The spirit of Christmas!
Hello all,
Namaste! I want to let my blog readers know about my new website-swaroopa.net. Very simple id, not the complicated blog id address. Wishing all my blog readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy holidays! May the spirit of Christmas always fill our hearts and Souls! Now to the post.
What is the spirit of Christmas? Almost half the world celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus and how he gave himself for a cause. The story of Jesus Christ depicts how a Master through his own life shows the world how to live a life. Many times in our rush to do something and become something we forget a major part of living.
When this part is lost, our life becomes too mechanical and robotic. We have discussed this many times in our posts. Living from our heart. Heart is the place where our inner divine resides. When we just live from our mind, this deep grounding to something greater than us is lost. Many Masters have walked this Earth to show us humans there is a higher ideal of living. Not just living for ourselves and our family alone, but to something much greater than us.
Jesus, I consider him as one of such Masters. He was the son of a carpenter. In those days, Nazareth and Jerusalem were under the rule of the Romans, the emperor being Augustus Caesar. The people of Jerusalem had to pay taxes to the Romans. This would have made the Jews poor. So, compared to the Romans who lived in more luxury, the Jews would have been poorer. The Romans also practiced a Paganism, a religion different compared to the Jews. This also would have made the Romans hesitant to give Jews leadership and governmental positions.
This could have sidelined the Jews. Any population that becomes marginalized doesn't enjoy the security and safety of those who are in the main stream. So, here during the time of the father of Jesus, Joseph, the Jews would have been kept away from the wealth and prosperity. They would have been forced to work for the Romans.
Any time anyone is in the lower rungs of the society, they would have more difficult life experiences. The Jews would have been forced to do manual labor and anyone who had the courage to raise their voice against the Romans would have been severely punished. This was the political climate, when Jesus became a carpenter under his father. Later life circumstances pushed him to spend some alone time called the 'lost years'. We don't knowmuch details about these years. That is not important for this post. Most probably Jesus had his enlightment during these times.
After that Jesus became a minister and started a ministry that began advising the Jews on how to live a proper life. Jesus would have become enlightened about the fact that at the Soul level no one is different. He would have noticed the difference between how a Roman as well as a Jew was being treated. This would have led him to start the ministry.
People or more aptly the Jews who were finding it difficult to live as a sidelined society would have welcomed someone from among them who was ready to stand up for them and raise a voice. This as well as how Jesus lived a very simple and truthful life would have attracted the people towards his teaching. This is one of the lessons every human needs to learn.
The human: Underneath all the education, status, wealth, career and life circumstances we have, we are humans and more than that pure Souls. In this rush through life we put on different attires according to the station we find ourselves in. In Hinduism, the Master, Sankaracharya has written, "Udara nimittam bahu kritha vesham"-due to the stomach (Udaram), different attires (bahu krita vesham). Because we have a stomach to feed, we wear ourselves different attires.
But humans, many times forget the human underneath everything and treat people as they are seen outside. Every country marginalizes sections of people due to the way they look, the way they speak, the customs they practice or the rituals they undertake. But if they do a particular ritual/ custom or religion, does that mean they are not humans? That is what many times we forget- the humanity that embraces all of us.
That was the difference between Jesus and the Romans. He was able to sense and feel the humanity the Jews encompassed. The Romans were keeping them at a different level, not one among them. The Romans could have been more open-minded permitting them to practice their religions, have their customs and even given higher positions in the society. But it was not so. The Jews were treated as second class citizens. So, this class and divisions has ensnared humanity from centuries.
Even today we see this class, caste and religious divisions among people. But if we truly see the humanity would we be bothered by what custom, what culture or what ritual some are following? Why are we having trouble to accept people as exactly as they are? Like for example, being a Hindu, I like to light lamps. That is what I love to do. That makes me feel closer to Divine. Does that mean a Christian who likes to light candles is any way lesser than me? No. They are happy to practice their religion through candles. The same way the Jews like to light Hanukkahs, while in Islam, their God has no form, and they like to pray to a formless God.
Let us take it further. A communist thinks there is no God, while an agnostic thinks, they really don't know whether there is a God or not. An atheist truly believes, there is no God. But underneath all these, isn't their humanity? Should we allow all these different practices to control us or should by virtue of being different, all these practices unite us? This is what we miss in the greater picture. Due to how they look outside we forget the humanness that encompasses everyone.
The divisions: The humanity is totally forgotten many times. When power, politics, money and influence comes into the picture, humanity is forgotten. That is what happened to Romans. As they had power and influence, they tackled the Jews with an iron hand. Isn't that still happening in today's world? We are just shy of welcoming another new decade. The story of Jesus happened 2019 years ago. Still, we are allowing the outer circumstances to divide us.
