All are called to holiness. Holiness should be effortless like breathing. It should be the natural state of every human being. When disciples came to Christ asking him as to who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he called a child, and put him in their midst and said: Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven Matthew 18: 1-4). Children are innocent. They are not programmed in the ways of the world. They are holy in their natural, unprogrammed state. They are honest and truthful. They do not know devious ways to manipulate and deceive. We are all familiar with the story wherein the guilty father going to hide in the house seeing the police officer coming to arrest him told the son to tell the officer that he is not at home. The son told the officer: My father told me to tell you that he is not in the cellar. A two-year old child is neither aware nor ashamed, for instance, of his/her nakedness. Savitri, age 47 years, from Mumbai (name and place have been changed to disguise her identity) married to her husband for 21 years lives in virtual slavery. She pretends to be happy as she does not want her two sons to know that her marriage is a failure, and that she is very miserable. I told her that I am willing to work with her in counseling if she is willing to stop her life of lie. Most people live a life of pretense in one form or another. We are programmed to compete and survive in this world. It is often the survival of the fittest, the strongest, and the most crooked. A virtuous life may not get you anywhere. In reality we all have been programmed to be unholy from childhood on. So breaking through this seemingly impenetrable shield of programming is almost impossible. Thus holiness has become a very difficult proposition. One has to do heroic and extraordinary things to prove one's holiness. In the Catholic Church, for instance, one has to work at least two miracles after one's death to prove one's holiness and fitness for canonization or official proclamation as a saint. This is absurd. Needless to say, I myself was moved by this so-called ideal in my younger days under heavy programming. I thought how nice it would be if my statue as a saint would be put in the niche of a church!

             For a person living an aware, conscientious, truthful, selfless, loving life according to one's conscience, it is difficult not to be holy. This is everybody's goal all the time. Our society programs us for unholiness while mouthing the virtues of holiness. A value-based life may not lead to recognition and awards from the world, but it will definitely help attain holiness. We live a hypocritical, double-life. We live an unholy life while we talk about a holy life. We have a private and public life. St. Paul said: For I do not do the good I want, the evil I do not want is what I do (Romans, 7: 19). This is sometimes known as the principle of double law working in us. In Bhagavad Gita, Arjun asks Sri Krishna as to what impels a human to sin against one's own will as though compelled by force (III: 36). The human tendency to sin (papa vasana) is brought out. Sri Krishna answers that lust and wrath born of rajas, the quality (guna) that is nothing else but a tendency or force that overwhelmingly paves the way to sin (III: 37). He also talked about knowledge being covered by ignorance (ajnane avratam jnam); because of our delusion foolishness - I wrongly think of myself as the doer of actions (ahamkaravimudatma karthahamiti manyate, III,27). Paul who influenced more than anyone else the route that practical Christianity would take stressed the principle of double law, while Bhagavad Gita also stresses the forceful tendency in humans to sin.

Kingdom of God

            The principle of double-law (not doing the good I want, and doing the evil I do not want (Romans, 7:19) in Christianity and the strong tendency to sin (papa vasana) the arch enemy of humans - in Hinduism (Bhagavad Gita, III: 36) are supposed to keep humans away from holiness. In Buddhism it is the desire for attaining what cannot be attained that militates against holiness and ultimately nirvana, the final goal. For Christians the tendency to sin comes from the belief of original sin that all humans partake in. For Hindus the tendency to sin comes from the belief of accumulated bad actions coming from past births. Christians accepting Christ through baptism as savior, and disposing themselves for grace through ongoing repentance and confession prepare for salvation and afterlife with God in beatific vision. Hindus through good actions break the chain of re-births, move from ignorance or nescience (avidya) to true knowledge and wisdom (vidya), and finally merge with God (Paramatman). Buddhists learning to desire only what can be attained, neither more nor less, through the eight-fold path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration wipe away the karmic accumulations of the past, become Buddhas (enlightened ones), and achieve nirvana. Christians achieve their salvation in one life. Hindus and Buddhists require many rebirths or lives to realize their liberation (moksha or mukti).

             The most interesting thing is that holiness to which everyone is called to, and that is actually everyone's birthright, has become exceedingly difficult and almost impossible for us to achieve because of convoluted thinking and consequent intricate and complex belief systems that have been constructed, that have programmed humans, and that ordinary believers do not even dare to question. In earlier years, questioning or mere doubting an article of faith or a religious dogma could land a person in grave trouble such as serious discriminations, ostracism, or even loss of life. Inquisition instituted in the dark Middle Ages by the magisterium (teaching authority) of the Catholic Church is an instance of a grave blot on humanity that resulted in the loss of many lives. In Fyodor Dostoeveskiy's Grand Inquisitor (from the famous novel, Brothers Karamazov: Book V) Christ revisits earth during the period of Inquisition and is arrested as a heretic by the Grand Inquisitor, a cardinal. Christ, suspected of heresy, is examined for the purity and orthodoxy of Christian doctrine and teaching. In theocratic societies ruled by Muslims, not having the right or correct belief or religious practices, can end up in public flogging, mutilation of limbs, or even execution. Socrates was condemned to death by his society for his convictions. He was accused of corrupting the youth of his day by what is famously known today as Socratic method. Christ in his days was condemned by the high priest in his society for the announcement of the Kingdom of God. Gandhi was first ostracized by his religious community for crossing the ocean going to England for studies to become a barrister, and then assassinated by the religious fanatics for the principles and values that he stood for. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot dead for preaching racial justice. Not long ago a low caste person could have been instantly killed for coming close to a caste person. In olden days, and perhaps even now, for a believer the life of a Kafir (infidel) or pagan had no use. Freedom to choose and make decisions, the most distinguishing and the most precious endowment given to humans by God, is the right that has been trampled upon, in my view, the most. There is no greater travesty of truth than this.