GOOD FRIDAY
By Brother Martin
One day I was travelling from France to Spain in a train. There was a
french lady who was sitting in front of me going for holidays in Spain. I
told her that I am a catholic monk travelling giving some seminars on
spiritual life. She told me that she cannot
enter the church because of Christ hanging on the cross and blood
flowing. It is a very disturbing scene, she said. This might be the
expression of many people today. How do we understand the Crucifixion of
Jesus Christ? Shall we remove crucifixions from the
churches?
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the Crucifixion of the Truth. This is
not only an historical event which happened two thousand years ago but a
cosmic event which is happening all the time, before Jesus Christ and
after Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ represents the
fullness of Truth. The fullness of Truth means unity. The fullness of
Truth breaks down all the artificial boundaries made by the human mind
and brings unity, peace and non-violence in the world. There are four
levels of truth: individual truth, which makes
individual boundaries; collective truth which makes collective
boundaries, universal truth which makes a universal boundary between God
and creation and finally divine truth which creates harmony among all
these. In Hindu tradition, the first truth is called
Kali Yuga, the second truth is Dwapara Yuga, the third one is Tretha
Yuga and the fourth one Sathya Yuga. In the first three yugas there will
be good and evil but in the fourth yuga there will be only absolute
good without evil. Jesus Christ lived in * Sathya
yuga, the fullness of Truth. He invited everyone to grow into the
fullness of Truth, which he described as the kingdom of God. The kingdom
of God is the one hundred percent love of God manifesting in the one
hundred percent love of neighbour. It is the transformation
of our life into God's life and transformation of our actions into
God's actions.
The crucifixion of Jesus is the consequence of the refusal on the part of Jesus' listeners to grow from the relative truths into the fullness of Truth, into Sathya Yuga. His listeners were in the collective truth and Jesus invited them to grow into the divine truth. To the persons who lived in the collective truths the fullness of truth appeared to be blasphemy.
There are two ways we can crucify the truth: one by refusing to grow
from the relative truths into the fullness of truth; second by reducing
the fullness of truth into the fragmentary belief systems. These
crucifixions were happening before Jesus Christ and
they are happening after Jesus Christ. The fact that humanity was
divided in the name of truth before Jesus Christ was the sign of the
Crucifixion of Truth and the fact that today humanity is divided after
Jesus Christ is the sign of the Crucifixion of Truth.
Truth means unity. Where there is unity there is peace and
non-violence. Where there is division there is the crucifixion of truth.
Unfortunately Christians have crucified Truth/Christ by creating
thousands of divisions in the name of Truth of Christ. Division
brings violence. Wherever people are killed in the name of nationality,
in the name of ethnic groups, in the name of race, in the name of
religions there Truth is crucified, there Christ is crucified. Wherever
there is bloodshed in the name of the things mentioned
above there is the crucifixion of Truth, there is the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ, there the blood of Christ is flowing. Christ or Truth is
still being crucified. Everyone who suffers for the sake of unity, who
sheds his/her blood for the sake of unity is
participating in the crucifixion of Truth/Christ. Jesus Christ died for
unity, for peace and for non-violence. As we remember the death of
Jesus on the cross, the Good Friday, as we look at the crucifixion where
the body of Jesus is hanging with blood flowing,
we need to reflect whether we are living from the fullness of the Truth
of Christ or we have crucified the Truth into fragmented belief
systems,whether we are living in unity or in divisions, whether we
contribute for peace or for violence, whether we live
in wisdom or in ignorance?
it is very disturbing to see some one hanging on the cross but when we
realise that we are crucifying the Truth within us and that crucifixion
manifests in the blood shed in the world outside then the crucifixion
invites us all to break down all the artificial
boundaries that we have created in the name of God, in the name of
religions, in the name of scriptures, in the name of nationalities, in
the name of race, in the name of colour, in the name of ethnic groups
and enter into the fullness of Truth,the kingdom
of God, where we find unity, peace and non-violence. May this Good
Friday be a day of repentance from divisions to Unity, from violence to
Peace, from ignorance to wisdom.
(Crucifixion is not an end itself. It opens the door to the victory of
Truth or Unity or peace over relative truths, over divisions and
violence.
* The yugas referred are states of consciousness. They do not come
one after the other. In every age all yugas are possible. People will
be living in different yugas at the same
time. Jesus was living in Sathya yuga, His listeners were living in
Dwapara yuga. In Dwapara yuga there is relative evil. They manifested
that on Jesus. Jesus lived in Sathya yuga, in absolute goodness. In
him there was no evil. He could not manifest negativity
onto others.That was why he prayed: 'father, forgive them for they do
not know what they are doing'.