Magazine Articles May / June 2003

I think I can

If you think you are beaten you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't;

If you want to win but think you can't;

It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose you are lost;

For out of the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will;

It's all a state of mind.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger and faster man,

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

Anonymous       

The Blessed Alipia (continued)

Anna Ilinskaya

If the highest good for a man is to save his soul, the highest act of love for one's neighbour is to assist their salvation. Moved by love for her contemporaries, Mother Alipia was a mediator for many and taught them to seek salvation in order to escape divine wrath. Holding them back from mistakes, warning them of coming misfortunes, she gave them relief in spiritual battles.

She treated with suspicion any interference of medicine in "God's doings", whatever the illness, especially surgical treatment. Mother gave sick people a special ointment, specially prepared for each case. Only the person to whom it was assigned had to use it. Father Michael, an elderly priest of the Church of the Veil cured himself of paralysis with this miracle-working ointment. Mother ordered the remainder to be thrown away, so that evil people might not make use of it.

 More often than not people did not suspect the fact their burdens were lightened was due to Mother. She embraced them, kissed them, blessed them and took their illness on herself. "Do you think I make the ointment? I crucify myself for you", she once admitted. To one sick woman she gave French red wine to drink to heal her soul and body and, when she did not drink it, she fell down unconscious.

When an ascetic wants to point out people's thoughts and acts, he hides his intuition, speaking in parables. Mother let a guest stay the night, gave her a sheet and laid a ragged cock under her head, saying: "His hens pecked him". Turning to another woman she said: "Quiet, here nine chicks are lying under the sheet, they died". The guest turned white - she had undergone nine abortions.

They brought a woman to Goloseev suffering from such severe migraines that she took thirteen tablets a day. The old woman went out to meet her with her head bound up, saying: "Oh, my head aches". Thinking "So she herself is powerless", the woman became confused. Groaning, the old lady took off the cloth from her head. The woman felt that the pain in her head at once grew less. From that moment the migraines began to go and she was soon completely cured.

Miracle working

Many miraculous acts surrounded the life of the eldress. "Once, when we were returning from church, a few of us accompanied Mother home," L.A. Cherednichenko recalls, "It was the Feast of the Holy Trinity. Not far from Mother's cell tractors were uprooting the forest. The rumble and screeching was unbelievable. Mother struck her staff against the earth, and looking in the direction of the screeching engines, firmly exclaimed: "Do not fell trees today, do not fell them," and then slowly continued on her way. I thought: `Well, who in this frightful din can hear mother's voice? Who will obey her demand to stop work on a holiday when they are paid double for it?' Returning along the same path an hour and a half later, we saw that all the tractors had stopped. Someone was tinkering with the engine. Someone else was just lying in the sun; and in the forest it was completely peaceful. Mother's voice had been obeyed."

One day in the house there was nothing to drink, neither kvass, nor compote. Mother opened a small barrel, which had previously been empty - it turned out to be full to the brim. Turning to the icon corner, she asked: "Who filled it?" She always looked at the icons and received a direct answer to every question.

She gave strange instructions, but salutary ones. Once at the height of a meal she sent a nun to the ravine with a candle to read the Psalter. Then it came to light that at that same hour they almost killed her brother ...

The pious Olga, a doctor and psychiatrist, met Mother for the first time. Alipia, mistress of the house, showed her where to sit and went out. At once people began to call out to Olga, asking her how she dared sit down! She got alarmed and stood up. Coming back from outside, Mother firmly said: "Why are you standing? Sit down where you were told to." Everyone understood that this was Mother's wish. When they were going home, the woman who had shouted loudest of all kept falling on level ground. Today the pious Olga is serving as abbess in the Gornenska monastery.

Alipia went with one woman to visit the army where her son was serving. Someone had stolen his sub-machinegun and he was threatened with dismissal. "He is not guilty. Vasilii stole the sub-machinegun", said the eldress. "How many are there in Vasilii's unit?" the mother asked the superior officer. "Three", he replied. She went to one of them and looked into his eyes - he could not stand it and lowered his. "Where do you work?" she asked. "In the captain's office", he replied. They found the stolen weapon in the captain's office.

Seeing an acquaintance among the guests, Mother became excited, crying out: "They are killing, killing!" They could hardly calm her down. And what happened? He did not receive the blessing to be a divine fool, the police beat him up and he died in torment.

The pious Larisa dreamed that Mother Alipia was carrying a bundle of brushwood. She wanted to help, but Mother refused, saying "Gather your own", but the bundle was big and hard to carry. When Larisa's daughter told this dream to Mother, she laughed and moved her finger in the air, as though she were telling her beads. "Can your mother do like this? Let her learn." The brushwood represents our old, out-lived sins that have fallen off the tree of life. The eldress gathers them up and carries them, so as to throw them in the bonfire of Divine Grace. Each one of us must say a personal prayer and take on the interior labour of saving people, washing them and cleansing them by love.

Creatures of the Earth

In the Goloseev house a large number of cats were accommodated. Something mysterious was connected with them. Evidently they were also in Mother's service, working with her on healing her neighbours. The Optina elder Nektarius said: "A cat saved Noah's ark. The Devil sent a mouse, the mouse was gnawing through the bottom and the cat caught it. For this reason every cat will be in paradise."

Mother Alipia bore a heavy cross, praying for the sick, and the animals helped her in this. The world of nature is given to man for harmony. Animal lovers are more likely to survive in the case of trauma, in reanimation. Feeling that they are ill, their four-legged friends link up at a distance and send the sick person their earthly tenderness.

The Blessed Serafim lit a candle for all those who came to him. According to how the candle burned, whether quickly, evenly, failing or smouldering - he got to know everything about the visitor's fate. In Mother's hut what happened with the animals was like a prototype of what happened to people, in which connection the mistress of the house had the power by means of prayer to change the situation for the better.

Mother's cats were very clever: they stuck to anyone who needed help, but people jumped away from them as though scalded. Mother's pet stuck its claws so hard into the back of one woman suffering from radiculitis that she cried out. It was not immediately possible to get the cat off. And it turned out that it did such a massage that the woman even forgot about her illness and was cured!

People are rather more closely attached to the animal world than appears at first glance. The whole of creation continues to groan and suffer in common, and we are its tormentors. Mother's cats were diseased, with abscesses and withered paws. She prayed for people, and for the Devil, but when she did not have the power to approach them, she fell back on the animal world. The animals somehow took the blows on themselves. Such bad people went there that, having recourse to the help of little animals, Mother drew on the resources of nature, and she tormented herself.

The pullets, also emaciated and mangy, fell from their perches. "Why are your animals so sick?" someone once asked Mother. "People live dissolutely," she replied. "They commit incest. It is all reflected in the creatures of the earth". Nature is suffering for sinful man, as it takes his sins on itself. When we transgress, even if it is only in our heart, at the other end of the world a catastrophe can occur: in the polluted waters fish die; in a drought fields dry up, birds become exhausted over the forests. When we pray, the whole of earthly creation prays with us.

