HOW MUST WE RESPOND?

[Guest guest]

his eternal message of love and compassion. Time there was hundreds of years

ago when the world was not supposed to be so advanced; but then, and people

had all the time to think about the teachings of Christ. Few realise that if

today there are over a billion Christians all over the world, it was because

many in those distant days were drawn to the Son of God by the message he

preached and lived by, before he made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of

humanity. People were drawn then to the message of Christ, because it is the

universal message of Pure Love and Compassion. It is a message with an eternal

appeal that can touch Hearts even in the darkest of times; and it is that very

same message that is drawing millions to Swami, including for the celebration

of Christmas here. No, Christmas is not about going on shopping spree, not

about sending cards in thousands, not about marketing, not about opening

attractively wrapped gifts and not about grand Christmas dinners or parties. It

is

all about Love and Compassion. Preoccupied as we are these days with matters

relating the material world, it is not easy to follow the message of Christ, or

for that matter that of Swami. Indeed, even in earlier times it was not easy,

which is why Christ once exclaimed in desperation, “Why call ye me Lord, when

thou doest not follow what I say?” Swami too has expressed similar

disappointment via the words, “Aacharanam ledu,” meaning people do not put into

practice His teachings.

justify">Once a speaker asked some devotees whom he was addressing, “How come we

force Swami to express dissatisfaction in this manner? If we really love Swami

as we all claim, then why does such a serious lapse arise?” There was then a

lot of discussion until one person hit the nail on the head. He said, “May be,

perhaps unknown to ourselves, deep in our Heart we are not convinced that

following Swami’s teachings would do us any good. Possibly, we ask, ‘What’s

there in it for me?’ and brush aside the teachings.” This was an honest

answer. The speaker then narrated the famous parable of the Good Samaritan

first told by Jesus. Just to recall, there was a traveller going along a

lonely desert road who was waylaid by robbers who not only took away everything

this unfortunate traveller had but also beat him up and left him badly wounded.

There he was lying helpless and in pain when along came a Levite. He saw the man

and just kept on going without bothering even to enquire whether any help was

needed. After some time came a priest but he was no better; he too couldn’t

care less about the hapless, wounded wayfarer. And then came a man from Samaria

who stopped, applied balm to the wounds, bandaged them, placed the injured man

on his donkey, and took him to an inn in a village. There he arranged for the

victim of robbery to be accommodated and fed. And next day when he left, the

Samarian left some money with the innkeeper to take care of the expenses of the

injured man. That roughly is the

parable narrated by Jesus. The speaker then asked his audience: “Why do you

think the Levite and the priest walked away without attending to the wounded

and dispossessed man?” The audience had no difficulty in giving the answer.

They all said, “These two people did not offer help because there was nothing

in it for them.” The speaker said that is right and then asked, “In that case,

what was there in it for the man from Samaria? What did he see that the other

two who went before him didn’t?” After some hesitation, one member of the

audience said, “Probably this man from

Samaria felt he would feel happy inside if he extended help.” That answer is

indeed correct. The first two passers by sought an answer to the question

“What’s there in it for me?” from the Head. The Head saw no benefit and that is

why those two went their way without bothering to help. The man from Samaria

also asked the same question but addressed it to his Heart. And the Heart said,

“If you show love and compassion to the wounded man and help him, you will

experience Bliss or Ananda.” The man accepted the response and did

exactly what his Heart asked him to. That really is the central point about

the message that Christ gave then and Swami is teaching us now. In the world

that we live in, we are a constant witness to all the things that happen there,

especially the suffering of hundreds of millions. How must we respond? If the

question is addressed to the Head, it would say, “Don’t bother.” When people do

not bother they would turn to merrymaking and wasting money on unnecessary

luxuries, money that could be used for alleviating pain and misery. Indeed,

such people might, in the pursuit of their ambitions even inflict pain and

cause hurt. However, if one listens to the Heart, one would do all one can to

reach out to those in

distress. Even if one is not able to physically help, one can at least pray to

the Lord. Incidentally, it is interesting how often the Heart is portrayed

along with pictures of Christ. On this sacred day, let us who are blessed by

the Lord to enjoy comfortable circumstances in life, take a moment off to think

of hundreds of millions who are suffering from the aftermath of various natural

disasters, who are in the clutches of poverty, and are facing a miserable end to

their lives caused by diseases that could have been prevented if humanity had

more feeling for the suffering. Instead of dreaming of shopping sprees and wild

parties, let us ruminate on the teachings of Christ and His Father who is now

very much with

us. Let us spend some time reading the Discourses given by Swami at Christmas

time year after year, to help us place the message of Christ in a modern

context. Merry Christmas and Jai Sai Ram. With Love and Regards,

"Heart2Heart" RadioSai e-Journal Team, In Sai Service. (Sharing with Sai Love)

Ram.Chugani Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

for Good - Make a difference this year.