PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTiONS

Dr. D. L. Atre)-a Soinenlr Volume : TARl II

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Philosophical Reflections

Ml.su- CENTRAL LIBRARY

CHIEF EDITOR
R.S. SRIVASTAVA M.A., PH.D.
Head of the Department of Philosophy
Ranchi Univenliy, Ranchi

EDITORS '

S. P. ATREYA H.A., pn.D.

J. P. ATREYA M.A., PHJ5.
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 CONTENTS

1 . Do Schools of Psychology still Exist ?

IVol/gang Meizger 1 14
2. ReincarnatioQ and Christianity
/. C. Sharim 15- 19
3. The One and the All
Miodrag Cekie 20- 25
4. An Introduction to Comparative Philosophy
K.C. Fflrf/ac/iar/ 26- 31
5. William James Radical Empiricism'
Gustav Emil Mueller 32 37
6. Revelation : Its Meaning, Modes and Polarity
R.S. Mishra 38- 42
7. Aristotle's Unity of Sensation as a Response to Plato
Tory Organ 43 50
8. The Eternal Quest
;?anK7 Tripalhi 51- 57
9. The Growth of the Self
llomrd L. Rarsons 58-880
10. On Understanding Philosophy
Burnt /Liimar La! 81- 36
1 1. Towards an Educational Philosophy for a Viable Democracy
Hcnery WUUhrop 87- 95
12. Mahayana
Bhakti Cull in
Ncml Chandra Hhastri 96-101
13. Reliyon and Formalization
F. J. Vandamme 102-106
14. A New Refutation of the Ontological Proof of Gods Existence
John 0. Nelson
107-II7
15. Dialectical Meditation
HarJdas Chaiidliari
118126
16. The Original Sins : Gullibility and Niacompoopery
Paul Kurtz
127-136
17. The Religion we Need
R. N. Vyas
137-143
18. Antigone ; Study in Conflict
Gene G. J.nmes
144-150
19. Tulsid.Ts, Precursor of Psycho-Analysis ?
Po/jirfflf DlioratlwaJ
151-156
20. The F.nm(ly : External and Internal Attmefions
Piinos D. Dardis
157-173
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Revelation in Religion
KM.P. Verna 331338
4. Tantra Sadhana
Lalan Prasad 5mg/j 340-345
5. Saivism in Assam
jVi/imc Sharma 346-348
16. The Death of God
Sanjiwan Prasad 349-353
47. The Concept of Spirituality
Nitin J. Vyas 354 -360
48. Sin and Avidya in Christianity and Vedanta
P.B. Vidyarthi 361367
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 DO SCEWXJCS OF PSYCHOLOGV STILL EXIST ? 3

advocated several differed, lo^cally independent but matching hypotheses

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the same time.

Thus, the question appears to be as foHows : are there still some differences in

opinions concerning the basic questions in psychology ?

II. The Principles of Contemporary Psychology

Let us take, as our first example, orthodoji bebavioniism, as it was represented, for
example, by Skinner, because it is widely considered /Ae psychology of the present
time (also by Hunt). Analysis shows that buEt up of about a dozen principles
it is

conceived by the prominent representatives of the school as axioms or articles of faith.

However, they nng/ii be nothing more than unproved hypotheses.

1. Tbe Principle of Ohjectmfy

Only data which can be observed and recorded from outside may be used in psycho-
logy if it is supposed to be scientific psychology. Psychology can cope with its

ambition to be an empirical science only as a science of behaviour.

This is not a hypothesis concerning the facts of psychology; rather, a it is

methodic rule, or, more clearly, a prohibition to evaluate certain data because of their
lack of rellTbillly.

2. The Principle ofPassiyiiy or of Primary Reactivity

The psycho-physical organism starts to function only because of external influence.

Thus, the objective of the science of behaviour is to assess the relations between the
influences from outside (stimuli or S) aod the reactions towards the out-
situations,
side world (responses, R), i e., the S-R-relation. The reactions R, bring about a
mostly new situation lesp. a new kind of influence Sa thus, the elementary relation as
a 5.whole may be symbolized as Sj-R-Sj.

3. The Principle of Genetic Identity of Psycho-physical Systems

The hereditary or innate psycluc outfit is the same for all men, if not for all ver-
tebrata. Therefore, for experimental research of human behaviour, doves or rats may
be used.

4. The Principle of AliVii'oium Genetic Outfit [of Tabula Rasa)

Without taking into account some elementary reflexes, there are no hereditary relations
between the influences S and tbc reactions R. All diflerences in reactions R are the
of previous differences in the sunoundings S (i-e., S from birth
result till the respective
moment): milieu theory or cnvironmcntalisin. What a person knows, lie has learned
during his individual existence. The capability of learning is the basic property of the
psychic. Theoretical psychology 1$ basically a theory of learning.
Principles (3) and (4) form together the doctrioc called empiricism since the 18th
century.

The Principles of Elemcntarisnt and Conneeiionism

Learning is a process of fonaalioo of connections between elementary facts, of
 DO SCROiLS OF PSYCHOLOGV STUX EXIST ? 3

when it advocated several diffcrcnU logically independent but matching hypotheses

at the same time.
Thus, the question appears to be as follows : are there still some differences in

the opinions concerning the bask questions in psydiology ?

