The Human Body

            Every human being is gifted with a body to be in the world. Body is a means to be present to the world and to others. It is presence of body that make others realize that such and such being is Anil and not animal or Anil is human being.

            Body is not just flesh, blood, bones, muscles but it is more than all these. It is the seat of intentionality that is it through the help of the body that one is able to intend and create a world of his/her own. It is an expressive unity which it has both existence and essence at once and there is no dichotomy. In other words, body not only makes someone exist in the world but helps somebody to become ongoingly what he/she is potential of.

            Body is the epicenter of communication. It is with body that each one communicates to the other one’s happiness, sorrow, joy, love, hate and so on. Thus, body is the horizon of every experience and it is foundation of all thought.  At last, Human body is physical. It is given. It should not be seen as obstacle to reach the ultimate but must be seen as a means to reach ultimate goal of life.

Going-Above, Going-Across and Going-Down

            Human being is born in the world. Life is given to human being. It depends on each human being to further and enhance life by committing to the responsibilities. The fulfillment of responsibilities demands that every human should cultivate three types of relationship: Going-Above (God), Going-Across (Others) and Going-Down (Self).

Going-Above (God): The human life on earth is an invitation to remind every human being that there is Somebody above humanity. It is in relationship with him that human being becomes truly what he/she ought to become. The relationship with Him is facilitated through prayer, acts of charity, conversion, repentance.

Going-Across (Others): Human being is not alone in this universe. He is always with somebody in the society. It calls for dependence with other human beings. It is a dependence that gives meaning to life. The relationship with the others is furthered by acts of love, solidarity, oneness, sensitivity, compassion.

Going-Down (Self): The human being cannot have a healthy relationship with God and other unless he/she cultivates a strong love for one’s own self. It is the greater task and this relationship reflects who actually one is. The relationship with the self is enhanced by taking care of the body, loving self inspite of weakness, acceptance of the self. 

Is There God?

            It is a question that human beings confront in grievous situations of life. It is a question that arises when evil happens rampantly. For example, Why God allows rapes and murders? Why God allows criminals go free? Why there are fights between religions which take away the lives of millions of innocent people? Why God allows millions of people go hungry? Why God permit corruption? Why God sanctions children on the streets? Is God blind? Deaf? Weak? Loveless? Why God who knows everything, still allows them to happen? Why? Why? Human being will never understand the mystery why God does not intervene and stop all the evils in the society?

God is There. Yes. He knows everything through and through. God became weak by making human being in his image and likeness. Thus, He does not intervene in every action of human being because He gifted every human being with precious gift of freedom. Due to ignorance, people misuse freedom for their own selfish ends and cause damage to the lives of other people. Thus, human being becomes enemy of human being. It is not God who allows every evil in the society. But, it is human being who constructs the society with the help of freedom or destroys the society with misuse of freedom. The choice is in the hands of human being to become authentic or inauthentic. God Sees but Waits. 

Context Creates Human Being

Human being lives in the society. Living in the society presupposes that he/she always lives with others. Living with others is an assortment of events. The events happen always in a context. Thus, human life cannot be separated from the context. Human life is shaped to the extent one roots oneself in the context.

            Human being learns to grow out of events that occur in his/her life. Whether one is in favour of it or not, events affect human life and context determines the events. If human being comes from a context where pleasure is valued, no matter where he/she is, always values pleasure. 

Dare to Become

Existence and Essence are two dimensions of all realities in the universe. Any being in the world, for the development, undergoes a change. A change is necessary to any being in the universe. Consequently, change is part of nature that is our possibility to be.

The world is full of realities. Many realities exist but don’t become unless something acts on it. For example a stone remains a stone unless somebody acts on it and makes it a beautiful statue. But, it is not aware of its becoming. Some other realities exist and by their nature become. For example a plant constantly and continuously becomes but it too is unaware of its becoming. It is only human beings who exist and become. They have power and capacity to be aware of their becoming. Thus, the greatness of human being consists in the constant becoming for the emergence of authentic self.

Flying Fest

In the state of Maharastra, the month of January is the best season of flying kites. Everybody irrespective of their age, sex, status fly the kites with utmost enthusiasm and happiness. While flying the kites, everyone tries to soar high. However, high the kite is, the master of the Kite never loses the sight of kite. The kite is always under his/her control. The kite soars high, directed by purpose as long as it is the hands of the master. It enjoys real freedom within the hands of its master. The moment it is by itself, it flies without direction. It is not sure, where it is soaring and when it reaches its end.

