A Life of Close Intimacy with God
H. E. Paulos
Mar Gregorios (1922-1996)
By Rev. Fr.
John-Brian Paprock
Please join us for the Paulos Mar Gregorios Conference in Chicago, November 23, 2002
(All Rights Reserved)
“Without Divine Aid our human efforts can bear no significant
fruit.”
(Mar
Gregorios 1994)
“Where there is no vision, the people
perish.”
(Book
of Proverbs)
One of the greatest
Orthodox Christian Lights of this century, Paulos Mar Gregorios (Memory eternal!)
demonstrated Christian love for all of humanity. Metropolitan Paulos Mar Gregorios Verghese, PhD, the Malankara
(Syrian) Orthodox Bishop of New Delhi and all North India and long-time President
of the World Council of Churches, was blessed with many gifts that he shared
abundantly with the world. Probably his most substantial gift was one of vision
and foresight. Great men, such as Mar
Gregorios, have blessed our planet and have granted our sin-filled world
opportunities for spiritual, ethical and moral advancement throughout history. A few of these have transcended their
culture and their personalities to touch the very place where our spirits are
connected to God. There is little doubt
that Mar Gregorios was such a man. Among
his many achievements, he opened the centennial Parliament of the World’s Religions
in 1993 with an address titled: “The Vision Beckons.” The address began:
“For me, this is a great privilege indeed, to inaugurate the
centenary celebrations of the World’s Parliament of Religions. The World’s Parliament of Religions,
convened in this historic city of Chicago a century ago, held aloft a torch
which helped us see a vision. We are
far today from having realized it; but to renew that vision is the purpose of
my few words this evening.
“It is a perennial yearning of the human race to find its own
unity. To this, I believe, the 1893 Parliament responded…” (emphasis mine) For
the complete text of Mar Gregorios Inaugural Speech)
Mar Gregorios’
vision of unity in the midst of diversity was controversial, but, even after
his passing, continues to inspire and lead others toward greater
understandings. He was widely regarded as one of the world's greatest scholars
of all religions and a tireless champion of interfaith understanding. In 1995, he said:
"When we work for the unity of humanity we stand on our own
convictions and traditions, while sharing a great vision of God at the center
of all and an all-embracing love for all humanity… We pledge, rooted in our own
religious traditions, to work for the fulfillment of the will of God." (From Towards A New Enlightenment
interview with Diana Holland in Share International 2/95)
As President
of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace in 1994, he wrote:
"It is our faith in the Divine that permits us to freely
embrace the whole of humanity in a warm embrace of love and respect for their
dignity and freedom.”
"Experience shows that the deeper we go into our respective
religions, the more clearly we find the basic love of God and love for all
humanity which should unite us all. The more rooted one is in one's own
tradition the freer and more secure one becomes in facing our fellow human
beings and finding our unity in God and in our shared aspirations. At the
deepest levels, there is more unity than diversity among the world's
religions."
Mar Gregorios
never lost site of his Indian Orthodox Christianity and of its founder Mar Thoma
(the Apostle Thomas). Indian Times
called him “A modern interpreter of Eastern Christianity,” that Paulos Mar
Gregorios "clarified its ethos as a quiet life of prayer and work." He taught regularly on Christian topics and often
was a Christian apologist within his native India. Babaji (of Gobind Sadan, House of God, New Delhi 2/97) recounted
their meeting, "When Father Gregorios and I first met, I said, ‘Jesus is
Light. If we try to confine him within sectarian boundaries, the trees and the
oceans will despair, the whole Creation will despair, because Jesus gives Light
to everything. This is my inner feeling. I respect Jesus day and night.’ Father
Gregorios rose and embraced me. He folded his hands and said, 'I feel the same
way. Jesus is not a matter of a boundary. He is universal. If the Light is
enclosed in a fort, all people will be unhappy.' “
Mar Gregorios was
a prolific writer. Among his better-known books is a definitive and monumental
work on his names’ sake, Saint Gregory of Nyssa: “Cosmic Man – The Divine
Presence.” Scroll down for a list of Mar
Gregorios’ works. Many of them are difficult to find and many are out of print.
“Love’s
Freedom, The Grand Mystery: A Spiritual Autobiography” published posthumously and
incomplete by the Mar Gregorios Foundation in India, carries the hopeful
designation of Collected Works Volume 1.
In this book, Mar Gregorios wrote with remarkable humility in the
opening words of Chapter I: Credentials, Apology For A Personal Confession:
“This is my story. I wish I could tell it as it really happened to
me, in me, and around me. That would
take a better memory than I have. It
calls for much more: for example, a nobler soul unafraid of exposing itself
with more honesty; freedom from the need to brag and boast; better capacity to
give credit where it is due and to acknowledge one’s myriad debt to others; in
speaking of achievements and failures, less selectivity in favor of the former;
perhaps more willingness to perceive one’s own ordinariness….I have not
attained to that level of spiritual development where praise and blame would
equally bounce off my skin like water off a duck’s back. An adverse judgment by others still
depresses me. A good review in turn
pleases me no end.
“In principle, I know that this is not as it should be. My self-esteem should not, in theory, be
dependent on other people’s judgments of me.
