A follower of Jesus Should Remain unattached

                                          "Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go'. Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head'" (Matthew, 8: 19-20). These words are a clear indication of the type of leader Jesus wanted to be.  Anyone with an eye on popularity and wishes to ride on public perception of what a leader should be would have quickly grabbed the opportunity to be the leader of a learned person. Instead, Jesus discouraged the teacher of the law by painting a desperate situation for those who would follow him!  Some of Jesus' own people had advised him: "No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world!" (John, 7:4). This was a warning against the habit of Jesus not to publicize his miracles, rarely and reluctantly performed, as he was aware that the people would not correctly understand their import and significance. The Evangelist gives the reason for their advice thus: "For even his own brothers did not believe in him" (John, 7:5).
                                           Now it is clear why Jesus dissuaded a potential follower from fulfilling his wish to follow him. Jesus, in effect, drove home the idea that appearances do not have any substance in them, as presented before us, although they may look attractive. It was expressed in the utter destitution a follower of Jesus might have to put up with compared to which the foxes and birds are well taken care of. Not only that, to lay one's head peacefully at least at the time of death need not be expected as he was going to do it on the cross! Who wants to follow Jesus, if this is the memorandum of understanding presented as a condition? Surely not that teacher of the law nor anyone of his ilk who counts on the external manifestations without the internal dispositions to support them.                
                                          What did Jesus mean by these shocking expressions of conditions in following him? He meant detachment or unattached attitude to the world as a whole as well as to the persons and things in the world. Remember he wanted us to leave behind our father, mother, wife, children etc. and our own selves to follow him (See the Post on 'Detachment'). Detachment does not mean that we should not live in houses surrounded by our family or that we should cut off all our relationships with people. On the contrary, the only commandment to all the people is to love God first and foremost as well as everyone as one loves oneself. Besides, Jesus' own example of living in houses and loving people with warmth and sincerity tells us how to correctly understand his words. The actual implementation of 'leaving one's own self behind' is an indication of the direction we have to take here in leaving behind the things, people and the world itself.  
                                          The requirement of detachment for a follower of Jesus took an unexpected turn in the case of another disciple of Jesus. "Another of the disciples said to him, 'Lord let me first go and bury my father'. And Jesus said to him, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead'" (Matthew, 8: 21-22). Burying the dead was one of the most sacred duties among the Jews and the disciple probably thought that his request would not be rejected. He got a shock of his life from Jesus with an answer by which he was totally bewildered! How can the dead bury their own dead? Jesus meant to tell him that there are enough people attached to the dead person to do this sacred duty who being attached to the world are dead to the enlightenment he received. Unless he were able to immediately follow his inner light  due to which he wanted to follow Jesus, he might as well lose it to return to the world and its ways. Dilly-dallying with the graces we receive is not conducive to their effective fulfillment as our sincere co-operation is missing.
                                          The urgency in leaving everything behind for the sake of the Kingdom of God is implied in the very nature of the Kingdom. It starts with our real self as the image and likeness of God corroborated and firmed up by the new life flowing from Jesus to be completed in the world to come. Unless we are prepared to completely reverse our outlook presently turned on to the world outside and return to our true self inside , we shall remain foreigners in the Kingdom of God!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The Loss of our Birth-Right to Perfect Happiness

                                        Is it possible to lose our birthright to perfect happiness? It is possible because the right to manage it is put into our hands and if we mismanage our life, we may lose it. We see in the Old Testament story of Esau and Jacob how the former sold his birthright to the latter as the first born for a little red broth to save his life from hunger (Genesis,25: 29-34). The reasoning of Esau is typical of anyone immersed in gaining material benefits alone neglecting the overall benefits one might lose in the process. For, Esau thought to himself: "What benefit is it to me to keep my birthright if I am going to die of hunger here and now?". This instance may be considered as a prototype of the general spiritual principle Jesus enunciated: "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it" (Matthew, 16:25). From the last Post on our 'false and true self', we know that this saying of Jesus may be translated into: "Whoever gains their false self will lose their true self and whoever loses their false self will gain their true self". Jesus adds the condition "for me" to indicate the purest motive needed and it means gaining 'perfect happiness' or the 'Kingdom of God' as we have already seen in the last Post.
                                       Perfect happiness or the Kingdom of God is virtually the birthright of every person born into this world. However, no one is immune to losing this right as is taught by Jesus: "Many, I tell you, will come from east and west to feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who were born to the Kingdom will be driven out into the dark, the place of wailing and grinding of teeth" (Matthew, 8: 11-12).
                                       This solemn pronouncement by Jesus was occasioned by an interesting incident reported by the Evangelist Matthew (Chapter, 8: 5-10). At Capernaum, where Jesus shifted his abode from Nazareth of Galilee, a centurion approached him with a request for curing one of his servants who was paralyzed and in pain. Jesus volunteered to go with him to his house when the centurion declared his unworthiness to receive such an august guest under his roof. Besides, the centurion professed his unswerving faith in the efficacy of the word of Jesus uttered from anywhere, near or far from his servant. What astonished Jesus was the depth of the blind faith of the centurion for which he adduced reasons from his own experience how things worked. He was also a man in authority who could command at will to his servants to do whatever he wanted done and  it was immediately executed. The implication was that Jesus being in authority over everything and everybody could do the same, illness and pain included, by a mere word. Jesus asked the centurion to go home telling him that let things be according to his faith and at that moment the servant was cured (Matthew, 8:13). That those who were born to the Kingdom or perfect happiness were unworthy of the same due to their lack of genuine faith was the first lesson to draw from the incident. The second lesson was the fact that the Kingdom of God or perfect happiness is not restricted by the limitations of religion, race, caste, creed , language etc. It is accessible to everyone who is open to it without prejudices.
                                     Here we have to be clear about the connection among perfect happiness, the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ and his disciples. How can one be a disciple of Jesus without being baptized with water and Spirit and be reborn as a member of the Church? The Church answers this difficulty with the provision that a well-meaning person seeking justice and righteousness may be considered as baptized by desire (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1260). The reason for insisting on the necessity of baptism is that the happiness we long for is perfected in the Kingdom of God that is identified with Jesus Christ  who is our righteousness before God (See our Post on ' What is righteousness?). Anyone, therefore, who stands for righteousness is thereby a disciple of Jesus and a member of the Church through baptism of desire. Similar is the case with baptism by blood for those who have undergone martyrdom for the sake of faith (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1281). Union with Jesus Christ is necessary for receiving the free gift of salvation effected in and through him by the power of God. This is why even the infants who die without baptism are entrusted to the mercy of God by the Church in their funeral rite (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1283).  
                                   The ultimate reason for the identification of righteousness with Jesus Christ is in what he did with his life in accordance with the Father's Will. Jesus became Christ through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead thereby becoming the head not only of the Church, but of the entire Universe. Specifically, Jesus became the anointed (meaning of 'Christ') through the Holy Spirit at his resurrection. He became the very principle of righteousness, setting the relationship between man and God right and anyone whose actions even approximate to what Jesus did is his disciple. All are, therefore, called to be disciples of Jesus Christ, irrespective of their various affiliations and interests in the world, through the quality of their life. All rituals and sacrifices performed should affect our lives positively to turn us into living sacrifices before God in order to be perfectly happy! 

