Our second point is about acquiring the necessary enlightenment. Our intellectual power plays an important role in acquiring enlightenment as correct perception is important for true knowledge leading to enlightenment. Enlightenment is not something to be acquired from outside as it needs to be awakened from within ourselves. Knowledge, therefore, is not mere information gathered from outside sources, as it is clarity derived from genuine understanding of such information. Clarity transforms the person to a new level of being, resulting in further understanding of ourselves and the world around us. We are internally transformed when clear understanding takes place and are able to operate from a deeper level of reality. This is true also of faith in Jesus Christ where a believer is internally transformed to become a new creature or a new person. Genuine faith in Christ may thus be evident from the type of person a believer is. Real enlightenment, therefore, is easily discerned as distinct from apparent and spurious imitations of the same. Jesus often used to ask his disciples whether they understood what he was trying to teach them. The words used by a teacher should be correctly grasped by the students in order to arrive at true understanding and genuine enlightenment. The words used stand as symbols or signs of the reality or objects indicated by those words. If the listener succeeds in correctly understanding those symbols or signs, we say that there is understanding that is in the right direction of enlightenment. An arrow on a signboard against the name of a place is correctly interpreted when a person follows that direction and not when he or she stops there looking at the sign. A word like 'apple', for example, is not like a label to be attached to the fruit called apple, since in the next moment I may use the phrase "the apple of my eye' where that fruit does not help in understanding the meaning. The same word has different meanings depending on how we use the word and not because an object in the world always corresponds to the word used. The student, therefore, should grasp the correct use of the word by the teacher for which observation of what the teacher does with the word is essential. The principle here is the same as the necessity of practicals to any theory even in highly advanced scientific disciplines. Theory of driving without ever getting behind the wheels or of swimming without ever getting into the water will have unhappy results. Similarly, when Jesus asks his disciples to follow him he is using the correct method of teaching. Apprehensions of some people, therefore, about dogmatism against free thinking when teachers consider themselves as models to be followed are out of tune with the very sound principles of Linguistic Analysis regarding meaning of words as their use in language. We proceed to our third point in the transformation of our life from the old order to the new one. Our transformation from death to resurrection or from old selves to new selves is intrinsically connected to our willingness (The first point) and enlightenment (The second point), but also to our faithful living out the truths seen by us (The third point). For example, in the parables of the person finding a treasure lying hidden and a merchant discovering a pearl of great value, Jesus beautifully unravels the consequences of the discovery in the lives of those persons. By selling all their possessions to acquire the new-found treasure, unknown to others, they are willing to be laughed at and ridiculed by the unenlightened people as these have not seen the value they have seen. The parable is about how we should evaluate the Kingdom of God and consequently how we should transform our lives even when they are diametrically opposed to the values followed by the world. Transformation to a new life cannot be hoped for if we are unwilling to give up our old habits of conforming ourselves to the standards set by the world. Very often, such habits are condoned and fortified by the easy excuse that everyone is doing it. Our will is weakened by the thought that what the people might think if we do or refrain from doing certain things. Where, then, is the enlightenment we discussed above? An enlightened person is like persons found in the parables mentioned above who is impervious to the reactions of people who are unenlightened. If it is true enlightenment, no force on earth can dissuade a person from following the course of action set in motion by him or her. The destiny of human beings is achieved in transformation from death to resurrection and Jesus Christ is our model in this as well as anything that is properly human.(To be Contd).
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