U. The Principles of Contemporary Psychology

Let us take, as our first example, orthodox behaviourism, as it was represented, for
example, by Skinner, because it is widely consMered the psychology of the present
time (also by Hunt). Analysis shows that it is built up of about a dozen principles

conceived by the prominent repre.sentalivcs of the school as axioms or articles of faith.

However, they might be nothing more than unproved hypotheses.

1. The Principle of Objccih'Uy

Only data which can be observed and recorded from outside may be used in psycho-
logy if it is supposed to be scientific psychology. Psychology can cope with Us
ambition to be an empirical science only as a science of behaviour.
This is not a hypothesis concerning the facts of psychology; rather, it is a
methodic rule, or, more clearly, a prohibition to evaluate certain data because of their
Jack of rcliibilily.

2. The Principle of Passivity or of Primary Reacllvily

The psycho-physical organism starts to function only because of external influence.

Thus, the objective of the science of behaviour is to assess the relations between the
influences from outside (stimuli or situations, S) and the reactions towards the out-
ride world (responses, R), i.e., the S-R-reJation. The reactions R, bring about a
mostly new situation resp. a new kind of influence St; thus, the elementary relation as
a whole may be symbolized as S,-R-Sj.

'
3. The Principle of Genetic Identity of Psycho-physical Systems

The hereditary or innate psychic outfit is the sonre for all men, if not for all ver-
tebrata. Therefore, for experimental research of Jiumao behaviour, doves or rats may
be used.

4. The Principle of Minimum Genetic Outfit (of Tabula Rasa)

Without taking into account some clcmcntaty reflexes, there are no hereditary relations
Irsiiiwit tka k'rSs'o.vcer S awJ Iho rssciiaief R. AS kv rAisSvrits R sris Che
resultof previous differences in the surroundings S (Le., S from birth tiii the respective
moment): milieu theory or environmentalism. What a person knows, he has learned
daring liis individual existence. The capability of learning is the basic property of the
psychic. Theoretical psychology is basically a thcoiy of learning.
Principles (3) and (4) form together the doctrine called empiricism since the I8th
century.

5. The Principles of Elemenfarism ami Conneaionism

Learning is a process of formation of amncctioas between elementary facts, of
 DO SCHOOLS 01 PSYCHOLOGY STILL EXIST ? 5

as the process may affect itself ai least ei one single spot, though by means of special
conductive connections.
According to the tension-reduction model the psycho-physical system seeks
under all circumstances a quiet stale. This model may therefore be understood as an

expression of the pmciple o/ijinWrwi : all activity is (he result of disturbances and
s^vcct icisure is the normal state of man.

9. The Principles of Chance and Effect

In order to understand the formation of new connections and the extinction of exist-
ing ones, as in passive (classical Pavlovian) conditioning, no new principle is needed,
as conditioning is but another name for association introduced for the special case in
which one of the elements to be connected is an activity of the subject.
If new types of performance arc needed as in trial and error learning rcsp.
operant or instrumental conditioning, these can as a consequence of principle 7
only be found hy chance and reco^ized as suitable and retained by their effect,

10. The Principle of Addilivity of Personality Structure

Tlie S-R-conncctions reinforced by success-failure learning are also called habits.

Personality or character is the sum of habits. Any of these habits may be induced or
eliminated individually without changiogaoytbing in all other habits (vegetable bed
modeO- From these ideas of formation and eiiminatros of habits results immediately
the old, traditional, but, by modem pedagogics, rejected practice of candy and whip.
As the desirability or undesirability is determined by the educating society, the result
of such an education is the maximum obtainable degree of adaptation (adjustment) or
the conformity, in other words, opportunism.

1 1. The Principle of Reductionism

There are no autochthonous psycluc dynamics. All dynamics, e.g,, that of learning, of
thinking, of exploring, serves- the purpose of decreasing oiganismic tensions. He, who
is not hungry, does not think.

12. In the area of social psychology, reductionism results in The Principle of Primary
Social Atomism
There are no primary social needs and desires. Ttey are only secondarily formed by
conditioning, i.e., by the realization that certain persons are exceptionally
suitable
tools or means for the gratification of certain organismic needs and/or for
the
reduction of certain organismic tensions. In fliis respect, there is an
unanimity bet-
ween behaviourism and psychoanalysis.

DI. Axioms or Hjpothcscs ?

A question arises here: are the above prindpics axioms, ixi., necessary
presumptions of
any psychology, or are they hypotheses, whichin the present state of the science
would have to permit the existence of otliCT hypotheses and eventually perhaps
even
now-gU-e way to them; in other words, are there still opposite schools in psychology?
Thus, our question is; arc the above prindples nnessary: And, in addition,
are they
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 DO SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY STILL EXIST ? 7

On ihc Principle of Gcnciic identity

3.

principle of eenctic identity of psycho-physical systems is identical with the denial

The
of specific inborn traits. Here also, the altcmalive would not be a psychology which

would try to reduce all difiercr.ccs in the behawour of dilTcrcnl individuals to the

differencesof the predispositions, but rather a psychology that would avoid dogmatic
presuppositions with regard to the contribution of genetic and environmental factors
to individual diiTercnecs.

