Reality and Religion: Meditations on God, Man and Nature

1. Bevrer in the future life has been found among all nations at all times. Desires imply a possible fulfilment. Thirst implies the existence of water, and hunger of food. The desire to live for ever is itself a proof of its fulfilment.

2. Again, we have some higher, nobler desires of the Spirit which cannot possibly be fulfilled in this world. Therefore there must be another spiritual world in which these desires can be met. This material world cannot by any means satisfy our spiritual cravings.

3. The soul’s real desire can only be satisfied by God who has created the soul and the desire for Him inherent in it. Because God has created man in His own likeness, man has in him something of the Divine nature which longs for fellowship with Him. Like seeks like by the laws of being. And when we are rooted in the Eternal Being, we shall not only feel satisfied, but also have eternal Life in Him.

1. Ir is an admitted fact that children inherit largely the character of their parents. They are also influenced by the environment, e.g. the habits of their parents and others with whom they are brought into constant contact. Children of bad parents, living in a bad environment, are sure to be bad. Every condition makes it impossible for them to be good. If such children turn out to be good, it will be a great miracle. We know that such miracles have taken place more or less everywhere. ‘These miracles prove the existence of a great hidden Power which breaks fetters and sets men free from the bondage of sin and converts sinners into new creatures. This is the new birth. The great hidden Power is the Holy Ghost who works for the salvation of those who repent and believe in Christ.

2. There have been many criminals who, in spite of the severe punishment given them by their governments, have not been changed a whit. Neither has the love of their dear ones and friends nor their exhortation produced any effect upon them. All possible means have been used to reform them, but without avail. But sometimes when they have been led to Christ, they have been entirely changed in a moment and become new men. Then those who were selfish and living in sin were transformed in their lives and began to help and serve others. Formerly they persecuted and killed others; now they themselves are ready to be persecuted and killed for others. This is to be born again. Is this not proof enough that Christ is the Saviour of men, that He is the Great Physician who diagnoses correctly men’s diseases and heals them? Who else can heal the broken heart except He who is the Creator of the heart? Who else but He can change sinners into saints?

1. Gop is the source of love. The force of gravity which keeps the worlds in space is, so to speak, the manifestation in matter of that spiritual force of gravity, which is love and whose source is God. A magnet attracts steel, not because steel is a valuable metal, but because steel has the capacity to respond. It does not attract gold. Gold may be more precious, but it is not responsive. God in like manner draws sinners, however sinful they may be, if they repent and respond to Him, and not others who are self-righteous and who do not yield to the sway of His love.

2. A kiss is the outward sign of a mother’s love for her child. If the child has a con- tagious disease, the mother may refrain from kissing him, but her love*for the suffering child is not less, but more, as he needs more of her care and love. Just so, God may seem outwardly to forsake those who have fallen a prey to the contagion of sin, but His love for them is infinitely more than a mother’s love for her child (Isaiah xlix. 15). Like His other attributes, His patience also is infinite. Men, like small kettles, boil quickly with wrath at the least wrong. Not so God. If God were as wrathful, the world would have been a heap of ruins long ago. 3. If two men love the same person they become rivals and are jealous of each other. But this is not the case with man’s love for God. A man who loves God is not jealous if others also love God. He is grieved if they do not love Him. ‘The reason for this difference between man’s love for man and man’s love for God is that God’s love is infinite. A man cannot respond with equal affection to all those who love him, as his.

capacity for love is limited; but God’s capacity for love is without limit and, therefore, is sufficient for all.

4. Christ will live in us and our whole life will become like His. Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which He imparts to us.

1. THoucutTs are not only the impressions of outward things on our senses but are also our mind’s responses to impressions coming to us through our senses. Thus the growth and the progress of mind towards the attainment of perfection depends on external as well as internal conditions. A tree may have life in itself, but before its leaves can unfold, its flowers blossom and its fruit ripen, it needs air and light and warmth. The tree, that is, depends upon certain external as well as internal conditions for its growth and maturity.

2. Through the outer senses we come to know the outer world, and through the inner senses, the inner spiritual world. The rise of a thought about anything in the mind is a proof not only of the mind which thinks, but also of the existence of that thing. In other words, we might say that the thought is a reflection on our mind of that thing. Sometimes, even without intending to do so, we are led to think, which means that something outside is reflecting itself in our minds. Where there is fragrance, there must be flowers: the form or colour of these flowers may be hidden from our eyes, but the fragrance tells us that there are flowers. So thoughts imply objects. The mind is like a mirror. Images in the mirror imply that there are objects before the mirror. Whether the mirror likes it or no, these are reflected in it. On the other hand, the mirror has not life; but the mind has. The mirror cannot create images, it can only reflect; but the mind has also innate ideas. In other respects, the mind is like a mirror, in that in it are reflected ideas of things outside, sometimes without the mind itself participat- ing in the reflection. Abstract ideas are the sparks which come out from the fire of Reality.

