The second meet of Alumni of eight Winter Schools at Madhuvanam was held at the residence of Binil Kumar , who attended 6th Winter School from Sri Krishna COllege, Guruvayoor, on 30th April and 1st may 2011.
The programme was hosted by Binil and all others joined only on the first day. Asokan Nemmara reached the camp only on the closure of first day's session. Usually Asokan and Adv Ratheesh help the host in arrangements of food and accommodation. In spite of thier absence the camp went on well. Baiju was missing as he was on some family affair. Habeeb Rahman attended from Calicut. Dr Blessy Paul and Dr Jiss V John also attended.
The session started at around 10 Am on Saturday the 30th April with a question from Jiss on marking of cross over the body.
The following is pasted from facebook Group Winter School at Madhuvanam.
The first question in the Second meet of Winter School alumni at Vadakkancherry.
Dr.Jiss V John asked
What is the relevance of marking the cross across the body? I have asked many priests in my Knanaya sect and they either avoided or ridiculed me.Recently on the Easter day I heard the parish priest telling that Alpha and Omega are the two points in Cross.
Krishnan Kartha sir answered:
How do you mark the cross? (Jiss exhibited the manner) Is there any difference in doing this between different sects of the church? (Jizz expressed his ignorance about that)
When you mark the cross, you have a central line traced from forehead and an intersecting line between shoulders or say hands. The central line denotes the "BEING" and the intersecting line denotes the "DOING". When you draw the central line it represents the body of Jesus Christ and it is invoked upon your own body to sanctify it. You might have heard the song " Yesuve Vannu Vazhaname, ini jnan illa ini neeyallo" (Oh Jesus come and live upon, for I am not and You are, hereafter). This prayer is symbolically represented by marking the cross upon our body. Hereby, "I am" rendered void and 'He' takes over.
The intersecting lines represents the limbs of Christ, i.e. the DOING.And what is "being" and "doing"? ... Jesus was a person of Being and we are people of doing. We cannot live without "doing". So the only possibility is to sanctify the doing. By invoking the Being in us our doing can be sanctified. What is difference between our doing and His doing? ... His doing was not prompted by intellect which is a collection of images and signals for a very short run as of ours. We think, judge and react and He does not think and judge but react. His decision is instant. He does not think before He acts.Because there is proper harmony between His thought , word and deed. There is no conflict between them. There is unity. This is the integration called Yoga, the Union or oneness.
Our deeds are different altogether.The mental activity connected with each action (includes words and thoughts) is threefold. The past , the present and the future. The response to any situation or word or thought comes to us subject to our past. The image or signal collected in the past influences us in our response. This is conditioning. Our views,(thoughts) word and deeds are thus conditioned by our past.The present is totally neglected unknowingly due to the overpowering of the past.We judge people,their words, situations etc etc depending upon the past. And by re-creating the past once again, the seeds for the future is also filled with elements of the past. When we 'do' something, we sow seeds for the future. The crop we reap depend upon the seeds we sow. Thus we retain the past in past, re-create the past in present, and sow the past for the future! The beautiful present is altogether forgotten.
The Bible says that " the birds do not sow or reap". What does it mean? The birds are always in the present. They do not bring their past into their present and sow the past in the present for the future! This is the real meaning of the biblical simily. The birds are centered on God for their existence unknowingly, unconsciously.And the Father feeds them. (Genesis 1:30 "And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food.") It further means that they do things 'naturally' , in a harmony with nature. But Man does otherwise.
So in order to sanctify our 'doing' we have to first sanctify ourselves with the 'Being' and by invoking the 'being' in us, start 'doing' which becomes a dedicated act. This is ' nishkama karma' specified in the Bhagavad Geetha of hindus. When we dedicate our actions to Him , it becomes His and we are just instruments.Hence there will be no 'kaama' or desire. Even if there was desire, it becomes nullified with the dedication.Thus it becomes 'nishkaama' desireless act. These acts carry no consequences, since they are not causes. The doer can choose to go through the consequences at his will, if he wants, when he is no more afraid of causes and consequences.
Every Christian is supposed to do this....marking the cross.When they begin prayers..when the mass is commenced...on blessing any material...on baptism... etc etc.But everywhere as a ritual of sacrament, it seems. Have you watched Muslims?. They chant "Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim" before everything they do. In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate, it means. Thus they dedicate their actions to God. Likewise, I believe every Christian shall mark the cross before uttering anything important and doing anything important, so that the words and deeds are sanctified and fruitful." Krishnan Kartha Sir concluded.
Our deeds are different altogether.The mental activity connected with each action (includes words and thoughts) is threefold. The past , the present and the future. The response to any situation or word or thought comes to us subject to our past. The image or signal collected in the past influences us in our response. This is conditioning. Our views,(thoughts) word and deeds are thus conditioned by our past.The present is totally neglected unknowingly due to the overpowering of the past.We judge people,their words, situations etc etc depending upon the past. And by re-creating the past once again, the seeds for the future is also filled with elements of the past. When we 'do' something, we sow seeds for the future. The crop we reap depend upon the seeds we sow. Thus we retain the past in past, re-create the past in present, and sow the past for the future! The beautiful present is altogether forgotten.
The Bible says that " the birds do not sow or reap". What does it mean? The birds are always in the present. They do not bring their past into their present and sow the past in the present for the future! This is the real meaning of the biblical simily. The birds are centered on God for their existence unknowingly, unconsciously.And the Father feeds them. (Genesis 1:30 "And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food.") It further means that they do things 'naturally' , in a harmony with nature. But Man does otherwise.
So in order to sanctify our 'doing' we have to first sanctify ourselves with the 'Being' and by invoking the 'being' in us, start 'doing' which becomes a dedicated act. This is ' nishkama karma' specified in the Bhagavad Geetha of hindus. When we dedicate our actions to Him , it becomes His and we are just instruments.Hence there will be no 'kaama' or desire. Even if there was desire, it becomes nullified with the dedication.Thus it becomes 'nishkaama' desireless act. These acts carry no consequences, since they are not causes. The doer can choose to go through the consequences at his will, if he wants, when he is no more afraid of causes and consequences.
Every Christian is supposed to do this....marking the cross.When they begin prayers..when the mass is commenced...on blessing any material...on baptism... etc etc.But everywhere as a ritual of sacrament, it seems. Have you watched Muslims?. They chant "Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim" before everything they do. In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate, it means. Thus they dedicate their actions to God. Likewise, I believe every Christian shall mark the cross before uttering anything important and doing anything important, so that the words and deeds are sanctified and fruitful." Krishnan Kartha Sir concluded.
