HINDUS FIND OMNIPRESENT BRAHMAN IN LIGHT AS WELL AS DARKNESS

Hindus find the  Omnipresent   Brahman  in Light as well as Darkness    

(Compilation for a discourse by N. R. Srinivasan, Nashville, TN, USA, April 2014)

A walk in the dark can lead us to wisdom, deliver us from fear and bring us closer to god says Barbara Taylor as   reported by Elizabeth Dias in Time Magazine of April 28, 2014. The author of   “Finding God in the Dark” is a leading theologian in America.   “Strength, purpose and true faith are found in the shadows.  Darkness is often treated as evil, a vast unknown and the ultimate spiritual enemy but it may save us all” says Barbara Taylor.  Most spiritual seekers spend their lives pursuing path of enlightenment. Her thoughts on the other hand were focused on the philosophy if path of Enlightenment can help why not path of Endarkenment? Probably it is a word coined by her and not found in the dictionary.  

Endarkenment is an all-time experience to deal with for Hindus as they try to find God by Light as well Darkness in their worship. Enigmatic Hindu Goddess of Time Kaali is black. She represents the state where time, space and causation have disappeared without any trace and hence she is black. God has created this universe and entered into it as Antryamin or inner controller. God is hiding in the dark in us which needs to be revealed.  Universe becomes a veil, a cloak for the divinity. When that is destroyed, the divinity remains unveiled, so Goddess Kaali is naked and named digambara having vast limitless space itself as her only vesture. As we all know spiritual seekers often retire to loneliness and dark caves, shut themselves up and start meditating closing their eyes. Even in their prayer or Bhajan they close their eyes often. Brahman is not seen even in the brightest of lights with the help of physical eyes by the ignorant mind, but can be seen by seekers even in the darkest surroundings that is Consciousness-Existence-Bliss and needs no physical eye. Darkness holds many lessons than light and contrary to what many of us have long believed it is sometimes in the bleakest void that God is nearest. We all know the story of Valmiki whose deepest grief and dark moment gave birth to most famous first ever literary holy composition in the world.  Bararbara Taylor is talking about physical darkness and physical eye. Spiritual seekers seek Brahman with Jnaanachakshu (Intellectual Eye) for whom physical light is of no use; darkness is no hindrance to them. If we look at the Hindu temple traditions the deity is kept in the dark chambers in a small chamber with no windows, opening to the audience hall in otherwise a magnificent building of architectural beauty?  Devotees in the broad daylight area seek God who is kept in darkness. An English author wrote once looking at Ganesha: “What a magnificent Temple is there for such a bizarre figure kept in pitch dark”. Hindu Temples are thoughtfully planned to lead one to spiritual heights as explained later. The processional deity at the same time is taken in procession exposed to maximum light, pomp and show as is common in South Indian Temple Traditions.

In Hindu concept Vishnu who represents Sattvaguna (brightness), power of existence, is depicted as dark blue skinned in iconic representation; Siva who represent Tamoguna, (darkness) the power of annihilation is depicted with white complexion in icons. Thus darkness and light complement each other.   Along with Lakshmi, Goddess of Prosperity there was Alakshmi, the Goddess of Barrenness and Misfortune from the Ocean of Milk. Valmiki got his wisdom when his Intellectual Eye opened up while he spent several thousands of years in darkness finding no use for his physical eyes and was completely covered by an anthill.  Valmiki means one who emerged out of dark anthill with wisdom. Our sages turned their thoughts to pervading darkness and came out with spontaneous outburst as is evident from the famous mantra: Asato maa sadgamaya tamaso maajyotirgamaya mrityor maa amritam gamaya—Lead me from unreal to real; from darkness to light and from death to deathlessness. “Turning in to darkness, instead of away from it, is the cure for a lot of what ails me; because I have a deep need to be in control of things, to know where I am going, to be sure of my destination, to get there efficiently, to have all the provisions I need, to do it all without help” says Barbara Taylor. She very much echoes what was working in the minds of our ancient sages who came out with their profound theory as to what life is and what is after in their quest for Truth when they were frightened  with the darkness of death.  Hindus give importance both to light and darkness. They celebrate their New Year both with bitter neem (margosa) fruit buds and sweet jaggery (solidified cane syrup). Can you every think of a life without rest during darkness of night for enjoying active life during daylight?  A Sanskrit couplet says: “Sukham hi dukhaan anubhooya sobhate ghanaandakareshviva deepadarsanam”—One enjoys happiness only after pitch darkness just as enjoying light after knowing to live with darkness. Upanishads promote the idea of living with the darkness, learning from darkness, educate progressively and elevate. 

