Concept of death and Jesus on the cross

[dattaswami]

Concept of death and Jesus on the cross

 

One of you asked Me about the significance of cross in Christianity. Some scholars have interpreted it to the striking of I, which represents the egoism. It is a good interpretation but it does not speak about the significance of Jesus present on the cross in the process of crucification. Therefore, if you consider both the cross and Jesus on it, there is more important significance, which represents the death of Jesus. In the death the soul leaves this external human body. It indicates that one day or other you have to leave your body and everything and everybody associated with the body.

 

Therefore, the concept of death is the most sacred spiritual preacher, which preaches about the non-eternal bonds with your relations and related things in this world. Thus, death is the most pious concept and one should not fear for it. You should not fear for your spiritual preacher who is the most sacred and pious. You must give your utmost attention to this most pious spiritual preacher, the concept of death. When Nachiketa asked his father about the donation of himself, his father told that he would be donated to the God of death called Yama. Infact, Nachiketa received the best spiritual knowledge from Yama as you find in Veda. Everybody knows that death is inevitable. But such is only knowledge. By Knowledge one just knows. This is not sufficient unless the knowledge is often memorised, which leads to realization. Thus, knowledge, memorization and realization are the three steps after which only practice comes as said in Veda (Srotavyo….).

 

Due to the absence of the other two steps, in practice the human being is behaving as if these worldly bonds are eternal. Unless these bonds are cut, liberation or salvation is impossible. Without liberation attainment of God is subsequently not possible. When you are bound to certain things, how can you achieve other things? The attachment to the Lord is unable to give the salvation from these bonds because the attachment to the Lord is not strong. Unless you realise the nature of these bonds, you cannot get salvation from these bonds. The nature of these bonds is best exposed by the concept of death. Thus, when you are constantly looking at the cross with Jesus on it in the process of crucification, then you realise the nature of these bonds continuously. Such continuous realization leads to continuous practice. Practise alone can give the result. Thus, the cross with Jesus in the phase of death is having the greatest spiritual significance in giving you the liberation. Unless you derive the concept from the statue of Jesus on cross, such statue becomes useless, if it is conceived only in the sense of the death of Jesus.

 

Jesus himself advises the people not to weep on His death, but they should weep about themselves. This means that the physical sense of crucification should not be taken. If you take the internal significance; it will be useful for your spiritual development. Thus, when you are worshiping the idols, the concepts for which the idols stand should be realised. The constant attention on the idol is also necessary so that the concept is memorised again and again. It is for this purpose, the idol worship is introduced. Therefore, one should not mock at the idol worship. Christians wear cross with Jesus on it in the chain around the neck. The church also shows the same. Such photos are in the houses. All this is the idol worship. I do not know why they criticize the idol worship and follow the same in practice. The Christian scriptures criticize the idol worship. The point in such criticism is that mere worship of idols without realizing the concepts for which those idols were created is useless. From this angle idol worship is to be criticized. Thus, you have both positive and negative angles for any point based on the context. Thus, we know the concept of death but we have not realized it. Therefore, we do not remember the concept. Our continuous impression is only about the life, which we are constantly experiencing. Hence, our feeling was that we lived in the past, we are living in the present and we will live forever in the future. Due to this we feel that these bonds are eternal and that this world is also eternal. It is said that spiritual knowledge is to be obtained from Lord Siva (Jnanam Mahesvarat..). Lord Siva is famous for destroying the world.

 

Thus, when we remember Siva, we must remember that this world is not eternal. Siva lives in burial ground. This again signifies that any individual has to meet the death. Therefore, Siva preaches you that both this world and your body are not eternal. Yama, the deity of death preached spiritual knowledge to Nachiketa, which means that the concept of death gives you real spiritual knowledge. The brother of Yama, Sani (Saturn) is the source of all problems and troubles. Astrology says that the planet Sani is the source of spiritual knowledge (Jnana karaka..). Again this means that troubles only make you active by which you will think about God. Thus, Sani and Yama, the brothers, are the source of problems and death give you spiritual knowledge. The pleasures will make you inactive, egoistic and inert.

 

Kunti asked Krishna for constant troubles only. The very word Siva means auspicious or most pious. This again means that his work of the destruction of world and his burial ground indicate the temporary existence of world and body. Such realization is most sacred. Therefore, the very meaning of the word Siva is that is most sacred spiritual preacher. Yama and Sani are said to be born to the Sun. Sun represents intelligence and light of knowledge, which removes the dark ignorance. This again indicates that the concepts of problems and death are the products of the real intellectual spiritual knowledge.