Page 61 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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Christianity, and its apparent failure to spiritualize the culture of secularism and war: “Christianity is
prevalent in Europe and America. Perhaps no other religion puts so much emphasis on non-violence as

Christianity does. It has laid great stress on Love in very un-mistakle terms. … They eulogize Christ,
but at the same time, they go on increasing their armaments. 16

Vinoba was not a Christian. But his concept of God and prayers had many similarities to the
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Christian ways. He was a strong theist. He often referred to God in his talks. He did not want a proof
for the existence of God either. “I positively believe that God exists. As for the lamp in front of us, I
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cannot guarantee that it does in fact exist.” To him, the existence of God was related to the acceptance
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of the existence of the soul, for God is to be felt and known by the soul. Belief in the basic goodness
of human beings was the beginning of the belief in God.

Vinoba, however, appreciated the sincerity of those who failed to accept the existence of God.
It was better, he thought, than fake religiosity. “I prefer honest atheists hundreds of thousand times to

those theists who take the name of God but exploit men.” None becomes religious merely by invoking
the name of religion, nor does he become a devotee by taking the name of God. According to Vinoba,

one who lacks integrity in life, non-violence in conduct, religiousness in dealings, cannot be a believer
in God. “A sincere atheist is nearer to God than a nominal theist.” 20

Relevance of Prayerand Repentance in Life

He believed, as a genuine Hindu that prayer is indispensible for human beings. He, like Gandhiji,
his mentor, was also very close to the Christian understanding of efficacy of prayer.

Prayer performed collectively or individually, by repetition of his name or in
some other way, is indispensible both for the individual as well as the society, for

his or its life, moral uplift, purification of mind, search for truth and maintenance
of mental equilibrium in the sorrows and attachments of life. 21

Vinoba believed that man needed prayer, meditation, repentance, etc regular and lifelong. The
supreme aim of life is mukti, liberation and self-realization. To him, mukti or moksha is liberation from

attachment, anger, lust, illusion, ignorance, etc. if these pervasions have been gotten rid of, moksha has
been attained. It is parallel to St Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, Chapter 5, verse 21: “The fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There
is no law against such things…. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit….”

‘On Image Worship

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While discussing Saguna Bhakti of 12 chapter of the Bhagwad Gita, Vinoba expresses the
desire to see a sculpture where Rama and Bharat are meeting after 14 years. His desire was fulfilled

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