Friday, May 26, 2017

Enepalikhabar electronic newspaper articles:

http://www.enepalikhabar.com/editorial/2017/05/42133

May 25, 2017

Bhaju Ram Takhachhen Shrestha)
The court was set. The Emperor Akabar of India sat in his throne. His ministers gathered in the court. This day the Emperor looked little bit angry. All the ministers looked in suspense at the serious looking face of the emperor. Floods of questions ran in the brain of those ministers. Suddenly the Emperor Akbar asked, “What shall be done to the one who pulled the emperor’s mustache?” Stunned, his ministers stared at each other with. Akabar’s voice again sounded out asking the same question. Of course the ministers knew the answers. Some said, hang the person, some said put him in the life imprisonment, some said the person should be flogged publicly. Each one had own answer to appease the emperor. But none of the answer appealed to him. Then he asked wise minister Birbal, “Birbal what do you say since you are keeping quiet?” Promptly the witty Birbal replied, “He should be rewarded with sweets!” The answer that turned the court upside down, everyone including the emperor opened his mouth and asked in surprise, “What?” “Yes, I mean it” Birbal stood firm in his answer. “Why?” the Emperor asked. “Who but own grandchild could pull Your Majesty’s mustache but your own grand child?”The man with the telescopic thinking Birbal knew why the emperor asked that question. To the shocking surprise to all other ministers, the Emperor Akabar spoke with beaming smile, “Birbal, you are right. This morning my grandchild pulled my mustache as he was playing with me.” Yes, the innocent grandchild did not know that he was pulling the mustache of one of the greatest the emperors of India.
This thought shot me back to the incident that happened two thousand years ago in the realm of Christniti (Dear readers please notice my exploration to surface ethics or way of Christ, may not necessary reflect the popular form of Christianity as religion). The disciples of Jesus misunderstood Jesus thinking He was going to overthrow the Roman government and He was going to sit on the throne of Israel to establish theocracy which was disbanded several hundred years ago after the Israelites pestered the Prophet Samuel to appoint a king over them. Theocracy means the kingdom which God of universe rules with love, justice, mercy which is of course crying need of even today. In it there is no king or publicly chosen president but God’s emissary, a prophet or a judge. The fact was, Jesus was not going to be the Religious King as the disciples expected. How many people go to the church for how many years, the people still misunderstand Jesus even today. The twelve disciples thought of them becoming ministers in the Kingdom of Jesus and wanted to know who would be the prime-minister, so they asked, “Lord, please tell us who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Mt 18:1 of the Bible). The question was quite interesting because they did not ask “Who will be?” but “Who is?” which means of course “who is the greatest person in the sight of God now?” for Jesus was preaching saying, “Now is the kingdom of heaven…” To Jesus God’s kingdom is not to experience after death or after the eons of time but present time.
Jesus perceived what was going in the mind of the disciples. He knew they were having competitive feelings with each other rather than being complete with each other. He also knew that the disciples completely missed the point for which Jesus came, not to establish the earthly, political or religious kingdom but the kingdom in the heart for what is the use of the glory of the external kingdom if the internal kingdom exists in internal turmoil, fear and cruelty. So Jesus does very strange thing to stun His disciples. He called a little child in front of Him. Evidently Jesus had so interesting and affectionate personality that even the children were eager to listen what He had to say. He sets the child in the midst of the disciples and listening crowd and firmly gives the strangest and mind boggling not suggestion but directive, “I am telling you the truth, unless you are changed or converted and become like little children (now), you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (or experience the present eternal bliss, the sachhidananda). Any person who makes himself humble as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives or respects a little child in My name, he is really receiving Me or respecting Me. Moreover, whoever abuses these little ones who believe Me should be punished by putting a milestone on his neck and let him be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Mt 18:2-6).
There is exhaustless information in the above a few statements Jesus made. If one tries to meditate on these, a grand book would come out of this. But the terse reason for this article is try to understand why did Jesus say, no matter how old, educated, religious pundits or have all PhD’s in theology, one must have a childlike mind in order to obtain the kingdom of heaven or eternal bliss? Yes, only the grandchild of the Emperor Akbar has a right to pull his mustache and say, “Hi, Grandpa!” Only a childlike person can pray to God and say, “Our Father which are in heaven” and He would hear. Why? Because a child is humble and Jesus expects anyone who want to follow Him should be humble as a child. The classic example of what it means to be like a child is found in the mind of the King David, the second historical king of Israel. In Psalms 131 he says, “Lord, my heart is not proud or haughty, nor my eyes have a lofty or stubborn look, neither do I exercise myself in the great matters or things too high for me. Surely, I have behaved and kept quiet myself as a child who is weaned of his mother. Let Israel hope in the Lord from now and forever” (Psalms 131:1-4). Imagine, the mighty and powerful king of Israel humbling himself as a child who was sucking mother’s milk!
A child has many qualities that we can learn from him in order to learn to penetrate the realm of Christniti or way or ethic of Christ. Humility is one of the grandest qualities of a child. Today even among Christians, one find this is the greatest lack. They take pride of their knowledge in the Bible, their degrees in theology, their position or want to be in the position in the church-such mentality of so called Christians bled Apostle Paul and the beloved disciples of Jesus and John. These competitive feeling of make believe Christians that say “I can do better or I am holier than thou” rather than being complete with each other caused the apostle to write pleading letter even while going through persecution under the cruel emperor Nero who played the pipe while Rome burnt and put the blame Christians . The disciples came to Jesus because they were suffering from some of this habit of mind, which wanting to be master by pulling other’s leg rather than a servant. “Learn to be humble and a child is the greatest teacher who teaches how to be humble” is the cry of Jesus to each person who is born in this planet earth.
Of course, besides being humble a child has many other qualities that we should contemplate on, and because of these qualities Jesus pronounced a heavy judgment on anyone who abuses a child, He said, “Whosever” which means race, nationality or gender does not matter when it comes to treat a child with respect and his right. A child does not know race, gender, religion, position and status of his mother or father. He is free from prejudice. As he is attached to his mother through the powerful nutrient-her breast milk, a turned around or converted person must learn to attach himself with Sanatan or Eternal God. (It is interesting that Both Apostle Paul and Peter appeal the follower of Jesus to attach to the breast milk which happened to be the Word of God according to them).
In the society where a child is treated as nothing, addressing him as a puppy, and abusing him, it is not easy to digest what Jesus commanded nor have understanding of the Emperor Akbar or Birbal. But Jesus’ pronouncing judgment on child abuser or mistreater should alarm everyone for He said, “ A big rock should hang on such a person and throw him in the sea.” No doubt a child abuser might run free or a heady mind might gain power over other, but by refusing to have a humble mind of a child Jesus had already pronounced His judgment on the culprit.
(bhajupurna@gmail.com)