By 'Hidden Life', we make an oblique reference to the life of Jesus between the age of 12 and the beginning of his public ministry when he was around 30 years old. It is only an oblique reference as our main point here is the spiritual life in our life that is intended by this section. We believe that the roughly estimated 18 years of Jesus' unknown life before his public ministry nourished his spiritual life that is manifested in his public ministry. As we go by the Gospels in these matters, we shall reject outright speculations about his connection with the monastic group of the times known as the 'Essene' as well as theories about his sojourn in India through Tibet being influenced by Buddhism and the Vedas of Hinduism. It is but natural for people to seek explanations for the very high caliber of the teachings of Jesus especially when they refuse to acknowledge his divinity whereby they turn to natural explanations. (Those who might wonder about our 'naivete' in accepting the historicity of the Gospel narratives as against the Rationalists of the Enlightenment period and the Liberals thereafter may refer to our blog site: christologiainsitu.blogspot.com). We find that already at the time of Jesus, people were amazed at his teachings and wondered aloud about the source of his learning (See Mark, 6: 1-3; Matthew, 13: 53-56). People in Nazareth where Jesus resided with Joseph and Mary knew very well that Jesus was always with them as a carpenter, being the son (as they thought) of Joseph the carpenter. They were surprised at his beautiful and authoritative teachings and yet were without any clue to the source of the same. This testimony precludes any special training acquired from far away places. At the same time, any education that was available to Jewish children of the times could not explain the extraordinary depths of his knowledge that could overawe even the doctors of the law at the Jerusalem Temple when he was a mere 12 year old boy (See Luke, 2: 46-52). A 12 year old boy could not have made such extensive travels as presupposed by the proponents of alternative theories! At the scene at the Temple we have an inkling to the source of his knowledge as Jesus refers to his Father in whose business he should be involved The teachings of Jesus are divine as he is the Word of God Himself. As for spiritual life, we shall start with a general overview of spirituality in order to have a clear idea of our own spirituality as well as its connection with the spiritual life manifested through Jesus of Nazareth.
Spirituality may be described as a pilgrimage undertaken by individuals in search of God or Absolute Perfection with a view to attaining self-fulfillment and total happiness for ever. Various methods are followed by religions and spiritual masters all of which tend to be a journey from the external world to our inner consciousness. As long as we are entangled in the attractions of the world and the values therein, there is no chance of such a journey back to one's own genuine self. It is essential, therefore, to develop the consciousness of the significance and the value of persons and things around us including ourselves for nurturing spirituality. Ethics and morality are nothing but the development of such consciousness and spirituality is an attempt to enhance the same to a higher level. When we talk about values in Ethics and Morality, we cannot do without a criterion to determine the real values as against the spurious imitations of the same. God alone can be the ultimate criterion of values that stands as the measuring rod of our understanding of those values. For example, what is goodness and who is a good person? Jesus indicated that God alone is good even at the risk of inviting the possibility of denial of his own divinity (See Mark, 10: 18). No one and nothing can be considered good without at least an implicit reference to God not necessarily in words, but certainly in actions and attitudes.
Practice of self-control is an absolute necessity in spiritual life. We see in the Bible that self-control is one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (See Galatians, 5: 23). It means that practice is a joint project of the individual and the Spirit of God. It involves the control of our senses and above all the control of our mind, a restraint of which is essential for restraining our senses. As our desires are not in the senses, but in the mind, mind-control results in sense-control. Together they produce, with the assistance of the Spirit of God, self-control as fruit of the Holy Spirit. How shall we go about controlling the mind? It involves self-reflection, concentration and meditation on what constitutes our ultimate happiness. Self-development in conformity with the ultimate reality is that which will satisfy our desire for happiness. For this purpose, we have to get rid of all illusions that only lead us to delusions. It is achieved through meditations on the nature of reality. Such a meditation presupposes that we withdraw ourselves from whatever causes our mind to stray and find solace in illusions. This exercise will lead us to the source of all reality, truth and happiness (Sat-Chit-Ananda) that is a kind of description for God who is indescribable. 'Sachidananda' in the Indian thought may be compared with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit of the Christian Thought as propounded by the theologians. (To be cont'd).
Spirituality may be described as a pilgrimage undertaken by individuals in search of God or Absolute Perfection with a view to attaining self-fulfillment and total happiness for ever. Various methods are followed by religions and spiritual masters all of which tend to be a journey from the external world to our inner consciousness. As long as we are entangled in the attractions of the world and the values therein, there is no chance of such a journey back to one's own genuine self. It is essential, therefore, to develop the consciousness of the significance and the value of persons and things around us including ourselves for nurturing spirituality. Ethics and morality are nothing but the development of such consciousness and spirituality is an attempt to enhance the same to a higher level. When we talk about values in Ethics and Morality, we cannot do without a criterion to determine the real values as against the spurious imitations of the same. God alone can be the ultimate criterion of values that stands as the measuring rod of our understanding of those values. For example, what is goodness and who is a good person? Jesus indicated that God alone is good even at the risk of inviting the possibility of denial of his own divinity (See Mark, 10: 18). No one and nothing can be considered good without at least an implicit reference to God not necessarily in words, but certainly in actions and attitudes.
Practice of self-control is an absolute necessity in spiritual life. We see in the Bible that self-control is one of the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit (See Galatians, 5: 23). It means that practice is a joint project of the individual and the Spirit of God. It involves the control of our senses and above all the control of our mind, a restraint of which is essential for restraining our senses. As our desires are not in the senses, but in the mind, mind-control results in sense-control. Together they produce, with the assistance of the Spirit of God, self-control as fruit of the Holy Spirit. How shall we go about controlling the mind? It involves self-reflection, concentration and meditation on what constitutes our ultimate happiness. Self-development in conformity with the ultimate reality is that which will satisfy our desire for happiness. For this purpose, we have to get rid of all illusions that only lead us to delusions. It is achieved through meditations on the nature of reality. Such a meditation presupposes that we withdraw ourselves from whatever causes our mind to stray and find solace in illusions. This exercise will lead us to the source of all reality, truth and happiness (Sat-Chit-Ananda) that is a kind of description for God who is indescribable. 'Sachidananda' in the Indian thought may be compared with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit of the Christian Thought as propounded by the theologians. (To be cont'd).
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