Real Christian Existence
What is a Christian Life? What is it to be a Christian? You think you already know the answer, I am quite aware of it. But, for the time being, allow me to tell you, that being Christian is not what most so-called Christians think it to be. Most so-called Christians would most gloriously think of Christianity to be a matter of undivided loyalty to the figure known as Jesus. But that’s precisely what being Christian is not, and in fact, that’s precious what being religious is not. What is it to be a Christian, one wonders?
We may begin our investigation here, but only if you are willing to take off all labels. Are you? Good, let’s begin shall we! The first thing we need to be aware of here is that, all of Christ’s philosophical ideas and teachings can be compressed into one simple phrase – “Love thy neighbor”. It elucidates the innate kindness of human heart in the simplest manner. So, being Christian is simply about being kind, being loving, being compassionate – that’s all. And in fact, that’s what being religious is about – it’s about loving your fellow being. One doesn’t even need to call himself or herself as a Christian or even religious for that matter, to be a Christian. A Hindu can be Christian – a Muslim can be Christian – a Buddhist can be Christian – an atheist can be Christian, as long as that person practises love and kindness in everyday living.
A true human being with love and kindness in his or heart, would automatically be a Christian, whether he or she actually calls himself or herself as such, because that’s what Christ was – a true human being, with a gloriously kind heart. Basically, you don’t need to be born in a Christian family to be a Christian. Practise love – practise kindness, as you walk through your day, and you would automatically be walking on the path laid by Christ himself, regardless of whether you are announcing most boastfully that you are a Christian. Any human who practices love and kindness is a Christian. So, it is only the true human being who is qualified to be hailed as a Christian, not the person who utters countless phrases from the Bible all the time, yet does not show a sign of graceful kindness in his or her actions towards others.
Christ was a being of glorious character, who wanted to reinstall the forgotten humanity in the heart of humanity, hence he gave his life teaching humanity the lessons of non-differentiation – the lessons of love – the lessons of true humanity, yet his name has been disgraced by many of his own followers with acts of sectarianism and bigotry. Mind you my dear sibling, sectarianism is no christian act, neither is bigotry and extremism. The whole world is filled with countless creatures who call themselves Christians, yet I see very little, or alas, no trace of true Christianity in them. Be the Christian whose heart aches at the sight of
others’ pain – be the Christian whose acts shine with vivacious kindness and glory – be the Christian whose very life becomes an embodiment of true Christianity – an embodiment of Christ himself. Be a living Christ on earth, then and then only shall you be a real Christian.
Remember, Christ and Christianity are not separate – they are one and the same thing. Christ is a being of pure kindness, and so is Christianity. Hence, forget all rules and regulations of the so-called modern society and be the being of kindness – be the being of compassion – be the being of conscience, for that being is the only real Christian on earth, all others are mere mockery of Christian existence. A true Christian life is a life lived for others, beyond the barriers of words, labels and terms. And indeed a life lived for others, is a true religious life. In the end, to the real Christian, the term “Christian” becomes irrelevant, and what matters to him or her the most, is pure conscientious act of kindness. This pure kindness does not need a label of organized religion to exist, in fact in its purest form it is devoid of all labels, yet you can find traces of it in all organized religions.
Recommended Reading
Neurons of Jesus: Mind of A Teacher, Spouse & Thinker
We may begin our investigation here, but only if you are willing to take off all labels. Are you? Good, let’s begin shall we! The first thing we need to be aware of here is that, all of Christ’s philosophical ideas and teachings can be compressed into one simple phrase – “Love thy neighbor”. It elucidates the innate kindness of human heart in the simplest manner. So, being Christian is simply about being kind, being loving, being compassionate – that’s all. And in fact, that’s what being religious is about – it’s about loving your fellow being. One doesn’t even need to call himself or herself as a Christian or even religious for that matter, to be a Christian. A Hindu can be Christian – a Muslim can be Christian – a Buddhist can be Christian – an atheist can be Christian, as long as that person practises love and kindness in everyday living.
A true human being with love and kindness in his or heart, would automatically be a Christian, whether he or she actually calls himself or herself as such, because that’s what Christ was – a true human being, with a gloriously kind heart. Basically, you don’t need to be born in a Christian family to be a Christian. Practise love – practise kindness, as you walk through your day, and you would automatically be walking on the path laid by Christ himself, regardless of whether you are announcing most boastfully that you are a Christian. Any human who practices love and kindness is a Christian. So, it is only the true human being who is qualified to be hailed as a Christian, not the person who utters countless phrases from the Bible all the time, yet does not show a sign of graceful kindness in his or her actions towards others.
