We may depart empty handed

I am always fascinated by the teachings of Jesus Christ, though I was born as a Hindu and we were practicing Hinduism for generations. What fascinates me the most is , his parables and teachings. They imply that he was a practicing yogi. When I read ‘The text of Gospel of Thomas’ (the secret sayings of living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded) it was clear to me that his teachings and the aphorisms of yoga sutra by Patanjali are exactly the same. Most of the Hindu scriptures dating back to 3300 BC at the times of Indus valley civilization written in Sanskrit language formed the basis of Vedanta and Puranas.Fundamentally, all these scriptures taught only about the importance of moral values in life. The main goal of true Hindu practitioners is to escape the ‘cycle of life and death’ because life on earth is nothing but suffering and misery. The purpose of teaching yoga is to rescue the aspirant from further sufferings in this world. It is a step by step guide for an aspirant to evolve from a simple human being into the highest level of Divinity, here and now in this world. The fact that only one or two among billions of people can reach the level of Divinity indicates how crude or ignorant human beings are and how arduous the path of evolution by practicing Yoga. According to the Gospel of Thomas: Jesus said,’ “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts, and do not see, for they came to the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty.But’meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways”. Clearly he implies that people cannot see the reality because they are ignorant; yoga terms this as ‘Avidya’ or ignorance by which we mistakes ‘false’ for ‘truth’ and ‘pain for happiness’ and ‘impermanent’ for ‘permanent’. All our actions are based on such false notions and they end only in misery and sufferings. When we can truly distinguish the truth from false then we are liberated from further sufferings. People can be easily carried away by false notions because we live in a materialistic world and everything is based on materialism and consumerism. End results are more important than means. My own personal life is a clear example. I suffered so much because of my false hopes and ambitions. I was hoping that things would become better but it was getting worse. I believed ‘darker it gets, nearer the dawn’ but that darkness prolonged for ever until I realized that the path I took was wrong and I had to change my ways completely in an opposite direction. I believe this is happening in many people’s lives. People may be continuing in the same path without realizing the truth. We are now witnessing so much turbulence in the world. Increasing unemployment, poverty, violence and innocent deaths are all signs of impending disaster unfolding in our lifetime. We clearly lost our way and unless we change our directions by shaking off our drunkenness we may have to depart empty handed only to return to the world of sufferings once again.