I was staying in a small village in an aboriginal community in Bastar. The people reported to me;
a few days before, something had happened in the town. A Christian missionary came. Now those are very primitive people, absolutely uneducated, still live in the nude, are utterly unaware of what has happened to man. They are not contaminated by civilization yet. The people told me that a Christian missionary had come, "And he convinced us, he had almost convinced us that Christ is the true savior." I asked them, "What happened? Why do you say 'almost'?" They said, "Because a Hindu sannyasi came and disturbed the whole thing." I asked them the whole story; the story was beautiful. A Christian missionary came. Now if you want to convince these poor uneducated people, you cannot talk philosophy, theology. You have to be very practical, and the Christian missionary was very practical. He brought two statues, one of Krishna, one of Christ. Krishna's statue was made of iron and Christ's statue was made of wood, but they were painted alike. From the outside it was difficult to say which was which - which was wood, which was steel. He talked about both, and then in a bucket of water he dropped both the statues. Naturally, Krishna was drowned, Christ continued to float. So he said, "Look! Your God cannot even save himself. How can he go to save you?" And the people were really convinced. They had seen it, the miracle was there. They looked, and it was true. Simple people.... But next day a Hindu sannyasi entered the village and he heard about it. And he said, "Let us see it again." So the missionary was called again. He did the show again, and the sannyasi could see what was the matter with it. So he said, "Now, light a fire, and let us throw both in it, because fire is more of a criterion than water." And the primitives agreed: "That's true. Fire is certainly more powerful. That will be decisive." The missionary was very reluctant, but what could he do now? He had to agree, and both the statues were thrown into the fire. Christ was burnt immediately - poor Christ - and Krishna came out perfectly. And they were again convinced that Krishna is the true God. This goes on happening at the most primitive level and at the most sophisticated level. This is the whole effort of Christian priests and Hindu monks and Jaina priests and Buddhist philosophers; this is the whole effort: they go on quarreling with each other. Nobody is concerned with opening the door! Everybody is claiming that my key is the right key. In fact, there is no way to decide whose key is the right key, unless you try it and unlock the door. But the argument continues: that the Bible is the REAL book, or the Vedas or the Koran. And they go on finding clever and cunning arguments. Beware of these arguments, because your mind is also full of them. WHEN THE ANCIENT HAD DIED AND THE SONS GREW UP, ONE AFTER THE OTHER, EACH CLAIMED PRIMACY FOR HIMSELF BECAUSE OF HIS POSSESSION OF ONE OF THE RINGS. NOBODY COULD TELL FOR CERTAIN WHICH WAS THE MOST VALUABLE. Hindus go on claiming that the Vedas are the most ancient scriptures, and they may be right. That may be the ancient-most book, but that doesn't prove anything. But their effort is: because this is the first book that came to the world, this is from God. The Koran and the Bible and other books are not basic. "Our religion is the ancientmost," says the Hindu. What does the Christian say? What does the Mohammedan say? The Mohammedan says, "Maybe your book is very old; that's why it is rotten. The Koran is the latest, the last message from God - of course improved, far more relevant. And when the last book has come the first is cancelled. What is the need of the first?" And so on and so forth, they go on arguing. And this whole argument takes so much time, so much energy, that no time is left to look into the book, to search for the key, and to open the door and become really rich. There is no time left to live a rich life. EACH SON GAINED HIS ADHERENTS, ALL CLAIMING A GREATER VALUE OR BEAUTY FOR HIS OWN RING. And soon they started finding supporters. They became churches. BUT THE CURIOUS THING WAS THAT THE 'DOOR TO WEALTH' REMAINED SHUT FOR THE POSSESSORS OF THE KEYS AND EVEN THEIR CLOSEST SUPPORTERS. Nobody was worried about the door. Who cares about the door? The basic thing is to prove whose key is more valuable, whose Master is more enlightened. That seems to be far more important to people. This is utter stupidity, beware of it; and the human mind tends towards this stupidity. Regards, K.s.Vishwanathan. . __,_._,___ -- To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
