It
makes me angry; though I know I should not be. The spiritual discipline common
to all religious traditions demands that we master our emotions and become
tolerant unto dust. But there is, still, a margin for indignation; though it
must be directed at obscurantism, not at obscurantists.
I
am urged, almost provoked, by an article carried by The Asian Age on April 14,
2016,(http://www.asianage.com/mystic-mantra/miracle-faith-118)
The miracle of faith, in the name of Fr. Dominic Emmanuel on the
resurrection of Jesus. I hold Jesus of Nazareth in very high esteem. I do that
primarily for two reasons. First, to Jesus “man” is not made for religion, but
religion is made for man. It is a dictum I fully endorse. That is why I feel spiritually
bound to oppose everything that divides human beings in the name of God. Those
who seek to divide human beings have only one goal: to fool them. It is “divide
and fool” when it comes to religion. So, when religion is used as a divisive
tool, I cannot but condemn this atrocity. Second, Jesus was passionately
committed, as Maharshi Dayanand was, to social justice and to human dignity. I
consider this to be the essence of true religion.
But
the business agenda of the sort of organised religiosity that Fr. Emmanuel
represents — the hypermarket of the multi-national obscurantism — is to obscure
this light. The purpose, after all, of obscurantism is to obscure: to confuse
what is obvious, to muddy the clear waters, to turn light into darkness. And
when it is done in the name of a profound spiritual luminary like Jesus, all of
us must protest.
Strangely,
the salesmen of Christianity do not know (or, they pretend that they do not
know) that Jesus was embarrassed about miracles. He knew miracle-mongering was
a stumbling block. On occasions, if my memory serves me, he reprimanded the
seekers of miracles. He asked them to be sensible and rational. He asked them
to have faith, instead!
Now,
this is important. People’s capacity for faith is inversely proportionate to
their craving for miracles. Miracles are the alternative to faith. This
disease, this miracle-mongering, is not unique to Christianity. Every dishonest
godman claims such special powers. It is the only publicity stunt they know.
And it succeeds because people are gullible.
The
real harm is this, and it must be taken note of. The craving for miracles is
driven by the desire for shortcuts. Shortcuts are attractive to us because they
do not require us to change. The longest cut — the most difficult thing — for
human beings is to change their ways. Spirituality is all about urging and
enabling us to change. This change is the seed of our freedom and fruitfulness.
We cannot stay barren and produce fruits at the same time. We cannot live in
immorality and enjoy the peace that comes only from a sane and humane way of
life. When we do not want to give up our wicked and stupid ways, and still want
to be safe from bad consequences, we are left with only one refuge: miracles.
It
is this human weakness that the merchants of popular piety exploit to their
mega advantage. This is immoral; for it takes advantage of human weakness. The
role of religion is just the opposite: it is, as Swami Vivekananda said. It is
to make the weak stronger. The strong do not need crutches. The salesmen of
mendacious religiosity peddle crutches. To do that, and to pretend that to be a
service to humanity, they have to ensure that no one develops strong legs, so
to speak.
As
regards Hinduism, it is obvious that whenever the focus was put on the
miraculous element, the philosophical profundity of this great faith got
sidelined. The history of Hinduism is the history of the struggle between
eternal truths and debasing obscurantism.
Whether
Jesus rose from the dead or not is immaterial to me. What matters most to me is
what he did before his death, not after his death. His life before death was a
miracle! Nothing he did thereafter compares to it. Christians like Fr. Emmanuel
cannot emulate the miracle of life before death. So they waste their time on
the so-called life after death. This has been the greatest disservice and the
most dishonest trick played on our species. It is this that Karl Marx rightly
called the opium of the people. The best symbol for irrationality is opium. The
merchants of obscurantism must be treated on par with the peddlers of opium.
Perhaps, the harm they do is even greater.
The
truth is in what Fr. Emmanuel, whom I cherish as a personal friend — and that
will not change — does not state. Did Jesus use miracles when he was being
crucified, or when he was dying on the Cross? That was the most appropriate and
legitimate context for unleashing miracles. After all, he was killed for no
fault of his, except that of denouncing the corruption and venality of the
parasites of religion. On the Cross, miracle could have vindicated justice.
Jesus does not resort to miracles! That is the real miracle: this stupendous
human capacity to face the harshest of realities without yielding to the
temptation to dodge or to compromise. That is the miracle I endorse and
respect.
I would urge all my sisters
and brothers in every faith to refuse to be fooled by those who care neither
for God nor for them. It is an insult to your creator that you do not use the
reason and common sense Paramatma has given you.
Source :- The Asian Age News Paper 18th April 2016
