A man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, You know the commandments: Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. And he said to him, Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth, And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions (Mark 10: 17-22; Luke 18: 18-23). The most important thing to keep in mind is his heart was in his possessions. He was not detached from worldly goods. Jesus said in another place: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6: 21). The point that we need to ponder on is: Are we able to live in this world as if we do not have anything even when we have possessions? In other words, we are not attached to material things that impede our journey toward holiness. We need to manage our possessions rather than they manage us. Some of the most sublime statements that come from the scriptures are: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10: 27). The emphasis is on the love of God and the love of one's neighbor. So whatever you wish others would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7: 12). This really is the essence of the entire Bible in Jesus own words. This is the last word on human relations. Jesus also made it very clear from the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) that one's neighbor is absolutely everyone in the world. So the Good News (Gospel) that Jesus came to preach especially to the poor as part of his mission (Luke 4: 18-19) are essentially a social gospel stemming from the father/motherhood of God and the brother/sisterhood of humanity. Holiness is achieved in community/society through conscious relationships and interactions in the context of a personal relationship with God.

             Faith, hope, and charity are the three essential elements of Christian life. But of the three, love is the greatest (I Corinthians, Chapter 13: 13). Love is the most distinguishing characteristic that sets apart the New from the Old Testament of the Bible. Even in love there are three degrees. The first degree: Love your neighbor as you love yourself (Luke 10: 25-37). The second degree: Love one another as I (Christ) have loved you (John 12: 12). The third degree: Love one another as the Father has loved me (John 12: 9). Christ speaks of loving humanity in the way his father loved him. The measure of his love is comparable to the love that drives a person to die for his friends as there is no love greater than that (John 12: 13). Moreover, a person would be considered to be lying if one says that one loves God whom one cannot see while hating one's brother/sister whom one can see (I John 4:20). Christ's strong advocacy of endless forgiveness (Matthew 18: 21-22) specially high-lighted in the most important prayer that Christians say every day (Matthew 6: 9-14), and in one of his final statements on the cross of forgiving his persecutors (Luke 23: 34) is another essential ingredient in holiness. Forgiveness also precedes Christ's ministry of reconciliation of humans among themselves and them to God (II Corinthians 5: 17-20). Holiness cannot be conceived without forgiveness and reconciliation. The final measure of Christian holiness, however, is proclaimed in the last judgment (Matthew 25: 31-46) where humans are separated and rewarded or punished on the basis of taking or not taking care of the least among them. In sum, holiness in Christianity is treating others as Christ would treat them, and also treating oneself and others as Christ.

             What is Holiness?

            Holiness is living according to God's will every moment of the day as communicated to everyone through one's conscience. Holiness does not require any extraordinary feat. Life is difficult as it is, and God, our father and mother, want us children to enjoy and celebrate life. Living according to God's will can be very difficult in itself, but can be truly enjoyable when we really know our purpose and mission in this world. Everyone's conscience needs to be well-formed. There can be differences of opinion with regard to formation of a conscience depending on the value systems of persons. However, I cannot think of a single culture or tradition wherein evils such as telling lies, cheating, killing others, bearing false witness, committing adultery, enslaving others, discriminating others, disrespecting others, and violating others rights are valued. All these have happened in the history of humanity, and are still happening. But all these are not only illegal but also immoral. There are some religious authorities who evaluate a person's conscience according to their teachings and belief systems, and consider it to be well-formed or malformed as it does or does not conform to their standard. In any case a person is going to be saved even with a malformed conscience as long as he/she is sincere. From that perspective even a sincere atheist is going to be saved as God is ever loving, compassionate, and merciful, and looks at one's sincerity. That is the way God has made us. Our God is so great that God has given us freedom even to reject God. Of course, when one is in doubt with regard to vital matters, one has the obligation to do whatever is in one's power to clear that doubt.