As to the validity of this principle for all vertebrata, this was clearly refuted by
an abundance of results of recent comparative behavioural research, obtained under
pure conditions, e.g., in the Kasper-Hauscr experiment.
As to the differences in human psycho-physical genetic outfit, no basic doubts
exist any more. The existing controversy pertains only to the relative effects of innate
outfit and of environment.
Tn spite of all this, behaviourism is still stuck with the principle of genetic
identity. This is a result of an attitude (hat Is even less scientific than the method of
renaming, namely simply ignoring all facts not corresponding to one's principles (See
K. Lorenz 1961).
Altogether, it appears that a p^hology svidiout the principle of genetic identity
is not only possible, but in the face of the existing facts necessary.

4. On the Principle of Genetic Minimimt Outfit

In the discussion of this principle it is necessary to take into account the fact that (he
principle of objectivity was already rejected by behaviourism itself (see above), The
most significant arguments against the minimum outfit priociple are derived from the
subjective sphere.
In contrast to the tabula rasa approach, all sensual data enter.

(a) an already existing and unchangeable ^stem of dimensions not more and
not less than three space and one lime-dimension. Moreover, sensual data
are limited to a system of elementary qualities already existing. Interestingly,
this system may differ between individuals in a clearly definable way accord-
ing to their basic outfit (Daltonism).
(b) the bulk of the sensual data is divided and grouped spontaneously in
accordance with a given ^stem of categories.
' (c) the grouping is distributed all over the three given space dimensions accord-
ing to the minimum and/or optimum principles (Pragnaaz-tendencies) which
are inherent to the system and not modifiable by individual experience, thus
only partially according to experience, but partially defying experience. (See
among others, E. Mach, W. Metzger, G. Kanizsa).
The facts (a), (b) and (c) are not consequences of experiences, but rather
conditions which make it possible to acquire any experience ; they arc "prc-empirical.

The principle of reaction patterns inherent to the system is not to be confused

with the principle of nalivism. NatiWsm maintains only in contrast to empiricism
that adjustment to reality is in certain aspects reached phylogenetically rather than
ontogenetically. It does npt mention systcui-^pcqGc reaction patterns at all. Moreover,
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 DO saiooLs or rsYCUOLOcr siiii ujst ? 9

6. Oil the Principle of Coiuigiiity or Contact

Contact or time-space vicinity is an important but neither a suiTicietit nor neces-

sary condition for the formation of connections.

It is not sufficient. The perception field is a continmim without gaps. Thus, the
problem arising here may be v'crbalizcd in the following way how it is possible that :

two processes A, B, taking place in an immediate contact with each other, form a unity
whereas two processes B, C, taking place in an immediate contact with each* other as
well differentiate from cacli other. Apparently, other principles must be involved.
The same as has been said about the primary field differentiation may be
repeated in the case of association experiments. Under completely identical time-space
conditions, very different numbers of repetitions are needed in order to establish a
connection independent of the materials which are to be connected. In addition, the
durability of such connections is very different Even in iliis case it is not possible to
speak of an exclusive effectiveness of the space-time factor.
On the other hand, tlie space-time vicinity is not necessary. In problem solving
processes, the facts which are required" in order to fill jn a specific gap are often
brought from a considerable distance. This does not always happen through an active
search but frequently results immediately from (he dynamics of the process,

7. On the Principle of Contingency or of Arbitrariness

What is missing in the principle of time-space vicinity for the explanation of the
pritiiary field differentiation is provided for by the prircipfe ofnoti-arbitrarjress of
the connections. The connections and differentiations occur unequivocally according
to optimum and/or miniinuni conditions. (Metzger, 1966).
On (he other hand, (he animal and Iminaci nervous systems, beyond the primary
field differentiation, have a very remarkable capacity to form and preserve completely
connections, for instance, that of a person
arbitrary (accidental or deliberately chosen)

and a name or of .1 name and a (clcphone number, appirently on the grounds of a

mere togetherness".
Ceteris paribus, however, between the meaningless and meaningful connections,
there exists a lemarkaWe , difference in the ease of their establishment, and in the
stability of their preservation. Here, the expression mcatiiogful has two denotations :

(a) one of the facts may be an image of the other one (c.g., series of numbers
and series of digits on a dial) or it has similar or corrcsponding general
properties.
(b) one of the facts is missing in the other one it is required by the
other one. By its introduction, a "complete whole of a uniform lawful
structure is formed. (Wertheimer, 1945.)
The furthering efTccts of consistency holds according to everyday experience for
the S-R-relation as well. This, naturally, is to be assessed by further systematic
research.
As it appears in a more prise analysis, the multiplicity of the behavioural
patterns produced during the first pliase of (be trial and error process is in no way, as
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 DO SCHOOL CF PSYCHOLOGY STILL EXIST ? 1

used it in his theory of perception. Ludwig von Bertalanffy, proceeding from biologi-

cal facts and ideas, showed the basic significance of the steady state. E. von Holst,

in his theory of position reflexes, strictly proved the fact of continuous activity of the

nervous system modified only by external conditions.