Christ was a being of glorious character, who wanted to reinstall the forgotten humanity in the heart of humanity, hence he gave his life teaching humanity the lessons of non-differentiation – the lessons of love – the lessons of true humanity, yet his name has been disgraced by many of his own followers with acts of sectarianism and bigotry. Mind you my dear sibling, sectarianism is no christian act, neither is bigotry and extremism. The whole world is filled with countless creatures who call themselves Christians, yet I see very little, or alas, no trace of true Christianity in them. Be the Christian whose heart aches at the sight of
others’ pain – be the Christian whose acts shine with vivacious kindness and glory – be the Christian whose very life becomes an embodiment of true Christianity – an embodiment of Christ himself. Be a living Christ on earth, then and then only shall you be a real Christian.
Remember, Christ and Christianity are not separate – they are one and the same thing. Christ is a being of pure kindness, and so is Christianity. Hence, forget all rules and regulations of the so-called modern society and be the being of kindness – be the being of compassion – be the being of conscience, for that being is the only real Christian on earth, all others are mere mockery of Christian existence. A true Christian life is a life lived for others, beyond the barriers of words, labels and terms. And indeed a life lived for others, is a true religious life. In the end, to the real Christian, the term “Christian” becomes irrelevant, and what matters to him or her the most, is pure conscientious act of kindness. This pure kindness does not need a label of organized religion to exist, in fact in its purest form it is devoid of all labels, yet you can find traces of it in all organized religions.
Recommended Reading
Neurons of Jesus: Mind of A Teacher, Spouse & Thinker
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In the world of so-called civilized and intelligent humans, there are only two accepted ways to see religion - one is the way of the believer, and the other is the one of the non-believer. But there is a third way - the way of the real religious person - the way of the real scientist - the way of the real yogi. It is the way where you see religion as it is, that is, an organized structure which helps people go through their daily life with as little hitch as possible. And as such, every organized structure has its pros and cons. Christianity is one of such structures, which was apparently founded upon the teachings and ideas of a man named Jesus. However, what you must remember here is that everything you know about Jesus and his ideas are from four books, known as gospels, which were all carefully compiled and probably even doctored by the Church throughout history many times. Hence, one has no way to confidently say which phrases from those four gospels, which make up the Bible, actually come from Jesus, and which ones were mere creation of his so-called followers to embed Jesus' authority over people as Christ, the Son of God. We can't even proclaim with full confidence that Jesus himself did actually exist. I have gone through all this in detail in my book "Neurons of Jesus". However, we can't deny the fact that there are many peace-loving, good and decent Christians, who practise love and kindness in their daily life. And for their sake as well as for the sake of the progress of our entire species, we must make efforts to consume the good ideas of the Bible and simply ignore the rest, which do not go well in a civilized and thinking society.
Who will decide what idea is good and what is bad? Even vegetarians have to kill crops for living. An idea which is good for one is bad for other. Is it not that determining what is good or bad, depends upon individual's personal psychology?
This is the creation where one living being has to kill other for surviving. And this law is not created by human or by any other species but by nature or creation self.
With such a system of creation how can we make efforts for goodness of entire species?
How can only goodness then help to keep the creation working?
If I give you two possible worlds to choose from, in which you would like your children and grandchildren to live, which one would you choose - a world filled with hatred and discrimination, or a world where the humans care about their fellow humans beyond the petty little man-made labels of religion, race, nationality, intellect, gender etc.!We do not need to make efforts and be kind in order to keep Nature running, she can do that quite well and far better than us herself, in fact, it'd benefit Nature, if suddenly the humans were to disappear. It is us who need Nature in order to exist, not the other way around.
We must stand on the side of kindness, goodness, compassion and conscience, not to keep the processes in Nature functioning, but because if we don't, the environment that we would be giving our future generations, would be no different than the violent and lethal environment of the wild. Hence, our kindness would make no difference to Nature whatsoever, rather it would simply be a selfish yet humanely necessary act on our part, that we must carry out to create a humane environment for the human species.
Upon the kindness of us humans, the fate of humanity is predicated, not the fate of Nature. We are born in a world filled with hatred and discrimination, hence it is our existential responsibility as sentient and conscientious beings to contribute in the elimination of such discrimination and hatred. Kindness of ours in our daily walks of life, shall pave the path for a truly humane society for our children and grandchildren to live in.