Not long before she passed away Mother Alipia received twelve kittens; was that not the number of the Apostles? They lay in a basket, still blind. Every time she looked at them Mother rejoiced. "It went away, it went away!" she said. Finally she said: "Almost all are free".There remained the last one, the strongest, clinging to Mother most of all. The world of plants was of course also there with the eldress. The spirits of the forest were respectful towards Mother. Once she went out of the church on her way home, and a storm broke over the forest. The thick oaks swayed with the wind, and a branch almost struck her - the wind bore it away, taking control of it. For her the earth was a living being. One woman fell and bruised herself. Mother said: "Go to the place where you stumbled and say: `Mother Earth, forgive me.' She punished you, and so you submit to it. Our mother is righteous."

Heavenly birds 

People brought Mother money and food products considering charity to neighbours is participation in the work of God Himself. An example to her was the Blessed Theophil, accepting gifts and at once distributing them to beggars. Mother spent all good people's contributions on church prayers.

She bought armfuls of candles and placed them before all the icons in the Dimeev church. She collected a large amount of bread, but took it only as far as the table for the repose of the souls of the dead. She left a few loaves for panikhidas (memorial service) and, sitting on a bench, she fed the rest to the doves. The heavenly birds were already waiting for their provider of nourishment. Hardly had they caught sight of the stooped figure, than they flew down in swarms, gathering at the old woman's feet, hungrily pecking at the food.

A perspicacious nun from the Alexander Florovski monastery fed doves for the rest of the souls of unbaptised children. Mother Alipia was also careful for whom to accept what contribution. Some she put on the panikhida table, others she gave to the doves.

Unseen warfare

When the Goloseev forest tried to assimilate the dachas (country residences) of the party workers, its inhabitants began to move out. The village street became empty. Mother refused to leave: "I have been assigned this place", she said. The police found fault, saying: "It is dirty" and "They live like whores", They asked: "Who assigned you this place to live?". "The Almighty", she replied. And they did not dare to touch her.

Not by chance did the holy fools by an ancient tradition consider themselves to be untouchable. No violence had to be done to them, even for good motives. These people are watched over by the Lord Himself, heaven's plans for them are a mystery to us. Subsequently the police inspector who expelled the eldress from her assigned place, repented: "She showed me her power, lice attacked me, there is no way of saving the situation. I did not give her any peace, and the lice do not give me any peace." They gradually moved everyone out, but left her in peace, and Mother Alipia remained on the edge of the ravine quite alone ...

With her life in the Goloseev forest Mother Alipia also held the defence line of the city of Kiev against the evil spirits of the earth. The unseen warfare warrior formed a wall protecting the Lord's holy sanctuary. During discussions she unexpectedly proclaimed a prohibition in a strong young voice, addressed to unseen spirits. "She had me on my feet all night", her spiritual daughter confessed. Mother Alipia sometimes drove out devils with a stick.

Time is getting short

Mother's intuition was indisputable for all who knew her. Some months before the renovation of the Kiev Caves Stronghold she said: "Already they are lighting the lamps in the caves". But when they informed her of the opening of the monastery, she snapped: "They have opened it, but not to joy".

"Do not leave Kiev", Mother instructed them. "Everywhere there will be hunger, but in Kiev there is bread." And the deeper you go into the lives of the Kiev heroes of piety, the more you will become convinced that there are so many holy places there, which give sustenance at a difficult time, as our daily bread. "The Lord does not abandon his people even unto death, He will sustain the believers on one piece of Communion bread," Mother prophesied.

A year before Mother Alipia died she began to live according to a system of reckoning known to herself. She called this calendar the Jerusalem calendar. The prophetic factors of time were condensed. The Blessed One saw the world on a different scale.

The European pseudo-Christian world observes the Gregorian calendar. In 1918 the Bolsheviks introduced it into Russia as the civil calendar.

There were many temptations to change the divine service calendar according to human standards, but the Russian Church, along with a few local churches in the world, remained faithful to the traditional calculation of time. The mission of our Orthodox homeland is to keep the Julian calendar, as commanded by the holy Fathers, through whose mouths the Lord spoke.

In liturgical practice the Church uses a single system of reckoning. but for some righteous people their own special time on earth has already begun. The calendar organising the consciousness of the faithful was laid down for Mother Alipia depending on her attachment to being a fool for Christ. For some time the interior rhythm of her soul had been moving in a different way, different landmarks in time became bearings for her. Earthly time opened up to an unearthly countenance, a new quality of being began in its own right - a "blessed time" began. The period of living existence was transformed into a fiery time of salvation, which became less with every day. The day of the Apostles Peter and Paul was by her reckoning in autumn. In November 1987 Mother said: "Well now it is Peter and Paul". The difference was three months. She called the date annual antiquity.

"Tomorrow is Transfiguration Day. Who would take me to the church?", said Mother Alipia. According to her calendar the feast of the Light of Mount Tabor had already arrived, although it was hardly summer. The nun Marina volunteered: "Mother obtained an apple somewhere. It was her Transfiguration Day. She took the apple in her hand. We went to the Dimeev Church of the Transfiguration. The liturgy was over and we went into the empty church. `Transfiguration is on the Mount of Christ the Lord...' Mother sang the transfiguration troparion. She laid the apple on the solium and put candles in the candlesticks. She lit some at once and left others for the evening service. `By which gates are you going?' she unexpectedly asked me. I did not at once find an answer. `By which gates are you going, Mother,' I asked. She nodded with satisfaction. `The Jerusalem gates', she said.

Mother Alipia fasted in a heavenly way. In some way or other the Nun Maria bore the Dormition Fast. In the monastery in those days they provided food forbidden during fasts. She was half-starved. "Mother", she said, "I bore your fast." "No, you did not fast." Mother shook her head. "If you had fasted, you would not smile." Once the spiritual children broke the Jerusalem fast, so that Mother took it on herself and fasted for several months more, washing away the sin, seen only by herself.

Mother's death 

A year before her death she announced: "All of you girls, I am leaving you." They were in tears. Mother prepared the table and gave the blessing. "Eat", she said. She counted the number present - it was twelve. "Enough", the eldress said with satisfaction.

From that day she began to serve people. She herself laid the plates, served at the table, as though she were showing the meaning of being a monk - being everyone's servant. This condition is not just by chance called equal to the angels: if you are not prepared to serve do not become a monk. The angels are serving spirits, they help man by shortening the path leading to the Heavenly Father.

Not long before the death of Mother Alipia she put a candle on a bench with rice and moved it to the entrance. The nun Marina entered. In the darkness the candle flickered. There had been nothing like it before. "The lamp has burned out", said Mother and gave the blessing. "Read the Psalter for Mother" she asked. "What's wrong with her?" wondered Marina. The old woman did not reply. "I am leaving you orphans, others will console you, but mother will no longer be with you", she shortly afterwards said to the nun Ludmila.

On Sunday 30 October 1988 there was a particularly large number of people in the little Goloseev house. Mother sent some to the tomb of Father Alexis (Shepelev). "Go and pay your respects, a priest is serving there", she said. Was the comforting Goloseev elder giving her parting words on the way to the heavenly monastery, blessing her on the departure of the soul?

After the meal Mother lay down. Everyone went away, only a married couple remained to clear away the table. Mother gave the servant of God Maria a candle with the instruction to place it the next day before the icon of All Saints. "Only do not light it before morning", she added. She requested bread and honey to be placed on the panikhida table. "Well that is all, do not come any more", she said. Maria thought that meant today, but it turned out to be for ever.

