Message from the Gospel – 1. Do not pretend

I heard this from a friend of mine. She was staying at a relative’s house and attending work. One day, she woke up after an afternoon nap and found the lady of the house was watching a movie in the television in the bedroom with the door closed. The lady's son was watching a cricket match in another television in the living room.  In the pooja room, a music system was playing Lalitha Sahasranama¹ cassette. My friend was surprised. It was not the watching of the movie or cricket match which surprised her. People do watch movies and cricket match at home. But why play a sacred hymn if nobody wants to listen to it? It was the playing of Lalitha Sahasranama cassette in the pooja room that surprised her. She wondered, “For whose sake is this cassette being played? Is not the Sahasranama recited to remind ourselves about the greatness of the deity we are worshipping and contemplate on those qualities and if possible to aspire for those qualities in ourselves? Why this hypocrisy?”

Why should people pretend? And that too with God? Are they so dumb to think that God will not know they are watching television? She did enquire later (after the movie was over and the lady came out of the bedroom), “What was the purpose of putting such a sacred recitation when you are not interested in listening to it?”  Can you guess the answer she got? You will never be able to. The lady said, in the most casual tone, “Oh, that is for the sake of the neighbor. They play devotional music, so I want them to know that I am no less religious.”

When I heard the above from my friend, I was reminded how vehemently Sri Ramakrishna chides hypocrisy. Here are some of his important teachings regarding hypocrisy:

1.    MASTER: "The worldly man is a hypocrite.  He cannot be guileless.  He professes to love God, but he is attracted by worldly objects.  He doesn't give God even a very small part of the love he feels for 'woman and gold'.  But he says that he loves God.  (To Mani Mallick) Give up hypocrisy." [Chapter 20: RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS]

2. MASTER (to Bankim): God cannot be realized by a mind that is hypocritical, calculating, or argumentative. One must have faith and sincerity. Hypocrisy will not do. To the sincere, God is very near; but He is far, far away from the hypocrite. [Chapter 34: BANKIM CHANDRA]

3. A Brahmo devotee tells a sub-judge to accept whatever Sri Ramakrishna says without  questioning.  When Sri Ramakrishna hears that, he immediately responds.  MASTER (sharply, to the Brahmo): "What sort of man are you? To accept words without conviction! Why, that is hypocrisy! I see you are only a counterfeit." The Brahmo was much embarrassed. [Chapter 32: VISIT TO THE SINTHI BRAHMO SAMAJ]

Hypocrisy must be avoided at all cost. It is not easy. One has to closely watch one's own actions and look for pretension. Am I sincere or am I pretending? And carefully eliminate hypocrisy. Only if one wishes to move closer to God...

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¹Read all about Lalitha Sahasranama in the Wikipedia.