Barbara Brown Taylor, who ranks among America’s leading theologians is encouraging believers and non-believers not only seek the light but to face the darkness too something twenty first century Americans tend to resist.  Evidently she did not think of many Hindu Americans here who carry their spiritual pursuits wherever they go, in darkness as well as light. “God declared in the beginning ‘let there be Light’. The Holy Bible therefore concluded light as Holy and condemned darkness to be Hell. A walk in the dark can lead to wisdom, deliver us from fear, and bring us closer to God, believes Taylor. Darkness was often the setting for humanity’s closest encounters with the divine. God appeared to Abraham in the night and promised him descendants more numerous than stars. The Exodus happened at night. God met Moses in the thick darkness atop Mount Sinai to hand down the Ten Commandments.  The Apostle Paul’s conversion happened after he lost his sight. Jesus was born beneath the star and resurrected in the darkness of a cave.

“Most of the world’s major religions have something to say about finding the God in the shadows. Gautama Buddha meditated in the caves of Northern India. Muhammad received Koran in a cave outside Mecca. St. Francis prayed in a tiny grotto near Assisi. Darkness is inviting everyone to know God, to heal us of our weakness and strengthen us for the journey. Thus most of the religions of the world have something helpful to say about finding God in darkness” laments Barbara Taylor.    Lord Krishna was born in pitch dark in the prison and   Lord Narasimha during dark twilight zone. Rama entered Ayodhya in Pitch darkness, revealed to them to enlighten the hearts of millions. Narakasura and Hiranyakasipu were killed in the night. Vishnu rested in perfect tranquility in pitch darkness before he thought about creation. Brahman meditated for several thousand years turning his faces in all directions with closed eyes.  Nara Naryana, Sage Vyasa and others have all meditated in dark caves. Lord Siva is embodiment of Tamasa Guna and darkness. We worship him for his Tamasa Guna which brings hope for new cycle of birth and salvation; otherwise life will be stagnated and condemned for ever. The list is too large to cover here.  

The inner chamber of the temple is called Garbhagriha which literally means “womb chamber”. This chamber resembles a dark cave. Here the deity is located.  Human life starts in the darkness of the womb. A seed starts sprouting in the darkness of the soil. Jesus started the process of resurrection or reincarnation in the darkness of the tomb.  Garbhagriha does not have windows. Instead it has a wide front door which allows the devotees sitting watch the ritualistic worship focused on the deity. You know why horses are provided eye guards and kept dark to focus on its straight path run.  The Self or God within us is kept dark from us. When we take pains to focus on that our thoughts are diverted to spirituality, elevation and liberation from materialism, ego and selfishness. The revelation that has come to Barbara Taylor is very much in practice in worship and meditation by Hindus from time immemorial. Darkness and Light   being pairs of opposites have their importance and due place in Hindu philosophy. 