Static equilibriums and steady states have one characteristic in common. Both

tend towards structurally defined, time-independent, final state, determined solely by

the parameters of the system, and thus independent of the initial conditions. These
final states arc established or re-established
(in case of disturbances) in different ways

according to the initial conditions. Thus, the entire process achieves a character of

finalitywithout defying natural laws.

Moreover, systems preserving a steady state have some properties which are
missing in the systems tending towards a static equilibrium only. The processes which
enable a system in a steady state to stay in it take materials from the surroundings of
the system, and, with t})em. negative cnlhropy.
There is another fact which is con-
nected with this which was shown by W. Koehler and Ludwig von Bertalanffy in
independent works. They have a capability of transition into slates of higher complex-
ity and regularity, into states of higher order, and, that means of lower enthropy.
Thus, they behave iy in defiance of the second law of thctmodynamics.
This holds true not only for the development of more and more highly organized
beings in the course of phylogenesis and for the development of a mature organism
from the fertilized ovum (morpfiogenesis), but also for the productive psychic proces-
ses. Apparently, they do not take their energy from (he external surroundings, like the

whole organism, but rather from the psychic surrounding field, from the psychic
neighboring systems, so that, in the limit case of a (sound) obsession by a (scientific,
artistic technological, organizational) problem, these neighboring systems may become
deprived of energy and the respective man, os it were, consumes himself (W. Koeh-
ler). In other words, during these processes, the dynamics of the gratification of ele-
mentary needs may become more or less and, at least for a certain time, the less
significant one.
This dynamic approach to the relation between the situation and reaction allows
clarification not only of the facts which were already explained in another way by
behaviourism, but also of two basic psychological facts which were not explained by
behaviourism : finality and prodoctivily.
The fact that this not so simple idea was founded on the basis of both objective
von Bertalanffy, von Hoist) and subjective data (Koehler, Wertheimer) indicates that
the denial of scientific usefulness of subjective data (the first principle of behaviourism)
was apparently based'oninsuflictcnl&cls. By thaway, both. ttibjftctive data
gcstalt) and finality is admitted in the "purposive behaviourism (Tolman,
1932).

9. On the Theory of Learning by Success

According to the bchaviouristio theory of learning, it may be ascertained only on

the basis of a success arrived at o/rcarfy whether some behaviour approaches the goal
or not (if there no previously acquired mechanisms or behaviour patterns).
are
But, there are certain problem situations, natural or deliberately introduad,
which arc so accidental or so unclear that there is no other possibility in coping with


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 DO SCHOOLS OP PSYCHOLOGY STILL EXIST ? 13

approaches to the process of education vfhidi surpass the dubious reward-punishment

model. To this, we shall return latw.

11. On the Principle of Rediictionism

It is a common a living being sometimes stresses its psychic

observation that
some food under unfavourable conditions, i.e., just to gratify
capabililies just to get

an elementary (organismic) tension. However, the assertion that all psychic activity
serves onlj to gratify elementary tensions and, in the psychoanalytic version, to sub-
jectively gratify the achievement of local pleasant feelings, contradicts the facts obser-
ved not only in the case of great thinkers, scientists, inventors and organizers, but

even of an animal exploring new surroundings or a playing child. The

in the case

tension of an unsolved problem and the restless activity which it induces io a scientist
or in an artist, as well as in an interested student and in a rat transferred to unknown
surroundings, on the grounds of immediate observations is to be considered as just as
elementary as the tension of hunger or of the sex drive. Moreover, this may be concei-
ved theoretically as well on the basis of the facts given in paragraph.
The question as to whether the tension resulting in a mental effort is an auto-
chthonous ono or whether it is induced by clemenlary needs, or whether both occur
simultaneously, U thus not a question of the principle but rather a factual one and
it can be ansmed only for this or that actual case. Jn paragraph 8 , it was shown
that the energy for elementary needs may be consumed by mental interests. What
happens here sometimes is in a way similar to the Freudian subJimatlon. 'However,
the dynamic relation differs. Whereas in Freuds conccpitliBbloclcofnonnalgrati-
ficatiem of the accumulated drive energy results in a mental activity, in the model
of the open system the opposite appears. An intensi'.^ mental activity absorbs the
encr 0 available in the neighboring systems like fire absorbs the air with whiclt it

grows and preserves itself.

12. On ilie Principle oj Primary Social Atomism

Primary social atomism is, as has been shown already, a subspecies of reductionism.

