By H. H. Mohrmen
Unitarians in the state of Meghalaya and Assam celebrate 18 September every year as Anniversary Day. It was on this day in 1887 that the first Unitarian church in the region was established. The church initially was conceived independently by the founder in his quest for truth and it was at a later stage that u Hajom Kissor Sing Lyngdoh Nongbri a native from the area received support from outside to establish the first Unitarian church in the region.
The world over, Unitarian being a liberal Christian denomination and also an offshoot of Judeo-Christianity tradition continues with Christian traditions but in the case of the Unitarian church in this region it also adopt elements of indigenous beliefs and practices and incorporates the same into its faith system. Though Unitarianism has its roots in the Judeo Christian-tradition it also assimilates wisdoms and traditions from other world religions and in the case of Unitarians in Assam and Meghalaya traditional wisdoms has strong influences on the church.
The followers of the Unitarian church in the region worship God who is beyond gender and this also has its roots in the wisdoms and traditions of our ancestors. H.K. Singh Lyngdoh Nongbri spent his formative year in Jowai where he worked in different capacities at the office of the Sub Divisional Officer during the days of the Raj. He was an avid reader and an ardent searcher for truth which has also set him on a journey in search of God and a spiritual home. Not surprisingly in that journey he was very much influenced by traditional thoughts and religions of the Pnar particularly those in Jowai and these ideas find place in the beliefs system and rituals of the religion that he founded.
H.K. Singh’s concept of God is both Father and Mother. He said ‘U Blei U long u Kpa, Ka Kmie Bashisha jong ngi’ (God is both father and mother to us). This is one major difference between the Unitarian church here and other churches and even with other Unitarian/Unitarian Universalist churches in the world. Unitarians not only worship the paternal but also the maternal aspect of God. Perhaps he borrowed this concept from the traditional belief system of the Pnars which also believe in male God ‘U Blai Tre Kirot’ as well as ‘ka Syiem Wabooh ka syiem wathoo,’ the queen who is the keeper and the maker of all creations.
From both its Judeo-Christian and traditional religious roots Unitarianism draw the major principle of the church which is the belief in the unity of God. Unitarians believe in one God which is not God in an anthromorphical form (god’s image of a man) but a gender neutral God which is also an all pervading spirit or force.
Unlike its fellow Christians churches in the region the Unitarians in the state address God as ‘Phi’ which is a respectful way of entreating the higher being than ‘Me’ which is a colloquial way of addressing male individuals. This is again another example of indigenous influence on Unitarian thoughts and belief system where all deities are held in high esteem.
H.K. Singh also borrowed the idea of offering to ancestors called ‘ka siang ka pha’ from the traditional religion and incorporated the same in the church’s Anniversary day celebration. In every celebration of the Behdieiñkhlam festival, the first ritual of the celebration is the offering to the ancestors by the families of all the followers of Niamtre. Similarly, preceding the celebration of the Unitarian Anniversary day, the first Sunday of September is celebrated as the general memorial service in which people bring flowers, light candles and join each other in remembrance of the beloved members of the families who have passed away.
H.K. Singh’s concept of afterlife too is borrowed from the traditional Pnar belief that the final resting place of the spirit after it departs from body is at the divine corridor in God’s abode. It is the place where the soul rests leisurely eating (bam kwai ha duar U Blai) betel-nut forever. Pnars have no concept of hell and even if God punishes the evil doers, it is an earthly penalty that befalls the evil doers while one is alive and sometimes the plight falls on the descendants of the sinner. Many a times the descendants have to pay the price for the wrong doings of their ancestors by way of offering sacrifices to appease the deities. H.K. Singh has only refined the traditional concept of afterlife and teaches that all the departed soul irrespective of class, clan, community or creed will finally rest in the Kingdom of the spirit. H.K.Singh also teaches that salvation is by one’s deeds and character.
Even the two major rites of passages practiced by Unitarians in the region have some traditional elements in it. The Unitarians called the first rites of passages – child naming and child dedication and rarely refer to it as baptism. This is obviously the traditional idea of the rites of passages which have nothing to do with the original sin. Earlier, miniature icons of tools used in the traditional naming ceremony were used in the Unitarian naming ceremony too. Items like machete, bows and arrows for boys and a cone-basket for a baby girl were used in the child naming and dedication ceremony of the Unitarian churches in addition to water, flowers and white table cloth which have their own significance.
There is no hard and fast rule as to how members should dispose off the mortal remains of their loved ones. Unitarians practice both burial and cremations and when the body is cremated, loved ones of the deceased offer betel-nuts and betel leaf without lime on the pyre. This again is an example of a liberal church adapting to the native culture of the region and allowing leniency in the way people dispose off the mortal remains of the deceased member of the family.
Unitarian church which is a liberal religion is like water which takes the shape of its container without losing its basic elements and principles. Unitarian churches the world over follow different beliefs, practices and traditions which vary from one place to another. The Unitarian church in this region has evolved from a church which had parted ways with the other Christian denominations on the basis of unity of godhead, to a liberal church which along the way incorporated and blended traditional elements to its system.
The idea of a gender neutral God, an imageless God and God in spirit is an all encompassing concept of God which is both traditional and universal. Universal brotherhood and sisterhood of humans is based on the most important principle of the church- that God is father and mother hence all humans are brothers and sisters. Unitarians also believe that all holy books are divine scriptures and all prophets share a common message of justice, love, peace and harmony. Hence Unitarians encourage reading of all holy books of all faith traditions and also allow the use of passages from any religious holy book in church worship and ceremonies.
It also believed that divine revelation is not something that is closed or sealed; neither is revelation an exclusive right of certain generations or faith traditions, but is a phenomenon that has happened in the past and continues to occur in the nature and around us today. This again is a teaching from our ancestral wisdom in which nature is a book, a school from where people learn their lessons of life. Nature also has everything that one needs to sustain one’s life. One only needs to have spiritual insight to realize that these divine revelations are happening and sometimes staring at us without us realizing it.
Unitarian is a progressive church and being a liberal church it has incorporated all that it considers good and relevant from both the traditions and formulates a grand new church with a Universal outlook. In fact the church is open to wisdom and insight from all faith traditions and even from secular sources of wisdom. And since revelation is not a closed chapter the church keeps evolving with the changing times and like a house built on rocks it allows light and influences from every direction to enter and light the building and enlighten lives inside it.
Unitarian church in the region is therefore a liberal indigenous religion with a universal outlook.