Flying kite is not just a game. It reflects for me human life. Thus, a life game. In order to soar high in life, we need to place ourselves in the hands of people who can be a light for us in the moment of darkness. These people may be either friends, teaches, spiritual director, or even life partner. However high we reach in life, we should never lose the sight of our destination, our goal. Consequently, we should never forget the roots where we came from. Once we forget, we reach nowhere although it appears to be reaching somewhere.

The Options

Human life is set on earth in such a way that it has no choice except to live with options. In other words, human life is characterized by options. According to me, there are two options: Fundamental and Spontaneous Options. The former is an option chosen out of reason and will which will eventually lead to happiness. This option does not make life a bed of roses. Rather, it is a mixture of good and bad, joy and sorrow, love and hate, life and death. The fundamental option helps one to live within these tensions so that it will contribute to the holistic and healthy development of the individual. The later is chosen out of instinct. It is seeking for momentary pleasures, temporary happiness. It guarantees happiness but for a short time. This option makes human being always to crave for something more in life just as animals and birds.

There is good and bad, superior and inferior in the above options. Interestingly, human being has the capacity and power to choose either of the options as per mood, mode and context of life. In other words, human life is a mixture of fundamental and spontaneous options. As for me, this is healthy. The real danger is when a person solely opts for the spontaneous option all the time no matter what the context demands. 

Old and New

Every reality that comes into the world, in the course of time, undergoes change in its being, functioning and relating. Every reality is made up of matter and form. The new becomes old in the course of its existence. The newness loses its value if it does not become old. No reality can escape from becoming old. In other words, the moment reality enters the world; it is already in the process of becoming old. When the being becomes old, it becomes new again taking different form but matter remaining the same. It is form that makes something new. For example, a new born child is new. The child is new because of the form he/she had taken but matter is of the parents. His parents are old. In the course of time, the child becomes old.

There is always a conflict between old and new; the older times, people, generation was good and always blame the new. The old has no capacity to fit into the new whereas new has capacity to fit into the world. For example, the computer science is growing rapidly. Every year, there are new softwares coming into the market. The 2007 windows cannot be functioning in 2003 windows but it can function vice-versa. New is actually the modification and renovation of the old. The real fun is when old is able to fit into the new and when the new craves for the old.

What is seriously going on here? I am simply saying that which is new becomes old and that which old becomes new. It is circular and continuous flow in the world. 

Mission of Life

God, the creator and life-giver, sends every human being into the world with a unique and specific mission. Thus, every human being has a mission in this world. The greatness of human being lies in the realization of his/her own mission. The task of every human being is to accomplish his/her mission irrespective of weakness, obstacles and infirmities. It is the greatest realization to come into knowledge that no human being is perfect and they in turn become perfect in the course of accomplishing their mission. A physically challenged person proves to the world that when God closes one door, He opens another door. A sinful person shows to the world that God takes to the deep waters not to drown but to purify.  A perfect human being brings to the world, the goodness of God.

Everyday we wake up with a mission; mission to be sensitive, compassionate, generous, loving, happy, bringing joy to others … These missions are unending. 

Few Make Difference

Many are born, only few become saints

Many people live life, only few live with difference

Many love, only few become love

Many talk, only few speak and listen

Many are happy, only few know the meaning of happiness

Many are dead, only few are remembered after death

Many make mistakes; only few realize and accept their mistakes

Many laugh at other, only few laugh at themselves

Many help, only few help without acceptation

Many dream, only few achieve their dreams

Many act, only few reflect

Many know, only few become wise

WHY DON’T I DARE TO BE IN THAT ‘FEW.’

Jesus

It is a name. Just a name. But, reflecting deeply on that name ‘Jesus,’ I discovered that this name is caught up in the chain of words. It signifies life, death, suffering, persecution, wonder, happiness, compassion, mercy, love, wonder, source of inspiration, service, justice, dedication, discrimination, contentment and it goes unending. Never in the history of the world, no name has inspired so many thousands of people to offer their lives for the marginalized and is still in the process of motivating and continues till the end of the world.

The world indeed was very fortunate to have person called ‘Jesus’ for thirty three years on this earth, two thousand years ago. It is this name that still urges people of different ages, races, classes to serve people of the world in spite of persecution and suffering. The name ‘Jesus’ will never wipe out from the heart of the world and especially from the human heart. As long as human race exists, the name ‘Jesus’ lives on…………..

