Christmas Eve 2005

The Vedanta Society of Japan held its annual Christmas Eve service at the Zushi Centre on the evening of December 24, 2005. Festive lights had been put up across the front the building and visitors stepping in from the cold were greeted by decorative holly, a large, illuminated wreath, and the warmth and reverence of the environs and the occasion.

Upstairs in the meeting room, the familiar portrayal of a meditating Jesus Christ had been brought from the main shrine room and was seated high on a wooden throne. Centered just below was a framed depiction of Madonna and Child upon a tiered backdrop of red cloth that stretched a few meters out into the room. Both were adorned with hand-strung flower garlands and basked in the warm glow of candlelight from dozens of flickering sources, along with a colorful assortments of bouquets and blossoms and an array of cakes, candies and fruit offerings. The setting was completed by the articles of worship at the foot of the altar.

Microphones, speakers and keyboard sound-checked and video camera tested, the congregation settled as Swami Medhasananda began the worship at 7 p.m. Afterward the swami welcomed all and Shanti-san and Lonnie led the congregation in verses of Come All Ye Faithful in English and Japanese.

Then there were English and Japanese readings from Matthew in the New Testament, the swami reading first Jesus' Use of Parables and then Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds, The Parable of the Hidden Treasure, The Parable of the Pearl, The Parable of the Net and New Truth and Old. The same texts were then read in Japanese, followed by singing of The First Noel and Joy to the World with English and Japanese verses.

Swami noted that while for many around the world Christmas is just a festival, for devout Christians it is a very holy event and Christmas Eve is celebrated with great devotion. He added that for devotees of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda it is also a very holy occasion. "Sri Ramakrishna taught the harmony of religions and practiced various paths of God-realization, including Christianity," he said. "He had the vision of Christ."

Christmas Eve also has special significance for the Ramakrishna Order because at the insistence of Narendranath, Swami Vivekananda, the first young monastic disciples had  taken their vows of renunciation on Christmas Eve, rejoicing at realizing this fact later. "We not only get inspiration from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but we celebrate Christmas Eve with a beautiful ceremony at Belur Math headquarters and every branch of the Mission as well," he continued.

The subject of the evening's service was Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, Swami and chose to read from Matthew in The New Testament and offer some commentary.

After reading 'The Birth of Jesus Christ' the swami noted that most births of great spiritual leaders and incarnations of God like Lord Buddha, Sri Ramakrishna and Jesus Christ are supernatural. He then read from 'The Baptism of Jesus'.

Before continuing with 'The Temptation of Jesus' the swami pointed out that here again in the life of Lord Buddha and the life of Sri Ramakrishna we find they were also tested by a 'devil' or other such power for their spiritual depth. And that according to some, this temptation was not from an outside source, but from inside. "In fact, the source of temptation is deep inside us," he said. "One view holds that there are deep samskaras of enjoyment inside us and in the course of spiritual discipline these appear to us as temptation." Then he read the description of the confrontation between Jesus and the devil.

"If there is the least desire for secular enjoyment, there cannot be spiritual realization," Swami stated bluntly. "And that is the test." He then read 'Jesus Calls Four Fishermen'. "Apparently these four disciples came from a very low strata of society, but for spiritual realization social position is not important. Money is not important. What is important is purity of heart. Great spiritual leaders, like Jesus Christ, have a spiritual insight and can see who is pure of heart. So when Jesus asked these fishermen to follow him, they immediately obeyed him. Purity of heart is of importance."

"In this connection we can recall an incident in the life of The Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi," he continued. "While she standing at a railroad station platform in India a porter suddenly came up and addressed Her as the Divine Mother. 'O Mother,' said the man, 'I have been waiting for you for a long time. Where have you been?' And right there, Holy Mother gave him initiation."

He then read 'Jesus Teaches, Preaches and Heals'. "Here we see something special in Jesus Christ's life; though preaching and teaching are quite common in other spiritual teachers lives, we don't see healing of the sick as a legacy in the lives of Lord Buddha or Sri Ramakrishna," Swami said. "Here, the purpose was not to bring any name and fame to himself by healing the diseased, but out of deep sympathy and compassion. He also wanted to show that the power to heal was God's power - not to glorify Jesus, but to glorify God. With this objective, this purpose, and out of deep compassion, Jesus healed diseased people."

Before reading 'The Sermon on the Mount', Swami said that this represented one of most important parts of the New Testament; that it contains moral and spiritual values. "It has deep significance," he said, "in that Jesus explains how spiritual ways and secular ways are different. The criteria of judging by a secular person and the criteria of judging by a spiritual person are different. Persons of secular values will see many things as strange, peculiar or impossible in Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. But from the point of spirituality the apparently strange, apparently peculiar, and apparently impossible advise are of deep significance.

