Yapan Walim
Oriental Colony, Dimapur
We Nagas are superficial lot, and I expect you to take I have factored in the nuances in that. Take for instance, how many of you claim to be a Christian but have never read the Bible? Quoting a verse or two is not even remotely close to being a mature Christian. We ought to have been a teacher by now. This calls for reading the Bible daily to have an intimate relationship with Christ. And building relationship is always a two-way street. We ought to know what Christ is telling us.
Having a clean heart is definitely not enough to go to heaven unless one knows the truth. One cannot have the truth unless one has heard the truth. And the truth is in the Bible. Yet, one cannot have a clean heart if one doesn't know the truth. Only the truth cleanses our heart and God is the truth.
Most Nagas have a segmented worldview regardless of predilection to a particular worldview. This gets reflected in their behaviour. Reading the Bible also helps us in building God centered worldview and helps us navigate different worldviews. This issue is particularly pressing in a world of conflicting worldviews.
At this point, I would like to draw reader's attention to Yoga because right now my take is that nothing is more damaging than many professing Naga Christians embracing Yoga. It should be obvious to anyone by now that Yoga is part of the Hindu pandemonium.
The God the Hinduism takes to be has many shapes and sizes according to different philosophy within its fold. Of particular concern to us is the concept of Brahman or God. But this Brahman is not like the personal God us Christians take it to be. This Brahman is a universal conscience each atman (self) joins into after liberation i.e., after ceasing from endless cycle of birth and death as per the Yoga Philosophy.
Yoga Philosophy takes the world we currently live in to be a world of illusion. It created out from the association of inactive but conscious Purusha (spirit or soul) and active but unconscious Prakriti (material). These two substances are eternal. In Indian philosophy, mind is not the soul and the personhood in a bodily form is a combination many materials. The soul which always existed is born into this world of illusion to reap the fruits of the past deeds i.e., karma which is itself beginningless.
People keep reaping the fruits of the past deeds whether it's bad or good due to ignorance. So how do you liberate the soul? Knowing the true nature of the soul. The discriminating knowledge about the self and the material is essential for liberation. This true knowledge comes from intense meditation.
But Yoga Philosophy believes intense meditation is not achievable unless the body is well trained for the mind to concentrate for intense meditation.
Consequently, how do you separate the one from the other i.e., from physical exercise to union with the Brahman? Naga Christians must ask this question. This nuance issue requires a nuance approach, certainly not one that is pinned on omitting the word "om".