The Story of Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida, a marginal Jew, experienced in his life exclusion, marginalization, oppression and rejection. Primarily, his philosophy of deconstruction aimed to give concrete solution to his own personal political problems. From his own personal experiences, his philosophy gave hope to redeem the humanity from the clutches of the evil hunting the society. It is earthy philosophy as it interacts and interrupts with the everyday happenings. It starts rooting out evils from the heart of human being. It is for this very reason that it proceeds with love. Derrida, through his deconstruction commenced the journey of reality from the rigidity of the structures to the flexibility within the structures and from abstract to concrete to prove that philosophy is an autonomous discipline as it deals with everyday experiences. Human beings are always on the move to discover the truth and validity of their experiences. In this sense, deconstruction is another name for the infinite openness to affirm the dynamism and evolutionary nature of every reality. In other words, it is the constant uncovering of the different layers constructed by human thinking.

The Story of Philosophy

Philosophy from a deconstruction point of view is the story of evolution, a story of reality as mysterious, a story of reform, a story of new order, a story of small narratives, a story of small philosophies, a story of knowledge as process and a story for the Other. The best example of deconstruction in Greek philosophy is found in the philosophy of Plato. Plato, through his philosophy deconstructed the Parmenidian view of ‘permanence’ and Heraclutian view of ‘change’. On the one hand, Parmenides held the view that being is and all things are, all the differences between the things exist. Thus, everything is permanent. On the other hand, Heraclitus held the view that everything is in the constant flux of change. Thus, for him nothing remains permanent. Plato deconstructs both the views by arguing that they both exist in every being through his theory of truth and opinion. For him Being is and Being becomes. 

The Story of Christianity

Christianity from deconstruction point of view Christianity from postmodern point of view is the story of marginal people, a story of sinners, a story of disbelief in God, a story of suffering humanity, a story of fleeing from God, a story of infidelity, a story of decentralization of power, a story of service, a story of Poor God and Rich People, a story of victims, a story of concern for the other, a story of faith, a story of commitment and a story of life-giving. I would like to supplement the above with two examples of deconstruction one taken from Old Testament (Deconstruction of Ethics) while the other is from New Testament (Deconstruction of Justice). The Old Testament portrays clearly Abraham as the father of Christian faith. The act of Abraham sacrificing his own son is paradoxical because it is guided neither by reason nor by an ethics justifiable before human beings or before the law of some universal tribunal.In other words, it is the deconstruction of morality and immorality and responsibility and irresponsibility.It is the absolute duty which demands that one should behave in an irresponsible manner while still recognizing, confirming and reaffirming the very thing one sacrifices, namely the order of human ethics and responsibility. In a word, ethics must be sacrificed in the name of duty. In other words, he went beyond the laws and ethics of his time in sacrificing his own son and his only son for God In the Gospel of St Mark, Jesus deconstructs justice by affirming that the laws are meant to enhance and further human life. The statement of Jesus ‘The Sabbath was made for human being and not human being for Sabbath,’ is a clear deconstruction of the law which will pave way to justice in the world. The Pharisees obeyed the law blindly and expected an identical response to the law from others as well. Jesus claims to the autonomy of human being to invoke the law as the context requires it. In other words, Jesus desires unstoppable creative efforts to interpret the law.

Cultural Quotient

According to philosophy of existentialism, human being is thrown in the world to create his own self. I would go further and affirm that human being is thrown into the culture and is brought and shaped by that culture. The culture of the person influences every aspect such as attitudes, behaviour, dealings, relationship, language, reasoning and so on. In other words, there is no particular trait that is not touched by culture. What a person is or makes him/her self of is due to cultural background. What is acquired through culture, according to me, is always natural. As for example, if a person is brought up in a culture where there are thieves, for such a person stealing is natural.

                Thinking differently, culture is the dominant narrative in the life and existence of human being. No human being can escape culture. In other words, the way we are now, the way we were, the way we will be is all determined by culture. For example, if a Pumpkin at its inception is put in a bottle, it will grow to the length and breadth of the size of that bottle.

            All human beings are without exception are culturally determined beings. It is a gift that each one of us received no matter where we are and what we are. On the other way around, no one desires a particular culture, but my birth in a particular culture will with me until my death.  What is important for me is that each of us has a culture and a capacity to addict to different cultures to survive in order to create human self. 

