I am a Hindu Christian!

“Not until we see the richness of the Hindu mind and its essential spirituality can we understand India” Lyn Yutang

Couple of days ago, on Diwali, I had a great time with my friends. For the first time in my life, I went for a Diwali party with my friends. It was at the house of one of my North Indian friends here in Edmonton with his parents and his brother. After the initial gup-shup about politics and current affairs, we had puja conducted by my friend's dad, the man of the house. It was an awesome experience on my part to take part in that puja. The puja lasted about 15-20 minutes during which yours truly also had the privilege to offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi. According to the Puranas, the goddess of Wealth, Prosperity and Luck Lakshmi was born from the churning of the Milk Ocean, along with other magical beings and objects including Amrit, Kamadhenu, Chintamani, Halahal aka Poison, etc. I stood there and prayed these few words ' My God and my father, to me, you are everywhere and you are the very one we offer prayers now, bless us your children who offer prayers now on this auspicious day'. It was simply powerful and magical. I felt a voltage surge through my body (it happens always when I pray with that realm of spirituality, a vindication to me that God has listened to my prayer that very moment). I felt gladder than never before in my whole life. After the puja, we went to the mandir in Millwoods and offered prayers there also. Not to forget the awesome display of fireworks that completes the festival of lights!

Recently, there was very big debate regarding this very issue in the local church I go to. To the non-discerning reader, I am a reformed Syrian Christian (Nasrani) following the traditional Orthodox church of Kerala. The debate was over one of the members, actually following Hinduism or the various aspects associated with it. The debate was pretty fierce but it actually did open a whole new strain of thoughts which I feel I should share with you people. As a background, as mentioned earlier, I come from a reformed Orthodox church which is very liberal in nature. Four of our ten bishops did their post graduation in Bhagavad Gita so as the official stance of our church that believes in our strong roots in the community. Again the reader might pose a question regarding why did the debate happen in your church in the first place. Well again the influx of right wing Pentecostal Christianity into the various spheres of the church has diminished whatever that remained of our strong traditions and propagated a false sense of teaching that is anti Christian and anti tradition.

I am proud to say that my church is so liberal in this method of thinking in a day where Hinduism is confused by many as a religion. To me Hinduism never was and is never a religion, its a culture. My culture and the culture of every proud Indian. The thaali that even Indian Christian woman wear today that symbolizes marriage is a powerful epitome of our culture and its strides, Similar is the case when we commemorate Onam, Diwali, Holi etc. These are inclusive of any religious setup as such. The respect we show to our elders; love for everyone irrespective of caste, color and creed; family values of love, honesty and trust; arranged marriages; etc are all Indian or to be specific Hindu in nature. The friendship, trust and respect that Duryodhana had for Karna, Krishna instructing Arjuna in battle which later became the Bhagavad gita, the ability of Ram to sacrifice and go to vanavas though he was wronged; the sacrifice of Mahabali; the motherly love of Yasoda; the faith of Draupadi to Krishna, the Hindu mythology has scores of examples that we Indian Christians boldly claim as part of our rich heritage and tradition. So I guess when we boldly claim all these, shouldn't we be calling ourselves Hindu Christians?

If the teachings of Jesus who became Christ through his death and resurrection inspires us Christians to follow all these Hindu traditions from wearing thaali, to folded hands in prayers and the drawing of cross, I believe we are to be rightfully called Hindu Christian and I am proud to be one. Wouldn't this thought actually help drive us from animosity as seen in Orissa and many other places to one of brotherhood and love. Far as I know, Jesus never wanted to convert anyone leave alone even establish a religion. He wanted his followers to spread his message to the ends of the earth. His legacy was his teaching which through eons, morphed into a religion of convenience for the Romans who incorporated their then fledgling beliefs into Christianity as the new religion was called. Antioch where the believers were called Christians took a different rout as some ended up being part of the East Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire ultimately culminating in the Ottoman Empire. We see that Christianity was always a teaching and the dire straits that the Church finds itself today is because of the inability of the church to accept this very fact.

