Book Review - The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels

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The history of the world religions has always been a fascinating subject for me, since I loved playing the role of the Devil’s Advocate and always took a strange, self-righteous pleasure in questioning many of the tenets and events in those scriptures.

When I picked up ‘The Gnostic Gospels’, I was of the opinion that this is to be another book in the lines of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’ or a ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’, woven around facts and what-could-have-been-the-facts. I am disappointed on the positive side with my expectation, because this book is of the genuine genre and does leave you in no doubt over the events or incidents, since the author does not, in any place, ‘assume’ as to what could have happened!

This is a book of sheer historical nature and a true one at that. The author views the origin of the Orthodox Church as we know it today, in light of the discovery of the ancient scrolls in the Nag Hammadi caves. In 1945, an Egyptian shepherd, Muhammad Ali, identified some earthen jars that contained scrolls of vellum and papyrus carrying the wisdom that has come to be known as the forbidden gospels of the Gnostics. These contained the gospels attributed to some of the most unlikely disciples and followers of Jesus Christ, like Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Philip. The author discusses and analyses the reason as to why the words of some disciples have been banned as heresy, while some others have been accepted partially, while some others have gone on to form the bedrock of Christian principles as we know them today. And, she does it not just from a religious perspective, but rather from a political and social angle.

Starting at the historical circumstances that led to the discovery, analysis and publicizing the scrolls of the Nag Hammadi caves, the author presents the different views of the Gnostics and the Orthodox share with regard to the Crucifixion and the subsequent Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the need for Monotheism and unified authority of the one church under one bishop, the gender interpretation of the Creator, the presence of the Demiurge (the probable Rex Mundi of the Cathars) and the persecution and Passion of the Christ. She finally presents arguments from both sides as to whose church is the true church – Gnostics or Orthodox. She suggests as to what made Orthodox Church an all-hugging, omnipresent institution, while Gnosticism remained in seclusion for the selected few, at least in the early days.

If you are looking for the controversial flavor of the ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’ or the fictional or probably elements of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’, please don’t pick this up. This is a well-researched and well-documented book of intensity that presents arguments from both the sides and quotes abundantly from both Gnosticism as well as Orthodoxy. Though the author herself confesses at the end that she prefers Orthodoxy instead of Gnosticism, nowhere in the book can you feel such partiality. She has stood the middle-ground while writing the book and you can feel it when you get to read valid and genuine arguments from both the sides over each and every topic.

One thing that I don’t understand is, Jesus lived in this world and delivered some worthy messages for us, all humans, to follow. Why should it matter, whether he got married, ate or slept like ordinary mortals, whether he really suffered at the cross or not, whether he really came back from the dead in physical form or not or whether he really visited India or not?! He has given us some absolute words of wisdom. Rather than following the map, why are we sitting at the roadside and discussing the colors of the lines used?!

Overall, this is a great book to pick, if you are a fan of religious histories and ancient wisdom.

Ashok Krishna

Excerpt from the book 'The Gnostic Gospels'.

These lines are attributed to the words of Jesus Christ as per the Gospel of Thomas. I love these lines!

// If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty - Gospel of Thomas. //

An Old Joke!

A lady manager of a big reputed office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into her office.

" What is your name?" was the first thing she asked the new guy.

"John ," the new guy replied.

She scowled, "Look... I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked before, but I don't call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only ... Smith, Jones, Baker ...that's all. I am to be referred to only as Mrs. Robertson. Now that we got that straight,   what is your last name?"

The new guy sighed, "Darling..... ....... My name is John Darling."

" Okay John, the next thing I want to tell you is . . ."

My Ordeal with a ‘Fair’ Bride (Part Three)

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In India, liking a girl’s photo is just the beginning and it sets off a big mechanism. The guy is supposed to make a visit to the girl’s place with his relatives, friends and whoever-else-cares-for-an-evening-at-a-stranger’s-place-with-coffee-and-snacks. This is when he gets to have a direct look at the girl. This occasion is normally used by the boy’s side to show their ‘might’, their arrogance, and to settle the bargains and negotiations about the monetary aspects involved in a wedding and to start the relationship on a note of strength by proving to the girl’s family as to who will call the shots in future.

The girl’s family will always fall behind and play it soft. Even though they play the hosts, even though they offer all the snacks and coffee (or tea), even though it is their daughter that is going to make that guy complete, they still play second fiddle happily. The father will silently accede to all the demands of the guy’s family and the mother will be silently taking in all the scenes with a calm and forced smile, since they both know that they have a daughter to get married now and hence cannot afford to talk in terms of protecting or projecting one’s self-respect. But, trust me, the mother will be calmly assuring herself that when her son is going to get married, she will wring the neck of that girl’s family and have her vengeance for all this humiliation.

