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The Ete al Light Lies Within

Written by Vinod Anand

Topic: HappinessPublished Recently added

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The Ete
al Light Lies Within
All of us do not see or hear the same way at life or the world. That explains why there are believers and non-believers of all hues. Jesus said that one should fix one’s affections on heavenly things and not lay up treasures upon this earth, neglecting more enduring matters of the soul.

We have a choice between being obsessed with material goods or choosing a life of service. Most people are confused when it comes to matters of spirit and flesh. Our world presents many formulae for happiness and a million things needed for success. Some sages opine that none of the created things in the world can bring lasting satisfaction or happiness to man who is created in the image of God.

On the other hand, the senses, as windows to the world, allow entry to all kinds of influences and addictions. Gandhiji’s dictum ‘see no evil’ is preceded by Jesus’s warning: “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” (Matthew 18:9) An essential discipline in maintaining moral purity in today’s world is to break free of inappropriate behaviour stemming from lust addiction. Rather, keep guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart and over your lips as the outlets, lest they betray you in a moment of unwariness. Rope dancers steady themselves, fix the eye or some object on the wall, and look steadily at that.

If they should look down on the rope or the people, they might become dizzy and fall. A man crossing a stream on a log, if he will look across at some object steadily will be in little danger. If he looks down on the dashing and rolling waters, he will become dizzy and fall.

So Jesus says, in order that the conduct may be right, it is important to fix your affections on heaven. By having the affections there — faith that is single, steady, unwavering — all conduct will fall in place.

The light of the body, the guide and director, is the eye. An eye that is greedy or coloured by other vicious dispositions like pride and envy will lose the power to distinguish between good and evil.

Also the love for sensual pleasures darkens the mind and obscures the good. If the understanding be prejudiced against divine truths and fully clouded by the love of pleasure and the world, darkness will be the result. Toyohiko Kagawa, also known as the ‘Japanese Gandhi’ and nominated twice for the Nobel Prize, was threatened with total blindness while still in his 40s.

When his career seemed to have corn to an untimely close someone asked him: “Inconvenient, isn’t it? Yes, but it is inconvenient for people not to have wings, ‘isn’t it? If however they invent aero planes, these take the place of wings,” he replied, and added: “The same is true regarding exte
al eyes. If they go blind, it is simply a matter of inventing internal light. My God is light itself.

Even though every outward thing is shrouded in darkness, in the inner chamber of my soul God’s ete
al light shines on. “God will keep for me the little light forever burning. He Himself is my light, and as long as He shines withi
I do not lament being compelled to sit out the long day in darkness,” said Kagawa

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About the Author

VINOD K.ANAND: A BRIEF PROFILE

Born in 1939, and holding Master’s Degree both in Mathematics (1959) and Economics (1961), and Doctorate Degree in Economics (1970), Dr. Vinod K.Anand has about forty five years of teaching, research, and project work experience in Economic Theory (both micro and macro), Quantitative Economics, Public Economics, New Political Economy, and Development Economics with a special focus on economic and social provisions revolving around poverty, inequality, and unemployment issues, and also on informal sector studies. His last assignment was at the National University of Lesotho (Southern Africa) from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that he was placed as Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of North-West in the Republic of South Africa, and University of Allahabad in India, Professor at the National University of Lesotho, Associate Professor at the University of Botswana, Gaborone in Botswana, and at Gezira University in Wad Medani, Sudan, Head, Department of Arts and Social Sciences, Yola in Nigeria, Principal Lecturer in Economics at Maiduguri University in Nigeria, and as Lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Nigeria. Professor Anand has by now published more than 80 research papers in standard academic jou
als, authored 11 books, supervised a number of doctoral theses, was examiner for more than twenty Ph.D. theses, and has wide consultancy experience both in India and abroad, essentially in the African continent. This includes holding the position of Primary Researcher, Principal Consultant etc. in a number of Research Projects sponsored and funded by Universities, Governments, and International Bodies like, USAID, IDRC, and AERC. His publications include a variety of themes revolving around Economic Theory, New Political Economy, Quantitative Economics, Development Economics, and Informal Sector Studies. His consultancy assignments in India, Nigeria, Sudan, Botswana, and the Republic of South Africa include Non-Directory Enterprises in Allahabad, India, Small Scale Enterprises in the Northern States of Nigeria, The Absolute Poverty Line in Sudan, The Small Scale Enterprises in Wad Medani, Sudan, Micro and Small Scale Enterprises in Botswana, The Place of Non-Formal Micro-Enterprises in Botswana, Resettlement of a Squatter Community in the Vryburg District of North West Province in the Republic of South Africa, Trade and Investment Development Programme for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises: Support for NTSIKA in the Republic of South Africa, and Development of the Manufacturing Sector in the Republic of South Africa’s North West Province: An Approach Based on Firm Level Surveys. Professor Anand has also extensively participated in a number of conferences, offered many seminars, participated in a number of workshops, and delivered a variety of Refresher Lectures at different venues both in India and abroad. Dr. Anand was placed at the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla in the State Himachal Pradesh, India as a Fellow from 2001 to 2003, and had completed a theoretical and qualitative research project/monograph on the Employment Profile of Micro Enterprises in the State of Himachal Pradseh, India.

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