Onto the porch ran a latecomer, the nun Marina. For several days mother had been warning: "Do not go to vespers on Sunday." They were strict about attending the services in the monastery, but she did not dare disobey the eldress. Mother Alipia was lying on the bed. She was glad to see Marina: "Fan me with the scarf, I am dying!" she said. Marina thought she said something else. "Read the Psalter", Mother said. "I shall kneel", Marina murmured. "We must ask the Father about that," Mother replied. Mother raised her eyes to the ceiling. Finally she decided: "Kneel and read!" she said.

The Lord accepts anyone who kneels in prayer as rising up to heaven. When Marina came to the words "My King and my God", Mother said: "Enough!" and asked: "Turn me over!" Marina without difficulty raised the dried up body. The old woman was dried out, just relics and not a person.

In saying goodbye she blessed Marina - she gave an unusually meaningful blessing. She was always like that. To begin with she prayed for a person, then bade farewell. "Did I give you some money?" she asked. "You did, Mother", Marina remembered the Rouble given her. "Well, that means you will not be lost", the eldress comforted her.

And then the man and wife who were clearing away the table looked and Mother was lying lifeless with her face shining with heavenly glory. The Lord had called the holy woman from the valley of the shadow of death to unending joy. Hers was a quiet death, peaceful and without shame. The married couple got into their car and drove to the public telephone. When they returned, on Mother's breast was a dead kitten, the same kitten, the last of twelve, warm, not yet cold.

Mother Alipia had said: "I shall live a hundred years like one day". For this reason her year of birth is considered to be 1888. This is the date indicated on her tombstone. The Goloseev ascetic went to the Lord in the year the Thousand Years of Russian Christianity was celebrated, when Satan, bound for a thousand years, came out from the abyss to tempt the quick and the dead. Mother predicted great temptation for the people of Kiev seven years after her death. [

She once mentioned that the Florovski monastery would bury her - and this is what happened. They dressed her in monastic robes, blouse, cassock, mantle. The nun Marina bound the legs with a triple burial ribbon. A perfume emanated from Mother, as from healing relics when they are wrapped in a shroud. After the first requiems and panikhidas they took the body to the monastery, where a funeral service was conducted in the cathedral .

Burial took place on 2 November. "When the first snow falls, bury me", Mother had prophesied; and in fact on that day white flakes were being blown about. With the blessing of the abbot Anthony the long-suffering body of the Blessed Alipia was put to rest in the monastery section of the Forest Cemetery.

 The Holy Grave

In the Forest Graveyard you find yourself in a different plane of existence; healthy air, a sunny breeze wafts over one's brow. At the feet of heavenly pines rise the stems of crosses - the gravestones of gentle brides of Christ. The resinous world is penetrated by the exultant chirping of birds. Here one can find a little mound, bordered by a pedestal and an orthodox cross.

Here lies the body of the slave of God Nun Alipia

(Avdeeva Agathia Tikhonovna)

1888 - 30.X.1988

May the Lord God remember her soul

in His Kingdom

now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

On the upper part of the cross is the icon of the Kazan Mother of God with the inscription "Fear God". Below is a little lamp. On the tomb are alms: biscuits, rusks. "Do not bring flowers; light candles", Mother asked, when she was still alive.

On the post Mother looks out from a photograph. How many people have stood at the tomb, with her looking each one of them in the eyes, from any point of view, as in icons. She looks out into the world through her earthly image, as through a little eye from the heavenly sphere. When they taste the memorial food, the person remembered stands silently by, protecting them with her light shawl. Her clothes are as light as the air, they are flecked with silver, with a semicircular hood, similar to that of a schema monk's. Her appearance is bright and young, with a glow of heavenly solemnity.

Mother Alipia had said: "Go to my grave, the more people who go, the greater will be the blessing. Call out and I shall hear." We must call on the blessed ones, if not aloud, then in one's heart, call on them warmly and prayerfully - and we shall be rewarded.

It happens thus: a righteous man lived, revered by many. To honour his memory they come to his grave. But Mother was given the blessing to stay with people even after she departed to the Lord. Her grave in the forest cemetery is a centre of love, to which Orthodox Christians go for refuge, in order to warm themselves against the coldness of life. After the seclusion in the hollow tree, after the ascetic exploit of penitence, the Lord gave His servant the task of using her unavoidable sojourn in the world to relieve the pain of those suffering. The fruit of the eldress's pious life became the healing properties of her tomb. After her death she carried on the task of mercy.

On the thirteenth of every month there gather together in the churchyard all those who had known Mother, in order to conduct a service for the departed and eat a memorial repast. Being invisibly present, she blesses the food to make it health-giving. Blessed by the prayers of the eldress, the food and drink has become a means of healing for all. After these meals many are cured of serious illnesses. "Anyone who comes to me only once, will remember that", said Mother Alipia when she was alive. All who visit the tomb with strong hope of God's help, also come under the protection of the Goloseev eldress. Through her mediation urgent help comes to all who call on her name with faith.

There are frequently guests there, who did not know Mother personally, but came because of an announcement in the newspaper. "Please publish this appeal letter as soon as possible. Every minute is valuable. Last year 11 thousand people in the Ukraine and 350 in Kiev ended their lives by suicide. My dear, kind, good people, I give you hope. I invite all wounded, victims of fanaticism, broken, despairing and suffering to come for help to Mother Alipia (Avdeeva), to whom God, for her spiritual task in this world, gave the power of healing and comforting all those in sorrow. Come to her tomb, put a candle there, `call out' your pain - and you will at once feel better. Believe and you will be as happy as I am. The nun Maria." After the death of a spiritual leader his influence is always stronger. The worldly condition goes, but the spiritual condition remains, coupled with the vow of love. The nun Maria said: "After Mother's death everyone said that they felt her, except me. I was very sad. Then I dreamed of a bed and Mother was lying dead on it. Suddenly she raised her hand and touched my cheek. I awoke in great joy because for me also she was still alive. For a long time I felt Mother's warm hand on my cheek...

"When Mother was alive, we did not understand what a treasure we had. This was a gem that was given us undeservedly by the Lord. Without her prayer we do not take a single step, without her blessing our work does not succeed. Just a question, bewilderment, and we hurry to the tomb. She reacts in a moment, with the speed of thought, and the answer comes without delay. You just have to understand that one needs to act in this way and not in any other. She indicates very precisely and it is important that people coming to her carry out everything to the letter and with faith. Mother Alipia blesses all Orthodox people who stand up strongly for belief in Christ, and do not expect rewards on earth: `Go into the wilderness and I shall be with you'. Everything connected with Mother was a large number of small rays of light coming down on to our life. For a long time now we have not been surprised at anything, for which we can only give thanks. Does reality really surprise you?

Is syncretism the best form of religious toleration?

John Phillips

 To examine this question, we must first of all define what we mean by syncretism, then examine some examples in the history of religion and in modern times. Then we shall be in a position to review the advantages and disadvantages of syncretism and the effectiveness of other forms of religious toleration.

The term syncretism has a long history, going back to Plutarch. It was probably based on a Greek word meaning "mixing together". In the sixteenth century efforts at reconciliation between Molinists and Thomists and in the seventeenth century between Lutherans and Calvinists can be regarded as syncretist. In the nineteenth century the term had negative overtones, meaning a "mishmash of religions", but now the term has come to be used largely without negative connotations. The term can be used generally in sociology and linguistics to means a mixing together of diverse parts to form a new whole, but in religion it specifically means a combination of elements from two or more religions.