Denial of Our False Self is the Starting-point of Our True Self

                                 "And calling the crowd to him, he said to them, 'if anyone would come after me , let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me' "(Mark, 8:34). Jesus said this to people who would like to be his disciples as an absolute condition without any exception. Why should we be the disciples of Jesus with such a heavy cost to our present way of living? Why should we take the risk of discovering our true self in exchange for our present sense of well-being? The simple answer is that this is the only sure shot method to be perfectly happy. Does it mean that those who follow other masters are not happy? Not at all! Being a disciple of Jesus is not limited by religious allegiances or various belief systems. The principle of self-denial being universal, all those who follow it are in fact disciples of Jesus. It is the only method for two reasons: 1. Jesus identified himself, through what he did with his life, with the Kingdom of God, inaugurated and gradually built up by his very being, to attain which is perfect happiness. 2. What we are called to deny is our false self, accumulated and tended by our daily involvements in wrong ways, and not our true self that is hidden in us. It is the treasure hidden in our soul as the image and likeness of God(Gen.1:26) to be chiseled out in preparation for the Kingdom of God, that is our perfect happiness.
                                 To achieve this gradual manifestation of the image of God deeply engraved in our hearts, we should make use of the art of spiritual life. The first part of this art consists in getting rid of the negativity infesting our life. It is but the outcome of our false self indulging our 'Ego' in manifold ways.These ways of appeasement of our false self appear to satisfy our need for happiness enticing us with short term and uncertain feelings of satisfaction. However, they fade away the moment we attain them urging us further to look elsewhere for additional avenues of satisfaction. All of them are merely sense-related and centered on our body and the things in the world. Gradually, we are ruled by the worldly spirit keeping us chained to our own weaknesses plunging us into boredom, depression etc. All the vices in our lives totally consume us making us impervious to our real well-being connected to our true self. What do we do then? Should we completely abandon the sense pleasures and worldly pursuits?Such a way of life is opted by some. But, the remaining vast majority only need to be aware of the nature of such satisfactions and be detached from them even while enjoying them (See our Post on 'Detachment').
                                The second part of the art of spiritual life consists in developing our true self and it is already operative when we start realizing the folly of our false self. The best way to dismantle our negative attitudes is to inject true values emanating from our true self as the image of God, which is equivalent to taking up our cross. Such values are all the noble virtues like love, gratitude, justice,honesty, humility, purity, peace-making, serviceability etc. They will effectively fight our negative inclinations like hatred, anger, jealousy, injustice, dishonesty, pride, lust, greed, selfishness etc. uprooting our false self. Uprooting and destroying our false self is what Jesus meant by denying our own self as it is the outward and visible part of our self we are used to and easily understood. The true self being hidden in our soul, spilling over into our body, we need to completely turn around, i.e., conversion demanded by Jesus in relation to the Kingdom of God and our happiness.
                                   Jesus himself gave us practical tips about ways and means to deny our self, take up our cross and follow him (See Matthew, chapters, 5-7). We have already seen in the previous Posts about the Beatitudes and the need of the disciples to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Once we have assimilated them in our life, it is possible to understand and practice the instructions given in the rest of the chapters.. The main point to remember here is to understand the sense of the instructions as against mere literal understanding and application of their supposed meaning. Let us keep in mind that the letter kills and it is the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor.5:6). It is how God Himself teaches us  (John, 14:26; 1 John, 2: 27) depending on the stage of preparedness we are in our spiritual journey.
                                  The art of spiritual life requires us to understand the Word of God in depth through study, prayer and meditation. As we understand the message, we are called upon to apply it concretely in our daily life expressing the image of God in us. This image may take the form of the salt of the earth, light of the world, servant of the people, dispenser of charities, care-taker of the poor and the marginalized etc. This is a life-long program and journey where ups and downs are normal and to be expected. We should not be disheartened by the slow progress or static stage of the journey. Such occasions can be used to refresh ourselves and restart the pilgrimage that is our life in search of perfect happiness in the Kingdom of God. 

The Rationality of Faith

                                        We propose here to take a sudden break from our train of thought so far to reflect on two fundamental questions that might creep up by now.
1. In this scientific age, where truth is supposedly measured by the Principle of Verification, what is the place for faith and religion?
2. We started out with our main title of this series "Perfect Happiness is our Birth-Right" and seems to have strayed into matters of faith without showing any connection of the latter to our happiness at all!
1. Science and Religion: This is the age-old question of the compatibility between the two tempting us to accept one as true and reject the other as false. In any dispute, the contending parties themselves cannot be the arbitrators and so a third party is needed to study the case and settle it. In our case, the third party is Philosophy that will lay out certain fundamental principles that no reasonable person can ignore and still profess to be reasonable. What are these fundamental principles? The basic ones are as follows:
a) Anything that exists or claims to exist should have a reason, either from itself or from outside itself. This is called the principle of sufficient reason.
b) If the reason is from itself, it is divided into two sub-sections: The principle of identity and the principle of contradiction or non-contradiction.
c) If the reason is from outside itself, it is called the principle of causality.
d) The principle of being open: A reasonable person will not restrict oneself to a particular mode of reality or thinking with the exclusion of all others, claiming them to be non-existent, but be open to reality that may reveal itself anytime.
                                      If both science and religion follow these principles, which are the minimum requirement of reasonableness, there need not arise any animosity between the two. They can progress together side by side keeping to their own fields of interest and ultimately converge on Truth that is but One.The Principle of Verification of Science is but a restricted tool used by various sciences in their own fields of specialization and will vary for each branch of science. It is not equipped to fight religion or faith, which have their own ways of verification of truth. This right of religion and faith has to be readily conceded since there is no uniform method of verification even in sciences. All of these principles arise from the fundamental principle of sufficient reason. Besides, it is not without reason that we qualified truth in science as supposedly measured by the Principle of Verification. The progenitors of the Principle in the Vienna Circle of Philosophers and their followers like British empiricist A.J.Ayer could try to defend it only as a principle of meaningfulness of statements and not as one for truth. Even so, it was established that the Principle could not stand as a general principle of meaningful statements in all fields of knowledge.  
                                     As for faith, though the core of faith is blind and a leap in the dark, it has its own sufficient reason not to make an unreasonable leap. This is why Philosophy is said to be the handmaid of Theology! Those who go for an unreasonable leap fall into superstitions and dark practices due to ignorance, greed for money, satisfaction of lusts etc. Thus, we have to make the fundamental distinction between the rationality of physical sciences pertaining to the visible level and the rationality of the metaphysical ones belonging to the invisible level.
2. Faith and Happiness: As for the next point of perfect happiness and matters of faith, it is the general experience of humanity that this visible world does not contain perfect happiness. Therefore, we have to search for masters who have overcome the world offering us a share in their kingdom for perfect happiness.
We have chosen Jesus Christ as our master, teacher or 'Guru', in the Indian context, to let us enter into perfect happiness. Jesus not only announced, but started building up the kingdom of heaven (of God) in this world to be completed in the world to come. We would like to be his disciples in order to be perfectly happy that is meant by entering into the Kingdom of God or into eternal life.    
                                   There is, however, a catch in this whole program initiated by Jesus. Jesus wants us to discern between reality and appearances. What appears to be true and pleasant may in fact turn out to be false and unpleasant. On the contrary, what appears to be false and unpleasant may turn out to be true and pleasant. Our attempt through the posts we have so far made as well as the ones to follow is to bring out into the open the true nature of reality and the real source of our happiness. This is summarized in the war cry, so to say, of Jesus: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew, 4:17). We are but trying to understand and follow this momentous call of the difference between life and death for us in eternity!       