Method or/and Mission of Philosophy

The purpose of philosophical enquiry is to pursue and understand life and life situations. As such, it stems from the experience with/in the world. Further, it attempts to understand the fundamental and most significant human activities by inquiring into their very nature and essence. Thus, philosophy is an activity that aims at understanding the principles that lie behind various aspects of life. It is then, a human task and responsibility. It develops in each age ideas and values, based on the preceding age, sometimes by way of rejection and change, and sometimes by conformity and development.  The philosophies and philosophers of every age consider the problems that are important and relevant to human being directly or indirectly by taking a critical approach towards reality. It is in this framework, every age has produced a philosophy and a philosopher that is relevant to the age: Ancient philosophers started their quest for discovering the cause for the origin of the universe, medieval philosophers turned their attention to God, the modern philosopher focused on reason and human person and contemporary philosophers paid attention to the Self.

            The Question that struck me was, Do we need a method to Philosophize? Is it possible to do philosophy spontaneously without any method? It is no doubt that arriving at philosophy through a particular and specific method will make philosophy rich and handy. Hence, through a method, philosophy can be made contextual. According to me the task of philosophy does not end here.

            But, going a step further, as a budding philosopher I believe that my concern should be how to influence the lives of the other with the particular philosophy. In other words, philosophy is a mission to be taken to the people who do not value philosophy although they are bound by particular philosophies. 

Conscious and Unconscious

The psychology did not emerge as a separate science until the late 1800s, although its earliest history can be traced back to the time of early Greeks. Psychology as a separate science utilizes scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behaviour which are conscious and unconscious. In other words, the psychologists are at war between conscious and unconscious pattern of behaviour.

                Some psychologists especially William James agree that the human being is what he/she is due to his conscious action. Then, it involves always a choice and negation. When human being is conscious, he/she chooses the convinced behaviour to behave in such and such a way. In other words, I know what I am doing when I am doing. But psychology adds to it a little further and says how a mind works in the living of actual desired behaviour.

                While other psychologists especially Sigmund Freud hold that ‘Today’s human being is the cause of Yesterday’s action.’ In other words, it is the unconscious mind that dictates how a person behaves because they hold that unconscious motives are central in present behaviour patterns and actions.

                In conclusion, what I believe is, it is ultimately human being who creates his/her life consciously and thus it is always a choice of desired needs. In as much as the choices in life are made consciously, the behaviour of human being is convinced behaviour springing from the heart but in combination with the head. At the end, I believe in a psychology that makes human being aware of his/her own actions.

Understanding is an Art

A piece of art ongoingly unfolds meanings. From this perspective, every time one looks at the work of art, it gives different shades of meanings and opens itself to other meanings without restriction and enclosing itself. In order to understand and to arrive at the famous figures in the history, we cannot follow a set of fixed principles through which we can conclude that person is such and such. In other words, there cannot be absolutized understanding and interpretation of the person.

In my opinion, and going along with Schleiermacher, the person of history is better known through the art than science. It means that a person’s life is opened to varied variety of interpretations, understanding and meaning as per the context and culture of interpretor, meaning-giver and understander. In other words, no interpretor can claim that his/her interpretation and understanding is absolute and it alone is true. It can be possible that one intepretor may not accept or agree with the interpretation of the other. But, what must be remembered is that every interpretation unfolds a new meaning and reveals a degree of truth. In other words, it only reveals a partial truth and not comprehensive truth.

I am also aware and acknowledge that art suffers from many pitfalls such as; no guiding rules, relativism, individualistic opinion, and so on. But what is interesting in understanding from the perspective of art is that it gives freedom to arrive at meaning as per the needs and demands of the context. 

Immaculate Conception and Significance for the Saliesian

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception was declared on December 8, 1854 by Pope Pius XII. Immaculate Conception is a doctrine that affirms that God preserved the Virgin Mary from the taint of original sin from the moment she was conceived.

Immaculate Mary and Her Significance for Don Bosco

           Don Bosco honored Mary under two titles: Mary as Immaculate and Help of Christians. For Don Bosco, Mary was more than an object of veneration.  Mary was for him a living person.  He felt her presence in every moment of his life. He emulated in her the virtue of sensitivity, her obedience to the will of God, and her commitment and fidelity at the hour of the cross. From the very beginning of his life, she showed him the way, inspired his actions, sustained his strength and helped him to obtain his purpose, even in extraordinary ways.  In his Spiritual Testament to his Salesians, Don Bosco wrote, “The Blessed Virgin will certainly continue to protect our congregation and our Salesian works if we maintain our trust in her and promote devotion to her.”