When St.Thomas the Apostle brought this teaching to India and people followed him, they dint leave their strong traditions behind. It was alleged that St.Thomas converted over 400 Brahmin families in India. But later on when the Roman Catholic missionaries came, they were surprised to see Christians in this part of the world with stronger Christ-like values, living in harmony with other religions than they could ever imagine. It made their task easier. That to me friends, should be the stand of Christians today. We are simply proud Hindus who have accepted the teachings of Christ into our lives. Let this belief lead us. We will be secular in a way we never thought we could and through our lives, people will actually realize what made Jesus the Christ he became in the end. Through this propagating the teachings of Christ will be easier and we can save more souls than we could ever imagine.

Authenticity of Love, Hope and Faith

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." Source: 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7


One of the greatest lessons I learnt in life at the age of 24 is about love and how strange and magnificent an emotion it is. It's not that I have never been in love before or something like that. But the authenticity of love, the authenticity of missing some one, the authenticity of rejection, the authenticity of lost love and the authenticity of failed love and hopes!

I had a very close friend, a powerful and really good friend. Over the span of years we got closer and one day yours truly started having feelings for the person. Sheepishly I tried to circumvent through it and ended venting it out in the most messy matter as possible. The expected rejection through the travails of distance and destroyed feelings intensified from chronic loneliness landed me into the worst seen emotions ever, un-experienced never before in my life. Shrugging away all attempts at a rebound, you finally realize how you are finally a man. Really felt how authentic and powerful love was.

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth "you owe me".
Look what happens with a Love like that!
- It lights the whole Sky. (Hafiz)

I was thinking why do people fall in and out of love ? Why do people really love breaking hearts as if it is the most honorable thing to do ? Why does a male and female attach themselves under the false guise of friendship, over a period of time, fully knowing each other, just break apart like total strangers (like seeing each other for the first time) the moment the word 'love' is mentioned ? If God is love or if love is the finest of emotions bequeathed to man by the creator, why does it hurt? When you fully know a person, is committing to that person so bad ? Agreed not all male and female who gets attached need to fall in love, is it so bad that long time friends when they start to have feelings should hide it forever? These questions raged in my mind for months.

I just took some time off and went on with my friends. There were similar cases like this all around. People living heart broken lives. Not that they were weak personally or professionally but definitely yes heart broken. Cowards love to go for a rebound, brave people live through the experience. So I went to these people (couple of my friends); I just told them 'Just believe the girl will be back'. Miraculously for them and luckily for me, many of them came back. I doubt if it was prophesying power or a miraculous intervention; one thing is sure it worked!! But I still believe I just told them what they wanted to hear and it worked!

Love is a testimony to the great human condition we have. All our achievements, successes are just a speckle of dust before love. When you truly love someone, you actually worship that person for what they are; the moment they leave, feelings of loss, despair resulting in heart break and the actual 'mourning process' that ensues shows that no matter how mammoth the we are in ego, persona, ambition and riches, we are actually frail and weak just to our emotions and feelings! See the check that God has on men. How the greatest of men are held captive to this unseeingly powerful emotion!

'What goes around comes around' or karma is another notion that is used. It's true. I believe life is one big diary of checks and balances. Let me share a personal experience. When I was in college, I used to get even at my ever quarelling grandparents with a lethally potent weapon called 'silent treatment'. Tried it couple of times and my grandfather used to tell me it was painful. I discontinued it's use after that, coz it was potentially lethal in a relationship. Still at times I used it one loved ones. When I got at the receiving end this year, man life came full circle.

Life as always said is a giant balance book. Ever since I have been careful about what I speak, what I think and most importantly the importance of being mature with the age. I still believe we individuals have a free run. But one day we are held responsible for our actions.

Then hope. After with the case of love 'returning' for a couple of my friends, the power of hope is even assuring. But to hope you need to believe. I believe in the power of words; the power to inspire people and put down people. It is imperative that through our words, we need to inspire people and a heart broken person rather than being consoled, if he is made to believe that the love will return, it returns faster. And trust me its not magic, nor a miracle, just the power of words and the spirit of belief.