The Disciples in Action

                                      The true test of genuine discipleship is possible only when the disciples of Jesus face the world. The disciples of Jesus Christ have to confront the world with equanimity. Equanimity is a direct result of the disciples practicing self-control. For, persecution and calumny may accompany them in their mission. Since they live by faith, their strength comes from within and not from the world. The world accepts and honors only those who are conformed to its ways and standards of action (John,15:18-19). Those who are conformed to the ways and standards set by Jesus and his mission of salvation to the world are on the road to persecution and calumny (Matthew, 5:11). The response of the disciples of Jesus should be one of joy because of their great reward in heaven as the prophets before them too were persecuted (Matthew,5:12). This reward in heaven is but an unlimited and enhanced love, joy and peace the disciples already experience here and now in this world. For, Jesus himself inaugurated the kingdom of heaven here on earth to be fully manifested in the world to come.    
                                    Jesus compared the disciples to salt and light in the manner in which they should accomplish their mission. They are the salt of the earth (Matthew, 5:13) and light of the world (Matthew,5:14-16). Salt has value because of its capacity to preserve food items from decay as well as its quality of flavor enhancer. Devoid of these qualities, salt is fit only to be thrown out to be trampled upon by everyone. Similar is the case with the disciples of Jesus who have a mission to announce the Good News inaugurated by Jesus himself. Being salt of the earth, the disciples should try to protect their surroundings from ungodly people bent on corrupting society (Psalm, 14:3; Romans, 8: 8). This presupposes that the disciples are not only incorruptible themselves, but also proactive in bringing about a corruption-free society. The measure of success in this endeavor is not merely positive results achieved, but specially the sound attitude of the disciples. The other quality of salt as a flavor enhancer is fulfilled in the disciples when they try to enhance the flavor of life by bringing order in a disorderly world (Luke, 6: 35).
                                   The disciples should also be the light of the world by shining in the dark world through the Word of God as well as their life by means of good deeds (Matthew,5:14-16; John, 1:1-14). Our deeds should be in accordance with the Beatitudes announced by Jesus (Matthew, 5:3-10) so that the people would glorify the Father in heaven, seeing how we live. The disciples living in the world should not be so identified with the world as to blur the distinction between them and the world. This distinction is not so much manifested through the external appearances as through the expression of our internal dispositions by means of good deeds.    
                                  The disciples should not forget that Jesus, the master, is the ultimate source of the light of the world as he is himself the Light (John, 8:12). Jesus is the light of the world enlightening every person coming into the world (John, 1:9; 3:19) and yet some people prefer darkness to light. It is because their deeds are evil that they shun the light that is meant to help us see right and lead us to life (John,3:20; Isaiah,9:2). Each person is created by God with the basic capacity of light as each one is an image and likeness of God (Genesis,1:26). This capacity is put into active use through the words and example of Jesus enlightening us on the way to eternal life. Thus Jesus remains the light of the whole world both by his life and by his death and resurrection along with his ascension to the Father in heaven.
                                  We should beware of obstacles to our saltiness and capacity to be the light to everyone we meet. Lack of peace can destroy the saltiness in us (Mark, 9:50). Failure to daily take up the cross and follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly can also destroy saltiness in us (Luke, 14:34-35). Our selfish acts may bear counter testimony to our mission of being light of the world. To remain salt of the earth and light of the world, a disciple has to remain focused on Christ and be totally obedient to him in keeping his commandments. No one deserves the name 'disciple' unless one is totally under the spell of the master who is perfection itself.    
                                  Good deeds have a cardinal role to play in our becoming the light of the world. To achieve the intended purpose of enlightening others, our deeds must proceed from good intentions and without expecting any reward from anyone. The desire to gain name and fame or wealth through our deeds of a spiritual nature is utterly foreign to the idea of being the light of the world and should be banished from our minds. It does not mean that one should not strive to earn name, fame and wealth through one's actions, but only that they should not contradict our spiritual values. The motive should be solely to please the master who would reward us at his own discretion. This kind of attitude and behavior from the disciples will lead to the glorification of the Father in heaven by the people who witness them as taught by Jesus.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The Genuine Disciples of Jesus Christ

                                              We are interested here in deciphering the requirements for a person to be a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ. In the Bible we find three connected terms: follower, disciple and Apostle. A follower is one who is attracted to a leader whom he or she would like to imitate, whereas a disciple is one who is totally attached to a master from whom he or she would like to learn and live accordingly. An Apostle is a messenger, officially sent by one who holds authority, to deliver a message or teachings. An Apostle has to be a disciple and a disciple has to be a follower of the leader in order to be a genuine Apostle or disciple.
                                             A disciple of Jesus Christ  has to first listen to the Gospel and understand the implications of the Good News proclaimed by Jesus. The Good News is rooted in the promise made by God to Abraham: "And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis, 22:18).People who fight over Isaac or Ismail as the promised issue think only carnally and not spiritually. Jesus Christ is the spiritual issue bringing salvation and blessings to all peoples and all Nations. This promise, therefore, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ whose disciples we want to be. Jesus started with the first level of discipleship, i.e., to be his follower: " If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark, 8:34). He gave a stunningly shocking reason for this stringent condition: " For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel's will save it" (Mark, 8:35).
                                            More is, however, required from a disciple of Jesus by way of self-transformation. This is a transformation from the present world-view we hold to the one held by Jesus in order to be a new person through conversion (repentance).As a result, a disciple is able to follow the new commandment: " I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John,13:34-35). The Apostle Paul reminded us about this transformation when he wrote that the disciples should not be conformed to this world, but should be transformed by the renewal of their minds. As for their bodies, offering them as living sacrifices is their spiritual worship (Romans, 12: 1-3).
                                           The earth-shaking demands of Jesus to hate one's own father and mother etc. (Luke, 14:26-27) are precisely that in order to shake us out of our lethargy resulting from our attachment to the world. This and similar passages are meant to wean us out from undue attachment even to our loved ones through practice of detachment (See our Post on 'Detachment'). We might wonder how to live in the world, society, family etc.if we strictly follow the words of Jesus wishing to lead a peaceful life. This is the crux of the problem: what we now consider as peace is no peace at all, but only adjustments by mutual give and take for maintaining a sort of materialistic life. Unless and until we shake off our present mode of thinking and living, we shall never be liberated from the shackles that bind us to our harmful self-love making us slaves to our desires driving us into unhappiness in due course. This is why Jesus said that trying to save one's own life is to lose it and losing it is to save it!
                                            What is the way out then to be whole and lead a full life in our day-to-day life in the world? It is possible through self-mastery practiced by means of self-control in order to conquer not only ourselves but also the world. For this the most apt means is to be a genuine disciple of Jesus who conquered the world by conquering himself (John, 16:33). The natural reaction of anyone with human nature to the tough conditions Jesus imposed on those who want to follow him would be: why should I? The simple answer is that there is no other way for our real well-being both in this world and in the world to come. Jesus differs from every other human being by becoming what he professed and preached and thus turning out to be the way, the truth and the life (John, 14:6).
                                             The core of self-control may be summarized in two types of actions performed by us. 1. As we cannot escape from the world and the things therein even in our spiritual life, in engaging and enjoying the world we have to take care not to be controlled by our passions as well as the attractions of the world. We should not be their slaves, but masters and enjoy the world on our own terms. We enjoy life in the world on our own terms when we live according to our true nature that is the source of our happiness and not when dictated by the world. 2. We have to curb our 'ego' that is the despoiler of all right relationships with God and people around us. The practical way of doing it is to deny our self-importance and be ready to serve in humility as Jesus has shown by washing the feet of his own disciples. Let us be genuine disciples of Jesus Christ in order to reign with him in his glory.    

