Page 63 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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same. “If we say, ‘this is mine, I am the owner of my wealth, I will not let others make use of it,’ then too
we disrespect God. For he alone is the owner and all must equally share all wealth which is His gift.” 26

Faith needs to be translated into action in the daily life. Worship, offerings, incenses, etc will
have meaning only when they are expanded and applied to the different walks and facets of life. He

said, “Devotion must express itself in our day to day life. Compassion, love and sympathy are the outer
expressions of devotion. A person who has real devotion will see the image of God that resides in every
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human heart.” Vinoba has a striking parallel in the Letter of St James, in which the author asks:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith, but do not

have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily
food, and one of you say to them: ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat your fill’,

and yet you do not supply their daily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by
itself, if it has no works, is dead. 28

In his great Bhoodan Yajna, he had the collaboration and co-operation of all people, irrespective
of caste and creed. Regarding the response from the Christians he said, “Last year, when I went to

Kerala, the four Christian Churches issued an appeal to their people, asking all Christians to give me
their full co-operation, because I was ‘doing the work of Jesus Christ.’” 29

The engaging spirituality of the “Saint on the March” was motivated by the Christian value of
the love of the neighbor and love of the poor. In the process of establishing the units of the Sarvodaya

Society in different parts of the country, he had successfully involved many Christian friends fully
appreciating their religious and spiritual outlooks, even as he went about with his attitude of

sarvadharmasamabhavain common life and prayer.

Vinoba’s Appreciation for Christ and the Holy Bible
Vinoba had great appreciation for Christ and the Christian teaching. He believed that the

teachings of Christ are the eternal moral duties and have a universal value. He valued them the way he
valued the teachings of the Vedic Dharma. Vinoba studied the Holy Bible and other sources of

Christianity, and brought out the fruits of his labour in the form of books and talks on special occasions.
It is noteworthy that he was a student of world religions, and he had produced quite a few studies on

the world religions. 30
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The Essence of Christian Teachings is his work on Christianity. It is a collection of select
verses from the New Testament, prepared by himself. The book has seven parts, with a total of 50
chapters. The first part has 20 chapters which contain the verses selected from the four Gospels. In

fact, he has titled chapters 17-20 as “John’s Supplement.” The Acts of the Apostles is contained in
two chapters, i.e., Chapters 21&22. The next 21 chapters (23 to 43) contain the Letters of St Paul.

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