Behaviourism and psychoanalysis agree here again. In the latter, it is expressed

even more clearly in the dcscriplioD of the "Erogenous zones which are supposed to
be (he main gratification areas in early infancy, in labeling the other man as an
object of the drive, i.e., as the tool of the primary body-centered gratification, and
in that it considers (he organism as the main source of gratification so that other
people arc not indispensable even as tools.
Again, the question arises : is there an aJteraatiw: ? This question can be divided
m rAe ibAbwirtg si's scnSqnvsn'utiy /

(1) Are there some primary and, at the same time, vital social needs ?
(2) Have other people and beings who form groups together with the Ego
really the psychological character of tools serving the Ego, or are they
possibly, for a normal human bnng. of the same psychological relevance
nnd of the same significance as the Ego, and, under some conditions, possi-
bly even of greater importance ?
(3) Are the social structures in the framework of which the individual exists
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JO sjuspunqB oqi nioy uojjssnb puojx aqi Soiuusuo^ -(j) uoiissnl) oi ss Xjbsumu
aua^ XqpajsAoxip'ajij jjsqijo jcsX puosss jqi ujoy uojisicdat
Sj imj] ijs SJ19J siids
St wstU.
spiUMOV uwpiiqs iiBius JO XjMiJisiH* sqi jMisuB sqi inoqs iqtwp ou
'sams ssaqi ui uoiisrjiiqns spJSAOi pus
S9]6is (unuijido to 3UI9JIX3 oiin uoijisusi] spjsMoi aiauapusl snouoqiqs
ojoB Xsqi sAsq Musisui 90J I sotpsdoid niqjsXs a.\Bqs3J0is0i)sas3qioa (9)
i SiOH-A
s ss dnoiS oyi jo ssoqj puc siaqnmn diuuS jtnpiAtpui aqi jo saisuap
U9]JOSp33U icraos 9H1 UMiUiaq uopepiaRcqs isuaXiqissodSJsqissoQ ($)
iinojAcqaq
lawm JO Xiiiiqsdea siq Joj ((C jO isjg unouicqaq ttasus9 ja uutui
stq ol lucASiai dnoja sjq ui saisdpiucd [Enpn>! VR" J ^Hi *1 (P>
siq SB aaocMpJ auics sqi jo saiJHSS-t sa.sii puc
^ o3a UMO
arenoft ^iKiAHOs yA3pv n-a -aa tj
 2

Reincarnation and Christianity

It isa common belief that reincarnation is purely a Hindu concept and that it is accep-
ted by Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism as the basic tenet. But recent trend'
in Christianity in the West seems to have turned the tables. Not only does Christianity
accept reincarnation and Karma, but these two theories appear to be the pillars on
which the edifice of Christian philosophy of love and the concepts of 'kingdom of
God and the kingdom of Heaven arc built. Many contemporary Christian dono-
minallons have openly declared the acceptance of reincarnation. Scores of books have
been published pointing out the fact that reincarnation had been accepted by Jesus
Christ, the founder of Christianity and that his aposlks knew everything about it.
However, it is very important to note that by reincarnation we do not mean
transmigration in the present context. Actually, in the Vedic literature as well, rein-
c.'irnation has bee.'i accepted without confusing it with transmigration. It is stated that

the original version of theHoly Bible had distinct references to the theory of rein-
carnadon. These passages were later on expunged from the text especially by the
connivance of the queen Theodor^ the wife of the King Constantine for personal
reasons. Even if this historical controversy is not accepted, Christianity as depicted
in the New Testament and particularly as stated by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the
Mount, cannot be held consistent and intelligible without the theory of reincarnation
and the doctrine of Karma. Before explaining how these two theories are unavoidable
for a Christian way of life, I would like to mcation how reincarnation has been
stated In some passages of the New Testament.
At two places in the New Testament there is a direct reference to reincamalion.
When Jews doubt, Jesus as the Messaiah the latter points out that Abraham, the
acknowledged ancestor of the Jews honoured Jesus in hisown day. The Jews que-
stioned how could Jesus know Abraham who existedmuch earlier than his birth.
I say unto you, before
Jesus replies, verily, verily, Abraham was I am". Many
modem commentators have accepted this statement as a reference to the previous
births of Jesus. Edgar Cayce, who was an acknowledged psychic of U.S.A., and
 RHUCARNATION and CHRISTIANITY 17

Hainment of spiritual perfection. It appears necessary to quote this incident as nar-

ited in the book of John 18-10 Then Simon Pfeter having a sword, drew it and struck
iie high priests, slave and cut off his right car. The slaves name was Malthus, Jesus
aid to Peter, Put your sword into its sheath: shall I not drink the cup which the
ather has given me.
In order to understand this philosophical basis of Christianity, it is essential to

date briefly the doctrine of Karma summed up in the statement as you sow, so shall