The Persecuted and the Kingdom of Heaven

                                            "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew, 5:10).
The first and the last of the beatitudes promise the kingdom of heaven and that too indicating the reward starting to be bestowed already now in this world. This shows how the Kingdom of God (heaven) is planted and nurtured in us even now to be gradually developed and enjoyed hereafter in the life to come in full measure. For the blessings of the other 6 beatitudes, we have to patiently wait till they are accomplished in the new heavens and the new earth (Revelations, 21:1). St. Augustine considered the first and the last beatitudes as really one because of the similarity of the reward of the kingdom of heaven. However, they cannot be identified as one because of the first parts in each of them: poverty in spirit for the first and persecution because of righteousness in the last. We have already seen the explanations for "poverty in spirit" and " righteousness  because of persecutions" in our previous posts.
                                           Jesus challenges in the Beatitudes our concept of blessedness consisting of bodily health and material wealth. He reverses the present world-order that heavily depends on our perception of well-being based on matter, body, senses etc. in favor of our real well-being based on the spirit, soul and the mind consisting of our intellect and will power. Jesus initiated the proclamation of his Gospel with this idea in mind by saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is now close at hand" (Matthew, 4:17). The early martyrs who suffered persecutions and death for Christ and the present persecutions of Christians in certain parts of the world are counted as blessings in this spiritual sense. Let us hasten to add here that our spiritual self is the deepest truth in us and not merely something peripheral and ornamental. If only persecutions, seizure of possessions, torture and death are taken as means to become like Christ along with righteousness, love, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, they are a blessing! If our world-view and life are governed by greed for material possessions as well as bodily indulgences to the point of neglecting our spiritual well-being, persecutions etc. are a complete disaster for us. However, how to live in the world of matter acquiring wealth and living a happy life etc. is to be learnt from the first Beatitude that is about poverty in spirit.
                                         Why is the Kingdom of Heaven inevitably persecuted by the kingdoms of the world? It is due to the gulf between matter and spirit, body and soul, the earthly and the heavenly. Paul says in Galatians 4:29 that he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according  to the Spirit, even so it is now. In John 15:18-21 Jesus spoke about the inevitability of persecution for those who really grasp the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven, its nature and powers and live accordingly.
                                         Persecutions need not necessarily originate from the enemies of Christianity or from those who are ignorant of Jesus Christ. It may co-exist with so-called belief in Christ where brother may betray brother and so-called disciples of Jesus Christ may try to pull down other disciples out of jealousy etc. In this context, we may recall the homily by Pope Francis on the 19th of November 2014 at Casa Santa Marta where he mentioned about a sort of 'comfortable spirituality' that is actually a state of sin. The Pope's reference was to chapter 3 of Revelations dealing with the lukewarm Church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22). Thus there are various degrees of persecutions even within the Church of Christ because of a distorted view of discipleship in such persecutors (See next post:: 'Genuine Disciples of Jesus Christ'). Paul himself advised Timothy, his assistant and a true disciple of Christ, that all who desire to live a holy life united in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy, 3:12)  Persecution of any type from anyone is a golden opportunity to bear witness to Jesus Christ and we will be given a wisdom our enemies are unable to contradict (Luke, 21: 12-19).
                                          So, how should we face persecutions? It is an opportunity for the true disciples of Jesus to grow in love, joy and peace. Let us remember that these three are the first fruits of the Holy Spirit out of the nine mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23. Heaven is nothing but true love, joy and peace all of which experienced now will be completed in our life to come. Suffering persecutions willingly for the sake of Jesus Christ is a sign that our faith is real and deep and we don't go by a comfortable spirituality. We are really the salt of the earth and the light of the world reminding us at the same time that we are serving a kingdom not of this world! " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew, 5:16). 

Relationship of peacemakers to God

                                        " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons(children) of God" (Matthew, 5:9). Jesus who made this promise is the perfect model of true peacemakers, having shed his own blood to reconcile the sinful human race with God (Colosians, 1:20). Those who bring reconciliation to broken relationships, in one's own case or that of others, are peacemakers. It is all the more praiseworthy to forestall conflict situations and try to prevent the breaking of ties. This cannot be done unless our relationship to God is set right as "there is no peace for the wicked" (Isaiah, 48:22). Real peace is the restoration of right relationships among men and women, personally and socially, based on the restoration of relationship with God. Real peace and unity have to proceed from the inner recesses of the soul to be lasting as against their mere semblances set to crash any moment. It is a matter of justice and righteousness, not just absence of conflicts. Real peace creates harmony among people and makes life complete and fulfilled.    
                                         How does peace come about? In the Old Testament, prophet Jeremiah warned people about the appearance of peace when there is no real peace. " For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain. And from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely" (Jer., 6:13). They say "peace", "peace", but there is no peace (Jer., 6:14). Peace can come to people not by merely announcing it, but through the action of peacemakers. They take action to resolve conflicts and promote peace actively, not satisfied with being merely passive and peaceful people. A peacemaker has to be honest about the prevailing situation in the community or among people and never gloss over the cracks and the weak spots before they do full damage. The prophet Ezekiel in 13:10 warned the  people not to cry "peace" when there is no peace. To do so is like covering a flimsy wall with plaster that is going to fall.
                                       It takes effort to make peace and to maintain it. Paul advised the Christians to make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Eph., 4:3). In Romans 14:19, Paul writes that every effort should be made to do what leads to peace. Romans 12:18 cautions people that if it is possible, as far as it depended on them, to live at peace with everyone. A peacemaker's character should be filled with godly wisdom, pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere attitudes. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness (James, 3: 17-18).    
                                      Peacemakers know that real peace is costly. It requires self-sacrifice and humility from the part of the peacemaker. Peacemakers have nothing to depend on except the grace of God. He or she offers himself or herself as an instrument in the hands of God  An instrument has nothing to boast of and is totally pliable in the hands of the user who may throw it away after making use of it. An instrument cannot claim rights and privileges and cannot hope to share the fruits produced. What is more, a peacemaker may be made to bear the weight of the guilt incurred by the warring parties, thereby exonerating them of their guilt. It adds to the righteousness of the peacemaker, just as in the case of Jesus, making him or her thereby a son or a daughter of God as the case may be. After thoroughly executing the job at hand, peacemakers should say:: " ... we are unworthy servants; we have done only that which we ought to have done" (Luke, 17:10).  
                                     How are the peacemakers called sons of God? They will be sons or daughters (children) of God in virtue of the new creation effected through God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Let us remember here that Jesus Christ is not restricted to the realm of the Church alone, as he is the head of the entire Universe, visible and invisible, besides being the head of the Church. It is essential, therefore, for us to be completely transformed into new creatures for which the beatitudes show us the way. John, 1:12 and Galatians 3:26 tell us that we become sons of God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Only when we attune our character to that of the Father in heaven can we become sons of God who is a "God of peace" (Rom., 16:20; 1 Thessalonian 5:23; Hebrews 13:20). "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them" (2 Cor., 5:19). God reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven and thus made peace by the blood of Jesus poured out at the cross (Col., 1:20). On a daily basis, we are led by God's Spirit, a Spirit of peace, and thus making us sons of God (Rom., 8:14).
                                     Peacemakers who are called sons of God start living a heavenly life already now here on earth. This is so because the peace enjoyed by the peacemakers is not like the peace we may receive in and from the world (John, 14:27). The world can give only temporary and superficial peace as it is derived from external and contingent factors on which we have no control. The peace Jesus gives is from above and is eternal and permanent being inserted into our hearts welling up into eternal and heavenly life. Peacemakers are truly called sons (children) of God.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

