Fellowship with One and All
- C.L. Gulati,
Chandigarh, India
One day, whilst going through a newspaper I came across an article, ‘man-made barriers.’ I readily assumed it might contain some heroic deed of man in constructing barricades against floodwater, as in those days there has been unusually heavy rains causing devastating floods all around. Out of curiosity, I went through the news item minutely.
The news said that a 34 year old Maharashtrian tourist had been cycling by a Temple in Orissa, where he faltered. He was in need of rest and balms for his injuries, but saw that the temple has a sign which in bold letters read, “Hindus only’. He was a Muslim by faith. The warm glow from inside the temple beckoned him, but the priest within refused him entry.
The tourist engaged the holy man in discussion. He said, ‘do not consider me a Muslim but a pilgrim who seeks Darshan. The plea was not well merited. At a temple in Mathura he had also been turned away, again on the grounds of religion.
The tourist wept as he narrated these incidents. He acknowledged frankly that had he been a Hindu seeking welcome at Mosque, the experience would have been no different. At one police station, the Inspector incharge discouraged him from seeing religious places of worship – ‘what do you get out of it?’ he asked.
When the tourist produced his visiting card, the Inspector offered him a chair asking, ‘You are a Muslim?’ When the Inspector learned that the tourist was actually a Sunni Muslim, rather than a Shia, he was all the more pleased, as this was his own background. He immediately asked his constable to fetch two cups of tea. His stay was made quite comfortable.
As against my expectation, ‘man made barriers” was not about protection against floods, but about the divisions between human beings at large. These phenomenal barriers pose a perpetual threat and are more devastating than temporary phases of floods. For sometime I remained mentally occupied guessing the impact such barriers were having on societal living.
Historically speaking, Dara Shikoh, an Islamic scholar, sparked by the Holy prophet’s saying, “Al Khalyu Ayalullah” (i.e. the entire creation is Allah’s family), could not reconcile with the idea of Hindus being excluded from such a family. Feeling deeply concerned with much needed harmony in the composite culture of India, Dara Shikoh took pain to learn Sanskrit and studied Hindu Scriptures in their original format. He discovered the spiritual refrain, “Vasudhav Kutumbkam” (i.e. the entire universe is one family) he found in the Upanishads the Islamic equivalent of Tawhid (the doctrine of unity of God, the most fundamental doctrine of the Prophets).
He discovered that there are abundant examples of such similarities and the scriptures of both the religions could be said to be congruent with each other. Dara Shikoh’s publication, Majma-ul-Bahrayn, is highly appreciated as a seminal work in the history of composite culture of India.
The news item before me reminded me of a further experience of some thirty-five years ago. Once Sunday morning, I found a few pamphlets and booklets at my door step. If I remember correctly, these were entitled, ‘It is hard to go to hell’ ‘The Assignment’, ‘Have you signed up?’, ‘Know God Ye Worship’ and so on. I read the pamphlets which due interest. The booklets on Christianity brought out the thought that salvation is realized when one knows for sure that he can live as a Christian should live. They also emphasized the need for belief in Lord Jesus Christ, as the savior of the world. If salvation seemed elusive, the booklet suggested, it was down to the shortcomings of man.
Impressed by the literature, I had an urge to talk to some men in position to know more about Christianity. There were two Churches in my town. I contacted two members of both the churches and invited them to my house the same evening. I waited for the honorable guests patiently.
One Christian came to my house at 5.45 pm. He was much pleased to see my encouraging response to Christianity. We sat together in the drawing room over a cup of coffee. Visualizing prospective intimacy, the visitor hastened to deliver sermons, ‘If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His son cleanses us of all sins……..”
In the meantime, the second Christian guest also arrived and rang the door bell. I gladly invited him to the drawing room. When he peeped in and found my first guest already sitting there, he was dumb-founded and seemed to freeze. After great persuasion, he entered the room. Although both guests seemed to recognize each other, they did share any greeting, even for the sake of appearance. I was a new to them and they seemed to be diagonally opposed to each other. We could not share in conversation even for a few seconds.
When the second guest eventually left, the first meekly told me, “He was a Catholic and I am a Protestant ….”. I did not hesitate asking my guest to reconcile his immediate sermon: WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER – in preaching and actual practice.
Observing the silence, I resumed, “If Lord Christ, the Savior revisits the World, how would you recognize and introduce him to the naive humanity with such man made barriers? Finding the guest silent once more, I veiled over the topic. I personally believed that the root cause of all round misery and strife in the world is the superstitions and false preaching against whom Lord Jesus Christ himself warned, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but who are actually ravenous wolves ready to tear you to pieces.”
On his appreciating the difficulty of recognizing the prophet, I told my guest that every holy prophet is not the originator but the latest preceptor of that divine system which was made perfect at his advent. There has always been an unbreakable chain of prophets succeeding each other. As the solar rays are themselves practical proof of the rising Sun, likewise, the practical imparting of Divine knowledge (Revelation of God) is the singular test for recognizing the Prophet.
The man made barriers in the name of religion, have divided humanity into sects and isms. In this way, therefore, it seems in the highest degree unlikely that mankind will ever feel itself intimately and lovingly one. The scattered intolerance in the human race, in the name of faith, language or any other reason is a matter of deep concern.
Shattered by artificial divisions, conflicting ideologies and – isms, the human race is passing through a period of tension and turmoil and efforts have failed to reverse the wheel of human degradation. Identifying the genesis behind man made barriers; one discovers that it is not the divided atom but the divided human race which is getting more difficult to deal with. As a result, there is no mutual love. In the absence of love, there is no reciprocal respect. Lack of respect breeds distrust which ultimately culminates in hatred and violence all around. Violence separates man from man.
To reverse the gear from violence to love and peace, man must realise the Fatherhood of God, the by-product, of which is the spontaneous Brotherhood of mankind. God is a cosmic force unifying the whole universe. God realization is, therefore, the only force that is mortar, binding together the many shaped bricks of human society into a coherent structure. It is possible to realise the prospect of a world-family with the uniting bond of love among it’s remember. The great thinker Augustine of Hippo hits the nail on the head when says, “Restless are our souls until they rest in thee my God.”
The need of the day is if one can easily digest the idea of one God for all, it should not be difficult to digest the idea of one religion for all. The Nirankari Mission has succeeded in achieving this end through a living revelation of the all pervading God, the same for all religions, whilst putting into balanced perspective the array of rites and rituals, which are of course different for different religions.
With the help of the divine knowledge bestowed by the True Master, an enlightened person perceives God in all and all in God. He regards every human being as the creation of God. With true love and faith thus developed, one starts loving and serving his fellow beings in the real sense. A compass of righteousness is fitted in the heat of the seeker which always keeps him in the right direction and relieves him of suspense and superstitions. The evils like greed, pride, anger gradually dissipate and one becomes a citizen of the universe, where there are no barriers of any kind. When spiritualism take the place of ritualism, one follows and observes the golden tenet, “All to give all for all”.
The Nirankari Baba bestows enduring peace on the mind of seeker by establishing his communion with God. He lays stress on character building and leading a pious life worth emulating by others. The devotee thus leads a life of complete identification with God and shows deepest regards and respect for all the past prophets and scriptures.
With God at heart, we can produce a heave in unison to march ahead for real peace and fellowship non earth, and set the human home in order as specifically laid down in the scriptural verses of the Rig Veda (5:60:6)
O people! Those of you who have attained higher, middle or lower status in your respective fields of work, enjoy the wealth thus gained together as one. With the resources for the production of material goods at your disposal, dedicate your life to eradicate the evils of society and strive at all times for the well having of the people.
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