Many Mansions

A few hours from now, it will be Christmas when people worldwide will celebrate the birth of [Jesus] Christ. Indeed, it will be celebrated with great pomp and ceremony, in contrast to the actual circumstances of His birth. Christians believe that when Jesus’ pregnant mother and His foster father sought shelter at an inn on the night of His birth, they were denied occupancy.

That refusal carries many lessons, but one is of particular importance. If Jesus had been born in the relative comfort of that inn, the message of His birth would still have rung as loud as the Christmas bells. The fundamental message would be similar to what Baba says:

“When darkness falls, a wayfarer seeks shelter in an inn. He stays there until daybreak. Then he resumes his journey. He goes from place to place till he reaches his destination. Man should not immerse himself in this worldly life. He should regard this world as an inn.”

Not only did He not immerse Himself in this worldly life, but Jesus chose to be born in the humble surroundings of a stable in Bethlehem, high in the cold hills of Judea.

Aside from the record about His birth and a few childhood incidents, there is very little information available about the rest of Jesus’ childhood and young adult days. These are known as the ‘hidden’ years, and have been the subject of considerable speculation for centuries.

Some say Jesus belonged to an ascetic sect. The scriptures of this sect caused much excitement in the religious world when they were discovered hidden in a cave in the ravine of Qumran at the northern end of the Dead Sea. An Arab boy discovered them in 1947, and immediately scholars pointed out the similarity between them and the teachings of Christ.

Some savants go even further; they assert that these people were really of a Buddhist monastic order. This is not that far-out since there was considerable traffic between West Asia and India, and the Semitic lands straddled the caravan routes. There is even a belief that [Jesus] Christ studied in a Buddhist monastery in Ladakh.

These are very interesting stories indeed, but then, there are always interesting stories about great men, and not all of them are necessarily true. I believe that the greatness of a person is reflected in his teachings; they reveal his mind better than all the embellishments of his enthusiastic followers.

One of Christ’s teachings was that ‘we should not lay our treasures in this world, where rust and moth might consume them, and thieves might break in and steal.’ This teaching is not unique to Christianity; Baba has expressed it in other words saying:

“To eliminate the ego, strengthen the belief that all objects belong to God, and that you are holding them in trust. This would prevent pride; it is also the truth. Then, when you lose a thing, you would not grieve. God gave. And, God took away.”

Nonetheless, total renunciation is not possible for all. Hence, the ancient Hindu thinkers had made allowances for a man to go through various stages of life, one of which enabled him to fulfill his duties to the society as a householder. In fact, Lord Buddha, after following the way of severe renunciation in His search for truth, rejected it.

Christ foretold that the bigots of His age and all ages would accuse Him of being too involved with the world. We know that He mingled with wine‑sellers, a despised tax collector, and women of loose morals; for this He was disparaged.

He silenced His critics with the observation that He had come to cure those who were sick; a physician is not diseased merely because he has to mix with diseased people. His fine balance between the things of the spirit and the things of the world is summed up in His sayings, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Or, to put the same concept in the words of Baba:

“You do not scatter seeds on the surface; you plant them deep enough for the roots to get a foothold. Do not dig the seed into the soil too deep. Follow the middle path. Do not get too bound up with the world; do not also give it up, lock, stock, and barrel.”

It is, however, possible for this idea to be extended too far, and for religion to get too enmeshed in the world. There is a tendency to justify materialistic and political ends in the name of religion. Such people and institutions conveniently ignore Christ’s third teaching, which states, ‘He is the vine and all men are the branches.’ To put it in Baba’s words:

“All men are cells in one divine organism, in the divine body. That should be your faith, your fortune, your fort, and your fullness. Awareness of this alone gives you the right to call yourself a man. Learn to live as men.”

What does this mean? It means that we should reject misinterpretations of the teachings of the Masters. Religion is made for man, and not man for religion.

God has given us the commonsense and the intelligence to look around us and draw a constant stream of lessons from His creation. Science and faith only appear to act in opposition, as do the twin blades of a pair of scissors to cut through the confining veils of ignorance. This has been beautifully expressed by Baba as:

“The whole world is a university for you. You can imbibe wisdom from the sky, clouds, mountains, rivers, daily phenomena of sunrise and sunset, seasons, birds, trees, flowers, and the insects in fact, from all beings and things in nature. Do not worry that you have no mastery of Sanskrit; samskara [sacraments] is enough equipment for the university that lies around you. Sanskrit is the language of the ancient scriptures and of classical literature; samskara is the language of the heart, the refined medium of fruitful communion with nature, in all the manifold outpourings of divinity.”

And, when we can see the unity of all creation, we meet as man to man. We meet here as people on the same quest, inspired by the same ideals, using the same tools. It is a pity that whereas the language of science knows no difference, the language of religion sometimes does. Granted that all religions are not the same as all colors are not equal; all scents are not equal. All textures, all tastes, and all sounds are not equal. But, world’s great religions accommodate diversity. Baba says:

“Every one of you is a pilgrim on that road proceeding at your own pace, according to your qualifications, and the stage reached by you. The advice that appeals to one of you might not be appropriate to another who has traveled a shorter distance, or has reached a more advanced state. The doctor directs one patient to drink yogurt, while prohibiting another from drinking it. When doctors who treat diseases have to prescribe different remedies, how much more specific and personal must be the remedies for the complex and varied conditions of mental situations and spiritual yearnings and aspirations.”

But, we do not have to fight because we differ in our approach to the world. We do not have to view each other with suspicion, or hatred or contempt. When you look at Baba’s emblem and measure the distance between two religions on different sides of the `central flame,’ they seem to be diametrically opposed to each other. But if you look again, you will see that they are all the same distance from the center. I have opted for the red light of Christianity; for another, it may be the green light of Islam; the preference of a third might be the saffron light of Hinduism; a fourth may choose the blue light of Buddhism. But all these colors, all these religions, and all these lights are striving for the same purpose.

One day, when we have come to the end of the quest, we will find ourselves merged and bathed in the final, blinding, white light of truth. This, then, is the final message of Christ, as it is of all religions: mankind is one, treading myriad paths, on one quest, and when we reach our goal, it will matter little which path we trod, for, in our Father’s home, there are many mansions.

And before I leave today to celebrate the greatest festival of my faith, this is my wish for you: regardless of what path we choose to take, we shall all meet again in the same mansion in the kingdom of light.

~Hugh Gantzer, Cochin,
Source: Sanathana Sarathi, May 1975