The Pure in Heart will See God

                                        " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew, 5:8). The two important words that need explanation in this context are "pure" and "see". Both of them may be used in two senses each; one material and the other spiritual besides shades of meaning in between. The Greek word used in the New Testament for 'pure' is 'katharos' and that too 27 times in various contexts. The clean cloth used for wrapping the body of Jesus for his burial (Matthew, 27:59) indicates its material sense. When Jesus said that his disciples were clean but not all of them meaning his betrayer (John, 13:10-11), he used the word in its spiritual sense. Shades of meaning in between these two poles of material and spiritual senses are to be seen in the psychological sense of the healing the possessed (Matthew, 12:22). The word is also used in curing diseases like leprosy (Luke,17: 11-19) where again different senses apply.
                                         The Greek word for 'see' is 'horao' and is used 449 times in the New Testament. It also has two senses: literal and figurative. The literal sense refers to seeing with our physical eyes as when Jesus asked for a coin to see whose inscription was on it (Mark, 12: 15). When figuratively employed, it means to "to perceive", "to understand", "to experience" etc. In Romans,1:21b it is used in the sense of understanding or knowing God. It is used in the sense of  'experiencing' in John, 3:36, where it is said that he who refuses to obey the Son will not 'see' life. "Seeing" and "entering" the Kingdom of God (John, 3:3-5) are to be understood as experiencing and living in the Kingdom.
                                         Moses, who was privileged to speak to God face to face just as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus, 33:11), was not allowed to see His face as no man could look upon the glory of God and live ( Exodus, 33: 19-23). The Apostle John testifies that no one has seen God  at any time except the Son who is in the bosom of the Father (John, 1:18; 1 John, 412) If so, what is the meaning of the promise in this beatitude? The ' heart' referred to in this beatitude has nothing to do with the physical organ pumping blood to all parts of the body. It refers to the center of our personality, the essence of our individual existence around which our entire life turns like in a fulcrum. Spiritual purity of this center devoid of evil thoughts like murder, adultery, fornication, idolatry, impurity, enmity, anger, envy, hatred, lust for power, sex, greed, drunkenness etc. is presupposed before we are able to see God by living in His Kingdom. Mere legalistic and ritualistic approaches cannot please God, let alone the chance of seeing Him.
                                       Purity of heart means that we are in conformity with God's ways of thinking and acting as King David was able to do. In this respect, even the great and wise King Solomon, son of King David, failed due to which God gave, after his death, a major part of his kingdom to his servant Jeroboam. Thus Solomon's vast kingdom was divided into Israel, under Jeroboam, and Judah, under Rehoboam, Solomon's son. Thus the division of original Israel, consisting of 12 Tribes took place; 11 Tribes with Jeroboam and one Tribe (Judah) with Rehoboam. Even this small portion was allowed to be kept back for the sake of David (1 Kings, chapters 12-16). King David was totally faithful in keeping and observing the commandments and statutes set by God and was considered as one after God's own heart. For his personal failure, David was ruthlessly punished by God to reform and renew him.
                                     How should we conduct ourselves in order to be pure of heart? A divided heart may be a sign of an impure heart. It is impure without singleness of purpose. The double-minded person tries to serve both God and Mammon. Mammon stands here for money or wealth of this world. Jesus gave the reason for this sort of impurity as none can serve two masters at the same time (Matthew, 6: 24). The pure of heart has no hidden agenda. There is no ulterior motive in serving the Master other than glorifying His name This glorification is not divorced from the well-being, consisting in the enhancement of God's image, of the servant who glorifies God's name. As we cannot walk physically in both directions at the same time, we cannot reach our spiritual goal without singleness of purpose.
                                    How, then, can we live in this world of material necessities, societal obligations, personal competitions etc. without compromising on the purity of our heart? It is possible to enjoy this world and all the avenues of life here and now if we practice detachment (see the post on 'Detachment'). It means to say that we need not be unnecessarily attached to persons and things in this world and thus keeping ourselves away from the poisonous elements contained in them. Our addiction to and abuse of persons and things gives a clear idea of what harm is hidden in an attitude of undue attachment. In order to keep a clean and pure heart we must surrender ourselves to the Pure Being (God) to whom we try to conform ourselves in our everyday life. A form of meditative prayer (contemplation) would help us to connect with that Ultimate Being in whose presence our life in the world will be fulfilling.    

Mercy for the Merciful

                                    ' Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matthew, 5:7). The first 4 beatitudes naturally lead to the fifth one of being merciful to the disadvantaged, weak and marginalized people. For, we are exactly in the same situation before God by being poor in spirit, mourning, by being meek and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. We who receive gracious and merciful bounty from the King are required, in our turn, to be gracious and merciful to our less privileged brethren. This is exactly what Jesus taught through the parable of the unforgiving and unmerciful servant who was liberally forgiven and set free from his debts owed by him to his master (Matthew, 18: 21-35).
                                     The merciful are blessed because they forget about their own rights and needs and show kindness to others and heal their wounds. This is done not because they naturally like it, but because they are conscious of the fact that they themselves are forgiven and shown mercy by the Lord. Because they are merciful to others now, they will be shown mercy not only now but also in the future life to come.
                                      Acts of mercy can arise only from a loving heart. It is an overflow of love that is usually hidden and finds an opportunity to express itself in acts of mercy. When it proceeds from love, our attitude to the beneficiary of our merciful act would be one of respect and humility. A condescending and superiority-complex driven act of mercy deprives the benefactor of all merit and reward due to the wrong motives of the action performed. It also humiliates and demoralizes the beneficiary of the act of mercy who has a right to the dignity of his or her person. Empowering others by our acts of mercy pertains to its substance over and above any material or physical assistance rendered. Empowering a person belongs to the sphere of the Spirit and is essential for the spiritual life of both the benefactor and the beneficiary.
                                     The motive for showing mercy to others is that we have been shown mercy by God in so many ways and in several instances. If God were to extract retribution for our acts, we would not have been alive today and alive in the way we seem to thrive in the world! Since God needs nothing from us, what we can do to show devotion to God is to show mercy and assist the unfortunate ones in place of God. This very attitude is highly recommended by Jesus by proclaiming that whatever has been done for these little ones has been actually done for him (Matthew, 25:40). We have an important duty to God to show our gratitude for all the good things he has bestowed on us. This obligation is eminently fulfilled by showing mercy to the underprivileged and the weak for the sake of our love of God. Our intention and motives should be highly pure in helping others since we deal with God when we deal with our neighbor.
                                     Besides material assistance to the needy, we can show mercy in innumerable ways that are directly connected to our spirit. Willingness to forgive others when they offend us in any manner is but a corollary to our general attitude of tolerance of others when their behavior in general is not palatable to us. Very often, the dislike we feel for others is due to difference of temperament, cultural background, education, view of life, personal circumstances etc. For the same reasons, others may not like our behavior and attitudes. Tolerance, understanding, dialogue, mutual respect and trying to learn more about others to appreciate their ways of acting etc. are part and parcel of being merciful.
                                    Very often, people feel that condemning others for their wrong doing will justify them before the society. On the contrary, it is the guilty who is usually quick to condemn the wrongdoer. Jesus graphically portrayed this attitude in the case of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John, 8:1-11). As per the Jewish Law, the woman was to be stoned to death and they came prepared with stones to trick Jesus into giving an opinion.  Jesus gave his opinion by asking the one without sin to cast the first stone. The crowd melted away within no time, the stones slipping from their hands, beginning with the eldest leaving the woman alone with Jesus! This shows that they had a conscience at least that was able to prick them when confronted with reality. Would it be the same if we were to face such a situation? If not, are we hypocrites, instead of being merciful?    

