Monday, January 19, 2009

What is so particularly black about 14th Sept

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The Spirit of Christ according to Swami Ranganathananda

The Spirit of Christ according to Swami Ranganathananda

Recently I was browsing through some books in a Gita Press Bhandar, which sells Hindu religious books. Surprisingly I noticed amidst them a booklet ‘The Christ we adore’ with a picture of Christ, written by a Hindu monk. It was originally the text of a special lecture given by Swami Ranganathananda, a former vice-president of Ramakrishna Mission, on their Christmas Eve meeting in 1954. Published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, the booklet was in its eleventh edition.These days when religious fundamentalists fight against other religions, the revered swami teaches how we all can appreciate and learn from one another’s religion. “The reader will be struck by the depth of knowledge shown by the author and his fine perception of the inner subtleties of the teaching of Jesus which touch the chord of universal Truth present in every heart,” says the publisher. The teachings of Jesus Christ are viewed from the Vedanta background.Let me give here the substance of what Swami Ranganathananda says of Christ. At the outset the swami says: “We, in India, have learnt through our religion to look upon the great teachers with a heart open to the inspiration which they hold for all humanity. The approach of our people to the lives of all teachers has something refreshingly beautiful about it; it is hard for non- Hindus to understand how we professing a different religion, can open our hearts, with equal fervour, to receive the inspiration of this great Son of Man, Jesus.India’s approach to religion is experimental and not dogmatic. It is spirituality that India seeks in its religious quest and not a creed or a dogma. This is also the approach of Jesus Christ to religion. It is this approach that explains the spiritual hospitality of the Indian mind. This broad, all inclusive approach will be increasingly appreciated and accepted by the thinking people of the world in the coming years.“According to the swami, “We are familiar in our country with the idea that at the birth of divine personalities there is joyous cooperation of man and nature to welcome them: for it is an event heralding universal joy.” He quotes Narada Bhakti-Sutra, V.5: “Modante pitaro, nrtyanti devatah,sanatha ceyam bhurbhavati.” Very similar is the description of the birth of Christ as given in the four Gospels, he adds. We have enough indication, he says, to show that Jesus, very early in life, had become aware of the great purpose of his advent and set about it with a thoroughness that nothing could thwart. “He must have also spent long hours in silence and loneliness in the nearby mountains and communed with himself.”