Muhammed Ali is Dead

Muhammed Ali, perhaps the greatest boxer is no more. Whether you are the greatest boxer or an amateur boxer, you are going to die, and so am I. Great boxer, small boxer, death equalises all. Death is truly a great leveller of all players. Sad as it may be when dead occurs to our beloved ones, it is an event that we all must face. No one can bluff death.  

Ali became a Muslim at one point of his life. His daughter says that he did try to convert people to Islam when situation allowed him.  This is not surprising because Islam is a monotheistic religion, like Judaism and Christianity. A monotheistic religion will teach that there is only one God, and all other gods are not worthy of worship. And therefore a monotheistic religion will invite all other people to come to worship this one true living God. When Ali tried to share about Islam, he did what he thought was the right thing to do.

Now the question is: Is this the one being called the true living God truly the true living God? How does one come to know of this truth?

Islam relies on the testimony of prophet Muhammed that the Allah as the Quran underscores is that true living God. If this testimony is untrue, then the whole belief will collapse. Christianity has a different take on the matter. Christianity relies on the testimony of the disciples of Jesus Christ. Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and others. So Islam relies on one testimony and Christianity relies on the testimonies of more number of people. The testimonies of the disciples say that they saw Jesus being raised from the dead. And being raised from the dead, Jesus is the Lord of all; Jesus is the one true God who deserves our worship.

Well, given that the testimonies are based on the account of so many people, I would say that Christianity is more reliable than Islam.

All of us will die eventually. If there is life beyond this world, how important it is to listen to the reliable testimonies and make decisions wisely. Even if one believes that there is no life beyond this life, it is wise to listen to the testimonies of those who say that there is more than this life here on this earth. After all, if there is indeed more than this life, and one has not taken due effort to listen to the testimonies and so one has missed out this fact of life, then it is indeed a great loss. The testimonies of the disciples of Jesus are to me very convincing. Now one may say such testimonies are generally nonsense. Well, just try... just read the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.   

Christopher Lee, the 'Dracula', is Dead

Dracula of the novel and reel is immortal. But this Dracula is mortal because he is human. Death is a great leveler, they say. So whether one is a great actor or a great sage, death will finally catch up with all of us.  Of course, for someone like Sir Christopher Lee (1922-2015), the memories will live for ages to come. Every time one watches the movies he has acted in, his memories will be relived. Surely, he would be missed as an actor!

Considering that death is a pervasive experience, occurring to both young and old, religious or otherwise, male or female, it is a subject that should arouse everybody's curiosity. Yet the problem is that one cannot really ask someone about death because those who are dead remained dead. However, those of us who are still alive debate and ask questions about death. In this respect, there are those who believe that there is life beyond death; those who are religious believer like myself believe in life after death. But there are those who do not believe in life after death specially if one is an atheist. But the point is whether there is a gain for believing in life after death or rather a loss/absence of a gain for not believing in life after death? 

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and God, as I do, believe that I shall see my dad who passed away few years back and my brother who passed away twenty years back. These are people very close to me. And those who have close ones who have passed away will surely understand the sentiment I am talking about. A critic may say that there is no empirical proof that I would see them and that unless there is empirical proof, such belief in unwarranted. Well, there are many things we believe without empirical proof! But the point is by not believing what does one gain? I see nothing! But then by believing I have a hope, a comfort! This hope is better than no hope. This hope cannot be provided by a belief that is devoid of any place for God. It is only religion that places the centrality of belief in a person like Jesus Christ that provides such a belief, such a hope. And I count this hope very much valuable for a meaningful life! 

Is There Life After Death?

We all have near and dear ones who have left this world for good. There is none who is spared. But the more sobering fact is that we all would face death someday. None will be spared again. Rich or poor, young or old, every one will face death. Death is the greatest leveller, they say! My father-in-law passed away few days back after battling cancer for over a year. Of all the people I have known, I would remember him – Nank Kishore Sanghi – as the one person who has the purest heart. (Infants do have pure hearts, but I am not taking them into consideration now.) He was a hard working scientist and an honest person! The ethical excellence he strives for, in thought and in deed, was marvellous. There might have been such people or better people in the past, and there may be still be such people or better people around. But I do not know anyone who is like my father-in-law. He does not claim perfection. But verbally and through action, he teaches those around him to strive and strive and strive for moral excellence.

