“Preach in season and out of season” is an obligation for every bhakta, say the evangelicals. In fact, Charles Haddon Spurgeon famously said, “Every Christian is a missionary or a mistake.” But their understanding of “preaching” the gospel has been interpreted in various ways throughout history. The revival in the mission in the previous century created a global mission to reach unreached people. However, a bhakta need not do it as if it is an obligation on her part as demanded by Muktiveda. It should come naturally and spontaneously rather than with any agenda or in a particular format of “preaching” done in the church or by missionaries. Accept the principle but not the pattern.
Does this mean that our life is a witness and we need not “share” the gospel verbally with others and our own family members? I don’t say this. We can never say, as Mahatma Gandhi said, “My life is my message.” But we need not imitate the same format used in the church or by missions. When opportunities arise, we should engage in subtle conversations, which I wouldn’t even call dialogues. I have done this several times with my own family members in the past—with my parents and siblings. In fact, my second younger sister with her whole family, used to come and participate in the annual meeting I held for the family members of the bhaktas of the Lord, most of whom are not bhaktas of the Lord. Even now, they clearly know about my bhakti in the Lord and never argue, question, or doubt it.
As we live with our extended family, either as one joint family or as a nuclear family in a separate house, one of the best ways of so-called “witnessing” is to communicate to them that we never become a “Christian” in their understanding. For this, we should not only consciously undo several things we learned from Christian tradition but also retain our own Hindu identity in every way by keeping all the cultural, social, religious, spiritual, and ritual expressions. Where to draw the line is a subtle point to which no outsider can give clear guidance. See the article: “Where to Draw the Line.” https://dayanandbharati.in/where-to-draw-the-line/
Even one Hindu bhakta cannot give clear, universal, normative guidelines to all other Hindu bhaktas in this matter. Each one has to work out her own method according to the family tradition. In this, we should use all our Indian or Hindu heritage in expressing and living our bhakti without hesitation. Using only a few and rejecting others in the name of “syncretism” or “compromise” won’t work. However, each bhakta should remain within her comfort zone and not go the extra mile just to please or impress her own family members to prove that she remains a Hindu but a bhakta of the Lord. Going overboard will expose our act and hypocrisy more clearly than trying to live a normal life as a Hindu bhakta of the Lord. The same is applicable in that we need not “preach” to our family members about our “faith” (worst scenario “Christian faith”), imitating the mission model imposed on us in any way. I can illustrate this from my own life—what I do and failed to do but again started to do. But there is no need to give another “pattern” from my life. Above all, being single and trying to live a life of a sannyasi, I have certain advantages and exemptions that give me more leverage than others.
But there is one thing we should never do: start doing our own things in the name of “redeeming” them for the Lord. I never clearly understood what this “redemption” actually means, as it is used more in a theological sense than in a practical one. For me, as every wonderful gift is from God, there is nothing for me to redeem again for Him. I use what already belongs to me and I need not even “contextualize” them now. We have to avoid these kinds of Christian slogans and formulas while understanding and living our lives in our own natural environment. “Outsiders” (even “along siders”) won’t understand and, with real concern for our “salvation” and purity of doctrine (of their particular denomination), might raise serious concerns about our activities. If you have time, energy, and interest, try to help them understand. But this means you become the guru and they become the shishya to learn. As this will never happen considering their hegemonic attitude and considering every “convert” as mere babies with a patronizing spirit, there is no use in wasting their time to learn from us. This does not mean every new bhakta can learn on her own from Muktiveda without others’ help and guidance. We need it. But any hasty act done by us towards our own family and community to show that we are “different” or in the name of “witnessing” or due to any other reasons, or any teaching by outsiders (here I mean non-Hindu bhaktas of the Lord who might have been our mentors once) with an anxiety to protect the faith and doctrine of a new convert, will bring more damage to our cause and even life. Be it the so-called “witnessing,” “taking a stand for the Lord” (which nobody can do and never have done), and “preaching,” it should come naturally and spontaneously, like a flower spreading its fragrance in its own way, rather than being collected and made into a scent and then using a spray for our need.