The Meru  Mountain Symbolism of Hindu temples has close association with dark chamber or cavern or cave which is mysterious and believed to house a secret as in Jagannath Temple of Puri  or Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu.  In Jagannath a mysterious stuff known as Brahma-padaarth hidden in the icon of Jagannath is transferred to the new icon during Navakalebar so the continuity of original Jagannath as sculpted by Viswakarma continues to this day keeping its sanctity. In Chidambarm a mirror hangs in the sanctum with a garland and no one knows where the Aakasalinga is. This is called Chidamabara Rahasyam. Siva there appears as element Ether or Space in his formless form where darkness prevails. In Melukote in Karnataka ivory crown of the deity (Vairamudi) is transferred to the Lord once a year during annual celebrations by the blindfolded priest in the dark surroundings.  This transfer takes place in darkness. It is always stored in the dark. The darkness of the sanctum chamber is a necessary condition for the transformation of the devotee, in whom a change is affected and a new life attained in the darkness of the shrine. The light waved in front of dark image creates a mystic luminescence and inspires awe and reverence in the devotee. Without darkness this mysticism is not felt. A secret is always associated with darkness. Hindu scriptures often talk about secret administration of a mantra by a Guru.

Easavaasya Upanishad says those who worship the Un-manifest or Manifest   both do so  in darkness:

Anyam  tamah pravisanti ye asmbhootim upaasate | tato bhooya iva te tamoe ya u sambhootyaagam rataah ||

The worshipers fall into blinding darkness who worship the Un-manifest (Prakriti), but those who devote themselves to the Manifest (personal gods) enter into greater darkness. Even during the Vedic period, there were personal gods like Vayu, Agni, Varuna, just as we have today   the Puraanic Gods like Rama, Krishna, Siva, Devi, Ganesha, etc.

Sambhootim cha vinaasam cha yastad vedobhaya(ga)m saha | Vinaasena mrityum teertvaa sambhootya amritam-asnute ||

He who worships Primordial matter and the Personal God together overcomes death through the worship of the Personal and obtains immortality through the worship of the Impersonal (Supreme Principal).

When a devotee entering the temple gets the first vision of sanctum where the icon is kept in darkness   with dim light he gets into the state of dream. As he proceeds towards the sanctum and stands in front of the sanctum he sinks into the state of deep sleep. When he looks at the icon, the higher state of tranquility descends upon him. And when he is suffused with the vision of the icon, he gets into the state of tranquility and he no longer needs the help of the icon. His thoughts are one with the Supreme within himself and he turns inwards. That is why Hindu temples differ from other religions in following Temple Traditions. Vedanta says man has to go through four states to reach Brahman—Wakeful, Dream, Deep-sleep and the Fourth State of transcendence called Tureeya.  

There is nothing more mysterious than Brahman in Hinduism and nothing else is sought after in pitch darkness.  Trying to understand Brahman with a human mind is like trying to look at the eye itself with which one sees everything. In the Upanishads, Neti-Neti (Not this-not this) is the method by which Brahman is explained. In Hinduism we have two fold conception of God as Saguna Brahman or Isvara endowed with all the good qualities that we can think of, raised to the degree of infinity who can be approached with the concept of Light; we have other Nirguna Brahman, the unqualified Godhead which can only be described in the negative who can be sought after without the help of physical light in the    Dark. The following passage from Gita elaborates it:

“He or She shines with the faculties of all the senses, and yet He or She is devoid of senses. He or She is unattached, and yet He or She sustains all things. He or She is without the disposition of nature, and yet He or She enjoys them. He or She is without and within all beings. He or She has no movement, and yet He or She moves. He or She is too subtle to be known. He or She is far away, and yet He or She is near”

Brahman is neither male nor female but everything.

Mayaa tadidam sarvam jagad-avyakta-moortina | mat-sthaani sarva-bhootaani na chaaham teshv-avasthita-h || (9-4)

This entire world is pervaded by the Supreme Spirit, who in truth is un-manifest (Invisible). All the living beings subsist in the Supreme Spirit, but the Supreme Spirit, does not confine to these beings (because it is the highest of all).

[Invisible presence of the Supreme Spirit pervades the entire Universe. All beings have life in it, but it is not in them.] 