fon reap, it is the law of the Conservation of Ethical Energy, comparable

to the law

af the Conservation of Physical Energy in the context of Physics. The law of the
Conservation of Ethical Energy presupposes that all activities generated by a subject,
an agent or a self through body, speech and mind arc conserved in the form of the
energy or radiation which returns to the agent sooner or later. Wliatcvcr action we
perform through body, speech or mind, brings us the reaction of good or bad effect. If
a person hits another person, he would be paid in the same coin. Similarly if a person
thinks ill or well of another person, he will get the same reaction. Thou^t is a
material activity. Samkhya's view of thought and intelligence as subtle matter is most
scientific. As you sow, so shall you reap and As you think so shall you be.
Thought as a creative force has been accepted also because of the recent researches in
depth psychology. That is why Jesus Christ also emphasized that mental commission
of adultery is equivalent to its physical commbsion.
Since every action whether physical, verbal or mental must bring its clIcBt and
reaction and since the ctliical energy like the physical energy is not lost, the doctrine
of Karma is the only explanation for the temporary disappearance of the effects of
thousands of physical, verbal and mental actions performed by an individual during
one life time.
If one were to take account of ones physical, verbal and mental actions per-
formed during twenty four hours, one would realise that tT he or she were to reap the
fruit of all such good or bad acrions, one shall have to live for several months for this
purpose. Now the quantity of good or bad actions performed by an individual during
one life time is so large that the reward or punishment involved in all these actions
would need several life times to be fullillcd. Hence, according to the theory of the
Conservatiem of Ethical Energy commonly called the law of Karma, one has to undergo
the cycle of reincarnation. The purpose of nrincarnation is the attainment of perfection
or the kingdom of God by paying off Ihc past Karmas. Unless and unliJJ one has paid
the debt of the past Karmas, one cannot attain salvation. Jesus Christ has stated
this theory in parables. In the Sermon on the Mount ho gives two such instances.
While addressing his connection he Says, So if you are offering your
disciples in this
gift nt and there remember that your brother has something against you,
the alter,
leave your gift there before the alter
and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and
then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are
going with him to court, lest your accuser band you over to the judge, and the judge
to the guard, and you be put in prison, truly, I say unto you, you will never get out
till you paid the last penny.

In these two parables Jesus plainly talks shout the law of A'ornnr.
In the first
Instance he points out that a man is not fit to worship God in the temple if he has not
 tjei l
I.. 10" "P P.U=J.,|
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sstra
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am win'?.'*'
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,, ,cqi Xp,,, a.mb j. ),*!
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in<H{i!uoiJ3ilGotuuaiot\(Wnuaao9uioi
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am uaijt'sipui jeaia aqi
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c sUBis auoauiDs ji jsqi S3 :bis sq-a\0)joaMEidw|ituiiEioqnaai!qift-j32ui:vue
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(ft itqi wo siuiod aq Xqvi si WUI muubjj jo aStpuoq aq) uioij'ujopauj jo uoiiaajisJ
SuiniBJlE joj Xpauiai ajas oqi
si OAotjo mej aqi snsaj oj SoipioasB
infl 'WsijiawS ;e3ihis
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aqj op uoiasnos usas wu oq j,rioX SAiiq pwmaj )equ noX atoi oq* woqi a\ci noX
JT JOJ ]w(un aqi
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uns S1H saqaui iuaAuq u| s) oqw iaqij jnoX jo suos oq Xriu nsX wqi os 'noX
oh
awsasxad oq^x asoi|i joj Xsid puc sajuiaaa inoX uoi *ooX oi Xvs j wq 'Xujsua jhdX
sjcq puv jnoqii*/su jnoX aio| |(Bqj no^. PJ* "A
9xo[ JO Miq aqi tnjsuqdiua aq wq me) aqi awiouv oi anioa lou scq aq wqi sXBS iiuaf
Bxoqo wo paiujod so uoiwuitauioi pue ouuo^i jo auiiiaop aqi }0 aoireiJaws aqi wo
qipx sssiSuiuaaui souiojaq iq jcq snsaj Xq paqaeajil a>uaiqs)>ueu jo ujqia aqi
-
-saiuil uo jno ui pip JOJiito jo pajp oqw esuou uiaiti
EuqsMX euiEX (ujuis pue o3e luof pagunio Suiaq Xq isiiq^ snsa; pip te 'unuov Xq
qieap uaxa lo sseasip Suuajjns q3nOJqi sujo.y oi/pqojn/j jiaqv jjo Xtd siaisavu laajiad
sqi uaxa qsajja iiaqi oSiapun isnui aq pauiaauoa aie sPiujax Bypqojpjrf se j os
ma 'soaioqa XJsjun[OA luasajd aqi Xq punoq ion ospi si pue suopae pawimunaae aqi
uiojj aajj sowoaaq //ijnjV uBj//- JO uoipajiadpau|5H8SEquoiiOAappu? oxoijoqwd
sqj JO aaoqa q JO junoMeno OI}* oosjad B auwioop wms aqi oj Huipwaav
'ajr{ luasajil aqi ui uasoqa siioiue Xieiuniox aqi Jo souudx oiguiaiu^ 'C
pue ajq luasajil
aqi JOJ paqieuiJEaaie qoiqtt 'snoipn JO luoiiedaqi lo soiaa^ Dijpqojajj 'i
-SMI| JO aji| aiamj aoios ui |nq 'aj!| jiiasaJii
suoipe paiEpiuinoac jo soiuji-x '5
aqi ui loa Xjilanjj pino qoiqxi
Soipjosay
: 7i\ puijo^ip saijoSaieo aajqi are ajaqi 'inujpx jo auiiioop aqi oi
SI
UOIIWIES JOJ BOpfpUOa XJCSSSSJU
siqi nqap
paujaauas aie souijo^ ised aqi sc Jej os ainb Soiaq leqi WO swjod aiqcitd
ojuuBX oqijojoauiXEdoqipue sqjeappuB sqiJiqjo ai^Xa aqi
aqi OJ sjajaJ .Xuuad jsef,
auiisnBqita Jaije Xiuo fi.-fii/V /ap;,l
siiBsra waq .uosfii, pJOM aqi '*1^? fuup^ ipj
'Biiuoy siq ]jo PIM
JO |iiuj3}a ajq jo luaiuuiBDC aqi cj siajai aidiuna pnooaa sqi
annioji uuuAnos vxjsiv Ta 'w
 RSNCARNATION AND CHRISTJANTTY 19