What Is Righteousness?

                                        Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: " Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied" ( Matthew, 5:6). Like many passages in the Bible, we think that we know the meaning of 'righteousness', but in fact we don't. Usually, we hunger and thirst for food and drink to satisfy our bodily needs. Here hunger and thirst are for righteousness, which, therefore, must be from our soul. Soul being spirit in the body must be longing for spiritual food and drink. Righteousness is that spiritual food and drink combined as a gift flowing from God to those who hunger and thirst after it.
                                      That it is not a product of our actions is clear from what Jesus says: " For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew, 5:20). Righteousness implies our right standing before God for which we are incapable unless we receive it as a gift from God. It does not consist in good actions we perform nor in rituals of sacrifices and offerings we make to God. The essence of righteousness consists in taking upon ourselves the punishment for the wrongs others have committed while we remain innocent. It is most repugnant to human nature to undergo this ordeal and yet is possible in union with the one who conquered the world by conquering his own self. This is what God did in Jesus: " God made him who had no sin be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" ( 2 Corinthians, 5:21). Our righteousness, therefore, is through our participation in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who alone is righteous in his own right before God. Subsequently, our good actions, sacrifices and offerings are acceptable to God.
                                       All our good actions, sacrifices etc.offered to God  should follow on the basis of this righteousness for which we should hunger and thirst. If so, we shall be able to control our impulses to kill as well as our tendency to get angry. We should be able to reconcile with anyone who has anything against us before our display of devotion to God in public. We shall understand that looking at a woman with the eyes of lust is committing adultery with her in our heart. In marriage, there can be no divorce according to our whims and fancies. Forget about swearing, one has to be so honest and trustworthy that there is no need of any swearing.  Instead of "an eye for an eye", " a tooth for a tooth", we have to turn the other cheek too. If someone sues us for anything, give him or her double of what they ask for We should not turn away anyone empty-handed who asks us for some help. Even people who ask for a loan should not be refused. On top of everything, we have to love our enemies as well as our friends.
                                    Is it practical to live like this in this world? In order to follow these principles, we have to first understand them correctly. A literal interpretation of the texts in all cases may not bring out the intended meaning.The social situation in each age, human tendencies to be lazy and to take advantage of others, the need to uphold the dignity of everyone including our own etc. should be taken into account to properly understand each case. Within this framework, it is practical and possible to live by those principles if we can follow the instruction of Jesus: " But seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew, 6:33). These things are our daily needs like food and drink and clothing etc. for which we anxiously labor every day. If so, how much more will be the gift of God that fulfills our spiritual needs! Seeking God's Kingdom and his righteousness implies that we start with the beatitudes whereby we are in the right frame of mind to put into practice the instructions of Jesus and be his disciples. The beatitudes (Matthew, 5:3-12) and all the instructions that follow (Matthew, 5:13-48) are specifically addressed to those who would like to be the disciples of Jesus. The following chapters 6 and 7 expand the theme in the same spirit. A disciple is empowered from above to put into practice the instructions of Jesus. The disciples of Jesus are extremely happy people because of the influence of the beatitudes (Matthew, 5:3-12) in their life.  
                                  The happiness that starts in the life of the disciples in this very life will be completed in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the hope we live by everyday. People like the pharisees and the doctors of the Law among the Jewish people during the time of Jesus were extremely legalistic and were slaves to the Law. In their condition of slavery they were not fit to understand the freedom offered through the beatitudes and the meaning of righteousness before God. This is why Jesus discounted them from entering the Kingdom of God. The righteousness acceptable to God did not arise from the observation of the Law but from the promise made by God to Abraham and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It is, therefore, essential to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. A nominal Christian may not qualify while a true disciple of Jesus from any religion, being truly righteous, may enter heaven before many others. St. Augustine has given a reason for this paradox by saying that there are some who think that they are in the Church who may really be outside it while there are others who think that they are outside the Church who may be really in. The ultimate mystery is that true righteousness being identified with Jesus Christ, anyone who participates in the  one does so in the other too.

Happy are Those Who Mourn

                                       The second beatitude proclaimed by Jesus as part of the Sermon on the Mount  "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" is also part of his Gospel prophesied by Isaiah 61:2 and recorded by Matthew 5:4. God Himself is the One who is going to comfort those who mourn now by wiping away every tear from their eyes (Revelation, 7: 17). Jesus foretold the fate of his disciples in the world: " Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy" (John, 16: 20). Some people misunderstand these sayings and think that the true disciples of Jesus must be gloomy people, with sour faces and far removed from the present reality of this world.
                                      There are different kinds of sorrow in this world. Very many of our sorrows are caused by ourselves either due to ignorance or through unworthy desires. We think that we will be happy if only we had such and such things of the world or unlimited wealth to satisfy our every desire. By the time we realize that these are illusions like in mirages, it may be too late as we might have been too much caught up in our imagination and made a mess of our life. The remedy to these kinds of sorrow lies hidden within us as all of us are born to be happy as is visible in the little children ( see the post on 'children as role-models'). God does not have to intervene each time we fall into our own folly to make us happy as it is within our power to revert to our inner resources already deposited there by God.
                                     Another source of sorrow arises from the wrong human relationships, especially from the circle of our relatives and friends. The reason for failure is our tendency to possessiveness manifested in undue attachments. The solution lies in detachment from everyone and everything expressed by Jesus as leaving behind our parents, siblings, wife, husband, children etc. As a result, we shall have purified attachments to those very same people whereby not only we, but also they become really free. Where there is freedom, there is happiness and we need not expect God to set right our relationships and wipe away our tears. This kind of sorrow, therefore, can be turned into joy by using our internal resources accumulated from the Word of God and expressed externally.
                                    The third kind of sorrow arises from the ill will of other people who treat us badly because we are good, just and truthful etc.This category of people are promised by Jesus the kingdom of heaven in the last beatitude (Matthew, 5:10-12). The right response in the situation would be to rejoice and be glad because of the great reward in heaven. The Apostles of Jesus Christ leaped for joy for being counted worthy to suffer for their master. Here again, we do not wait to be comforted by God as we are already happy in the present situation.
                                    So, what is the sorrow or grief that strikes us in our daily life needing God Himself to wipe our tears away? There is a hint in the Gospel of John 16:20 about the kind of grief it is. It is that kind of grief whereby the disciples of Jesus weep and mourn while the world rejoices. Life in this world seems to be cause for grief for some and happiness for others. But, this grief will turn into joy and by implication the present happiness for some will turn into sorrow. It is not the world that is the culprit, but the worldly spirit that rules over those who seem to be happy now compared to which the disciples are grief-struck. Let us remember that two irreconcilable standards of measurement are used here. The one is worldly and temporal and the other is transcendental and eternal. Here the part of God comes into play wiping the tears away from the cheeks of the disciples of Jesus whereby they become joyful.
                                    The present happiness of those who are enslaved by the spirit of the world is shallow, apparent and temporary. The grief of the disciples hides a deep, real and permanent source of joy that will be perfected by God in His Kingdom expressed metaphorically by "wiping away the tears". The disciples of Jesus do not feel at home and are strangers in the world because their real home is the Kingdom of God. This is the source of grief for them and for them to live in their true colors, it is necessary for them to become like little children. Then they would feel completely at home when they have God as their Father as well as their Mother and without any worries. 