See how its all in our words and deeds. Loving someone is not bad, if there is a chance to be taken it has to be taken. But to me the the dastardly of all human actions is actually giving hopes and then breaking it; pretending nothing happened; deceiving it. It is the worst nightmare and I do have friends who actually go through the nightmare. Same is the case with messy divorces and separations. To concluding hurting love does no good, nor is breaking hopes resulting in lost faith.

Then there is consolation. Actually it is great to be heartbroken. simply a great feeling to be heartbroken if the energies are utilized in the most positive manner as possible. I have seen people achieving the very impossible from heart breaks and rejections and vice versa also. But once it is lost, don't stay back, forgive the person who wronged you and support them with love (expecting nothing in return), move on with life and be the victor realizing the fact that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!!

Youth: A discussion about their roles in church, society and community

I had a chance to speak for the Youth Sunday program at the Trinity Marthoma Church Edmonton. The following is the full text of my speech:

Youth or young age is an important phase in the lives of many people. Some call it a transitional stage between being mature and childhood. But nevertheless it’s a very important stage of human evolution where one has his life in his hand like a dice. All he has to do is roll the dice. How he/she does it is very imperative as it formulates his destiny. The social establishments like the family, church, community, media play a huge role in this evolution. As of today when our churches all over celebrate the Youth Sunday, lets have an overview about the roles that are expected of the youth specially when it comes to a church environment.

1. Rise Upto the Occasion:
David was just like any other youth except for the fact that unlike many of the youths in Saul’s army including his son, he rose upto the occasion in dealing with Goliath. What we had in that situation was the large Philistine army and the larger stature of the giant but it required a mere shepherd boy to rise upto the occasion his armor being stones and a sling!! His strength being his unquestioned belief in his God. We youths today are faced with similar situations everywhere were churches are failing, from very basic social unit families to communities failing with strife and despair its highly important to seize control whenever a vacuum created is noticed. When we look around we see a society that needs direction, a community that is short of objective and people confused about their faith, worried about their economic condition. They need is a new direction, a new hope. Two thousand years ago, a man in his early thirties took charge and through his words and actions influenced a whole race of people, altered the course of world history for ever. Today we see the sojourn of a junior senator in our southern neighbour and we look at awe and inspiration. That, my brothers and sisters is the power of youth, the power of rising up to the occasion. You don’t need any theology, any ‘so called’ teachers of faith, just a strong belief in your creator and the guts to take control and see the fruits of your action…like David and like Jesus. I call upon you…rise up, seize the situation and take control and don’t regret or turn back.

2. Pressing on to the Goal:
The greek poet Hesoid once remarked “I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words.” That’s the view many of the older people have today regarding the youth. When we look around in society we see this inertia in handing over responsibility to youth can be attributed to this very fact: recklessness. That is why in Philippians 3, apostle Paul stresses on the importance of pressing on to the goal that is in his words “Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead” Its not easy unless we have a higher view of things. All the great entrepreneurs from Sam Walton to Bill Gates had higher goals, higher mountains to climb but they kept pressing on to the goal. Its not easy and losing interest is easier. Let’s go back to David…Saul tried to dissuade him in the beginning by telling in verse 33 you are only a boy, and he (Goliath) has been a fighting man from his youth. But to David, yes Goliath was a giant but his God was a bigger giant he dint see this obstacle big enough to be even perturbed and he had a goal: to see his God glorified. It’s like this to the mountain in front of us and we don’t see it because we see a bigger God! And when we have sights on that God, we will never lose direction. We should never lose that direction for as apostle Paul reaffirms in verse 20 of chapter 3 “our citizenship is in heaven. Cause we await a saviour from there”. So as said before, we rise up to the occasion, set goals and press on to those goals without losing heart.

3. Transforming Ourselves: David grew from a shepherd to being the most revered of all the kings in the Israel history, Joseph grew from being a dreamer to being the second most powerful, non Egyptian in those times of famine, Elisha grew from ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen to being a major prophet of Israel…we see youths who rise up to the occasion, pressing onto the goals simply undergoing transformation. The whole process changes us and it influences our walk ahead in whatever we do. Paul emphasises the same tone in when he instructs Timothy to set an example for everyone in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity and to watch his life, doctrine and ministry carefully with full perseverance because for you to be saved. It is important to move on, change with the new found responsibility. It was the success behind King David especially in his dealings with his people, his dealings with God and to illustrate the point clearly in the Baathsheba issue, his remorse and his repentance. . Again this change, the step-wise transformation we see in Jesus from being the son of a carpenter to our Lord and finally our Christ. I hope you get the tone of what I am telling. We take responsibility, with clear cut path to the goal and we transform ourselves so we attain the final victory.

