Kedo Peseyie <\/p>\n
Shiv Kheras popularity in Nagaland is evident. There are people I know who consider his book You Can Win an indispensable guide in life. Some Christians have even referred to it as their second bible. Even the Government of Nagaland paid him several lakhs of rupees some years back just to hear him harp on his principles, some taken straight from the Bible and others from Hinduism, monism, pantheistic, humanism, and other (God knows from where else) philosophies. A loosely structured network of all of these belief systems is what many people today call The New Age which promises unparalleled spiritual advancement in the spiritual nature of humans, health, stress-free world, ecological balance, a new earth, a new heaven, a new humanity, etc. Shiv Khera is a thoroughly New Age writer. <\/p>\n
With due apology and respect to a best selling author such as Shiv Khera, I must say that I have never been attracted to the book You Can Win. Last week out of curiosity I pick up this book in a library and read a chapter on values. I was thoroughly amused, especially with his value test questions. You have to read it yourself to believe it. He calls them the ultimate value test. The first ultimate test is called the Mama Test. Wherever you are or whatever you may be doing, if your values are in question, according to Khera, you must ask yourself the question, If my Mama were to see me doing what I am doing right now, would she be proud of me and say, Attaboy! or would she hang her head in shame? He promises that our values would be clarified rather quickly. <\/p>\n
If this Mama Test is not enough, dont fret. There is another ultimate test called the Baba Test. If values are in question again, you can ask yourself the question, If my children were to see me doing what I am doing right now, would I want them to see it, or would I be embarrassed? Again he promises that the clouds would clear very quickly and we would get our answers. <\/p>\n
There seem to be nothing seriously wrong with these questions. But to call them ultimate value tests is to say that humans are autonomous in nature with no need for a reference point, namely God. We create our own values, our own meaning and purpose in life, and we create our own realities. I detect in these questions a humanism that totally pushes God out of the picture. In such a picture, humans have the autonomy to decide what is good and bad, right and wrong. And so, many Naga students along with the consent of their Mamas and Babas apply for scholarships with false income certificates because, given the situation, that seems to be the right and acceptable thing to do. And there are many Babas and Mamas who would unscrupulously buy (bribe) a job or a college seat for their children. If individuals are to learn their values from the Babas and Mamas of this materialistic frenzy age, and be held accountable only to them, then I guess You Can Win only means having a Government job, driving cars and building mansions while the poorer sections of the society are being systematically cut off from the privileges of a democracy. (The Ultimate Test: whose Baba and Mama anyway?) <\/p>\n
Clearly there are many other religious beliefs and philosophies influencing the New Age writers like Shiv Khera, Deepak Chopra, et al. I am not educated enough to know them and name even a few. But some of them are as follows: monism, pantheism, Hinduism, humanism and even Christianity. A very loosely structured network of these, along with many others, is what people call the New Age Movement. <\/p>\n
Scholars say that the New Age movement cannot be defined accurately. But they agree that at its doctrinal core, the New Age movement is Hinduism put in western terminology. C.S. Lewis considered Hinduism and Christianity as the two most advanced religious systems. But the major difference between them is important. Hinduism can accommodate all other religions within it while Christianity, at its purest form, has to exclude all other religions. It does not mean that Christianity is intolerant. It simply means that Christianity is uncompromising in its affirmation that Jesus Christ is the only way that leads to God. The question is: which would you rather believe? One that says all hundred answers could be true, or the one that say that there is only one answer and I know it is true? <\/p>\n
Before you call a book your indispensable guide in life and give it the place of the Bible, you must see what the book is all about, what religious philosophy is influencing it and whether it is compatible and healthy to our faith in the Biblical Jesus of orthodox Christianity. (And of course, you are welcome to put the Bible into test too, if you have to.) <\/p>\n
Monism: One view that seems to stand out among them is Monism (one-ism). I believe this quote succinctly sum up this view for us, All is one. One is all. All is God. And we are God. Compare this with the famous saying of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Youre God. You know it. Im God. I know it. So let us play. They believe that there is ultimately only one substance and the differences and distinctions we see around us are only illusions. There is no you or me, and there is no distinction between God and me. And therefore, I am God. This is why they talk about concepts like attaining divinity, self-realisation, self-actualisation, self-confidence, positive thinking to counter negative force, inner power, personal transformation, unlimited human potential, etc with gusto and often they are very convincing. And the logical outworking of this view is that a person who says there is no God would still be considered a believer because truth and reality is what we create for ourselves (because we are God). <\/p>\n
Pantheism says that God is in everything and everything is in God. The Bible clearly teaches that God is separate from His creations and humans stand above His created things. Genesis 1 tells us that God is not a part of the created things, but He is the one who created all things that exists. <\/p>\n
Illusions: Both monism and pantheism lead to the same conclusion: all is God, God is all, we are God, and everything else is an illusion. History is an illusion. Our problems, sin, evil and the Devil are all illusions. But again the Bible clearly mentions the Devil as a real threat and not an illusion. Jesus, in His temptation, spoke with the Devil, was tempted by him, and overcame him. Jesus didnt meditate so that this illusion would go away. He confronted the Devil like we confront a dog chasing our chickens. And we must still do as Jesus did if we want our chickens. <\/p>\n
Salvation: In New Age thought there is no heaven to desire and no hell to fear. Salvation for the New Ager is not about being saved from a great danger of eternal death, but it is merely about being rescued from the ignorance of our godhood. They save themselves. The only thing to be done is to look within us and realise our divinity, which, according to them, is the highest form of intelligence. <\/p>\n
But the problem is this. Any person who looks within his\/her own heart and does not find a thought or a motive which is totally hostile to the notion that we are essentially good and that we are God, is not honest and sincere enough to be divine let alone be called even a small god. For that is the condition of the human heart. Jeremiah called the human heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. <\/p>\n
Conclusion: These philosophies, neatly disguised in attractive stress-relief courses, yoga and breathing exercises, self-improvement books, and the positive thinking gurus are already creating strongholds in our supposedly 99% Christian state. And mind you they are not illusions. They are not threats. They need Jesus as much as we do. All these are attempts to escape from the craziness of the world. Maybe we can begin by saying that all the craziness in our world are not illusions. They are very, very real. And thats why we need to point them to a greater reality and a greater craziness: the craziness of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary! <\/p>\n
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