           He had a deep devotion to Immaculate Mary so much so that one of the issues of “The Catholic Reading” edited by him was devoted to writings on Her. In this booklet he summed up his devotion to the Immaculate Conception under three points; 1) Mary is the Holiest of all creatures 2) Mary is the mother of God 3) Mary is our mother

Mary is the Holiest of all creatures: In the gospel of St Luke, Angel Gabriel calls her ‘Full of grace.’ From the first moment of her existence she was without original sin and she remained so to her last breath. Being full of grace her heart was pure and without flaw, nor was there a single virtue which Mary did not possess. The Catholic Church proclaims the holiness of Mary by maintaining that she has always been free of sin. Thus, we are invited to call her: O Queen conceived without original sin, pray for us.

Mary is the Mother of God: Mary was adorned with all the imaginable virtues and enriched by God with grace above any other creature on earth. Because of these qualities, she was chosen above all other women to be raised to the dignity of Mother of God. Christians greet her everyday as echoed by St Elizabeth when visited by the Holy Virgin: Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us. At the sound of the glorious title, ‘Mother of God’ we know that there is no one endowed with greater glory, and therefore there is no one who has more influence with god than Mary.

Mary is our Mother: If the title ‘Mother of God’ is so glorious for Mary, it is all the more glorious and beneficial for us who redeemed by Jesus Christ, become her children and brothers of her divine son. Hence, having become the mother of Jesus, true God and true man, she also became our mother. The gospel confirms that Jesus Christ in his great mercy wanted to call us his brothers and make us the adopted children of Mary. When the divine saviour nailed to the cross, suffered the most painful agony, this most Holy Mother and the apostle John were at His feet in deepest sorrow: Jesus opened his eyes, perhaps for the last time, saw the beloved disciple and his loving mother. Dying, he said to Mary: Woman, behold your son. Then he spoke to John, ‘Behold your mother.”

The Significance of Immaculate Conception for the Salesian Today

            In the case of our mothers, we don’t imitate but we literally follow them. It should be the same with Mother Mary. Like Don Bosco we firmly believe that Mary is present in all our activities as a Mother, that She always comes to our aid when deeply in trouble and especially in times of discouragement. In many of his dreams, Mary appeared to Don Bosco as a loving mother. She is a mother who looks after the needs of all works and provides us with financial and spiritual help. Mary takes care of all the boys in the community and protects them from all the dangers of life. As an example, we see Mary’s care for the boys of Don Bosco in his Dream of the Elephant.  There is an elephant in the playground and the boys are unaware of the danger.  Mary notices it and she shouts to the boys to come under her mantle – Mary not only calls the boys, she shouts, she is exhausted from shouting, she is red in the face and out of breath, says the dream.

            I would like to conclude with the encouraging advice of Don Bosco to us Salesians, ‘The God of mercy and his Holy Mother came to our help in our needs.  This was especially true when it was a case of providing for poor and abandoned boys, and even more when their souls were in danger.’  As we place our trust in Mary, our Mother, the Immaculate Help of Christians, we pray for her continued protection always.

The Real Freedom

      A great philosopher once said, human being is born free but is chained everywhere. Every human being from the depth of heart desires to be free. The freedom is often thought to choose or do what one feels and wants. But freedom is to come to realization of one ’s self and at the same time accept ones own limitations as much as strengths. In other words, “Freedom is enjoyed within the limits’.

Freedom From: Human beings in some situation become the subjects of unusual restrains. They do something out of force and not out of love. People become free once the unusual restrains are removed. For example, during the British rule, India fought for freedom because we were under unusual restrains.

Freedom To: It is the capacity of a person to act according to his wishes and carry out duties and responsibilities. Here, one may or may not fulfill the obligations expected of him. If the person wishes to take drugs is free to take. It is out of one’s choice but may lead to bad consequences.

Freedom For: This is an important aspect of freedom. It is committing oneself totally and wholly to the purpose and also works to make that purpose a reality. It is fully flows from the love for oneself and to the whole society.

Freedom With: The act of freedom is not an independent act. My actions out of freedom affect another as we are living in society. I become free and my freedom is accepted as long as I respect the other. Thus, human being becomes free when he is able to work in harmony with other human beings.