Gerald D'Cunha

  “At a night like this, where it’s just me and the yellow Moon… I feel complete.” Kamand Kojouri   T oday morning, a friend of mine, who hails from Kanyakumari district, was describing to me the significance of ‘Vaikuntha Ekadashi’ . As you know, the universe of a frog, who lives in a well, is limited to the boundary of that well. Accepting that truth, I listened to my friend like a little child and learnt a thing or two about ‘ Vaikuntha Ekadashi’ , which, my friend said, comes once a year… This year, I was told, that ‘Vaikuntha Ekadashi’ had come some days ago, in Jan. “It’s a very auspicious day,” my friend said, “Those who worship Lord Vishnu keep a vigil by praying, chanting, meditating and fasting on this occasion." My friend continued, “Vaikuntha means heaven. Thus, Vishnu devotees believe, that the Gates of Heaven open on this day, and, those who die on this day go straight to heaven.” Naïve? Blind faith? “Mano toh bhagwan; na mano toh patthar.” ...

"Beauty is God’s handwriting.” Charles Kingsley   T wo days ago, on the day of the ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, I had posted a blog. It was titled: ‘The House of Ram’. I had shared in the blog the amazing story of Hanuman tearing his chest, to show everyone, that he saw Ram in his own heart and not in precious pearls of a necklace… I had grown up surrounded by people of every faith. Right from the primary school to college, the Christian institutions in which I studied, had more non-Christian students than the Christian students… That was the beauty! Looking back, I consider, that my education would have been very narrow had it not been for the experience of growing up appreciating, respecting, and accommodating others’ beliefs…   “What makes me a Christian – a Catholic in that?” I have asked this question to myself time and time again… Except for the fact, that I was born in a Catholic/Christian family, there is no other answer. Honestly, tha...

“I close my eyes, in order to see.” Paul Gauguin I love stories from The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bible and almost every Holy Book. My earliest impression of some of these stories goes back to my primary-school days. Ours was a local village-school. But, the teachers in our school knew to recount these tales with vibrant imagery. About the stories from the Bible – both, The Old and The New Testament – yes, we had our Sunday-school teachers, who, too, relayed those stories with life! Therefore, those stories are still alive, not just in our minds, but, also, in our hearts. Thank God, we kids grew up appreciating stories from the Holy Books of all faiths. I feel, truly, blessed about this fact. Ours was a mixed neighbourhood...   Hindus, Muslims and Christians, all. As a kid, I remember spending a lot of my play time in Hindu households, who used to have on their walls those large-size colourful calendars of Hindu deities. I, particularly, remember getti...

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein M y wife and I are presently staying at my in-laws' place because of the lockdown. Today, early in the morning, my 85-year-old father-in-law asked me about a Mother Mary shrine near Mangalore. “Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,” he said. I was clueless about both, the feast and the Mount Carmel shrine which my father-in-law was talking about. It was 6.30 in the morning… He had already finished saying his prayers! A couple of hours later, Jennifer, my cousin, sent to me this picture: She wrote, “Remembering Sr. Leo who used to give us these scapulars every time she visited us.” Sr. Leo was my aunt. She and Jennifer’s mom (Mary) were both my dad’s younger sisters. Sr. Leo (Cecil, her real name) was a Carmelite nun. She was one of the calmest souls we had known. Whenever she visited...

“The two most common elements in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” Harian Ellison T he essence of every religion is the essence of Life; and, that’s love and brotherhood. It’s the common belief, that we all are the children of the same God – the same Creator… That, we are not even a speck in the vast Universe He has created… too, too, too small and insignificant! Hence, the fact that I am a Christian – and a Roman Catholic in that – is too insignificant. If that thought – that, I am a Christian - makes me feel different – superior to others – then, my religion is a dead religion… It’s dark and dangerous! Self-importance is the opposite of the religious essence of Love and brotherhood. If my religion makes me feel ‘different’ – superior to others – then, the God I worship must be a False God! Look at the stupidity to which some of us have lowered ourselves to, now… Yes, even at this time, when the whole wo...

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” Pema Chodrun S pirituality has nothing to do with our religions and rituals. What happens inside our hearts, at present, is enough to make us all spiritual… There is no ‘Your God’, “My God’ and ‘Their God’. And, God doesn’t need those colossal worship places… not even those Holy Books… What goes on inside us, that’s enough! If men don’t want to budge an inch, or even half-an-inch, let it be… They all will be swept away, anyway, when God strikes down his whip! Funny it all seems… This brute arrogance and resistance! Who is the ‘persecuted minority’ on this planet, now? Who is going to give shelter to whom? Who is going to include or exclude whom? We all seem standing alone and crying out: “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” “Is anybody there?” That’s how we all learn to know the difference between our religions and spirituality… To be sp...

I haven’t been to the hallowed shrine of Sai Baba at Shirdi. But, I feel very close and connected to the great mystic. The more I reflect on the kind of life he practiced and preached, the more relevant spirituality and religion seem to me. The same is my feeling about Kabir. The God we hear about in the teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi and Kabir is formless… And, He doesn’t reside within the confines of temples and mosques… Their God lives in every pore of our being… in every breath we take… and, to experience Him, we need to pull down the walls we have created between us – the Hindus and Muslims, between you and me… “Sab ka Malik Ek Hai"… How loosely we use Sai’s famous words! Is that really so? That, the God that you and I worship is the same? Really? Will I teach it to my children? Will I teach it to my students? “There is a wall of separation between oneself and others and between you and me,” says the great mys...

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully As they do it from religious conviction.” -      Blaise Pascal I have witnessed the communal riots right since I was a little boy in our home town, Mangalore (now Mangaluru). Our small house was surrounded by families of all major faiths… On the very left lived a staunch Brahmin family, on the very right lived a staunch Christian, a Hindu (GSB) and   a Muslim family. Right behind our house lived many families that belonged to various faiths… Ditto was in the front, across the road… So beautiful this co-existence was, so enriching… This sight still continues to behold us, inspire us! Here in Mumbai, at my age of 62… In my floor, wing and our buildings live people of different faiths… Ditto is in the Society where I hold my classes and house my office… I am the only Christian in this building. But, during these thirty-two years of our co-existence here, none of...