Letter # 54: “Unity, Christ And Charisma”

My heart gladdened as I drove by the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple at Scott Road in Surrey, BC, Canada and saw a huge cheery sign saying, “Merry Christmas”. Yes! This is the open-mindedness, tolerance and unity that the Guru preached. The vision of the Guru is being put into practice. It’s a practice that all Spiritual Masters preach. That’s why the Spiritual Masters attract us. They are “sweet” in word and deed, unlike the demon Kal (see Letter #50), who has a stench. While, Spiritual Masters are “sweet” enough and we honour them further by “anointing”. Exodus 25 gives direction: “Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.” The Greek word Chrism means anointing, and Christos, the anointed one. Matthew (1.1) gives the the title of the anointed one, Christ, to Jesus. Christ isn’t Jesus’ surname, it is a title of utmost exaltation. His followers were first described as Christians in Acts 11: 25-26.
The Anointed One attracts us for He has charisma. The name Krishna also means the “all attractive one.” Devotees of Krishna will sometimes call him Krista, which sounds very like Christ. The Christ principle is the Ultimate essence of all spiritual teachings. Spiritual Masters are imbued with charisma (the word comes from the Greek kharisma "favour, divine gift," and charis "grace, beauty, kindness," related to chairein "to rejoice at, and the Proto-indo-european root gher “to desire, to like”). These fine qualities of grace, beauty, kindness, attraction, rejoicing and divinity can also rub off on to us if we show even a “mustard seed” of devotion to such Masters.
While we ordinary folks can’t be “anointed ones’, we can learn how to enhance our charismas. Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist, offers advice:
· Have an open body posture with the hands away from the face when talking. Stand up straight, relax, with the hands apart and with palms forwards or upwards
· Let individuals know they matter and you enjoy being around them. Develop a genuine smile, nod when they talk, briefly touch them on the upper arm, and maintain eye contact
· In a group, learn to be comfortable as leader. Move around to appear enthusiastic, lean slightly forward, and look at all parts of the group
· In delivering your message, move beyond status quo to make a difference, and don’t be afraid to be controversial or counter-intuitive. Use a fresh and simple-to-understand approach.
· In speech be clear, fluent, forceful and articulate. Evoke imagery, use an upbeat tempo, occasionally slow down for tension or emphasis.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderfully united world if we all practiced this?

God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May the Forces of the Universe bring you harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla;

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal

Copyright© 2008

"Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."

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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.