The place where the story of Jesus Christ happened is an important piece of land for the Jews, Christians and Arabs. The Jews were persecuted for a very long time in history and later they were given a land called Israel where they are having a great country and community. But in the same neighborhood, a huge population called Palestinians are kept homeless and country less. Shouldn't the same rules of country and citizenship apply to the Palestinians?
When a huge group of neighbors is homeless, how can ever the Jews live in peace? When there is always chaos and confusion down the road, can you live peacefully? No. That is the tragedy that is always engulfing the Middle East. Nobody is able to live in peace. Safety and security is the base for any thriving human being. As long as a huge group of people around the neighborhood don't feel safe, nobody can live in peace. Think how much Israel has to pay to maintain a huge and tough military? The human sadness of identityless situation is getting transformed into rocket and grenade shelling.
The same way in many places in this planet, people protest against the injustice they are being subjected to. Whether it is the riots in Hong Kong against China, the Venezuelan protests, the stance against the Uighurs in China, the keeping of the kids in the cages at the south border of the USA, the protests in India- everything underlines a common theme. Injustice!
We humans are wired deeply towards Dharma- ethics or justice. Even though we may not be able to explain it, we can sense it. When something is incorrect or not right, we can feel it. The rational or the logical brain may not be able to put it into words, but the emotional brain whose language is feelings, talks loud and clear by making us feel deeply when we are wronged or if any injustice happens.
That is why many times in deeply wronged situations, the humans are so inflamed and upset that words lose them and the mob gets into deep stages of anger, frustrations and rage. This is the emotional mind that is 90% of the total mind deeply upset due to something that is not ethical-or in more Vedic terms- Adharmic!
Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita talks and talks about the Dharma (ethics) and Adharma (not ethical). Yet as humans with power, politics and influence many times we forget the Dharma. But as we are deeply wired in our core towards the highest of the ideals, that of the Brahman, we can somehow feel it, even if we may not be able to explain or converse about it. Even if we are the king of the Universe, if our acts are unethical, the wrath of the Universe as protests, chaos or anarchy reigns. We have seen this again and again throughout history. Even today it shows up all over the world if the actions are unethical or unjust.
The spirit of Christmas: What does the spirit of any festival means, whether it is Christmas, Diwali or Eid al-Fitr? What does all the sacred books propose? Underneath all the attire, customs or religions we wear, we are one. The humanness of us, the Soul that is woven into each of us. That connects all of us together. It doesn't matter whether we look a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Chinese, Arab, Jew, North American, South American, North Indian, South Indian, believer, atheist, agnostic, communist, capitalist or what not.
It even doesn't matter whether we are rich, poor, homeless, having a mansion, having a private island or even not having one time food to eat, all of us are one. The different threads that weaves the same fabric. The Brahman- the Universe! Bhagavad Gita, Qur'an, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib or Avesta, all esoterically extols the same point. We are all one- the tiny specs of the Universal intelligence.
A Hindu reading a Bhagavad Gita, a Christian reading a Bible, a Muslim reading a Qur'an, any other one reading a sacred book or even an athiest who is not reading any sacred book or don't believe in a God, every single one of us above human laws are tied to the spiritual laws. Human laws may falter infront of power, money, influence, fame or wealth. But spiritual laws won't. They won't give humans an inch of space to breathe if injustice or unethical behavior happens.
The human who is doing injustice may escape by the power of their postion, wealth or influence. But the higher laws always work as per the actions an indivdual takes. This is the deep spiritual law, the law of Karma- 'If you are part of the cause, you would be part of the effect as well'. The law of cause and effect! This law always works in every being's life.
So, a Soul who realizes this deep law always finds in their heart to treat another, whoever it is, from another caste, creed, religion, race, politics, party or even if an animal, bird or anything to treat them/it with the proper respect they/it deserves. But as humans many times the power, ego, politics, party, fame, wealth and influence gets to our head. Humans start to feel it is not a big deal and it is okay to indulge in corrupt, unethical actions.
But as mentioned before, we, the humans may falter. But the spiritual laws won't. They don't falter. They always care and notice how the human Soul intends and acts. So, it becomes utmost important for a human, that too someone in power and influence to take very correct actions. It doesn't matter what the party, politics, or even the current environment demands. What matters is as a Soul, at any particular moment are we taking the corret action with the deepest sense of love, compassion and kindness- whatever is our religion, party, politics or interests? The action towards a fellow human being with the spirit of love, kindness and compassion. The true spirit of Christmas!
Another point, it is not necessary that we should share this human spirit only during the season of Christmas alone. We can embrace this spirit of humanity every day and every breath we take. It is doesn't matter whether it is Christmas or holiday season. It matters only whether we as human beings are ready to treat another human with love, kindness and compassion. Bible even says this truth- 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Finishing up with a quote from Abraham Lincoln that rings true in these challenging times where the whole globe seems to be under chaos, confusion and protests.
