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Presented
by Fr.Lancelot
Pereira
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Even
the Christians in India seem mostly unaware that the Ramakrishna
Mission centers celebrate Christmas in great style. Except for
the actual Midnight Mass, many features of the Indian Christian
celebration are in evidence - scripture reading, carols, sweets,
cakes etc. This is because Swami Vivekananda and his companions,
sorely grieved over the death of their Master, had decided in
a burst of inspiration (from whom?) on Christmas Eve to give up
the world and form the religious community that eventually developed
into the worldwide Ramakrishna Mission.
 The
universal fascination with the birth of Jesus is revealed in
the way artists down the ages portray the Christmas story. Each
of them finds it entirely appropriate to implant a national
touch to the picture. For instance, the simple line illustration
for this website article was produced by a non-professional
Indian artist at my request on the spot in 10 minutes. If Jesus
Christ belongs to all humanity, then it makes good sense to
see how the same would look to us in India. The majority of
Christmas cards in the world carrying the nativity scene have
pictures from the classics of European art. But today, say,
in Japan, Africa and India, Christmas cards are freely available
portraying unmistakably the national features. |
On
the other hand, the whole process of reflecting diversity through
adaptation to varied cultural ways of thinking is slower. The
attempt of Christian theologians to express the wonder of Jesus
in familiar in Indian thought patterns is well under way, even
if less well known to the general public. The mental development
has not moved as fast as the artistic.
The birth of Jesus actually contains in embryo the patterns, which
later emerge in his adult life and teaching. The experience in
his followers of the power of his death and resurrection led to
Jesus being accepted as the Christ, i.e., 'the anointed one',
sent into the world by the Father and alive within us through
the Spirit. Without distorting any basic facts, the common presentation
of Jesus as the 'word of God' and 'the Second Person of a Divine
Trinity' is brilliant but owes much to the way of thinking in
the cultures and experiences of his early followers, west of Jerusalem.
At
the same time, one may detect in Jesus an inner life, which cannot
be confined to categories specific to any given culture. Jesus
is therefore open to being understood in an Indian way. As an
Easterner who belongs to the world, he is also ours to interpret
in ways our people can better relate to.
| Basic
Facts; Basic Questions; Mystery |
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So
first, let us begin with some basic facts. Jesus is a historical
figure who lived in historically identifiable times. He wrote
no books and left no picture of himself beyond the obviously
personalized accounts from those who had vivid personal contact
(the gospels), or from those who experienced his living power
internally (e.g., the letters of Paul). He had no wealth or
power or position to fall back on. He died a miserably painful
and shameful death - "the only Guru who taught from a bed
of pain" (as Rajneesh puts it).
One can therefore ask some basic questions. Where does his
influence come from? What kind of 'Avatar' is he? The basic
facts leading to the basic questions must be faced before
exploring how thought - patterns based on Indian Culture can
illuminate the 'mystery' of this man whose birth we celebrate
at Christmas.
'Mystery'
here is not used in the Agatha Christie sense. Rather it means
that the more one knows the more there is to know, and the
more one loves the more there is to love. Mystery is evident
in any man-woman relationship that is deep and genuine, for
the other partner is then experienced essentially as 'mystery'.
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| John
and Paul : Easterners |
The
mysterious bonding between two mysteries is the origin of each
of us. The statement 'Tat tvam asi' in this context (the basis
of our 'Namaskar') is clearly a profound mystery. Against this
background of mystery two passages from the Bible are particularly
important. For the first, at the end of his gospel John says:
"This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has
written them down …There was much else that Jesus did; if it were
written down in detail, I do not suppose that the world itself
would hold all the books that would be written". (John 21: 24
- 25). Is this about knowledge or about love - or both?
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