If there is one person who could earn salvation by good work, he would qualify to be one of those individuals. But he would say that his good work is not sufficient to earn him salvation. Salvation is only for those who are morally perfect or for those who are forgiven. And he thought that he is not morally perfect. He thought so because moral perfection is just too high a standard for a human to achieve. He has weaknesses and shortcomings and therefore he is far from being morally perfect. And so the only way to get salvation is by way of forgiveness; by being pronounced 'not guilty' or 'not blameworthy'. And he believes that only through Jesus Christ could he receive forgiveness. He arrived at this conclusion after years of inquiring how one's own iniquities could be cleansed. Being born into a family that knew not Christ even in remotest sense, it was a long journey. Yet at certain point in his adult life, he arrived at a conclusion that apart from Christ there is no forgiveness of sins .

Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross by the Roman authority while he was in his 30s. His disciples claimed that on the third day after being put to death, he came back to life. They claimed that they have seen the resurrected Jesus Christ, touched him, ate with him and been with him. They claimed that Jesus has conquered death. He is resurrected from the death, they say. But the fact that he would come back to life after being killed have been told in advance by Jesus himself to the disciples. The disciples found it hard to believe until it really occurred. The entire Christian community all over the world that is there yesterday and today and will be there tomorrow hangs on this story – Jesus is risen. The implication is that if Jesus is truly risen, life does not end with this physical death. And based on the words that he had said, there is also the hope for life beyond this three dimensional world for all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and God; that this death is not the end of the story.

My own father is no more. Yet there is the hope that I will see him again along with my father-in-law in future. This hope is based on the historical claim that Jesus Christ is risen from the death. Whether the historical claim and therefore the hope is based on historical evidence or not is open to critical examination. On my part I have applied academic rigour and intellectual honesty to examine the claim, and I have found the case to be very convincing. Christianity is a religion that can be rendered meaningless, if this claim can be proved to be wrong. But if one examines the case and found it convincing, it could be life-transforming. Whether to critically examine the claim or to dismiss it as fiction without examination, God has left the choice open! 

Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray is No More

Bal Thackeray ( 23rd Jan, 1926- 17th Nov. 2012) is no more. As a fearless politician, he courted controversy so much so that one Deccan Herald put is " Bal Thackeray: The tiger roars no more." Since a dead man is in no position to defend his views and position on various matters, I am not going to engage with him on those matters. As a political party, however, Shiv Sena will be in the news. And both bouquets and brickbats will be showered on it. And the same applies to other political parties as well. 

How much ever fearless and brave one might be or how much ever rich and powerful one might be, one cannot escape DEATH. If we sit back and reflect, we shall realise that death is just so close to us all the time. Due to its closeness, some people are sucked in to their death while walking on a road or going on a train/bus or playing games and similar mundane activities. And only when someone close to us passes away, we normally reflect on the preciousness of the moment that we now have. What am I doing with my life now? How helpful have I been to people around me? What will happen to me after I die? These questions are profoundly important. And yet many a times we ignore them. 

In my experience knowing who Jesus Christ is has been profoundly helpful in answering these questions that confront -- or should confront, every human person. The answers that come about open up one's mind so clearly that it's as if a huge cloud of mystery or darkness has been moved away. The reason why it is so is because Jesus Christ has been the only person on the face of the earth who has conquered death. Everybody goes through death, including Jesus or Lazarus. But even those who died and came back to life die again. No one lives forever. Jesus Christ is the only one who died yet was raised to life, and is not going to die anymore. And this Jesus, who is living, gives to those who come to him a new sense of direction; a purpose of life that is meaningfully meaningful. 

Getting the right answer about death can give the right answer to this life here and now.