Once more, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Stepping stone to the next decade-2020!
Credits: Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay.com and Brainyquote.com
Namaste! I want to let my blog readers know about my new website-swaroopa.net. Very simple id, not the complicated blog id address. Wishing all my blog readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy holidays! May the spirit of Christmas always fill our hearts and Souls! Now to the post.
 |
| Wishing everyone Happy holidays! Image credits - Pixabay.com |
What is the spirit of Christmas? Almost half the world celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus and how he gave himself for a cause. The story of Jesus Christ depicts how a Master through his own life shows the world how to live a life. Many times in our rush to do something and become something we forget a major part of living.
When this part is lost, our life becomes too mechanical and robotic. We have discussed this many times in our posts. Living from our heart. Heart is the place where our inner divine resides. When we just live from our mind, this deep grounding to something greater than us is lost. Many Masters have walked this Earth to show us humans there is a higher ideal of living. Not just living for ourselves and our family alone, but to something much greater than us.
Jesus, I consider him as one of such Masters. He was the son of a carpenter. In those days, Nazareth and Jerusalem were under the rule of the Romans, the emperor being Augustus Caesar. The people of Jerusalem had to pay taxes to the Romans. This would have made the Jews poor. So, compared to the Romans who lived in more luxury, the Jews would have been poorer. The Romans also practiced a Paganism, a religion different compared to the Jews. This also would have made the Romans hesitant to give Jews leadership and governmental positions.
 |
| Birth of Jesus! Image credits -Jojojoe [CC BY-SA 3.0] Creativecommons |
Any time anyone is in the lower rungs of the society, they would have more difficult life experiences. The Jews would have been forced to do manual labor and anyone who had the courage to raise their voice against the Romans would have been severely punished. This was the political climate, when Jesus became a carpenter under his father. Later life circumstances pushed him to spend some alone time called the 'lost years'. We don't knowmuch details about these years. That is not important for this post. Most probably Jesus had his enlightment during these times.
After that Jesus became a minister and started a ministry that began advising the Jews on how to live a proper life. Jesus would have become enlightened about the fact that at the Soul level no one is different. He would have noticed the difference between how a Roman as well as a Jew was being treated. This would have led him to start the ministry.
People or more aptly the Jews who were finding it difficult to live as a sidelined society would have welcomed someone from among them who was ready to stand up for them and raise a voice. This as well as how Jesus lived a very simple and truthful life would have attracted the people towards his teaching. This is one of the lessons every human needs to learn.
The human: Underneath all the education, status, wealth, career and life circumstances we have, we are humans and more than that pure Souls. In this rush through life we put on different attires according to the station we find ourselves in. In Hinduism, the Master, Sankaracharya has written, "Udara nimittam bahu kritha vesham"-due to the stomach (Udaram), different attires (bahu krita vesham). Because we have a stomach to feed, we wear ourselves different attires.
But humans, many times forget the human underneath everything and treat people as they are seen outside. Every country marginalizes sections of people due to the way they look, the way they speak, the customs they practice or the rituals they undertake. But if they do a particular ritual/ custom or religion, does that mean they are not humans? That is what many times we forget- the humanity that embraces all of us.
That was the difference between Jesus and the Romans. He was able to sense and feel the humanity the Jews encompassed. The Romans were keeping them at a different level, not one among them. The Romans could have been more open-minded permitting them to practice their religions, have their customs and even given higher positions in the society. But it was not so. The Jews were treated as second class citizens. So, this class and divisions has ensnared humanity from centuries.
Even today we see this class, caste and religious divisions among people. But if we truly see the humanity would we be bothered by what custom, what culture or what ritual some are following? Why are we having trouble to accept people as exactly as they are? Like for example, being a Hindu, I like to light lamps. That is what I love to do. That makes me feel closer to Divine. Does that mean a Christian who likes to light candles is any way lesser than me? No. They are happy to practice their religion through candles. The same way the Jews like to light Hanukkahs, while in Islam, their God has no form, and they like to pray to a formless God.
 |
| We are humans underneath everything! Image credits - Pixabay.com |
Let us take it further. A communist thinks there is no God, while an agnostic thinks, they really don't know whether there is a God or not. An atheist truly believes, there is no God. But underneath all these, isn't their humanity? Should we allow all these different practices to control us or should by virtue of being different, all these practices unite us? This is what we miss in the greater picture. Due to how they look outside we forget the humanness that encompasses everyone.
The divisions: The humanity is totally forgotten many times. When power, politics, money and influence comes into the picture, humanity is forgotten. That is what happened to Romans. As they had power and influence, they tackled the Jews with an iron hand. Isn't that still happening in today's world? We are just shy of welcoming another new decade. The story of Jesus happened 2019 years ago. Still, we are allowing the outer circumstances to divide us.