Wait, I have digressed, but this how most Indian families get their daughters married off. Now, I didn’t want any such happenings or demanding relatives to come and jeopardize my opportunity to marry this ‘very fair’ girl. So, I told my parents that only my immediate family will go – my parents, my sister, her husband and myself – and see the girl. My mother was hesitating in the beginning, since she had some plans to bring her not-so-favorite in-laws (read, ‘my aunts’) to see how she is going to get a rich and pretty fair bride for her son. But knowing my attitude and adamant nature, she gave in.

So, an auspicious day was fixed and we travelled to the girl’s place. With all the initial welcoming formalities and fake smiles were presented, we were made to sit in the big living room of that girl’s house. I was so keen to see the prospective, nay, the DEFINITE wife.

There she came!!! Clad in a dark blue silk saree and in a sleeveless blouse of a matching color, she walked into the hall. Wow! What a fairness! Such a fairy-like fairness! I appreciated my inventing a new word  ‘fairy-like fairness’ and decided to note it down in my diary, so that I could show it to my wife later and brag about my language skills. While my eyes were fixed on her face, my mind was doing all such dreamy calculations.
 

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law signaled surreptitiously to me, pointing at my eyes and my mouth. Only when my sister, who was sitting next to me, pinched my thigh slyly, did I realize that I had been staring all the while at the girl in a wide-eyes-and-open-mouth expression. What a shame! Thank God, there was no sign of drool near my mouth. I appreciated my dignity!

But amidst all the scenes of happiness, I noticed a specimen – a dark-skinned woman who was walking alongside my bride and was standing near her when she sat. What a contrast! Looking at both of them together, I was reminded of my chess board, where the opposing pawns happen to stay in front of one another, presenting a picture of contrast. I decided to tell my bride that she shouldn’t keep such ugly personalities nearby, allowing it to spoil her charm.

Meanwhile, my prospective father-in-law saw my enthusiasm – to dignify my drooling expression – and he said, “Why not let the boy and girl talk in privacy?”

Man, was I flying?!

(To be ended with the next installment...)

Excerpt from 'The Gnostic Gospels'

Life at times hammers some lessons into our minds by bringing the teachers right at the tails of one another. Happened to read this, just after going through the same topic in JK's work, 'Freedom From The Known'.

// "Abandon the search for God and the creation and other matters of a similar sort. Look for him by taking yourself as the starting point. Learn who it is within you who makes everything his own and says, “My God, my mind, my thought my soul, my body.” Learn the sources of sorrow, joy, love, hate. . .If you carefully investigate these matters you will find God in yourself - Monoimus. //

Book Review - Freedom From The Known, J.Krishnamurti

16th August ‘12

Some of my very best friends have been those that had suggested some great books to me. That way, this book was suggested to me by a friend of mine, Ms.Nirmala Balasubramanian, my computer faculty. And, I had picked this up after more than one-and-a-half decades since she first recommended the writings of J.Krishnamurti to me. And, now, I am feeling more thankful to her than ever before.

‘Freedom From The Known’ is my first look into the wisdom of JK. And, this has left as good an impact in me, as any of the great books that I have ever laid my hands on. The book, as the title rightly suggests, is about freedom of the mind from all those innumerable bonds that keep it enslaved forever. 

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JK starts by elucidating the strength of the trap that the human mind and we humans have got ourselves into, by following society, its traditions, religious tenets, all those innumerable messiahs and so many such traditions and customs that the society presents. He explains how we are afraid of questioning all those facades and facing the shining truth, fearing the repercussions of losing the respect in the society and being branded as a ‘rebel’ or a ‘heretic’ or as an ‘infidel’.

From there he guides us on the path of looking deep into ourselves. One positive thing about JK is that he doesn’t sit at a pedestal and preach, nor does he don a holy cloak and stay at a distance. Rather he says that we should jump into the sea if we are hoping to pick our own pearls. He makes us fold our sleeves and get our hands dirty in paving our own path of spirituality. And, trust me, this method works much better than any of the other ideologies and ideas.

He proceeds by showing how we are bound to our Past by our thoughts and how we are manipulated by Future through our expectations and fears about uncertainty. He wants us to realize what pleasure is and how pain is an inevitable byproduct and a shadow of pleasure. Then he strips our minds and thoughts threadbare and shows us our hidden sides and how we are all violent and egoistic, though on the periphery we love projecting ourselves to be saints and savants. Then about how we form relationships with images of people and thoughts and ideas, rather than with the real people and thoughts and ideas.