I should value myself and love myself for the simple reason that,
despite all my failures, faults and foibles, God loves me. I know that in theory. But to practice that equanimity fully I must
grow deeper roots into that love of God. The greater my sense of security in being enfolded in God’s caring
and dependable love, the higher would be my capacity to be unaffected by
accolade or allegation, reproof or approbation. That sense of security measures up in me at present as fair, but
by no means as full or near perfect.”
On November
24, 1996 – Paulos Mar Gregorios Verghese passed on to the next life after struggling
for several years with the effects of a stroke. As Babaji said of his dear friend’s passing. "He is a very
great soul, and he is going to a very great place."
This very “Great
Soul” left the a last will for all of us:
"I leave this word to all who survive me:
v
Love God with
all your mind and all your will and all your feeling and all your strength.
v
Live for the
good of others. Pursue not perishable gold or worldly glory.
v
Wish no one
any evil. Bless God in your heart, and bless all his creation.
v
Discipline
yourself while still young, to love God and to love his creation,
v
To serve
others and not to seek one’s own interest.
v
Pray always
that God’s Kingdom may come and all evil be banished from this created
order."
The Paulos
Mar Gregorio Award
Dalai Lama Gets Gregorios Award
From The Times of India, November 26, 1997
New Delhi: His Holiness the Dalai Lama was presented the Paulos
Mar Gregorios Award for 1997 for his contribution to interfaith dialogue at
function held here on Tuesday. His Holiness the Catholicos of the East, head of
the Orthodox Church in India, presenting the award, paid rich compliments to
the Buddhist leader for his qualities of the heart and work towards religious
harmony. He also recalled the great scholarship and contribution of Paulos Mar
Gregorios in various fields.
The Dalai Lama in his acceptance speech stressed that along with
material advancement it was necessary to promote spirituality so that man
consisting of body and mind could have inner peace as well. Religion, by
nurturing values such as love, tolerance and compassion, should strive to
eliminate divisions and conflicts in society.
The award comprising a medal, citation and a cheque for Rs 1 lakh
has been instituted by Sophia Society, founded by Dr Paulos Mar Gregorios
(1922-1996), first Metropolitan of the Delhi Diocese and founder of the Delhi
Orthodox Centre.
Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj, head of the Divine Life Society, in
his address, pointed to the oneness of all existence and one indwelling spirit
creating a human family. People all over experienced the same hunger and pain
and the aim of every one ought to be to add to the joys of the human family.
Prof. A Rahman, renowned scientist, complimented the Dalai Lama
for setting a rare example by launching a non-violent struggle for the rights
of the Tibetan people. He lamented the fear and hatred that were being spread
in the name of religion and wanted steps to foster elements of plurality and
diversity both in nature and society.
A press release issued on the occasion said the Dalai Lama has
been moving across the continents in his quest for peace and reconciliation,
even while looking after the interests of the exiled Tibetans. He had held
dialogues with heads of different religions as well as presidents and prime
ministers towards his vision of a peaceful and compassionate human family.
The award is intended to honor those who had contributed to peace,
justice and wisdom, ideals for which Mar Gregorios lived and worked. The fields
chosen for the biannual international awards are interfaith dialogue and
cooperation, education, holistic health practices and community self-renewal.
The theme and the award "are a celebration of the oneness of the human
family as well as a call to persons of goodwill to express their spirituality
through individual and collective ethical action."
Paulos
Mar Gregorios, Author – list of books/writings
(English Titles compiled as of November 20, 1999)
Love’s Freedom, The Grand Mystery: A Spiritual Autobiography
Mar Gregorios Foundation (Kottayam 1997)
A Human God (A Collection of Early Writings of Paulos Mar
Gregorios)
The Mar Gregorios Foundation (Kottayam 1993)
A Light Too Bright: The Enlightenment Today
SUNY Press 1992
Enlightenment: East And West (Pointers In The Quest For India’s
Secular Identity)
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study (Shimla) 1992 ISBN:
81-7018-560-2
The Meaning of Diakonia
Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1988
The Indian Orthodox Church – An Overview
The Malayala Manorama Press, 1982
History of the Mar Thoma Church by Paulos Mar Gregorios
Does Chalcedon Divide or Unite?
Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1981
The Cosmic Man - The Divine Presence
Sophia Publications (New Delhi 1980)
Paragon House, 1988
Science for Sane Societies
Christian Literature Society (Madras 1980)
Paragon House, 1987
Science and Our Future
Contributor and Editor - Christian Literature Society Madras, 1978
The Human Presence: An Orthodox View of Nature.
Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1978.
Amity House (NY) 1987
Truth Without Tradition?
Sri Venkateswara University (Tirupati) 1978
The Quest for Certainty
Alwaye Session of the Indian Philosophical Congress, 1975
Be Still and Know
Christian Literature Society (Madras) 1974
Freedom and Authority
Christian Literature Society (Madras) 1974
The Freedom of Man
Westminster Press (Philadelphia) 1972
The Faith of Our Fathers
Kottayam, 1969
The Gospel of The Kingdom
Christian Literature Society (Madras) 1968
Freedom of Man, Eastern Worship and Modern Man
Associated Press (NY), 1967
Our Presence in the World (On The Royal Priesthood of Christ)
Sermon on 1 Peter 1:22-2:10
Qyam'tha 1967
Related Links
Pictures of Paulos Mar Gregorios on the Web
Holy Transfiguration Malankara Orthodox Syrian Mission (Madison, WI)
St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Oak Park, IL)