Meekness overcomes the World

                                        Jesus said: " Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).The blessedness envisaged here is equal to the perfect happiness we seek in life. However, many are puzzled by this promise as they do not correctly understand what is meant by meekness and the meaning of inheriting the earth. Many tend to think that a meek person should only whimper and blubber like little lambs
faced with cruelty and injustice. The Bible, however, understands it differently as power under God exercised with self-control.. In the Old Testament, Moses is described as the meekest man on earth (Numbers, 12:3). The vigorous action of Jesus in cleansing the Jerusalem Temple of the corrupt practices of religion (Mark, 11: 15-17) was not in conflict with his own description of himself as meek and lowly in heart ( Matthew, 11: 28-29). Both Moses and Jesus were able to exercise power under God with self-control and so were meek and humble. What is more, his invitation was to those who labor under heavy loads to learn from him. His promise was rest for their souls! When the body is under strain, Jesus wants us to strengthen it by means of the power of our soul that remains ignored for so long. Although every power that moves and activates our body comes from our soul, we tend to ignore it cutting off thereby the source of relief to and rejuvenation of our body.
                                       How does power under control ( meekness) operate in our actual situations of life? It implies two things: (a) We should not be busy bragging about our talents and achievements and yet without denying them should use our sober judgement (Romans, 12:3). We can be modest without denying our strengths and abilities as well as limitations. When Jesus was asked whether he was the Messiah, he pointed to his miracles without any false modesty, inflated self-image or inferiority complex. (b) The second aspect of meekness consists in our decision not to defend ourselves against false accusations. It is not that we are incapable of defending ourselves and yet we decide to sacrifice that power of self-defense that could even devastate the accuser, had we used it, for the sake of leaving our power under God's control. The exception to this rule is when we don't want to let down the people who depend on us on account of our integrity. At the same time, we shall keep in mind Psalm 37: 1-11 that says:"Do not fret because of the wicked... the meek shall inherit the land".
                                     When we look at the world of everyday living at home, workplace, society etc., reality bites and we remain perplexed. The arrogant and the self-seeking seem to win in every sphere leaving by the wayside those who refuse to join the rat-race! It is a forgotten truth that even after winning the race, they remain rats!! Here is the difference between the real joy, peace and happiness enjoyed by the meek and the others who seemingly have achieved their goal. The Universe comes to the aid of those who are pushed aside by the selfish and the vainglorious. This, again, does not mean that we should sit quietly without putting any effort to carry out our responsibilities conscientiously. Those who are hungry for power are often lonely people. Even when they think that they possess the world, in actual fact they are possessed by the world and are enslaved by it. The world does not leave its subjects in peace and security even when they have amassed wealth for many generations to come. On the contrary, the meek and the humble are never possessed by the world even when they have possessions in the world.
                                    How does the meek inherit the earth? God's power and control in the kingdom of heaven is gradually transforming the earth into a new earth (Revelation, 21:1).It will be a part of new heaven of which the meek will share abundantly already here on earth before they die. This newness is carried forward in the new life after death where our contribution through meekness and humility is multiplied and returned to us. Jesus promised a hundred fold of everything in this very life of anything sacrificed for his sake besides inheriting eternal life (Mark, 10: 28-31). Our inheriting the earth will be fulfilled in the new heaven and the new earth as our contribution now here on earth is transformed and carried forward in the new life. It does not mean that we should be deprived of the material goods that enhance our life here on earth at present. We may enjoy them under the control of God's power who is intent on building up the kingdom of heaven on earth. The arrogant and the self-seeking are strangers to this new order of things as they refuse to use power and wealth for the benefit of others and are blinded by illusions. They cannot even imagine what God has prepared for those who love Him. The meek have love, joy and peace in them, which are but a foretaste of heaven itself.
                                         

The Visible and the Invisible

                                      The constant temptation in our life is the tendency to be swayed by the visible world in opposition to the invisible one, if at all there is one! This happens because we are inclined to think that while the sciences support the visible and the material world, there is no scientific basis (understood narrowly) for the existence of the invisible world. The stronger tendency is to suppose that it is scientific to deny the existence of the invisible world, whereas the fact is that it is most illogical to deny something one has no experience of. It is like denying the existence of a white crow, because so far one has seen only black crows!
                                     The additional reason for denying the invisible and the supernatural along with belief and faith in them is the fear of superstitions that may creep into these systems of thought. Here we have the assistance of Philosophy that is specifically meant to uproot unfounded beliefs as it is the duty of Philosophy to dig into the foundations of all true knowledge going to the limits of the very being of everything. In this context, what service does Philosophy fulfill with regard to material sciences like Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics etc. to consolidate their foundations? Besides the particular foundations each branch of Science have, all branches of true knowledge have a common foundation that is absolutely necessary for them to be rational. This common foundation is the openness of the mind to any possibility that may offer itself for investigation. Refusal to open up adamantly restricting one's mind only to pre-conceived ideas is the most irrational and unscientific attitude one can have. Philosophy goes into such conditions of possibility for anything to be rational thereby uprooting the basis of all sorts of superstitions.    
                                      This is why spirituality cannot avoid philosophical thinking as far as its foundations are concerned. It is the takeoff point for spiritual and theological sciences, although they are not tied down to Philosophy at all. After taking off from the firm ground of Philosophy they proceed according to their first principles, which are not answerable to Philosophy. This is so even for material sciences in their proper investigations where they can afford to forget all about Philosophy. Since these sciences cannot overrule the fundamental requirement of rationality, i.e., openness to possibilities of reality, it goes against the very rationality of these sciences, if they deny the existence of an invisible world. The most rational attitude, therefore, for them is to admit that it does not belong to the province of their sciences.
                                     Theology and Spirituality delve into the realm of the invisible world because God, being Spirit and not matter, is invisible and both Theology and Spirituality strive to connect with that invisible Reality. Since our souls are direct reflections of God Himself, they too are invisible and are accessed by Theology and Spirituality. Although Philosophers have proposed many rational proofs for the existence of God, they can only be meager, yet valuable, attempts of investigations in the direction of Truth. The experience of the invisible reality by the whole person is far better than broken glimpses attained through our intellect and senses etc. Theology and Spirituality are based on the Word of God revealed by Him transforming and transporting our entire personality into the realm of the invisible world.        
                                     There is no proper spirituality and theological investigation if the invisible world is not taken as their proper subject-matter and object of study. This is why Jesus insisted on the need to connect to what is from above as against what belongs here below to the visible Universe (John, 8: 23). If our happiness is restricted to the visible world and its offerings, it cannot be perfect and perpetual. Created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis, 1: 26), our nature thirsts for Him, Who is essentially invisible and Whose Essence is His Existence. When we are awakened and enlightened, we see that each moment without the baggage of the past and expectation of the future is a gift of God throbbing with life and joy. Come, let us enjoy this fullness!    