3. The reflections in our mind do not always correspond to the Reality. They may appear different to different people according to their different capacities.

Our ideas of God now are imperfect. But by living constantly in His Presence, we shall attain to a real understanding of

1. Iris admitted that for centuries Philosophy has made no advance. The same old problems and the same old solutions are repeated, though in new forms and new words. A blindfolded ox in India goes round and round an oil press all day long. When, in the evening, his eyes are opened, he finds that he has only moved round in a circle and has not travelled far, though he has produced some oil. Though philosophers have travelled for centuries, they have not yet reached their goal. Out of the material they have gathered here and there, they have produced some oil which they have left behind in their books. But this oil is not enough to remove the dryness of human needs. To go further is the work of faith and intuition, not of philosophy. However vast our knowledge may be, it has, after all, its limits.

2. Some philosophers committed suicide when the thirst of their knowledge was not quenched. Empedocles threw himself down into the crater of Etna in order to quench his thirst for knowledge by attaining the fellowship of the gods without dying a natural death. An astronomer who failed to understand the strange movements of the tides threw himself in despair into the billows and sought a watery grave. Such men, instead of finding the Creator in His creation and being satisfied in Him, lost the Creator as well as themselves, in His creation. This shows that though philosophy sets out to understand Reality, it fails; no one can grasp Reality by the intellect. If any one thinks that he can discern Reality by his knowledge, he is mistaken. For to know one thing thoroughly would be to know the whole universe, as any one thing is related to every thing else, and to know all about it, all its relations need to be known. Here we have to bow before Reality and to walk along in faith.

3. Intuition, like the tip of a finger, is so sensitive that it at once feels the presence of Reality by its touch. It may not be able to give logical proof, but argues thus: I am fully content. Such peace can only come from Reality. Therefore I have found Reality. The heart has reasons of which the head knows nothing. It takes a long time to know much about a flower. But it takes but a moment to enjoy its fragrance. Intuition also works thus.

1. Accorpinc to the laws of Nature, it is necessary to grow gradually by stages in order to attain perfection. In this way alone can we make ourselves ready and fit for the destiny for which we have been created. Sudden or hurried progress leaves us weak and imperfect. The oats which grow in a few weeks in Lapland do not yield the same nourishment as the wheat which takes six months to ripen. The bamboo grows three feet daily and shoots up one hundred and eighty-five feet, but it remains empty and hollow within. Slow and gradual progress, therefore, is necessary for perfection.

2. It is true that perfection can be attained only in a perfect environment. But before entering the perfect environment we have to pass through an imperfect environment, where we have to make effort and struggle. This struggle makes us strong and ready for the perfect environment, just as the silkworm’s struggle in the cocoon enables it to emerge out of it as a beautiful butterfly. When we reach the perfect state, we shall see how these things which seem to have hindered us have really helped us, though mysteriously, to reach perfection.

3. In man, there are seeds of countless qualities which cannot develop in this world because the means here are not conducive towards their growth and development towards perfection. In the world to come they will find the environment necessary for the attainment of perfection. But the growth must begin here. It is, however, too early to say in detail what we shall be when we reach perfection. But we shall be perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matt. v. 48).

4. There is no real peace in this world. On account of sin, peace in this world is shattered. Real and permanent peace is to be found only in the “ Prince of Peace.” Water flows down from heights or gushes up from depths to find its level and to attain calm. Just so man must come down from the heights of his pride and rise up from the depths of his sin, in order that, by reaching his level, he may rest in peace and calm.

5. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples, even though they had not yet attained perfection, enjoyed so much the company of our Lord and of Elyah and Moses that they wanted to make three tabernacles and dwell there (Matt. xvii. 3, 4). How much more shall we, when we are perfect, enjoy the fellowship of our Lord and of His saints and angels in heaven for ever!

1. Ir people adopt the external manners and ways of living of civilised nations, without accepting the fundamental principles through which they make progress, the outcome will be destructive.

The governments of this world are but copies of the heavenly government of which God is the King. Therefore the governments of this world are likely to decrease and decay unless God, who is the Source of all Goodness and Order, rules in the hearts of administrators and citizens, of the rulers and the ruled. Some want to lead a moral life without God, but they forget that all morals without God are hollow and dead.

2. Without spiritual progress, worldly progress is sham and false, as worldly progress is not attained without loss to others. Men run in a race, but one wins by outstripping the others. Their defeat becomes his victory. One merchant makes his fortune at the expense of others. On the other hand, spiritual progress is real, because one man’s progress helps and depends on the success of others. Experience proves that one who works for the good of others is being helped himself, often without his own knowledge.