My purpose was not to condemn good works by human beings but to put light upon need of darkness required for smoothly keeping the creation working. Both will remain permanently in the creation as they are two legs of the creation. Good works can give peace to our mind, make good environment for the needy but as we know our today's effort for good atmosphere or peace is curse creating for tomorrow. Fertilizers give growth in crops production but become cause of bad health. Industries provide employment with polluted environment. With hard work one gets higher post but due to pride or ego one's character falls down. Due to restful life occur diseases.Problems and solutions are complementary to eachother. By solving one problem today, we create next problem for tomorrow. Indirectly we self become the problem creators through good works for humanity.
Dear Sir, You have mentioned about fate while you do not believe in karma and also God I think. Where does the fate come from then? Fate has only two sources i. e. God and Karma.
Spirituality or Santmat or right Religion is the way to live in such a way that we do create good atmosphere through our good works and we do create bad atmosphere through our good works but we do not become responsible for the result in both situations, hence we become free from effect of result of karma, which (effect of result of karma) is responsible for deciding our fate, as per spirituality.
Through religious way, through spiritual way, through atheistic way, everyone is trying to find something which is right or true. That innate hunger to find the right or true or peace through different ways is the virtue of so called soul to seek its Origin or Destination. But, until it finds the true path or guide, it continues wandering in atheism, religions, materialism, or other ways to find that.
The 'great call of the Master' is calling it and to find the Master it is wandering in science, philosophies, rituals, religions, welfare works, books, games etc. only to search the pleasure of that eternity, which it does not know where to find.
We must act on our part, despite our insignificance in the vast ocean of time and space, because action is life and non-action is death. This very action with as little expectation for reward as possible, is real religion or santmat. Sant or sage or the awakened being is not the one free from all desires and expectations, but the one who has an active conscience to see the real implications of those desires and expectations and then act accordingly for the best possible outcome for the self as well as the society. Such a being requires no Master or Messiah to follow, rather he or she becomes the light to the world himself or herself, while ceaselessly learning from every single person that comes along his or her way.As biological creatures with a long history of animal instincts, it is very much natural for us to seek meaning and purpose outside of us, in a book, in a religion, in an ideology, but the truth is, if we can consider the vastness of space, we shall find that, our existence has no meaning or purpose whatsoever, objectively speaking. Meaning, purpose, knowledge, all are human constructs - constructs that aid in our survival and also make us become a little bit more advanced species, than our ancestors. So, everything we do, matters for us only, but not to Nature or the Universe. Yet, we must keep doing our part, because the true purpose of the Universe or Nature is irrelevant to an insignificant biological species such as ourselves. Hence, it is the meaning of the "Human Universe" we ought to be concerned of, not the Grand Universe beyond our wildest comprehension. And here the truth is, there is no predestined meaning of this Human Universe whatsoever, so whatever we write with our actions shall solidify as the meaning and fate of humanity.
'Action is life and non action is death.' This our expectation for life through karma makes our actions filled with intention. What if there is no life? What if there is death only? Struggle between life and death gives birth to intention and karma, which causes intentionful karma. Desire of no life pushes us toward becoming actionless. The third stage which is beyond the desire of life and death is 'pause' or 'becoming still without dying while performing or not performing actions.'
Once again your idea is from 'Karam Yoga' from 'Bhagvad Gita.' Without intention or with effort of least expectation, such action does not bind us with result of karma and it provides stillness or peace to mind. Such karmas take our self towards peace or salvation. Inaction also does not bind us with reaction of karma but with such way, it is not possible to survive in the life. Karma with full intention or desire of result or fruit keep shaking our mind and does not allow it to be at peace.
Denying 'Karma' is not possible. But the art to perform them in peace giving form or with purpose of eternal peace is a part of spirituality. Actions with purpose of eternal peace and without any purpose, both give same result.
Vastness of time and universe is part of creation, which is liable to change and destruction. The creation, which itself is not constant can't provide rest to our mind. If this creation is not true then how can the knowledge gained within this creation be true? The knowledge which is not true can not bless us with peace. Intellect is a great hindrance if used in misguided way. Ears demand sound, eyes demands beauty, tongue demands taste, nose demands fragrance, and all these organs are dedicated for enjoyment of mind. In this way, reasons, logics, opinions, pleas, answers, questions etc. are food to satisfy intellectual appetite which is also dedicated to mind for giving it enjoyment. Since the creation has begun intellect is demanding all these foods and has not become saturated yet. Making the Intellect saturated means, now it requires no answer, logics, reasoning, opinions or knowledge etc. and in that way mind demands no more enjoyment through Intellect.
When we take birth, we need a mother to protect us, to feed us, to help us. After growth the mother guides us. In that way mother is our savior and guru. Then father is our protector and guru. Then friends are our guru. Then school teachers and professors are our gurus. These all gurus are part or limb of our body. All these gurus are limited to worldly affairs. For study of subject related to beyond of creation, we need a spiritual Guru. Without Guru we will become like animals.
