The Holy Mountain (Zion)
Mount Zion, in the Bible, means any mountain with a temple atop it. The Holy Mountain (Zion) In the 125th Psalm we find the words, "They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever." Mount Zion, in the Bible, means any mountain with a temple atop it. In the East, people feel that the highest place is the best place to build a temple because it is closer to God. Our tradition is that St. Thomas, the doubting Apostle, was the founder of Christianity in India, and built a church outside Madras on a hill. The people regard these mountains as very sacred. People may be seen going up and down the mountain at any time of the day or night, to worship at the temple. Even if there are wild animals on the mountain, the people are not afraid because they believe they will not be harmed on the holy mountain. In the summer, people voluntarily carry water up the mountain to water the trees and grass. Anyone who is hungry is free to eat of the fruit of any of the trees on this mountain, but no one may destroy or deface anything there; not even a stone is moved or touched in an area fifty feet from the base of the mountain, to the very top. I remember once when the British wanted to build a railroad which would destroy part of one of these holy mountains, that the people became desperate. God's holy mountain must not be touched. When the day came for the machinery to move the earth of the mountain, all the people came, even women with little babies in their arms, and children, and laid down in front of the earth-moving equipment. They would rather lay down their lives than to see the sacred mountain defaced. These people believed that God was in the mountain. In the book of John we find an example of the common practice of worshipping in the mountain; this is where Jesus was speaking with the woman of Samaria, who said to him: [John 4:20] "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ou
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Bishop Pillai taught these Orientalisms, bringing great enlightenment to the Christian world. His crusade of imparting this light of the Eastern Culture carried him to numerous universities and seminaries, as well as every major denomination throughout the United States, England and Canada. Still today, his teachings remain the foremost authority on the rare gems of Biblical customs and culture. Bishop K.C. Pillai’s conversion to Christianity is a witness of God’s heart, as well as a lesson in one of the most significant Eastern customs found in the Bible. The Bishop was raised as a Hindu. When a Hindu child of the ruling class is born, a little salt is rubbed on the baby who is then wrapped in swaddling cloth. This custom invoked one of the oldest and strongest covenants in the Eastern world, the “salt covenant.” In this particular instance, the child was salted for a lifetime of dedica