 Bahir-antascha bhootaanaam acharam charameva cha | Sookshmatvaat-tad- avijneyam doorastham chaantikay cha tat || (13-15)                                        

The Supreme Spirit is within all beings, and also outside. It remains unmoved, and it also moves. It is incomprehensible, because it is extremely subtle. It is far away in the supreme Abode (Parama Dhaama), but indeed, it is nearby residing in one’s inner psyche.

Na tatra sooryobhati na Chandra taarakam nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagnih | tameva bhatamanubhaati sarvam tasya bhaasa sarvamidam Vibhaati ||

There the Sun does not shine; neither the moon nor the stars; nor do the flashes of lightning shine. How then can the fire? All these shine after Him only, who is the source for all these shining. [This light eclipses all other lights. This light or darkness whatever it is, it is the cause for all other lights]

Our ultimate goal is to merge with Nirguna Brahman and that happens in Endarkenment and not Enlightenment. Whole creation dissolves into Nirguna Brahman and darkness prevails to start creation and Enlightenment.

 

REFERENCES:

1. Time, April 28, 2014, Finding God in the Dark, USA.

2. Ramachandra Rao, S.A., Temple Traditions, Kalpatharu Research Academy, Bengaluru, India.

3. Sharma D.S., A Premier on Hinduism, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, India.

4. Ed. Viswanathan, Am I a Hindu, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, India.

5. Devadutt Patnaik, Vishnu, Vakil,  Feffer and Simons Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India

6. Champakalakshmi R., Usha Kris, The Hindu Temple, Roli Books, New d Delhi, India.

7. Ramachandra rao, S.A., Early Indian Thought, Kalpatharu Research Academy, Bengaluru, India.

8. Ramanand Prasad,  Bhagvad Geetaa, American Gita Society, CA, USA.

9. Swami Harshanada, Hindu Gods and Goddesses, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.

 

[This is a prepared lecture compiled from above references and others for a discourse at Sri Ganesha Temple, Nashville and to benefit those who are not able to attend the same in person You are free to download and use it for your reading and reference as well as circulate to others to spread the wisdom of Vedas and Hindu values which good act will be appreciated.]

 

Appendix       

SHIVA MEANS THAT WHICH IS NOT SYMBOLIZING DARKNESS

            By Jagadguru Jaggi Vasudev

 

"Shiva" means literally, “that which is not.”   Shiva is described as a non-being, not as a being. Shiva is not described as light, but as darkness, Tamas.

Shiva does not have any form as such. He just has a representative form   a mysterious vyakta avyakta form linga in which you seek his form turning inwards searching him as antaryamin hiding inside

Barbara Taylor, the author of   “Finding God in the Dark” is a leading theologian in America.   “Strength, purpose and true faith are found in the shadows.  Darkness is often treated as evil, a vast unknown and the ultimate spiritual enemy but it may save us all” says Barbara Taylor.  Her thoughts were focused on the philosophy if path of Enlightenment can help why not path of Endarkenment, a word coined by her.

Endarkenment is an all-time experience to deal with for Hindus as they try to find God by Light as well Darkness in their worship. Enigmatic Hindu Goddess of Time Kaali is black. She represents the state where time, space and causation have disappeared without any trace and hence she is black. God has created this universe and entered into it as Antryamin or inner controller. God is hiding in the dark in us which needs to be revealed.  Universe becomes a veil, a cloak for the divinity. When that is destroyed, the divinity remains unveiled, so Goddess Kaali is naked and named digambara having vast limitless space itself as her only vesture.   Brahman is not seen even in the brightest of lights with the help of physical eyes by the ignorant mind, but can be seen by seekers even in the darkest surroundings that is Consciousness-Existence-Bliss and needs no physical eye.  