An example of the latter was that of the worshippers of the Iranian goddess Anahita in Asia Minor in the first century living together with worshippers of the Greek goddess Artemis. This symbiosis led to a limited syncretism, combining the two cults. Not every symbiosis, however, has led to syncretism. Thus Hellenism was a reconciliation of cultures into a higher unity and is best described as synthesis.

In modern times Theosophy has inclined towards the conviction that all religions are true and lead to union with God, but the relative decline of the Theosophical Society since its heyday in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is symptomatic of what happens to syncretisms. In India Ramakrishna said that he had tried all religions, namely Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, and found that all were moving towards the same God in different ways. Swami Vivekananda taught the same approach. He said that he did not want to convert Westerners to Hinduism, but to make them better Christians. This led to the foundation of the Vedanta Movement by Swami Vivekananda, about which more is said below. Comparable doctrines are also to be found in the broad stream of tradition flowing from ancient gnosticism through the Neoplatonism of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, (although Neoplatonism was concerned to harmonise philosophy and religion rather than various religions), to modern anthroposophy. The claim is not usually made that all religions teach the same thing, nor are the lines of demarcation between them removed, but a harmony is established among them by the claim that they are all seeking the same goal. This assertion includes an emphasis on the unity of the goal, which is comparable to a presupposition of unity that can in certain circumstances lead to syncretism. But in the cases mentioned here no syncretism has in the end resulted.

This seems to indicate that when a religious development has reached a syncretic stage, this character is not passed on to the subsequent stages. To this extent it is correct to say that syncretism is a transitional stage. This stage is to be seen even in Judaism and Christianity.

When one rite adopts components from another rite, forms of worship are combined, but external influence in this area is often indistinguishable from the action of factors already present in the tradition. This situation is clearest in the Christian liturgy and as far as the sacraments are concerned, elements of which have been attributed to earlier traditions. Because ablution rituals of all kinds were so widespread, it is often unclear whether baptism as an act stood out, because of its initiatory nature - in a series of already-existing ablutions - or whether the ablutions represent secondary repetitions of an originally unique act of baptism. Jewish proselyte baptism thus probably originated within Judaism and was not taken from outside.

There are however religions which stand out as high points of syncretic processes. Among these are the mystery religions of ancient Greece and Rome. The Isis mysteries of Egypt presupposed the faith in Osiris that had already acquired syncretic ties in the Serapis cult of the Ptolemies. Manicheism presupposed syncretisms that were part Babylonian, part Iranian, part Christian. It was at one and the same time Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism and Shamanism. Gnostic doctrines were all preceded by Graeco-Oriental syncretisms. The fate of these religions is well known. They all gradually died out, except sometimes for a few surviving remnants. A magazine article recently showed a picture of the only surviving Manichean temple. It is in a remote part of China.

Syncretic movements, such as the Vedanta movement initiated by Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, also tend in course of time to be dominated by one particular religious tradition. In the case of the Vedanta movement this has been Hinduism, although many followers of Vedanta in the West have continued to adhere to their own religious traditions and have found nothing incompatible between Vedanta and their own religion.

From the history and variety of syncretisms, however, one can see that mankind does not generally take too easily to them. It seems to be a natural tendency in man to go for one single thing, not a combination of many things. Conversion is thus a much more common phenomenon than syncretism. And there are good reasons why this should be so.

The Gospel parable of the pearl of great price illustrates this. When the merchant has found this pearl, he sells all his possessions to obtain it. He does not squander his wealth on a variety of things. In the same way, when one has found the religion one believes to be true, one wants that religion alone and not a collection of diverse elements from several religions. The great world religions also have the big advantage of having a long tradition supporting them. They have stood the test of time and one feels one can rely on them.

Nevertheless it is quite common nowadays for people to devise their own personal religions based on a selection of elements taken from various sources. On a recent visit to London, the Dalai Lama warned against this "pick-and-mix" attitude. He also warned against conversions, emphasising that he did not want to convert any Western person to Buddhism, as it was not part of their culture. We are all brought up in a particular culture and extraneous elements cannot be inserted into it at the will of the individual without causing a disturbance. Yet still people are doing this and one can therefore only conclude that it gives them the satisfaction of having in their religion only those elements, which are pleasing to them, rejecting all others. But is this what we need for our spiritual development? Surely some discipline is necessary.

There are in fact practical reasons why syncretism is not the best means of expressing toleration. In one's own spiritual life it is essential to concentrate on one endeavour. Spreading one's effort over a number of avenues of approach inevitably leads to waste and dissipation of energy. One ends up not getting anywhere. Ramakrishna illustrated this in his parable of the man trying to dig a well to find water, but giving up soon after each attempt at a new location. How then should one show toleration to others? The best method is the one described by Thich Nhat Hanh in his recent book "Living Buddha, Living Christ". He describes the situation of a Buddhist man who has married a Christian woman. Neither tries to convert the other, but each respects the other's religion. In this way each can pursue his or her own spiritual path without offending the other. There are no quarrels, no arguments and each is pleased with the respectful attitude of the other.

This approach, however, implies that one should get to know something about the other religions and their founders, while remaining true to one's own religion. To do this sincerely one must approach the other religion on its own terms. It is no good saying, as used to be the case some years ago, that these other religions are partial revelations of the truth, which is of course only to be found in "our religion". One sees an example of this in the attitude of some sects, which admit the truth of other religions, but on their own terms. For them Christ is thus "one of the incarnations" and Buddha is the "ninth incarnation of Vishnu". Gandhi regarded Christ as a great teacher of morality. As to the Prophet Mohammed, they will say that he had only a partial revelation of the truth, but failed to realise God in the full sense. To understand another religion properly, however, it is necessary to experience it from the inside. Ramakrishna did this when he briefly practised Christianity and Islam.

So instead of adopting a patronising attitude, one should tolerate other religions as traditions to be honoured in their own right. Even within the Christian family of faiths, one should respect the doctrines of Churches other than our own. Surely God accepts their worship, even though it may not be offered in exactly the same terms as ours. Should we not rather concentrate on our own worship and get that right and true, rather than looking askance at the worship of others?

St. Augustine and the Vedanta

Dr Prakash Chandra

 St. Augustine is one of the most prominent figures in the history of the Christian Church and mediaeval Western philosophy. He was born in the 4th century A.D. when Christianity was still in its formative stage. He gave to it a body of principles on which its structure could securely rest. Moreover, he happened to live at a time when Europe stood at the crossways. He saw the great Roman Empire, which had been established by the Caesars and had stood firm for five centuries, fall to pieces. The end of what seemed the most powerful organisation the world had ever seen, brought home to him the transitoriness of worldly things. His mind turned away from the spectacle of ruin and misery in the manifest world to contemplate an eternal world of goodness and beauty.

Augustine was born the son of a pagan father and a devout Christian mother, Monica by name. As a young man he was very passionate, given over to the pleasures of the flesh. He found it most difficult to control himself. But he was conscious of his weakness and filled with an overpowering sense of sin. He was aware that there were higher things than the body and he began to be earnest in his search for wisdom from his nineteenth year. Augustine himself speaks of two wills, one carnal and the other spiritual, each fighting against the other, and by their discord tearing his soul asunder. Ultimately, the soul triumphed over the body. He decided to give up his association with women and not to marry but to devote all his time to philosophical studies and religion. Certain incidents or influences which helped him on the road to self-realisation may be briefly noted:

(1) While in his sixteenth year, he joined some of his companions one night in plucking pears from a neighbour's tree. Presently he felt greatly upset, considered it a very wicked deed and besought God to forgive him for his sin.