Detachment

                                         As we have already seen, the capacity to be detached from worldly possessions and from whatever is near and dear to us is the hallmark of poverty in spirit. Jesus made it clear by a shocking statement like leaving one's own father and mother etc. for his sake (in Mark and Matthew) and hating them (in Luke ). This has to be understood in the context of hating and denying one's own self in order to be a disciple of Jesus. This can only mean that we should be willing to get rid of whatever belongs to our lower nature in order to promote our higher nature. The latter is our real self while the former is only the apparent one. Similarly, with our parents, near and dear ones and possessions, we should be willing to discard the apparent and false reality in them for the true one. This is achieved through our detachment from undue attachment to everything including our own self so that we may be truly liberated. How do we get detached from ourselves? It is done through getting rid of our false self  in seeking name, fame, position, possessions etc at the cost of our true self that bestows our internal liberation.
                                        How is the distinction between our higher nature and lower nature meant to apply to our possessions, parents, near and dear ones etc. To understand this, let us recall the words of Jesus: "Flesh can give birth only to flesh; it is spirit that gives birth to spirit" (John, 3:6). This may be taken as the general principle to distinguish between the lower and higher natures in man pertaining to his body and soul. The preponderance of the body and its inclinations issues forth in our lower nature, whereas the higher nature is in place where the spirit, the soul in our case, rules over the body. Why should it be so? Again, let us follow the words of Jesus: "The spirit alone gives life; the flesh is of no avail; the words which I have spoken to you are both spirit and life" (John, 6, 53).
                                        The vital principle to keep in mind is that our soul that is the life-giving principle is overshadowed by our inordinate attention to the body and its accessories. We are externally related to the world through our five sense organs, which are powered by our mind. The mind is but a common name for our two internal faculties of intellect and will that are powered by our soul. In our rush to the external world through our senses, we all but forget the internal faculties and the soul that powers them. The Copernican revolution of getting back from our involvement with the world through the sense faculties to the internal source cannot be achieved without detachment from the world.
                                       Detachment is possible only if we are awake to reality and willing to be conscious of illusions for what they are. This is why all great spiritual masters call our ordinary condition of living in the world a state of sleep. Enlightenment is the means to be awakened from our sleep and it runs concurrently with our detachment from the world. Jesus cautioned his disciples to keep awake and pray constantly for the same reason. By sleep is meant the spiritual slumber leading to a kind of stupor we are in due to our deep attachment to the world. Perpetual prayer means that we should always be in the spirit of prayer and not the formal prayers we make periodically. It means that our thinking, words and actions remain in conformity with the essence of prayer that is our union with God. Both wakefulness and spirit of prayer are involved in our detachment from the world.
                                      If so, what is detachment? Is it possible to live in the world and get along with people and be gainfully employed etc.if one is busy with detachment? It is not only possible, but is the only meaningful way of living in the world for a human being, even for an ascetic or renunciate who has chosen to leave the world for the sake of spiritual life. There will be only those differences, which are dictated by the internal necessity of each state of life. Detachment consists in gaining internal freedom from the tyranny of external things whereby we become their slaves. When we are addicted to anything, we lose our freedom and are controlled by the object of our addiction. This truth is applicable not only to things we deal with, but also to people in our relationships. This is why Jesus advised his followers to leave one's father, mother, wife, children etc.to become his disciples. It does not mean that one should not take care of them; on the contrary, Jesus himself taught that it is God's commandment that everyone honor one's father, mother etc. Detachment, therefore, is not rejection, but purified attachment.   

Poverty in Spirit

                                     The Gospels seem to be negative about being rich in this world contrasting it with being rich before God (Luke 12: 21 is a graphic instance). The Gospel of Luke is generally pro-poor denouncing the rich who already have had their comfort here on earth (6:24). This line of thinking is a result of the aim and objective of Luke's Gospel that is the salvation of all, especially of the poor and the downtrodden. The privileged position of the poor in relation to the Kingdom of God is used by Luke to invite the rich to repentance here and now as is evident from the parable of Jesus about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke, 16:19-31). Ultimately, therefore, even Luke would agree that 'poor' means 'poor in spirit'.
                                       What exactly does 'poverty in spirit' mean? It is diametrically opposed to spiritual poverty that is a result of inordinate attachment to the world and its attractions resulting in a kind of numbness of spirit to higher realities. A rich person can be poor in spirit if he or she is mindfully detached from the accumulated riches in order to be alive and awake to the call of the Spirit. In the Gospels we see tax-collectors who are rich and in spiritual poverty like Levi and Zacchaeus (Luke, 5: 27; 19: 1-10). Jesus transformed them from spiritual poverty to poverty in spirit by which they were justified before God.
                                        The first beatitude in Mathew's Gospel brings out clearly the importance of poverty in spirit. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew, 5: 3). Those, whether materially rich or poor, who strive to attach themselves to God and His Word and willing to lose everything, if need be, are the ones who are poor in spirit. They are the 'anawim' of the Old Testament who have no one else to look up to when distress and disaster strike. The 8th and last beatitude too promises kingdom of heaven to those who suffer persecution for justice' sake (verse 10) and is thus intimately connected to the first beatitude.This kind of suffering is only possible by those who are poor in spirit who are determined to be on the side of God (justice being God's essential attribute) even under very trying circumstances.
                                         Here we have to be cautious against fanatics who ignorantly sacrifice themselves being indoctrinated by those with vested interests. Avoiding unnecessary conflicts is legitimate as is seen from the example of Jesus who went into solitude when John the Baptist was beheaded (Matthew, 14: 13). When the Samaritans refused to entertain his company of disciples, Jesus rebuked them for entreating him  to destroy them with fire (Luke, 9: 52 - 56).  
                                          We have other examples of rich people besides Levi and Zacchaeus in the Gospels who were both rich materially and poor in spirit. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea were rich and very influential members of the Jewish Governing Council who were secret disciples of Jesus due to fear of the Jews. At the time of Jesus' burial, however, they surfaced boldly to fulfill the sacred duty of burial of Jesus when even his own disciples were in hiding from fear of the Jews. They had thrown to the winds their prestige, position and wealth when it most mattered because they were poor in spirit, although materially they were immensely rich. On the contrary, one of Jesus' own disciples, Judas Iscariot, was very poor materially and was in greed for money perished by betraying his own Master and Lord as he could never be poor in spirit.
                                            Jesus expressed the practical difficulty of the rich for being poor in spirit by saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mark, 10:25). Jesus said this after a certain rich young man approached him for finding out about obtaining eternal life. He had to go away disappointed as he was ineligible for perfection, though worthy to attain eternal life, since he could not be detached from his material possessions. He could not be poor in spirit and so was incapable to enter the kingdom of heaven, though eternal life was his as he observed all commandments (Mark,10:17-22).
                                             The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus with which he was anointed to announce the good news to the poor (Luke, 4:18). From what we have seen above, it is clear that the Good News of the Gospel is for everyone to receive which one has to be poor in spirit. We are required to give up apparent wealth (sustained by our inordinate attachments) for real wealth (acquired by detachment from pollutants) consisting in real love, joy and peace that is the same as kingdom of heaven on earth Taking into account the importance of 'Detachment' for our well-being, it shall be discussed in our next post.