But rather than providing you an index of the book this way, it will suffice if I say that this book provides a mirror in which you can see your own reflection and come face to face with the real, naked, ugly and pretty sides of yourselves.

A caveat though is, this is not like a ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ of Richard Bach that teaches you through a simply story or ‘The Prophet’ of Gibran where the basic truths of Life are presented in poetic forms. This is absolute intensity. You can’t take it as a casual read, hoping to pick a few gems of wisdom hither and thither. This is something that you need to feel within and delve deep into. Osho, who is said to have been inspired by the writings of J.Krishnamurti, has known the wavering nature of the human mind better, and had always managed to keep the wandering mind of his disciples in control through the use of parables and Zen stories. But, expect no such sugar-coating with JK!

Overall, a good book to pick, if you believe that books have the capability to change lives, because this one does!

My Ordeal with a ‘Fair’ Bride (Part Two)

I started filtering the photos of prospective brides based on my criteria – all the three must match, you see – fairness, beauty and salary. My mother did the initial level filter of religion, caste, sub-caste, not being a relative of any of her pet-hate relatives and so on. Whatever photos ended up at my desk, I started filtering them then based on my conditions. For finding the fairness quotient, I used the shade-card issued by a fairness cream company. How convenient these shade cards are! I am able to find out even the mildest tint variance in a girl’s face – of course only in the photo – using these shade-cards issued by those helpful fairness cream companies.

My father, meanwhile, used to mumble that in his time they used to use shade cards only to decide the colors to paint on the walls. Old man, what does he know about changing times?!
 

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As for the appearance, let me keep it simple by saying that she shouldn’t be heavy or strongly built. Though I had developed a paunch due to the constant sitting in front of my office computer while crunching all those account details along with fattening snacks, I preferred my woman to be someone who had a flat abdomen and the right set of curves. If you are going to ask me what those ‘right set of curves’ are, I prefer not to answer. Isn’t a man permitted to keep private his own personal choices and desires in this country, my poor bachelor Gods!

One fine day, among all the photographs, I happened to see a beautiful face. The face was matching the topmost shade in the shade-card, meaning ‘very fair’. No, this was fairer than the fairest fairness. She looked as if she applies one whole tube of fairness cream per day and had even drained the blood of her face. But, as long as she happened to be fair, I decided to go ahead. Now, in terms of the second criterion, namely appearance, they had given another photograph too, fortunately for me. She was in a while, thin saree, with a sleeveless blouse. Like those that heroines in the movies wear during rainy song sequences. OK, she had the ‘curves’ too.

I was glad at having found my woman at last. But, wait a minute, what about my last condition, namely salary? My mother squirmed in her seat. I knew that something is wrong. I looked askance at my mother. She uttered slowly, “The girl belongs to a very rich family. She has done MBA from a local engineering college. They bought the seat for her by paying Rs.5 lakhs as donation. She happened to go to the college in her own car. They thought that there is no need to for the girl to go for work or earn anything, since she is the only heiress for all their wealth’.

I felt little hesitation. What is wrong if she isn’t working? Doesn’t she own a car? Doesn’t she own an MBA degree? If somebody asks I will tell them that my wife – yes – is an MBA from a reputed university and is managing her family business. With such glowing thoughts, I told my mother about my interest in getting married to the girl. There commenced all my woes!

(To be continued...)

My Ordeal with a Fair Bride (Part One)

Hi all, do you remember me - the guy who attempted using some of the ‘promising’ body-sprays to lure women? I am back. But this time, I am not going to tell you about my luring attempts, but about my hunt for a fair and beautiful bride. Yes, I had decided to marry at last. And, I had decided to let my mother choose a girl for me.

But it was not all that simple though. I had told my mother a couple of my major conditions. One, the girl should be very fair – as fair as those models appearing in the fairness cream advertisements. Two, she should be very pretty – as pretty as those models appearing in all the other advertisements. Now, you don’t dare to ask me about my complexion. A man is free to be in any complexion, right? Also, I may not be a hunk like Brad Pitt to deserve someone very beautiful, but am not asking for Angelina Jolie, I am just asking for a woman who is ‘very pretty’ and ‘svelte’.

