Saturday

03


March , 2018
A compassionate outlook is the essence of spiritualism
14:17 pm

Archbishop Cardinal Telesphore Toppo


Cardinal and Archbishop of Ranchi, Roman
Catholic Church

 

The world confluence of humanity, power and spirituality is a very bold step taken in the right direction for it is spirituality that connects and brings about communion with God, fellow human beings and the whole of creation. Undoubtedly, it is spirituality that unfolds the splendour of humanity. My heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Kanoria and all those associated with these commendable initiatives. Deep within me, my inner being feels that the whole world needs more and more of such efforts given the situation of the present century. The natural programme within the flower is the art of the divine. Artificialities and pretentions are dominating the world scene today. The world fails to understand that even in their best glow these are devoid of the divine fragrance. A gathering of this kind gives an opportunity to feel natural aroma within us in spite of our different religious affiliations.

The divine in us holds us together, adorns our faces with a smile and the brother and the sister who crosses our path gives us strength to lift the wounded like the good Samaritan, calls us forth to build bridges and widens the horizon of our hearts to embrace the whole of humanity. “What a miracle! What a joy! Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake”- these are such powerful words of Rabindranath
Tagore, a great son of our nation. I join with him on this gracious occasion. Our motherland is known for great sages, sins and siddhas who have made phenomenal contribution to eastern spirituality that has the potential to unfold the best of humanity. See Ramakrishna – one of the great mystics of his time – experienced in his spiritual journey harmony and unity - the two great underlying principles of human existence. Swami Vivekananda deeply believed that unity of existence is the law of the universe and he worked towards harmony among religions. It propelled him to address the gathering in the Parliament of religions as “Brothers and Sisters” and that is what that gave him a standing ovation. Spirituality is the simplest expression that has united thousands of hearts. These two saints of Bengal have lived and showed the world that spirituality unfolds humanity in its sub lying form.

Mother Teresa is an icon of this undeniable truth that spirituality unfolds humanity. Her spirituality of deep connect with God gave her a formidable strength to connect with humanity. The spring of love within her became a perennial flow of compassion. Her affectionate touch and loving words transformed lives. Those who came without a smile went back adorned with a glow and a deep feeling of peace and bliss. Her spirituality embraced every person, giving them renewed faith and hope in humanity. Her life is a lesson in spirituality unfolding humanity. The ordinary folk in the villages may not be able put words to their spirituality but their selfless commitment, their daily sacrifice and their simplicity is spiritual.

Spirituality has to be lived as goodness, love, peace and joy to unfold one’s humanity and become the spark for the other. Unfortunately, the ground realities of the present day seemed to be rather different. It saddens me to say that today love in our hearts is gradually being replaced by violence of all forms. The reasons are manifold. The critical one is a lack of spirituality, burning greed, selfishness, egoistic attitude, fundamentalism and much more. We still need to feel inner power. Genuine love for the other and a compassionate outlook towards the excluded are the tenets of spiritualism that will hold humanity together and bring out the best in every person.

We are people of hope. What appears gloomy will turn into joy. The silver lining will illumine the dark clouds.
Spirituality still has the possibility to unfold the best in  humanity. The underlying hope is the best yet to come.

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