The place where the story of Jesus Christ happened is an important piece of land for the Jews, Christians and Arabs. The Jews were persecuted for a very long time in history and later they were given a land called Israel where they are having a great country and community. But in the same neighborhood, a huge population called Palestinians are kept homeless and country less. Shouldn't the same rules of country and citizenship apply to the Palestinians?
When a huge group of neighbors is homeless, how can ever the Jews live in peace? When there is always chaos and confusion down the road, can you live peacefully? No. That is the tragedy that is always engulfing the Middle East. Nobody is able to live in peace. Safety and security is the base for any thriving human being. As long as a huge group of people around the neighborhood don't feel safe, nobody can live in peace. Think how much Israel has to pay to maintain a huge and tough military? The human sadness of identityless situation is getting transformed into rocket and grenade shelling.
The same way in many places in this planet, people protest against the injustice they are being subjected to. Whether it is the riots in Hong Kong against China, the Venezuelan protests, the stance against the Uighurs in China, the keeping of the kids in the cages at the south border of the USA, the protests in India- everything underlines a common theme. Injustice!
We humans are wired deeply towards Dharma- ethics or justice. Even though we may not be able to explain it, we can sense it. When something is incorrect or not right, we can feel it. The rational or the logical brain may not be able to put it into words, but the emotional brain whose language is feelings, talks loud and clear by making us feel deeply when we are wronged or if any injustice happens.
That is why many times in deeply wronged situations, the humans are so inflamed and upset that words lose them and the mob gets into deep stages of anger, frustrations and rage. This is the emotional mind that is 90% of the total mind deeply upset due to something that is not ethical-or in more Vedic terms- Adharmic!
 |
| Multiple religious symbols of this world! Image credits - ReligijneSymbole.svg: The Transhumanistderivative-compile work: Niusereset [CC BY-SA 3.0 ] |
The spirit of Christmas: What does the spirit of any festival means, whether it is Christmas, Diwali or Eid al-Fitr? What does all the sacred books propose? Underneath all the attire, customs or religions we wear, we are one. The humanness of us, the Soul that is woven into each of us. That connects all of us together. It doesn't matter whether we look a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Chinese, Arab, Jew, North American, South American, North Indian, South Indian, believer, atheist, agnostic, communist, capitalist or what not.
It even doesn't matter whether we are rich, poor, homeless, having a mansion, having a private island or even not having one time food to eat, all of us are one. The different threads that weaves the same fabric. The Brahman- the Universe! Bhagavad Gita, Qur'an, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib or Avesta, all esoterically extols the same point. We are all one- the tiny specs of the Universal intelligence.
A Hindu reading a Bhagavad Gita, a Christian reading a Bible, a Muslim reading a Qur'an, any other one reading a sacred book or even an athiest who is not reading any sacred book or don't believe in a God, every single one of us above human laws are tied to the spiritual laws. Human laws may falter infront of power, money, influence, fame or wealth. But spiritual laws won't. They won't give humans an inch of space to breathe if injustice or unethical behavior happens.
The human who is doing injustice may escape by the power of their postion, wealth or influence. But the higher laws always work as per the actions an indivdual takes. This is the deep spiritual law, the law of Karma- 'If you are part of the cause, you would be part of the effect as well'. The law of cause and effect! This law always works in every being's life.
So, a Soul who realizes this deep law always finds in their heart to treat another, whoever it is, from another caste, creed, religion, race, politics, party or even if an animal, bird or anything to treat them/it with the proper respect they/it deserves. But as humans many times the power, ego, politics, party, fame, wealth and influence gets to our head. Humans start to feel it is not a big deal and it is okay to indulge in corrupt, unethical actions.
But as mentioned before, we, the humans may falter. But the spiritual laws won't. They don't falter. They always care and notice how the human Soul intends and acts. So, it becomes utmost important for a human, that too someone in power and influence to take very correct actions. It doesn't matter what the party, politics, or even the current environment demands. What matters is as a Soul, at any particular moment are we taking the corret action with the deepest sense of love, compassion and kindness- whatever is our religion, party, politics or interests? The action towards a fellow human being with the spirit of love, kindness and compassion. The true spirit of Christmas!
Another point, it is not necessary that we should share this human spirit only during the season of Christmas alone. We can embrace this spirit of humanity every day and every breath we take. It is doesn't matter whether it is Christmas or holiday season. It matters only whether we as human beings are ready to treat another human with love, kindness and compassion. Bible even says this truth- 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Finishing up with a quote from Abraham Lincoln that rings true in these challenging times where the whole globe seems to be under chaos, confusion and protests.
 |
| Quote of Abraham Lincoln! Image credits- Brainyquote.com |
Once more, Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I wish you a good weekend and I'll see you next Friday! 😉
Next week: Stepping stone to the next decade-2020!
Credits: Wikimedia Commons, Pixabay.com and Brainyquote.com
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