JESUS, THE TRIPLE MARGA

Reflections for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (Acts 6:1-7, 1 Peter 2:4-9 & John 14:1-12)

Remember your catechism lessons?

Q: Why did God make you?

A: God made me to know Him, to love Him, and taco serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.

There is an interesting parallel between these triple purposes and the trimargas (three paths) of Indian traditions. Different Indian religious traditions speak of three margas as ways to attain moksha/mukthi (salvation): jnana marga (the way of knowledge), bakthi marga (the way of devotion/love) and karma marga (the way of service. This Sunday, we reflect on the relevance of these three paths to the gospel’s portrayal of Jesus as the “way”.

1. Jesus, the way of knowledge: This marga affirms that the knowledge of the True and Absolute is both liberation and liberating. One attains liberation by walking the path to the true awareness of God and oneself. In the Gospel today, Thomas reveals himself as a seeker who sought to walk the path of jnana marga. He asks Jesus, “how can we know the way?". The response of Jesus is revelatory, “I am the way and the truth and the life... If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” The mutual and intimate knowledge of the Father and the Son becomes the path for the disciple to ‘know’ God. So John would add, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”. (John 17:3)

Knowledge is of two types. Firstly, there is knowing something objectively. I know that the sun is bright: this is objective knowledge that does not require our subjective judgment. This type of knowing is referred to as wissen in German and sapere in Latin. Whereas, there is another type of knowledge known as “acquaintance knowledge” (kennen in German and as cognoscere in Latin). I know that he is honest: this knowledge requires personal experience, familiarity and subjective involvement. You find wissen in textbooks and creeds; whereas, kennen comes through relationships and experience. Jesus invites us to the path of knowing God not merely in the objective sense (knowing about Him) but in a subjective and relational way (knowing Him).

2. Jesus, the way of love: To know God is to love Him. The path of bakti marga teaches that salvation is attained by the devotee’s ardent love for God. This love is not born out of necessity or lack of choice but it is free and mutual. Every vocation story is a love story of reciprocity. German theologian Karl Adam shows in his book One and Holy that love starts at the top! We love because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). We don’t begin our spiritual journey from the rock bottom of the mountain ‘climbing’ our way to God, seeking by our own effort to clamour our way to the top.

We begin at the top because we have been loved into existence, into redemption, and into the divine life. Spiritual life is not so much the story of our quest for God but God’s relentless quest for us. Our love for God and each other is a free and spontaneous response to the love that we have experienced in Jesus. Our experience of the unconditional love of God defines our discipleship, decides our priorities, and pushes us to the mission of love. Edith Stein defined love as the only end and purpose of life. Augustine spoke of love as the beauty of the soul and Teresa of Lisieux believed that love is the truest form of worship.

3. Jesus, the way of service: Love matures in service. In karma marga, a devotee attains salvation by selfless sacrificial service expecting nothing in return. The first reading explains the context of the birth of the diaconate as a ministry. The Greek-speaking widows of the first Christian community were not getting their share of the daily food supply. Therefore, the deacons were appointed to take care of “serving tables”. The word “deacon” ( from diakonia) refers to “a table waiter; a domestic servant; one who attends to the needs of others.”

Diakonos literally means “to kick up dust.” It evokes the image of a servant working so hard and moving so fast that he leaves a cloud of dust in his wake. A life motivated by this model of a servant disciple is the efficient way of walking the path of karma marga. The Final Document of the Amazon Synod insists, “Today’s diaconate should also promote integral ecology, human development, social pastoral work, and service to those in situations of vulnerability and poverty; modelled on Christ the Servant and becoming a merciful, Samaritan, solidary and diaconal Church.” This Sunday, let us reflect on the three paths of knowledge, love, and service that Jesus invites us to walk through him, with him, and in him.