            Secure in one's belief that one is a child of God, one strives to be all one can be, love God, self and others with one's whole heart, figure out one's purpose and mission in life, and discern God's will and carry it out with one's whole energy every waking moment of the day and night in one's own circumstances with one's given limitations. Carrying out God's will every moment is not such a difficult proposition as it is a continuous commitment and disposition that in due time turn into an attitude and a habit, a second nature, so to speak. This second nature would have been the recognized essential part of our nature if we really know our true identity (amrutasya putrah: children of immortality). We are truly created to move (become a brahmachari, literally one who moves in God), live, and have our being in God. This is what world's sacred scriptures propose. When we come into the world our true identity is hidden from us. As a result we get confused and get immersed in worldly pursuits, and go after material things, degrees, and credentials, accumulating wealth and possessions, and jockeying for power and control. Once we reclaim our true identity we stop behaving like sheep as we are truly lions who happened to be brought up with sheep. The story relates to a farmer living at the edge of a forest found a lion cub and brought it up with his sheep. The lion cub growing up with sheep learnt the ways of sheep and forgot his true identity until a wild lion from the forest came to kill a sheep for food, and noticed a lion running with the sheep to get away. The lion telling the sheep-like lion about his true identity, got frustrated, and finally brought him to a pond to convince his true identity. The sheep-like lion looked into the pond and let out the roar of a lion. That was the moment the sheep like-lion got insight and became aware of his true identity. We will have to go through similar but difficult and trying process to discover our own true identity. While in this world we are not of this world. There are discerning spiritual masters who are free, who do not have vested interests, and who are subject and answerable to God alone, and who can help us find our identity as we grow up in a world full of attractive, titillating distractions, allurements, and temptations until we become ourselves guides who can steer others to God's shores from the tumultuous vast ocean.

Living Holy

             Holiness is not a destination to arrive at. It is a glorious and celebratory lifestyle (jeevitacharya) to be actively engaged in. It is not a hard chore to be tolerated and put up with. When one tastes it, one gets addicted to it. Nay, one is intoxicated by it. One joyously lives it. It is not the privilege and preserve of a few chosen ones. It is there for everyone to adopt this holy lifestyle. I reiterate the fact that there is no heroic virtue or extraordinary feat involved in it. We are all supposed to take to it as fish to water. The ingenious but unnecessary canard of original sin perpetrated on humanity long ago and perpetuated among Christians still by systematic and theological speculations constitutes the biggest impediment that comes in the way of enjoying this blissful lifestyle. This unquestioned impediment that considers everyone to be worthless sinners and wretches forms the steely, impenetrable mind-set that taints and essentially alters us humans, children of God, to the point of cringing before our God who is our Father and Mother and great Provider and everything else good in an infinite degree. This is the greatest travesty of truth. I want to make it very clear here that I am in no way questioning the need for God's grace or the need for Christ as an incomparable model for humanity. This is a matter of faith alone that, while it is reasonable, cannot be reasoned. The obstacles (janmanthara papa) that result from bad karma (deed) and expressed through series of re-births necessary for liberation, and sustained by systematic philosophic speculations, constitute among Hindus an equally mis-guided mindset that condemns everyone to the helpless resignation of swimming in the seemingly endless and highly turbulent ocean to get to the shore.

            Then what do we have left? This precious, beautiful life needs to be enjoyed and celebrated with an attitude of gratitude in humility and truth. We do not need to vacillate between hedonism and stoicism. Life has its own problems sufficient for each day. We need to wisely negotiate our way every day. We just have the present, the here and now. We do not know about heaven and hell. We do not know about the previous birth. But we do know about our brothers and sisters in anguish, distress, and trouble. Holiness requires, nay, demands us to experience the unity of humanity. Humanity, splintering into so many nations, states, and communities solely on the basis of earthly, temporary interests and concerns, is led to blind and pitch dark alleys due to lack of clear vision, purpose, mission and the eternal destiny that we all are called to. We need to keep in mind that we are refugees, pilgrims in this word with a temporary status. For a long period in the United States of America my status was that of a Resident Alien, and that fitted me well. I feel I am an alien in India as well as in the U. S. The reality is that we have limited time and a very urgent task to do for God and humanity. Our mission is to love God and love everyone the way we love ourselves, to free the oppressed and the down-trodden, to be sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and legs to the lame, and hands to the handless, to treat everyone the way God treats. Seers and sages, holy persons, and accumulated wisdom so far of humanity inspired by God and contained in world's scriptures can guide us in our purpose and mission. One of the most powerful statements in all of scriptures relates to what God said that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or do any other good deed to anyone, we do it to God: When you did it to the least brother or sister, you did it to me. The sum and substance of all scriptures are contained in these words: So whatever you wish men/women would do to you, do so to them. The seers and sages of India summed it up in this pithy saying: Satyam vada; dharmam chara (speak truth; walk righteousness). So we can be holy as our heavenly father/mother is holy. Holiness is our birthright as children of God.