Devotees in the broad daylight area seek God who is kept in darkness in Hindu Temples, thoughtfully planned to lead one to spiritual heights.  In Hindu concept Vishnu who represents Sattvaguna (brightness), power of existence, is depicted as dark blue skinned in iconic representation; Siva who represent Tamoguna, (darkness) the power of annihilation is depicted with white complexion in icons. Thus darkness and light complement each other.    Our sages turned their thoughts to pervading darkness and came out with spontaneous outburst as is evident from the famous mantra: Asato maa sadgamaya tamaso maajyotirgamaya mrityor maa amritam gamaya—Lead me from unreal to real; from darkness to light and from death to deathlessness. “Turning into darkness, instead of away from it, is the cure for a lot of what ails me; because I have a deep need to be in control of things, to know where I am going, to be sure of my destination, to get there efficiently, to have all the provisions I need, to do it all without help” says Barbara Taylor. She very much echoes what was working in the minds of our ancient sages who came out with their profound theory as to what life is and what is after in their quest for Truth when they were frightened  with the darkness of death. with this understanding let us listen to wisdom thoughts from Jagadguru Jaggi  Vasudev:

Shiva Means That Which is Not, Darkness and All Pervading

The word "Shiva" means literally, “that which is not.” On another level, when we say “Shiva,” we are referring to a certain yogi, the Adiyogi or the first yogi, and also the Adi Guru, the first Guru.

So Shiva is described as a non-being, not as a being. Shiva is not described as light, but as darkness. Humanity has gone about eulogizing light only because of the nature of the visual apparatus that they carry. Otherwise, the only thing that is always, is darkness. Light is a limited happening in the sense that any source of light – whether a light bulb or the sun – will eventually lose its ability to give out light. Light is not eternal. It is always a limited possibility because it happens and it ends. Darkness is a much bigger possibility than light. Nothing needs to burn, it is always – it is eternal. Darkness is everywhere. It is the only thing that is all pervading.

But if I say “divine darkness,” people think I am a devil worshiper or something. In fact, in some places in the West it is being propagated that Shiva is a demon! But if you look at it as a concept, there isn’t a more intelligent concept on the planet about the whole process of creation and how it has happened. I have been talking about this in scientific terms without using the word “Shiva” to scientists around the world, and they are amazed, “Is this so? This was known? When?” We have known this for thousands of years. Almost every peasant in India knows about it unconsciously. He talks about it without even knowing the science behind it.

The First Yogi

On another level, when we say “Shiva,” we are referring to a certain yogi, the Adiyogi or the first yogi, and also the Adi Guru, the first Guru, who is the basis of what we know as the yogic science today. Yoga does not mean standing on your head or holding your breath. Yoga is the science and technology to know the essential nature of how this life is created and how it can be taken to its ultimate possibility.

This first transmission of yogic sciences happened on the banks of Kanti Sarovar, a glacial lake a few miles beyond Kedarnath in the Himalayas, where Adiyogi began a systematic exposition of this inner technology to his first seven disciples, celebrated today as the Sapta Rishis. This predates all religion. Before people devised divisive ways of fracturing humanity to a point where it seems almost impossible to fix, the most powerful tools necessary to raise human consciousness were realized and propagated.

 One and the Same

So “Shiva” refers to both “that which is not,” and Adiyogi, because in many ways, they are synonymous. This being, who is a yogi, and that non-being, which is the basis of the existence, are the same, because to call someone a yogi means he has experienced the existence as himself. If you have to contain the existence within you even for a moment as an experience, you have to be that nothingness. Only nothingness can hold everything. Something can never hold everything. A vessel cannot hold an ocean. This planet can hold an ocean, but it cannot hold the solar system. The solar system can hold these few planets and the sun, but it cannot hold the rest of the galaxy. If you go progressively like this, ultimately you will see it is only nothingness that can hold everything. The word “yoga” means “union.” A yogi is one who has experienced the union. That means, at least for one moment, he has been absolute nothingness.

When we talk about Shiva as “that which is not,” and Shiva as a yogi, in a way they are synonymous, yet they are two different aspects. Because India is a dialectical culture, we shift from this to that and that to this effortlessly. One moment we talk about Shiva as the ultimate, the next moment we talk about Shiva as the man who gave us this whole process of yoga.

Who Shiva is Not!