Focusing upon one spiritual Guru gives stillness while focusing upon various Guru's makes our attention to bewilder. In such case, God is helpful to focus upon for stillness if you have many Gurus.
Following one spiritual master is the most helpful and easy path.
There is nothing wrong in following a teacher in the path of self-awareness, but the moment one begins to see that teacher as the authority of one's life, immediately one goes astray from the path of self-realization and indeed from the path of truth, and eventually ends up in the same kind of trap of doctrines and laws that one wanted to be free from in the first place. That's how all religions have been born. Loyalty to a teacher or messiah, inadvertently leads to psychological slavery, and in often cases, the enslaved is not even aware of the enslavement. It's a kind of illusion one lives in, where the teacher's word or the prophet's doctrines become gospel in the life of an individual. Hence, all shortcomings of that teacher or prophet creep into the life of his followers as well.And as for the truth of the universe, it is unknown to all beings including those so-called spiritual teachers. Human brain is not equipped with the neurological tools to comprehend the true nature of the universe, hence it is irrelevant to human existence. What we can do though, is be aware of ourselves and create a more humane and truly egalitarian world than the one we live in. Every great achievement must be visualized in the mind first, then only can you embark on a journey to make it a reality. Here we are not talking about anticipation of reward for oneself, rather we are talking about the benefit of humanity. Without a vision for benefiting the world, no humanitarian endeavor can ever be made a reality in the world where the masters of it are not yet truly acquainted with their own capacities. The so-called jihadis act on their dogmas of Islamism, hence they succeed in their action of bringing destruction on the world. Only if the true human beings on the other side feel that kind of obsession - that kind of madness - that kind of insane urge for doing good in the world, then and then only will the children of humanity live in harmony. And this very act of utter responsibility is by itself an embodiment of peace for here the mind gets to be itself without worrying about peace in the first place.
We may feel comfortable to get rid of all responsibilities and assume quite childishly, that some imaginary deity or messiah is going to take care of this world, but in that case, I'm afraid, this world would never in a million years become a real civilized abode for humans to live in. It is our world and our world is our responsibility. We are responsible for what happens to this world, because if we are not, then no imaginary supreme being is going to take responsibility and in the end, all that will remain is a wild and violent kingdom of the animals, where only the ruthless will have the right to live.
Spirituality is a science to treat spirit or soul and not to treat physical human body or world. It is another thing that Saints or other prophets or mystics also teach to make efforts to serve selflessly needy people for spiritual purpose. Their main teaching is that this world is made of sorrows and happiness. Both will remain in world, till doom. Soul is alien in this creation and this creation is not its true home. Even physical human body is not its true identity. Soul is the cause of life and due to life in body, human and all other living beings suffer in this creation. If human becomes able to escape (draw out) its soul from physical body and merge it into its 'Origin' then it can get peace permanently. Saints never had purpose to improve the world but to detach the follower's souls from the entanglement of the physical cycle and to lead it toward its true Destination. Reaching the whole universe by external means is not purpose of spirituality.
Spiritual law states that;
'What we think we become.'
Or
'Where our hope lies there we go.'
If we have our hope or attachment with world, our soul will continue coming in this physical cycle again and again. If our hope or attachment is with the creator or origin of the soul then it will never come in this creation again. That is why meditation upon God is the primary path to think or to keep hope linked with God.
In the history of world, millions of socialites have come, millions of mystics have come, but this world could not be improved. Sometime up, sometime down, sometime balance. Only soul's escape from this physical cycle is true liberation or welfare.
Feeling of slavery is due to ego, due to pride. If there is no ego it becomes dedication. Obeying parents, serving parents is not slavery but dedication. Love with parents and spiritual master convert ego into dedication. With elimination of ego, duality demolishes. Serving other is not slavery, but dedication. With dedication, duality ends. When duality ends, we all become one and there remains one only and that one is God in form of love. Such path is known as 'Bhakti Marga.'
Good works with intention to improve world is to follow ego, but good works with intention to remove duality is worship. Love comes and pain of others also becomes pain of self. So salvation from physical body is very necessary and love has helped on the path by removing ego.
Guru is perfect in the path. Guru is one with God. Dedication and devotion to Guru, make disciple one with Guru. Becoming one with Guru, makes discple Guru too. Hence serving Guru by all means helps becoming one with God.
Faith is blind, but Guru shows light to faith.
Finding a true Master is the blessing of God. One can never know a true master with his own Intellect.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. (Matthew 10:35)
Can you tell with such teachings by Christ, what does "Love thy neighbor" actually mean?