(2) The death of a friend dearly loved left a deep impression on his mind. He was most miserable, he says, and adds that so would be everybody who was bound by the love of things that pass away. Turn wheresoever he would, he found no peace: "Not in pleasant groves, nor in sports or music, not in fragrant odours, nor in exquisite banquets, not in pleasures of the chamber, nor yet in books or songs," could rest be found. This was so, because at that time he had no firm faith in God, the ground in which repose is to be sought; he remained a prisoner within himself. (3) Augustine had become proficient in the art of rhetoric. He once wrote an oration in praise of the Roman Emperor. He was vain enough to think that it would attract public attention. But, as was natural, the oration contained many untruths, which pricked his conscience. While he was feeling miserable, he decided to go out and met on the street a beggar who was half drunk but merry. He contrasted his own state with that of the beggar. It was true that the joy of the beggar was not true joy being so transitory, but then the joy which he himself hoped to enjoy was no more secure, being based on ambition and vanity. This led him to the conclusion that the important thing was the source from which one's joy proceeded and that the joy of a true and faithful hope was incomparably superior to that derived from personal glory and vanity.

(4) While still a young man, Augustine with some of his friends contemplated retirement from the world. The plan was to find a quiet spot, far removed from company, where ten of them could live sharing a common purse, thus eliminating the idea of mine and thine. The scheme fell through because some of the men were married and their wives withheld their consent.

(5) From the first, Augustine was attracted by men known for their purity of life and wisdom and eagerly sought their acquaintance. One of them was Simplicianus, an old man in whom the grace of God did shine, and who could, "out of that skill afford me some guidance". Another was Bishop Ambrose, "known to the whole world as among the best of men." The Bishop's sermons were noted for their eloquence and by their influence paved the way for Augustine's final conversion to Christianity. The story of that conversion which is historic has been described by Augustine in vivid detail. He was in his thirty-third year when a violent struggle took place within himself. The question was whether he should leave the worldly life to give himself entirely to God. The tension was so great that he had to seek refuge in a garden. Tears flowed freely from his eyes. At last he heard a voice, as if it were a boy's or girl's, saying: "Tolle lege" (Take up and read). He took up the Bible and the first words which met his eyes were: "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye trust in Lord Christ, and make no provision for the flesh." He understood the message and read no more, for "instantly, as by a clear and constant light infused into my heart, the darkness of all my former doubts was driven away." So complete was his conversion that his desire for a wife or any other worldly ambition left him altogether. In the place thus vacated: "Thou didst enter thyself, more sweet than all earthly pleasures, though not to flesh and blood, clearer than any light, yet more hidden than any secret, higher than the highest honour, but not to such as are high in their own conceit."

St. Augustine became a very prolific writer, mainly on theological subjects. But apart from Christianity there were two other strands which went to the making of the texture of his thought. These were his mysticism and his close acquaintance with the writings of Plato and the Neoplatonists. That he was a mystic is amply borne out by his most famous book, the Confessions, which has an atmosphere like that of the Bhagavad Gita. He addresses God as familiarly as Arjuna does Sri Krisna. He writes: "I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep, seeking Thee with anxious reasoning without, whilst Thou wast within me. I went round the squares and streets of the city of this world seeking Thee, and found Thee not, because in vain I sought without for Him who was within myself." In mystic religion, God is not a logical concept or the conclusion of a syllogism but a real presence, the ground and possibility of all knowledge and values. Mysticism lays stress on the personal experience of God, direct contact with the creative spirit.

When Augustine was 30 years old, he started reading some of the writings of Plato and Plotinus from whom he borrowed some of his principal ideas. To read Plotinus is like reading one of the ancient sages of India. That he was conversant with Indian philosophy seems probable. Plotinus was born in Egypt, and it is known that as a young man he studied in Alexandria where he lived until the age of 39. Alexandria at that time was a famous seat of learning and the meeting-place of the cultures of the East and the West. Regular commerce between the two had been re-established in the first century A.D. Trade by sea had flourished in the olden days when the first Ptolemies ruled gloriously in Egypt. As knowledge and confidence increased, the experienced sailors made greater and more daring use of the monsoons, and the Malabar and Coromandal coasts became connected with the Mediterranean sea ports. Precious stones, spices, gums, muslins and fine cloths were exported from India, even art objects like ivory statuettes of Lakshmi. There is evidence to show that voyaging was not merely confined to merchants and their crews. Carpenters and architects, masons and other craftsmen must often have felt tempted by good pay and prospects to leave their homeland and settle in foreign parts. The residents might have been allowed to live under their own institutions, certainly practising their own cults. They would celebrate their religious festivals, talk about their fundamental beliefs and sing religious songs. What had happened as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great and the undertakings of the Roman Empire, was that, as Stutfield maintains, Indian mystical thoughts passed over into Africa and western Europe and blossomed forth in Plotinus.

Now Augustine lived at a time when the influence of Plotinus was still great and his philosophical ideas, which resemble the Vedanta, hold that God is the source and goal of everything; from Him everything comes and to Him all things return. He is the beginning, middle and end of all. Communion with God or absorption in Him is possible and should be the object of all human striving. In his adoption of these views, in his insistence on truth and the necessity of faith, in his treatment of the body and soul generally, in his belief in the slow ascent of the soul with increasing likeness to God and in his assumption that it is possible for the human soul to behold the vision of God, St. Augustine reminds one of the main teachings of the Vedanta.

Augustine holds that the only knowledge worth having is the knowledge of God and Self. All other sciences, logic, metaphysics and ethics have value only insofar as they tell of God. Augustine gives equal place to faith and reason in the sphere of religion. It is our duty to understand what we firmly believe, to see the rationality of our faith. "Understand in order that you may believe, believe in order that you may understand." Some things we do not believe unless we understand them; others we do not understand unless we believe.

Augustine assigns a very important place to truth in his scheme of things. It is sufficient for my purpose, he says, "that Plato felt that there were two worlds: the one intelligible where Truth itself dwelt; the other sensible which, as is clear, we feel by sight and touch. In the former sphere, the human soul encounters itself and God. There is the noumenon behind the appearances; within us is the soul not visible to the eye of the sense, but most evident to us by its own radiance. The intelligible world is not the product of the senses or the soul of man. The sensible world cannot give birth to the intelligible, which is unchanging whereas the world is passing. Truth is steady whereas the soul's glance is unsteady. Truth is found, not made and the human mind is subject to it."

The existence of truth is established in the style of Sankaracharya or Descartes: "Everyone who knows himself to be in doubt knows truth and is certain about truth. Everyone, therefore, who doubts whether there be truth has within himself truth whereby he should not doubt, nor is there anything true which is not true by truth. He therefore, that can doubt in anywise should not doubt of truth. If this is seen, then there is light, pure of all space, be it of places or times." At one time Augustine doubted whether truth existed but he heard a voice, not far off, saying "Yes, yes I am that I am." This he heard in his heart, beyond any possibility of doubt; "Yet more easily could I think that I did not live than that Truth is not, which is clearly seen and understood by the creatures whom God has made." For Augustine, as later for Mahatma Gandhi, Truth is God: "The happy life consists of joy in truth, for this is a joying in Thee, who art the Truth." Merely intellectual knowledge is not sufficient for arriving at ultimate truth. For this one must go beyond reason to mystical vision, the spiritual seeing of God, which transcends reason. Faith, knowledge, and mystical vision may be conceived as progressive steps on the way to the transcendental understanding of God, who is the essence of truth.