Gurukulam
5-6-2024
“Preach in season and out of season” is an obligation for every bhakta, say the evangelicals. In fact, Charles Haddon Spurgeon famously said, “Every Christian is a missionary or a mistake.” But their understanding of “preaching” the gospel has been interpreted in various ways throughout history. The revival in the mission in the previous century created a global mission to reach unreached people. However, a bhakta need not do it as if it is an obligation on her part as demanded by Muktiveda. It should come naturally and spontaneously rather than with any agenda or in a particular format of “preaching” done in the church or by missionaries. Accept the principle but not the pattern.
Does this mean that our life is a witness and we need not “share” the gospel verbally with others and our own family members? I don’t say this. We can never say, as Mahatma Gandhi said, “My life is my message.” But we need not imitate the same format used in the church or by missions. When opportunities arise, we should engage in subtle conversations, which I wouldn’t even call dialogues. I have done this several times with my own family members in the past—with my parents and siblings. In fact, my second younger sister with her whole family, used to come and participate in the annual meeting I held for the family members of the bhaktas of the Lord, most of whom are not bhaktas of the Lord. Even now, they clearly know about my bhakti in the Lord and never argue, question, or doubt it.
As we live with our extended family, either as one joint family or as a nuclear family in a separate house, one of the best ways of so-called “witnessing” is to communicate to them that we never become a “Christian” in their understanding. For this, we should not only consciously undo several things we learned from Christian tradition but also retain our own Hindu identity in every way by keeping all the cultural, social, religious, spiritual, and ritual expressions. Where to draw the line is a subtle point to which no outsider can give clear guidance. See the article: “Where to Draw the Line.” https://dayanandbharati.in/where-to-draw-the-line/
Even one Hindu bhakta cannot give clear, universal, normative guidelines to all other Hindu bhaktas in this matter. Each one has to work out her own method according to the family tradition. In this, we should use all our Indian or Hindu heritage in expressing and living our bhakti without hesitation. Using only a few and rejecting others in the name of “syncretism” or “compromise” won’t work. However, each bhakta should remain within her comfort zone and not go the extra mile just to please or impress her own family members to prove that she remains a Hindu but a bhakta of the Lord. Going overboard will expose our act and hypocrisy more clearly than trying to live a normal life as a Hindu bhakta of the Lord. The same is applicable in that we need not “preach” to our family members about our “faith” (worst scenario “Christian faith”), imitating the mission model imposed on us in any way. I can illustrate this from my own life—what I do and failed to do but again started to do. But there is no need to give another “pattern” from my life. Above all, being single and trying to live a life of a sannyasi, I have certain advantages and exemptions that give me more leverage than others.
But there is one thing we should never do: start doing our own things in the name of “redeeming” them for the Lord. I never clearly understood what this “redemption” actually means, as it is used more in a theological sense than in a practical one. For me, as every wonderful gift is from God, there is nothing for me to redeem again for Him. I use what already belongs to me and I need not even “contextualize” them now. We have to avoid these kinds of Christian slogans and formulas while understanding and living our lives in our own natural environment. “Outsiders” (even “along siders”) won’t understand and, with real concern for our “salvation” and purity of doctrine (of their particular denomination), might raise serious concerns about our activities. If you have time, energy, and interest, try to help them understand. But this means you become the guru and they become the shishya to learn. As this will never happen considering their hegemonic attitude and considering every “convert” as mere babies with a patronizing spirit, there is no use in wasting their time to learn from us. This does not mean every new bhakta can learn on her own from Muktiveda without others’ help and guidance. We need it. But any hasty act done by us towards our own family and community to show that we are “different” or in the name of “witnessing” or due to any other reasons, or any teaching by outsiders (here I mean non-Hindu bhaktas of the Lord who might have been our mentors once) with an anxiety to protect the faith and doctrine of a new convert, will bring more damage to our cause and even life. Be it the so-called “witnessing,” “taking a stand for the Lord” (which nobody can do and never have done), and “preaching,” it should come naturally and spontaneously, like a flower spreading its fragrance in its own way, rather than being collected and made into a scent and then using a spray for our need.
Gurukulam
5-6-2024
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