It is quite evident that the theory of the Conservation of Etliical Energy and its

corollary, the theory of Reincarnation are the rock and foundation of the ethics of
unqualified love propounded by Jesas Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, which is

the quitcssence of Christian way of life.

Selected Bibliography

Ebon Martin, Prophecy in Our Times, New York 1968.

Gutherine Kenneth, Long Lost Second Book of Ads, Setting Forth the Blessed Marys
Teaching about Reincarnation. New York Thcosophical Society, 1904.
Hall Manly P., Reincarnation, The Cycle of Necessity, 5th Ed. Los Angles Philosophi-
cal Society, 1967.
Hull Ernest R.S.J., Theosophy andChrislianity.'Lofidon, 1910,
Montgomery Ruth, Search for Truth, New York, 1967.
Here and Hereafter, New York, 1968.
A World Beyond, Newr York, 1911.
Noel, Langley, Edgar Cayce On Reincarnaiion, New York 1969.
Sliarmal.C, Beyond, Karma and Reincarnation, la tUe Tiess v-Hh Harper and Row
Company, New York.
Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York, The Holy Bible Revised Standard Edition New
York, 1952,
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 THE ONE AND THE ALL 21

always to be found a metaphysics as the exiaession of the speculative spirit, which is

looked on as the foremost. This spirit recasts the basic intentions of its time in its own
way. Thus the philosophers of antiquity speculated about Nature as sometliing abso-
of the Middle Ages meditated, in their philosophical theology, about
lute, the scholars

God as the absolute being, the philosophers of modem times placed human reason in

the of their speculations as the highest judge in all questions, and today our
centre
age sets up the general concept of society as the essence of all (human) essences.

ni

Whereas some attempt to separate the pure object of cognition outside the conditions
of cognition or the activity of change of the object (Kant with his thing in itself),
others lead man back to the pure subject of cognition outside the conditionality of
space and time (Schopenhauer). But the objective cannot be changed into the sub-
jective, or the subjective into the objective, without the active participation of the
subject in the object.

IV

Aestheticians praise the uncompletedness io art. It is not necessary, they think, to say

everything, to express everything, but one allows the reader, the listener, the spectator,
the consumer of art generally the possibility of taking part himself in the understand-
ing and thereby in tlic creation of the work of art. If one says and expresses every-
thing, the consumer remains passive, and one should not do that, while one silently
recognizes it.

This uncompletedness and incompleteness, whidi is the essential characteristic

of present day art, is the result of the process which has been coiled the acceleration
of the history of our age. As the pace of history gets quicker and quicker, there is
demanded of man a greater and greater activity or at least adaptability to new things,
there is demanded an activity that is fast and suitable. In his practical life man is

offered everything as open, as something that he should continue and complete. For
that reason art too inclines towards thb need of time and demands active collaboration
from its consumers.
What we had said about this aesthetic uncompletedness can also be applied to
that in philosophy. In the case of philosophic uncompletedness other moments also
play a part, which perhaps also have their place in art, but which are very important
in philosophy. It happens that a philosopher remains uncomplelcd and those who
follow after him, the commentators, the phOosopIucal successors and the historians of
philosophy strive to decipher the true sense of what was said. Each interpretation
uncompl^edncss. However the philosopher remains
finds a justification for itself in the
uncompleted not because of the subjection to tiic demands of aesthetic representation,
but because he was not able to say everything that he thought. The philosopher
usually comes before his time and what be thinks is dangerous in the eyes of those
people who persevere in what has already become anachronistic. For this reason the
philosopher cannot always say all that be thinks. Besides that, in the nature of the
 s3uml pu8 siapt spiOM aijj jo Swuemi aqi jnoqs wauajE.uc spin
341 swiidiwp
J9410 uiscsq ojsujws
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aiBSiapisnqx-^jOAsoiUttOnssiJoaiaiiisqomawsiSuim 341 01 SLiSuo^sq sa oj
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jou op scspi ua 4 ,\\
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am
uotpiipojiuj uy
iCildosoimJ diijvJDduio:) 0 ;
17
 AK INTHODOCnON TO COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY 27

usually signify use. The grammar of language is importani but more important is the
awareness of the use which is fused with words, and infact reveal the meaning or is
the meaning {arihd). The study of comparative phdosophy involves thus as a first
condition awareness of the words in each language which we wisli to compare for
philosophical fixation of meanings and if we lack it we have to discover the appropriate

word which connotes or denotes the function similar to that which we are considering.