"There is no doubt that it is very hard to practice the moral and spiritual values contained in the Sermon on the Mount. But even in considering this difficulty, Jesus did not compromise or dilute these values. What people, especially secular people, would think or accept, or the difficulty of practice, Jesus did not consider these things, but He clearly laid out and explained that which He knew to be correct and right."

"Another point is, as we go through His teachings in the New Testament, at times it appears very enigmatic, the meaning unclear. The disciples themselves would submit that they couldn't grasp the deeper meaning of the parables and Jesus would explain. So unless we deeply meditate on what Jesus said; unless we become pure of heart, we'll not really understand the inner meaning of His teachings. The same can be said of the teachings of Lord Buddha and Sri Ramakrishna."

"We must also remember the great teachers would give the same teachings to all. We must remember that the Sermon on the Mount was delivered to His chosen disciples. A given instruction may be intended for people of a particular background or ability to understand and this can sometimes cause confusion. The instruction, the idea, of total renunciation that we see in the Sermon on the Mount is not meant for all, but for His chosen disciples. There are also many other instructions that can and should be followed by common devotees, but keep this in mind as we read from The Sermon on the Mount: 'Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.' "

"True Happiness: 'Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!'" he read. "What does it mean, happy are those who are spiritually poor? It means really that those who have the egotistic idea that they are spiritually rich are not really happy and cannot realize God. Surely humility and egoless-ness will help one to realize God."

"Number 5: 'Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised them.' As we just discussed, humility and ego-less-ness."

"Number 7: 'Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them.' This means that God should not only be worshipped in a temple or church or an image. One should love the devotees of God. One should be merciful to others. In the Bhagavad Gita it says that God loves the devotee who has love for all. How can one be merciful to others? If one has no love for others, one cannot be merciful to others. One of the most important teachings of Jesus is: Love thy neighbor as thyself. Love God and love thy neighbor. The whole of Christianity, the quintessence of Christianity can be found in these two teachings of Jesus Christ."

"In fact, this is the essence of all religions; love God and love all of humanity. There is so much fighting over religion and religious teachings. The main reason for this is that we do not practice these religious teachings, we don't implement, we don't translate into our own actions these spiritual teachings. This the reason for all the fighting and struggle and violence regarding religion.

'Happy are the pure at heart; they will see God. Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them His children.' "So here again, purity of heart is important for the realization of God. Not money or position or anything else."

"Salt and Light" 'You are like salt for all mankind. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again. I has become worthless, so it is thrown out and people trample on it.

'You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.'

'No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead he puts it on the lamp-stand, where it gives light for everyone in the house.'

'In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.'

"The important idea of the salt is that if a monk does not lead a life of renunciation and the devotee does not live a life of devotion, how can they be called a monk or a devotee? How can parents be called parents if they don't raise, don't look after, don't do their duty to their children? How can a teacher be called a teacher if he or she does not really teach? So the purpose this teaching is that one should be careful about one's station in life and the responsibilities involved.

After reading from 'Teaching about the Law' he said, "That is another important aspect of the great spiritual teachers; they don't come to destroy or break, but they come to fulfill. They try to follow the traditions, but only in the right spirit, not blindly. Even if they want to reform something, they follow the path of least resistance. Their solution is a very positive solution; not a negative one."

He then read from 'Teaching about Anger' and said, "Here brother does not only mean one's brother, but means anyone to whom we are related. Now why did Jesus give the specific instance about leaving your gift at the alter and making peace with one's brother? Because it really happens so. If we nurse anger against someone, then during our period of prayer or meditation the anger comes to mind, and as long as we have anger in our mind, our mind is disturbed. The mind becomes restless; and with such a restless mind, deep prayer and meditation is not possible. So Jesus tells us to settle the matter, so that we can pray and meditate. So love, sympathy and forgiveness must be practiced in spiritual life."

Commenting on 'Teaching about Vows' Swami asked, "What is the deeper meaning in this teaching about vows? He means that when we take a vow, we have inner faith that we have some power over our actions and the outcome. But Jesus warns that we do not have any power and says that we cannot make a single hair black or white. Only God has power and mistakenly we think we have some power. So when we make vows we should just say 'Yes' or 'No' and we may add; if God wills, or if God gives me the power, then I can do so and so. It is a mistaken idea that we have any power over outcomes and it is egotistic, so Jesus says that it is not the right approach. Just say 'yes' or 'no'. Who is that evil one? The ego."

With this the talk came to a close with more Christmas carols in English and Japanese and a lovely bhajan from Ms. Latna, a visitor from southern India in Japan on temporary assignment as assistant professor at Tokyo University. After Swami thanked one and all for attending the service, a prasad supper of delightful curries and sweets was served in the dinning room. Here too, amidst the conversation and laughter all enjoyed the spirit of community and a shared spirit of Christmas.