That today my brothers and sisters is the message for the youth today. We today are like the rich man who went to see Jesus as we see in the gospel reading. We have everything, we are trained so well, we have the best education, the best of all facilities whether it is again church wise, community wise, society wise etc. Yet we feel left out. We live confused lives as we don’t know who we are. Where do we stand, what is our identity and what we are . This explains why we feel inadequate and troubled when we move on in life both professionally and personally. Jesus again implies the same tone when he tells the man to give up everything to get the treasures in heaven and then follow him. The Bible tells that the man just walked away as he was too rich. Let’s take the idea today. People go around telling how they feel left down in church, how they can’t connect with the church, with customs, with language and with the community. They live confused where their standing is. That my friends, is the ideal breeding ground for the Devil, and we have issues of false theologies and false teachers, wrong doctrines leading to immorality in church resulting in a fractured church. I ask all of you…What today is your contribution to the church? If the church is Christ’s body and if we are all the members of the church, if the church is dysfunctional, stagnant and reformation-dead we only have ourselves to blame as we the youths have failed in our responsibility. For the church is greater than an individual, a family, or a group of people….the church is you and it is imperative that we youths should ask this question today, what are we doing for the church. Once we realise that, we just rise upto the occasion, press on to the goal, and we undergo the transformation on our own and thereby we grow, the church grows and finally our Christ is glorified.

Image Courtesy: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/image/l/o/ypg_1__1.jpg

Historical Times

Hello All,

With the previous post, my collection of 'themed' poems comes to an end. All of them are inspired by certain incidents in my life of which I am entirely grateful to many people. These incidents have made me laugh, cry, think, reason with the powerful 'human' condition that we all go through and I am eternally thankful to God for educating me in the process.

Nothing has captivated me like the ongoing American presidential election and its far reaching implication on the way world sees its lone superpower. The timing of a novice like Barack Obama, the preparedness and the in-depth planning makes this election a wonderful experience. This election nevertheless of its outcome and the earlier said events will be the cornerstone in the next step of evolution in my life as a personality. I will be running a series on my blog on some of my political observations with respect to Christianity and the current world perspective. I promise that it would jolt you with profound thoughts and I humbly request you to come back for more updates.

Regards,

 

Tenny

The Search for Happiness

If you want to be happy, be. ~Leo Tolstoy

"You are so ugly,
and more are you so silly,
I don't love you,
nor will I marry you;
forget me and don't tout"
said and went he did my life out!

Cried and Cried me,
for that the rejection giveth he,
broke just not my heart,
shredded whatever in it prompt.

Love me him so much,
Gaveth my life for him much,
Was there whenever he needed me,
Hurt he me with those words slew!

Happiness! where art thou,
longed I since childhood for you,
Why do you evade me the sinner,
Days and days do I ponder,

'Happiness is like a butterfly,
chase it and does it fly,
forget it, comes to you sly!'
loudly did the teacher say!

Remember me not those words,
Faintly do I hope for the shouts,
that follow cries of joy shorts,
passed and passed did with it times;

'What do you see in this paper',
cried again the teacher out louder,
showed he the students a white sheet,
to ponder over a dot so black in it,
'black point see we in the center',
cried the students of the spectre!

'Life is like the white paper,
see we only the black that makes us sadder,
forget the white around that makes us gladder'
roared louder did the teacher!

Realize did I my folly,
never did I think about the flay,
of happiness I needed so many,
was right there for me in the fray,
for seek should I it for the say!

Happy became I for this the revalation,
elated for attaining the salvation,
moved in life through the elation,
confidently in full happiness!

Image courtesy: http://karenknowler.typepad.com/living_in_the_raw/images/happy_girl_jumping_1.jpg