Published in Central Chronicle Jan,19,2010
"Weekend" issue of Free Press, Indore Jan 24, 2010.

           Human life or whatever life on this planet is a gratuitous gift of God. Human beings owe more than any other creature to God as they have been granted the finest and the highest form of life as numinous beings. The Holy Bible says ‘God created human beings out of His free will and in His own image.’ The Vedas say ‘human life is attained only after going through about 84 million lives of other grades;’ even the gods long to be born as human beings on earth. The potential divinity in the human beings is universally accepted by all; or in other words, all believe in the presence of God within the human beings. Hence, it is meant to be lived as a noble life. Nothing can equal the worth of human life.

Now the question rises ‘how do we live a noble life, or how do we make the human life as meaningful one? The answer is: by doing noble things! The only way to find contentment and meaning in human life is to do good to others as much as one can. Do you know from the world history or even from the history of India, the persons who are remembered for doing good deeds? The history is filled with the examples of such noble people who lived this principle of doing good to others to their last inhalation. Some of the stirring examples of such people are Mother Teresa, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and the list goes on. One thing is common in the lives of these great people ‘They lived for others.’ The real meaning of human life is to do good to others and be ready to lend a hand to others.

         Why one should do good to others? There is sufficient reason to live for oneself, one’s family and children etc. Is it not doing good to others and being of help to them? Just fulfilling your social obligation is not doing good. The good should be done to those who cannot reimburse the good done to them, and then only one receives the apt recompense for it. The Bhagvad Geeta says ‘do what is to be done, without expecting the fruit,’ in fact that is the true service.

          Mother Teresa never thought that by wiping the tears of millions of pitiable and suffering, she will be called ‘saint’ or she will turn into a great person. She did it only because she realized that God dwells in every person and she had to love that person for the same reason. The teachings of Swami Vivekananda were not meant for himself, but to teach the world to do good for others and comprehend the real worth of human life, and that’s why he has become ‘swami’ of many.

            One must become conscious that human life is not given again and again, hence to make this precious life meaningful, one should constantly aim to do good to others as much as one can because God dwells in all and because that is the purpose for which God has fashioned us out of His love.

                                                                                                                                                                     - B. Johnson Maria

Suicide is not the Solution!

Thinking of Suicide!
(Published in The Central Chronicle, Bhopal/Indore 13/01/2010
Weekend issue of Free Press, Jan.31,2010)

          It is said, “Man is the crown of creation,” which means that human beings are the best part of whole creation. We can measure the numerous heights, achieve great things and materialize our great dreams. Human beings have ‘reason’ that no other creatures have. We have memories and emotions; we have faculty of emotions that makes us the unique beings on the earth. However, all the capabilities and boundaries of human beings remain so far undiscovered. Nobody has so far set a limit that a man can do only so much. We have not yet learnt to use all the human faculties fully. Most part of the brain of an ordinary human being remains unused. We have powers that lie hidden and dormant within us.

          One of such wonderful faculties that we possess is our ability to re-live our past moments or live in advance the moments yet to come. We can feel the joy and feelings of same happiness as we had when there were moments of joy in our life but absent at present. We can re-collect all the joys and gladness and give ourselves an experience of same joy and happiness even when it is only a memory. We can also feel the joy of some incident yet to occur, just by mere imagination of such event. Such wonderful is our ability. On whatever we focus, that determines our inner state.

         It is also true with our negative feelings and emotions. We can experience constant pain, sorrow, and disturbance by just remembering our moments of trouble and agony. We can undergo pain and agony of something that hasn’t yet occurred. Inferiority complex is one example of such thinking and imagining in advance.

         In spite of being so superior and unique, there are times in one’s life that one forgets all the uniqueness that one possesses and situations force one to make a choice that should never ever be made in any circumstances. Due to momentary tension and depression, misunderstanding, failure, infidelity on the part of our loved ones etc. one decides to put an end to such beautiful human life. Alternatively, putting in other words, sometimes a person may become blind by some temporary forces that s/he decides to commit suicide. Very often, they do not realize the gravity of the choice they make. It is illegal and morally wrong. It is unacceptable.

             There is no human being in the world that has no problem at all. The only people who have total peace and serenity are the ones who lie in the tombs. Only because they have no life. At this point one may be reminded of the story of a woman who wanted her dead son to live and she was asked by Lord Buddha to fetch some grains from a house where there was no sorrow at all. The woman failed. The story teaches that pain and suffering, joys and happiness are but indivisible part of human life. At the same time, it fully depends on us as to how we choose to react to these. They are not above life; not even equally valuable to life. The life is much valuable than these few bundles of emotions and feelings. To get rid of our negative feelings we cannot trade with our life.