God is Truth, Love, Goodness and Beauty. He loves all his creatures individually and takes care of them, as if, notwithstanding their fathers and mothers, there was nobody to look after them but He, and they were His only charge. On their part, it behoves them to love Him with all their ardour. So far as Augustine is concerned, his personal, passionate love of God finds frequent expression in the Confessions. He believed ardently in the efficacy of prayers. God was omnipotent and prayers uttered from the heart were answered. One of his prayers runs: "Go on, O Lord, make an end, raise us up and call us back, charm us by Thy fragrance, let us love Thee and run to Thee." The City of God, he tells us, is made by the love of God, pushed to the contempt of self; the Earthly City, by the love of self, pushed to the contempt of God.

He pictures God advising His devotees not to ask for material things. "Ask Me spiritual things; ask of me Myself" Augustine teaches us to love three objects, God, our neighbour and ourselves. There is no contradiction between the love of God and the love of self, provided its meaning is extended to cover wife, children, the family and all men besides. All men are to be loved for the sake of God: "For he alone never loses a dear friend, to whom all men are dear for His sake Who is never lost." This is an echo of the famous saying in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: "Lo, not for love of the husband is a husband dear, but for love of the self a husband is dear" and so on. Sins or crimes are committed, Augustine reminds us, when God is forsaken, and "by a foolish and particular pride we grow to love that which is a part of the whole and which withal is false."

Though in his later writings, Augustine is inclined to attribute a man's blessedness solely to the grace of God with which his own works have nothing to do, in the Confessions he takes a different view. He holds that man is responsible for his good and evil fortune. Castigating the astrologers who would trace it to heavenly influence, he says that God is the very sweetness and first source of justice who will render to everyone according to his works. He believed that the life of the soul and the rewards of our deeds continue after death because the soul is immortal.

That God is goodness, he proves by recalling the many gifts with which he was endowed at birth. He had a vigorous memory, ready speech and the pleasure derived from friendship. What is more, he had delight in truth, even in little things and he liked not to be deceived. "These things, I say, were good and I had them all. Therefore, He is good who made me." All beautiful things and pleasures have their source in God. We should praise Him for them and not become "glued to them through bodily senses. For, otherwise, they lead towards a not-being." Augustine emphasises the absoluteness and majesty of God and the insignificance of His creatures considered apart from Him. God is an eternal, transcendent being, all-powerful, all-good, all-wise. Like all Christians, Augustine believed that God created the heaven and earth, but from the special meaning which he gives to the word `creation', it is obvious that he regarded God both as transcendent and immanent: "He filleth them and even by filling, maketh them", he explains. To clarify his point, he gives the analogy of the sponge which floats on the surface of the sea, is surrounded by the sea and whose pores are penetrated by the sea. The problem of evil in the universe gave no end of trouble to Augustine. God for him was all-good, all-perfection. How could a good God, all-powerful, create a universe in which there was evil? To solve this problem Augustine assumes that everything in the universe is good. Even that which appears to be evil to us is actually good in that it fits into the whole pattern of the universe. Shadows, dark spots, are necessary to the beauty of a painting. If seen by themselves, broken away from the whole picture, they appear bad. But when seen in the picture they make possible the beauty of the whole. Evil, then, is relative for Augustine and is actually an absence of good just as darkness is absence of light.

According to Augustine, the universe is a partial revelation of God. The process is still continuing. This process necessarily entails the destruction of things. Augustine illustrates this by taking the example of a speech. Now, in order that a speech may be properly made, it is necessary that the sound of a word spoken should be allowed to die out before another word is uttered. Similarly, in the universe things have their origin, their brief existence and their end. By departing and succeeding do they constitute one whole. Man, the highest creature in the visible world, is a union of soul and body. The body is, however, not the prison-house of the soul and evil. The soul is a simple, immaterial or spiritual substance, entirely distinct in essence from the body; it is the directing principle, the life of the body; but how it acts on the body is a mystery. Sensation is a mental, not a physical process. Sense perception, imagination and sensuous desire are functions of the sensitive or inferior soul; memory, intellect and will are of the intellectual or superior soul or spirit, which is in no wise dependent on the body. All these functions, however, are functions of one soul; the soul is a unity. It may be noticed that Augustine's conception of the soul differs from that of the Vedanta according to which the soul does not act but is a spectator. Nor does he regard it as an emanation from God. Again, it is not the one universal soul which finds its habitation in different bodies; each man has his own individual soul. Nevertheless, the soul has the capability of seeing the vision of God and uniting itself with Him. "The soul of man," says Augustine, "though it gave testimony to the light, is not yet the light." The rational mind or soul is in itself defective as when it holds false opinions or is dominated by carnal pleasures. It has to be perfected by such means as prayer, fasting, alms-giving, and above all, fostering the love of God. Renunciation of the world and withdrawal from social life will help the process. The final step is the illumination of the soul by another light, the Divine light, which acts by flashes.

 The soul, says Augustine, speaking of his own experience, "abstracted itself from those troops of sensuous images which cross and thwart one another... and thus in the flash of a trembling glance, it arrived at That which is. Then, indeed, I came to have a sight of Thy invisible things, which are understood by the things that are made; but I could not fix my gaze upon them. For my weakness I was beaten back and was restored to my wonted objects; and I carried away with me no more than a loving memory of those others, and, as it were, a longing for the odours of those things." In another passage, St. Augustine has given a fuller account of the way in which God-realisation takes place. The words are so noble and they convey such a clear picture, that no apology is needed for reproducing them here: "Suppose all the tumult of the flesh in us were hushed for ever, and all sensible images of earth and sea and air were put to silence; suppose the heavens were still and even the soul spoke no words to itself, but passed beyond all thought of itself; suppose all dreams and revelations of imagination were hushed with every word and sign, and everything that belongs to this transitory world; suppose they were all silenced - though, if they spoke to one who hears what they say is: `We made not ourselves, but He made us Who abides for ever - ' suppose then that the God whom through such manifestations we have learnt to love were to be revealed to us directly, without any such mediation - just as, but now we reached out of ourselves and touched by a flash of insight the eternal wisdom that abides above all; suppose, lastly, that this vision of God were to be prolonged for ever, and all other inferior modes of vision were to be taken away so that this alone should ravish and absorb the beholder and entrance him in mystic joy, and our life were for ever like the moment of clear insight and inspiration to which we rose - is this not just what is meant by the words, `Enter thou into the joy of our Lord.'!"

 This article was previously published in Vedanta Kesari in January 1981.

Faith

Swami Dayatmananda

"Once a person has faith he has achieved everything." (Sri Ramakrishna)

"Is faith so cheap, my child? Faith is the last word. If one has faith, the goal is practically reached." (Holy Mother Sarada Devi) "Faith is the anticipated reality of what we hope for - the beatific vision - and the demonstrative proof of what the mind does not see." (Swami Vivekananda) According to Luther faith is "a simple trust in the mercy of God".