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Of course, I wanted the woman to work and receive a hefty salary package too. But all those women who earn big are aiming for those NRI grooms, preferably from the US, with their ‘accents’, ‘attitudes’ and greens – be it currency or card. I know I can never compete with those dollar-wielding NRI grooms that earn a dollar per line of code, drop in at India for a fortnight’s time, marry the prettiest woman in any office, take her away to US/Germany/France/Australia so that she could post the pictures of her patio, portico, BMW, blooming tulips, and all those colorful oak trees, not to mention honeymoon visits to Niagara falls, Disney Lands, Opera Houses and the Eiffel Towers!

Am I fuming? OK, let us just decide for now that I had decided to find a woman that I can afford with my pay-package.

Now, my mother felt so happy and relieved now that I had decided to get married. My father was his usual reticent self as he is ever since I first got suspended from the college for proposing to a fair and beautiful college lecturer during my student days. Wait, I am digressing.

My mother managed to bring to my desk at least two dozen photos per day. I was wondering as to at the rate of 24 per day, I was viewing 148 photos per week and 720 photos per month. If that is the case, what will happen to all the men that are waiting to get married? How many marriages are going to happen and what will happen to all the population added thus?! What is my problem anyway, as long as I get my fair, pretty, well-earning woman!

(To be continued...)

Appearances or Activities?!

Happened to come across two incidents yesterday that made me think. One was when a reckless (that is the opinion we had of him) subordinate of mine called up Blue Cross to inform about a tiny kitten that was hurt by dog-bite. Another incident was when a two-wheeler rider skidded off the road and hurt himself, a bunch of men huddled at the counter of a nearby wine-shop came running to help him. Now, isn't this little show of humanity that makes each and everyone of them special, irrespective of the appearance they convey?!

The Power of the Wind

An excerpt from the book ‘Crafting Creativity’, by Colin Salter.

“The greatest of them all, [natural energies] for me, is the wind. It encircles the world, gathering and releasing energy, hoisting kites, shaking branches, sweeping leaves, driving yachts across sea and sand, spinning windmills to grind corn and raise water, rippling grasses on the plains, humming tunes in the telegraph wires… all this from something invisible!”

Book Review – Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun

Another ‘explosive’ (!) book in the lines of ‘My Story’ (Kamala Das), ‘The Autobiography of a Sex-Worker’ (Nalini Jameela), or the melodramatic obscenities of a Taslima Nareen even.  Only that the fire runs out of the fuse itself and the book turns out to be a damp squib. The book follows no norms of an autobiography and could very well have been named as ‘Musings of a Nun’, rather than as ‘Autobiography’. The author herself admits in the beginning of the book that this is no proper autobiography as per the norms.

The book lacks the coherence of a ‘My Story’ or the flow of Taslima’s semi-autobiographical, ‘French Lover’. The book contains no proper dates except towards the end. So, you have no chance of knowing whether a particular event happened during her 30th year of 40th year. Also, she has adopted the use of modified names rather than the original names of the people involved. While this might have been done out of goodwill to protect their dignity, the book loses its credibility. When no period is mentioned, no place is specified and pseudonyms are adopted against real names, the book is wobbling between a fiction and a biography.

Also, the events suddenly jump into our face without proper explanation. She says that her ‘authorities’ wanted her to undergo psychiatry treatment. But no valid explanation is given from her with regard to the events that could have prompted such an initiative on the part of authorities in such dignified places. Also, a major part of the book turns out to be discussing office politics and how she was penalized for ‘no mistake of hers’. This portion will remind the readers of Kiran Bedi’s autobiography, ‘I Dare’, where she keeps portraying everyone in the authority as villains except herself. Don’t we need a proper depiction of events and incidents for us to decide who is at fault here?!

But the book cannot be brushed away completely. Some of the accusations that she makes are threatening the very foundation of the Church in Kerala. Homo-sexuality and illicit affairs prevalent among the people that have vowed their lives in the service of God, the mismanagement of money and power-struggles in the places of piety are things that no layperson will be able to digest. People have already started losing faith in the intermediaries of God. Be it the pervert ‘saints’ of Hinduism or the pedophilic priests of  the Pope, sexuality and immorality are threatening the very foundation of faith of a layperson.

The people in the highest echelons may soon take notice of these serious violations. With so many magazines and tabloids making mincemeat of the Church in Kerala over such allegations as well as recurring suicides of the nuns, it takes a lot for the people concerned to come clean and bring up transparency and credibility in the transactions of the Church.

The lovely messages of Jesus and his sacrifice at the cross cannot be diluted by events like these and we cannot afford to let people lose faith in religious institutions at this critical juncture! Wish someone cracks the whip before it is too late!

Ashok Krishna