Unfortunately, most people today have been introduced to Shiva only through Indian calendar art. They have made him a chubby-cheeked, blue-colored man because the calendar artist has only one face. If you ask for Krishna, he will put a flute in his hand. If you ask for Rama, he will put a bow in his hand. If you ask for Shiva, he will put a moon on his head, and that’s it!

Every time I see these calendars, I always decide to never ever sit in front of a painter. Photographs are all right – they capture you whichever way you are. If you look like a devil, you look like a devil. Why would a yogi like Shiva look chubby-cheeked? If you showed him skinny it would be okay, but a chubby-cheek Shiva – how is that?

In the yogic culture, Shiva is not seen as a God. He was a being who walked this land and lived in the Himalayan region. As the very source of the yogic traditions, his contribution in the making of human consciousness is too phenomenal to be ignored. Every possible way in which you could approach and transform the human mechanism into an ultimate possibility was explored thousands years ago. The sophistication of it is unbelievable. The question of whether people were so sophisticated at that time is irrelevant because this did not come from a certain civilization or thought process. This came from an inner realization. This had nothing to do with what was happening around him. It was just an outpouring of himself. In great detail, he gave a meaning and a possibility of what you could do with every point in the human mechanism. You cannot change a single thing even today because he said everything that could be said in such beautiful and intelligent ways. You can only spend your lifetime trying to decipher it.

Shiva & Shakti shrines from 8-12 century AD

In this country, in ancient times, temples were built mostly for Shiva, no one else. It was only in the last 1000 or so years that other temples came up. The word "Shiva" literally means "that which is not." So the temple was built for "that which is not." "That which is" is physical manifestation; "that which is not" is that which is beyond the physical. A temple is a hole through which you enter into a space which is not. There are thousands of Shiva temples in the country, and most of them don’t have any form as such. They just have a representative form and generally it is a linga.

 

 

 

 

CELEBRITIES IN SEARCH OF GOD IN DARKNESS

 MOTHER TERESA

By James  Martin,  August 29, 2007

[THE stunning revelations contained in a new book, which show that Mother Teresa doubted God’s existence, will delight her detractors and confuse her admirers. Or is it the other way around?]

The private journals and letters of the woman now known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta will be released next month as “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” and some excerpts have been published in Time magazine. 

The pious title of the book, however, is misleading. Most of its pages reveal not the serene meditations of a Catholic sister confident in her belief, but the agonized words of a person confronting a terrifying period of darkness that lasted for decades.

“In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss,” she wrote in 1959, “of God not wanting me — of God not being God — of God not existing.” According to the book, this inner turmoil, known by only a handful of her closest colleagues, lasted until her death in 1997.

Gleeful detractors may point to this as yet another example of the hypocrisy of organized religion. The woman widely known in her lifetime as a “living saint” apparently didn’t even believe in God.

It was not always so. In 1946, Mother Teresa, then 36, was hard at work in a girl’s school in Calcutta when she fell ill. On a train ride en-route to some rest in Darjeeling, she had heard what she would later call a “voice” asking her to work with the poorest of the poor, and experienced a profound sense of God’s presence.

A few years later, however, after founding the Missionaries of Charity and beginning her work with the poor, darkness descended on her inner life. In 1957, she wrote to the archbishop of Calcutta about her struggles, saying, “I find no words to express the depths of the darkness.”

But to conclude that Mother Teresa was a crypto-atheist is to misread both the woman and the experience that she was forced to undergo.

Even the most sophisticated believers sometimes believe that the saints enjoyed a stress-free spiritual life — suffering little personal doubt. For many saints this is accurate: St. Francis de Sales, the 17th-century author of “An Introduction to the Devout Life,” said that he never went more than 15 minutes without being aware of God’s presence. Yet the opposite experience is so common it even has a name. St. John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic, labeled it the “dark night,” the time when a person feels completely abandoned by God, and which can lead even ardent believers to doubt God’s existence.