Faith makes life joyous, rich, fulfilling and meaningful. Without it life is likely to become meaningless, fruitless, a drag. Faith lies at the back of every great endeavour and success. History is nothing but the story of a few people with immense faith in God, in themselves and in all. Faith brings out the innate potentialities of a man. It makes a man endure unbearable pain and suffering with hope and joy. It is faith again which makes a man undergo great sacrifices for the good of all. In the Rig Veda faith is deified and offered a hymn called `Shraddha suktam'. Therein a seer prays to the goddess that he may be endowed with Shraddha. The nearest but unsatisfactory translation of the word in English is `faith'.

Belief and faith

The words `belief' and `faith' are often used synonymously. Belief is an intellectual assent to a dogma or a doctrine which often proves to be irrational; sometimes we have belief, at other times we lose it. Belief is controlled by our intellect and is influenced by circumstances. It rarely brings about a transformation in our conduct and character.

Faith is just the opposite. It is firmness of conviction of unseen truths - God, an after life and the other world. The true characteristics of faith are right understanding, strength, purity, truthfulness, rationality, sincerity, productivity, joy, fearlessness and nobility. Where these characteristics are absent we can be sure it is anything but faith.

Faith makes a man a sincere seeker of God and bestows the realisation of God on him. It always transforms and uplifts. Faith leads man to God and makes him a saint. Its movement is always upward and Godward. Faith is indirect knowledge of reality and dawns intuitively. Hence it unerringly leads one to God. It is a gift of God, the reflection of the Self in a purified mind. It, literally, takes possession of man. Once it comes there is no way but to move wherever it leads.

 Faith, hope and charity

Faith, hope and charity are considered as the three theological virtues because they have God for their object and are infused into the soul as the grace of God; when God is pleased with one He manifests Himself in the form of these virtues. They are interdependent though faith is the basis and the foundation of the other two. Speaking of these three virtues, Caussade says they are `but one virtue'.

 Understanding, memory (or imagination), and will are the three faculties of the mind. These three faculties are one and interlinked so that if one faculty is united with God the other two also become united. Spiritual practice is an attempt to unite oneself with God `through faith, according to the under-standing, through hope according to memory, and through love (charity) according to will'. Integration of these three faculties of understanding, memory and will is called the integration of personality.

True faith fills the heart with hope - hope in the reality of the goal and hope in oneself that one is capable of attaining it. Faith lights up the spiritual path, fills the heart with undying hope and leads one forward even under the most hopeless situations. Truly a man who has lost all hope is a dead man. Hope, in its turn, inevitably translates itself into love (charity) and joy. Hence it is said `faith separated from good deeds is a dead faith'. `I may have utter faith', says St Paul, `so that I can move mountains; yet if I lack charity, I count for nothing'. Charity, he tells us, is the crown of all virtues, and that which binds them together : `that is the bond which makes us perfect'. Hence a person who has faith remains ever hopeful and discharges all his duties with love, joy and reverence.

The great Sayanacharya defines faith as a special affection embedded in man. He says it is a distinctive reverence for a person, object or a principle. Vedantasara defines it as `faith in the words of the scriptures as taught by the Guru or teacher'.

 Without absolute trust in the teacher and scriptures it is not possible to keep up one's ideal for long. Doubts are bound to creep in at some stage and they hinder progress. They are destroyed completely only after the realisation of God. But doubts should not be allowed to hamper one's spiritual progress.

"Faith is the one thing needed, intense faith! Let not doubts get hold of your mind."

"But if doubts come, Maharaj?"

"Doubts will come until you have realized God; therefore you must hold fast to God and pray. You may think: `Let us have yearning, faith, and devotion first, then we shall begin our spiritual practices.' But is that possible? Can we see the day before the break of dawn? When the Lord comes, love, devotion, and faith follow him as his retinue." (Swami Brahmananda)

Hence one should have strong faith in the teachings of the scriptures as interpreted by one's teacher. Here also what is advocated is not a dogmatic faith based on irrational authority. The teachings are to be heard with reverence and should be scrutinised through reason until they are grasped in the right way. Only then should they be accepted and acted upon. Ultimately even faith, as a working hypothesis, is only a help and should be verified through direct realisation of God. Until then, of course, we have no other means except to proceed through faith.

 Faith slowly but surely leads man towards God. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: `Suppose there is a thief in a room and he has come to know that a great treasure lies separated from him only by a thin partition. Can he rest content only to know about it? Will he not become restless to possess it?' Such is the nature of faith. Once a man has it, it will not allow him to rest until he realises God.

That is why true faith is considered as the greatest gift of God to man. It is a rare gift and dawns only on the heart of a man who has become pure.

Faith and reason

There is a misconception that faith and reason are contradictory and opposed to each other. The truth is faith and reason are complimentary, faith leading man to realms reason is incapable of reaching. We said that faith is indirect knowledge obtained through intuition. Intuition never contradicts reason but goes beyond it; for reason has its limitations and is incapable of functioning beyond the realm of the known. Intuition can come only to a person who lives according to the dictates of reason and objectivity. Objectivity is the faculty of seeing things or persons as they are. The inability to be objective leads one to insanity. When a person fails to be objective he develops a psychosis of some form. An insane person sees the outside world as symbols of his mind, as his own creation, because for him the reality is his own desires and fears.

Faith and fanaticism

The reason why faith can never breed fanaticism is that it is based on reason. Reason is the faculty of thinking objectively, the ability to see things or persons as they are and not as coloured by our emotions. There are fanatics who believe all sorts of dogmas and doctrines and do not hesitate to commit heinous crimes in the name of religion. This fanaticism is based on irrational authority. On the surface these fanatics seem to be strong believers and are ready even to give up their lives cheerfully for their cause. The truth is otherwise. True faith is rational and objective, and always promotes peace, harmony and joy wherever it is present. As the saying goes `a tree is known by its fruits'. The fruits of faith can only bring blessings on all. Wherever we find wars, conflicts and disharmony we can be sure that it is the result of selfishness and fanaticism, and not true faith.

Not to speak of progressing spiritually, without faith one can scarcely live a fulfilling life even in this world. As we mentioned earlier, faith is an infusion of God's grace into the heart of a striving soul. So how to acquire it?

All of us have to begin with the small amount of faith we possess, what Aldous Huxley calls `a minimum working hypothesis'. If we can live in accordance with our faith it becomes stronger. The best way of doing this is to perform our duties with awareness, love, reverence and joy, with the sole motive of pleasing God. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that `By Whom all this is pervaded, worshipping Him by way of devotedly performing his duty, man attains perfection.' True worship is the performance of one's duties. If a man can do this in the right way and offer the result to the Lord, his heart will attain to purity, and faith gets reflected in it.

 "Always remember that through work you are serving the Lord. One can see him with the eye of devotion. If you work with the idea of pleasing men, you will be disappointed. You will find peace and happiness only if you can remember the Lord. If he is pleased, the world is pleased. In favourable or in adverse circumstances, feel that you have none but him and that you are serving him through the faithful discharge of your allotted duties. "Another invaluable help is association with the holy. Sri Ramakrishna recommends this method highly. Sri Krishna tells us in the Bhagavatam that nothing pleases God more than association with the holy, for holy company is contagious and infuses people with faith, devotion, and dispassion. "Keep association with the holy. Go to one who knows the path, learn about the path, and walk on the path. Then alone you will reach your destination some day. Then alone will arise faith and devotion." (Swami Brahmananda)

The Master repeatedly prayed: `Thou art my refuge, O Lord. I seek no physical pleasures. I do not want worldly happiness. Give me faith, and give me pure love for thy lotus feet. Destroy my sense of ego and make me thine.'