          On the contrary, one should remember that we are not machines or robots that we choose our emotions and reactions. When we are depressed, we calculate and choose the button to react. We are human beings and sometimes vulnerable to these emotions. One should never forget that it is very difficult sometimes to withstand the failures, the tension, the pain of the betrayal of the one whom we trusted most and had been faithful all the life. It is very difficult to live on when one is misunderstood by very own loved ones, when in spite of so much hard work and effort one meets with failure. Such moments make one to think that the very purpose of life is lost, it is of no use to make the life miserable simply and drag on, so why not to finish everything and retire to eternal rest, end the life itself. This is what a defeated person, who sees suicide as the best way to get rid of all troubles, thinks. Ending one’s life seems the best solution available to solve the toughest problems of life. However, such person, before committing the heinous act, must give a little thought to the following things:

• Before ending the life, just remember and recollect as from where you got this life? Is this life the result of the efforts of yours alone?

• Take such step only when you are 100 pc sure that there is nobody in the world who has no more sorrow, pain and suffering than you; when you are sure that you are the most unfortunate person in the whole world.

• Remember the persons whom you love most and just recollect the happiest moments spent with those persons. Also, remember the persons who love you most.

• Just give a little thought to the sincere smile of your parents who have brought you up from the very moment of your birth, even before birth. Remember the sacrifices they made to make you able and educating you.

• Remember some of the people who attempted to commit suicide but could not succeed and what happened afterwards?

• Even you decide to end your life, just imagine the pain your body will have when it has to part with life untimely and unnaturally. The pain your lungs will undergo when they are deprived of oxygen, the pain your neck will have when it is broken in case you hang yourself.

• If you shoot yourself or destroy by some other means, just imagine how much blood will be spilled all around, who will like to clean that blood? Would you like your body of which you took care so well, lies uncovered before the public?

• Remember the people who are related with you. How much agony and mental torture they will undergo when they are asked hundreds of questions by the police and various people after the suicide?

• Would you like people talk hundreds of things about you, which are not true, and you cannot prove them wrong because you will be dead and gone.

• Above all remember the fact that if you channelize your grief and give a different direction to your life, you can make the world a little more beautiful place to live. You feel your life is of no use to you, than can it be of no use to others? There are people who changed their life for others and did wonders.

• Can you use your life for the good of others?

• Remember that there is always somebody who loves you, who needs you; you just need to discover that person.

          Human life is most valuable and most unique, it’s free gift of God and we have no right in any case to reject this gratuitous gift. Nobody can presume that by taking such step like suicide, one can please others, or God or even him/herself. Ending life is not the solution to problems but facing them courageously certainly is.

                                                                             

                                                                   - B. Johnson Maria

What happens when we forgive others?

Why forgiveness?

(appeared in the Central Chronicle, Indore/Bhopal on 05, 01,2010)

           Human beings are multidimensional beings. We have social dimension that gives us the identity of beings that live in society; we have spiritual dimension that specifies our relationship with our creator – God; we also have psychological dimension that helps us to relate with ourselves as well as with others. Being in the society, we have to co-exist with each other and relate with each other. We cannot imagine a life totally independent of others. The food one eats, has reached to him/her with the help of many hands; the language one speaks, is not created by him/her, the clothes one wears are not one’s own creation. Putting it in a nut shell, one has to depend on others for a successful human life.

                Love is the only dynamic force that binds everybody together and that helps everyone to relate with each other in a meaningful manner. This love may be in different forms, viz. love of parents towards their children and vice versa, love of master towards servants and vice versa, love of God towards human beings and vice versa and so on. When this Love is missing from our life, our life becomes totally dry and meaningless. We find no satisfaction in life. The opposite of love is hatred, and hatred comes when we have something against somebody. When we do not forgive others we cannot live a peaceful life. Since we depend on each other, it is of utmost importance that we live with each other at peace.

               The attitude of unforgiveness brings lots of tensions and disturbances in one’s mental, spiritual and emotional life. When our heart is not at peace, we fall victim to many sicknesses. Many sicknesses are born because we are not at peace with others and consequently with ourselves. William Johnston, in his book Silent Music- the Science of Meditation, says “assuredly it is acknowledgement that up to eighty percent of modern sickness is psychosomatic in origin, or has a psychosomatic origin.” (Page 107). When we have no peace within, we are overcome by sickness, and peace within will be attained only when we treat others as we treat ourselves, when we have no grudge or anything evil against anybody, in other words, when we forgive those who offend us.

              It is very difficult to forgive someone who has hurt us, and it is still more difficult to ask forgiveness. When we forgive, we feel we are the losers, we are cowards; we are put down, but the fact is, when we ask forgiveness we not only become the winners but make others also winners. Suppose the other person is not ready to forgive, than you do it, you forgive the other person for not forgiving you. You will have peace, you will have well being, and you will find joy and happiness. Now it is time to begin to recollect whom you have to ask pardon and whom you need to forgive.

- B. Johnson Maria