During her final illness, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the 19th-century French Carmelite nun who is now widely revered as “The Little Flower,” faced a similar trial, which seemed to center on doubts about whether anything awaited her after death. “If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into,” she said to the sisters in her convent. But Mother Teresa’s “dark night” was of a different magnitude, lasting for decades. It is almost unparalleled in the lives of the saints.

In time, with the aid of the priest who acted as her spiritual director, Mother Teresa concluded that these painful experiences could help her identify not only with the abandonment that Jesus Christ felt during the crucifixion, but also with the abandonment that the poor faced daily. In this way she hoped to enter, in her words, the “dark holes” of the lives of the people with whom she worked. Paradoxically, then, Mother Teresa’s doubt may have contributed to the efficacy of one of the more notable faith-based initiatives of the last century.

Few of us, even the most devout believers, are willing to leave everything behind to serve the poor. Consequently, Mother Teresa’s work can seem far removed from our daily lives. Yet in its relentless and even obsessive questioning, her life intersects with that of the modern atheist and agnostic. “If I ever become a saint,” she wrote, “I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ ”

Mother Teresa’s ministry with the poor won her the Nobel Prize and the admiration of a believing world. Her ministry to a doubting modern world may have just begun.

 

GASPER IN SEARCH OF GOD

My discourse “Did Bharatiyas help the growth and prosperity of Christianity” should be still haunting you around the mystery king from India, Gaspar among the Magi, Three Wise men, who also got baptized by St. Thomas in India.   His mortal remains are believed to lie in the Cathedral of   Cologne.  Christians believe  St. Helena, Mother of Constantine gathered up afterwards their mortal remains from the burial ground where they were buried together   to end as a cozy fraternity of bones in a magnificent gold reliquary that still stands behind the high altar in the great  Cathedral at Cologne.  

Whatever may be the story it is certain they were forged in comradeship afterwards. The scene of the kings in bed however suggests even richer legacy. At Autum, while they slept, the Angel showed them the star. The story tells Gaspar has opened one eye suspiciously. He was the wisest among the three. Gaspar sensibly was trying to establish where they are. Probably he was the one who was in search of God looking at the star.  I believe Rabindra Nath’s story given below should have been inspired by the Search of God by Gaspar, the wisest of the Magi with his Oriental philosophy. You may not agree with me but enjoy the story sent by courtesy by Reading Corner:

SEARCH OF GOD BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE

I have been seeking and searching God for as long as I can remember, for many many lives, from the very beginning of existence. Once in a while, I have seen him by the side of a faraway star, and I have rejoiced and danced that the distance, although great, is not impossible to reach. And I have traveled and reached to the star; but by the time I reached the star, God has moved to another star. And it has been going on for centuries.

The challenge is so great that I go on hoping against hope... I have to find him, I am so absorbed in the search. The very search is so intriguing, so mysterious, so enchanting, that God has become almost an excuse -- the search has become itself the goal.

And to my surprise, one day I reached a house in a faraway star with a small sign in front of it, saying, “This is the house of God." My joy knew no bounds -- so finally I have arrived! I rushed up the steps, many steps that led to the door of the house. But as I was coming closer and closer to the door, a fear suddenly appeared in my heart. As I was going to knock, I became paralyzed with a fear that I had never known, never thought of, never dreamt of. The fear was:

If this house is certainly the house of God, then what will I do after I have found him?"

Now searching for God has become my very life; to have found him will be equivalent to committing suicide. And what am I going to do with him? I had never thought of all these things before. I should have thought before I started the search: what am I going to do with God?

I took my shoes in my hands, and silently and very slowly stepped back, afraid that God may hear the noise and may open the door and say, "Where are you going? I am here, come in!" And as I reached the steps, I ran away as I have never run before; and since then I have been again searching for God, looking for him in every direction -- and avoiding the house where he really lives. Now I know that house has to be avoided. And I continue the search, and enjoy the very journey of pilgrimage--Rabindranath Tagore