Prayer is one of the most powerful means of uniting with God. Consciously or unconsciously every creature prays, for every desire is an unvoiced prayer. And who is free from desires? Yet it is the special privilege of man to pray consciously with love and purpose. Many saints obtained God through sincere and constant prayer. St Paul advises all `to pray unceasingly'. Even if one has doubts about the existence of God, if one prays sincerely, prayer itself will infuse faith, and will lead man to God. Swami Vivekananda used to say that prayer unifies all the inner energies of man. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: `Pray to the Divine Mother, begging Her to give you unswerving love and adamantine faith. Pray to God in any way you like. He is always sure to hear you. He can hear even the footfall of an ant. When mind and speech unite in earnestly asking for a thing, that prayer is answered.'

 Thus spiritual life begins with a small amount of faith. Then nurtured through proper performance of one's duties, holy company and prayer it takes possession of the heart and ultimately leads man to God.

Swami Bhuteshananda

 Maharaj, is the past of any help to us?

The past must make our lives noble. The experiences of the past teach us lessons.

What is the difference between self-control and austerity?

By self-control control of the mind is meant: to free the mind from all other thoughts. Austerity means enduring difficulties. Say for instance you feel hot while doing japa, but still you continue. I was pondering today, what a lot of time we spend in vain. I also remembered the incident of Sri Ramakrishna's marriage: he spent his time during his own marriage in singing kirtans and remembering God.

Maharaj, we ladies have to spend a lot of time in cooking... Cooking is also work, and it is essential. Even sleep is necessary as it is essential for the body. But if you think of the rest of the time, you will see how much is being wasted. We spend time in discussing vain things, and we don't remember then that such precious moments will not return. Sri Ramakrishna says regarding someone that even though he is 50 years old he doesn't understand that he has to utilize his time fruitfully. He feels bored and so plays cards.

Who is a childlike person?

He whose thoughts and words are one, and whose actions are in harmony with his thoughts and words is a simple, childlike person (sarala). The reverse is complex nature.

Maharaj, why is innocence regarded as foolishness?

Innocence is a merit, a quality, whereas foolishness is a demerit, a weakness.

This being the case, how can these two be synonymous?

Why do you ask something when you know the answer?

What is falsehood?

What is not truth is falsehood! All that appears before us can be perceived by the sense-organs. The sense-organs are transitory, and what is impermanent cannot be the truth.

Maharaj, unless we have a noble lineage or pedigree to back us, we cannot establish ourselves in life. Is not Karna of the Mahabharata a glaring example of this?

Not true. Sage Narada was born in a maidservant's house. Was Narada in any way inferior on account of that? When they called him a charioteer's son, suta putra, in the overflowing assembly hall of the Kauravas, Karna replied: `Where I was born, whether in a charioteer's family or elsewhere, is not under my control. What is under my control is my valour.'

Why has it been said that a holy man has to be observed during the day and during the night? Observe a holy man always. You are asked to discriminate. Wicked people also can come in the guise of holy men. Ravana came in a holy man's robes and carried Sita away. He is a holy man by being in the proximity of whom a person's spiritual moods are awakened. God is purity itself; the devotee thinks of him always. And by thinking so, he becomes similarly pure.

Gandhari knew that her sons were wrong, did she not? In spite of that, whichever mother wants her children to die?

Just because they have wronged does not mean they should die.

If Krsna is God Himself, why did Gandhari's curse affect him?

Sri Krsna had assumed a human body and so he had to experience the sweet-and-bitter fruits of this world as others did.

What is the meaning of the word nairvyaktika?

Nairvyaktika means that which is applicable to everyone. That it is not related to any special individual. You may translate it as `impersonal'.

Why did Gandhari curse Krsna?

Why should she not? (With a laugh) Sri Krsna had done a lot of mischief, you see. It was because of Krsna that Gandhari lost all her sons.

Astrologers say that everything is predestined. Is this true, Maharaj?

Nobody says that. People tease astrologers and there-fore comment in this way. Of course, some astrologers say that either this or that could happen. They say, perform a certain sacrifice and you will not die. But can you become immortal? Looking at things from God's point of view, everything is pre-destined; but you are not seeing from that angle. All the time you are thinking that by doing this we shall get this, by doing that we shall get that. Regarding work or karma you have an independent line of thought.

Is there any relationship between science and religion?

Religion deals with those things which are beyond the sense-organs. Science deals with those things which can be grasped by the five senses.

Why does science not believe in the scriptures?

Science is pratyaksavadi, perception-dependent. So it does not believe in the scriptures. Science will not accept that which cannot be tested by perception. As I said, the foundation of science is laid on perception while that of dharma is not. Science will not accept that which is beyond the pale of the five senses. Religion is a science of non-perception, that is, it cannot be grasped by the five senses. The subject of science is something beyond. So science will not accept religion. The fields of science and religion are different.

We cannot see the atom and the subatomic particles with the naked eye. But why then does science accept them?

The atom is not perceived by the senses, but it is accepted as the cause. There was a book by name Thinkers and Believers some time ago. In that book many big scientists have been questioned and their opinions gathered. Many have said there that we do not believe in religion, but some others have said that they cannot say they are non-believers, at the same time they are not believers. The cornerstones of science are observation, demonstration, etc. Observe first, then demonstrate: this is the idea.

Sri Ramakrishna had seen God, then?

Yes, Sri Ramakrishna had seen God. But his saying this will not do. Everyone must be able to perceive God. Science is for everybody's perception. Someone told Sri Ramakrishna, `Please show me God'. Sri Ramakrishna replied that the person has not at all begun his journey along that path but wants to see God. The subtle truths of religion cannot be demonstrated before the ordinary run. Science can at best go up to the mind. But it cannot go further. After this stage comes the stage of philosophy. Philosophy also is based on science. As I said, while science is perceived by the five senses, philosophy is based on the intellect and so that goes beyond the five senses. About all this, Sir James Jeans has written much in Popular Science and other books. Other scientists have opposed him and said that he has gone beyond the borders of science. Max Planck and Einstein have discussed him in one place. While Planck has said: `It is nonsense,' Einstein has added that it is `objectionable nonsense.' Scientists have drawn a circle around themselves and they will not go beyond that. For instance, `We shall research but shall not write.'

A poor man has no wealth; a monk also has no wealth. In spite of this similarity, why are they worlds apart?

The difference lies here: a poor person laments because he is poor while a monk doesn't. In Sankara's Viveka-cudamani, we find this statement: To not only endure all the distress with calmness and equanimity, but to do that without lamenting is the way. Why? So that the mind is not agitated. To endure with calmness all the adversities, be it of the nature of extreme weather conditions - terrible summer heat, intense cold - or blows from society by way of blame or fame. But when you are compelled to endure because you cannot protest, this is not endurance (titiksa).

Maharaj, what is sadavrata?

Sadavrata means a charitable institution, an institution where charity is being done continually. An institution having arrangements to offer food, drink, clothing, etc to monks and nuns is known as sadavrata. (to be continued)

Reprinted from Prabuddha Bharata