A. comparative multi-lingual vocabulary will not suflice for if is mainly denotative and
further it is of no use.
Philologists consider the phonic semantics rather than the functional or dynamic
semantics which has reference to use or utility. Language h essentially practical and
allwords arc practical when we mention words it refers to ideas as well. The concept
of a language which has scientifically developed on the basis of discovering original
roots (dhatits) which give rise to forms of verbs and nouns by prefixes and affixes (even
as recently tried by the discoverers of Baric English) is unfortunately not quite universal
for language is not wholly a scientific manner of cxpnssion (a sanskrili), rather it is a

prakrit (the original) from which the technical words have been connatatively fixed.
In any case it has been well-known that any serious work of inter-communication
must define the terms or words used and these have to he used uniformly. Tlie
language of philosophy has in each climate been more or less fixed end it is here that
one has to make, a cautious approach in any study of phfiosophy not only of ones
When this danger is present even within one geographical
'own but also of others.
group and the same word means difTcrcot thinp to different schools it becomes a very
serious matter when one compares one school with another school and still more when
one sees identities because of somatic similarity alone.
So far about the major which has to be cleared in any study
linguistic difficulty
of comparative philosophy or comparative study of philosophies.
There is another difficulty pointed out by sone serious professors of this subject.
They consider that a proper appraisal of ether philosophies requires a complete under-
standing of the climate and ethno!or and rootivations or goals and this is scretly
possible. Therefore a
mere objective statement of (he tenets of the other scliools of
thought would be advisable without involving ourselves jo comparative estimates. So
one esteemed author has merely placed (he three major world philosophies, Indian,
Western and Chinese, in a volume. Simflarly the India Governmeot Venture on History
of Philosophy Eastern and Western, has been written by Indian writers without any
attempt at comparative estimates. The attempt to steer clear of criticisms of other or
our own philosophical poses might be considered to prudent in the present climate of
misunderstandings and complexes. However it is evident this may be quite safe philoso-
phizing but'will not lead to the realisation of One Philosophy, which is the ideal of a
universal philosophy or of thought itself.

Many Uulhs must mow towards an aU-ombracing One truth. Divergent trends
mustbc seen to fuse into one view of Reality. Thisdoes not and may not mean that
Monism is the idea! of thought itself. The organon of knowledge may be one universal

reason innate in each individual philosopher or seeker but what it understands and
knows may not be One at all.

This leads us to the problem of detcnninjng wljat kind of objects h being knonw
 '
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9\}>XesS3oiude UE5E3 ,ou saop XSoiomoq-uoipunj
jo Xjutiiim* umuj m sS
uuojjoXi!JDn(n!S-X3oiO!quroJjX3oiBOT t_ iWEip uouauioiiaqd siin
juaisiim ajE
qs3n3aoqXqdosoi!qdjasuj9|jtdjB|niiis3Atqojaiiu$sod oq Xi^asuoa Xtui
ij
ajif leniijids pus itoos joj spwa
puu pas uojisiic^ jo s[a31 jd uouaiuuuaqd
aqj uoqaw aw papwojj 'Xitusuinq
jp m ooseaj aqi jo Xvjuuojjun aqi uo si ji sis
pssBq aisadde jj se sjqsqojilui; se 9)inb lou si os|8 aMiEuisjic ist[
aqi 'osie sspniijic
ajqdosORijd pun sa;ti puB 6ja.i3qaqi/jfpouiXii3aj!puipuEmaua3)s ujrS puB qiunoy
pjnoa 5[ooq3S uaqy -pusnaqinj ao xiinsco jaiijooj uaip oj uiaip jqlnBipuc suoiiru
mujasqdQSo[iqdpaujEai Xtui 3u!iiu3ita ao ajcid oi 3 E[i1 luojj Suiiuiui
SiB[oqa9 iBi(] XiaiQi si 'pantiniaop Xiicapoism aiK asaip sssiun aAisnpuoa aq ;ou Xnio
)! mqasnsa b aqXcmseqj. -uo o$pucs4inoi-pcnp|u-a3B 3qiSu!o|iPjauno3j9;u(
isninui JO uonns]uoio9 ajqdosaiiqd put |eini|no (Ojg|e o) aptoj usaq axeq suojjS
-prtuoa JO Xqiiqistod Xut Xipaeq n aiaqi usqw Xqucqina pun
XqeaiqduSoaS jsqio qaca tuojj [(ciB<IasX|ap!wt9)qdosoifqd}?niu!Sjo}uauidoLixp
)U9puIapui (;} 'uoqnidsps 9n(doso(>qd ({) 'uorjcspioico caqdosoiiqd jo s^iiiiqnqojd
oq) uaoq ptq saiqdoso[iqd jo Xpn aAinucdtuo) t jot)0oqs-j}0 at|i jo ouq lUiaisXs
ie^i(iloiO|iqiI uE!pu[ pus :^3iQ qi uaaMjaq sniijtimns Mstq aqi mo pamiod p[
n<>doiopuf luq aqt Xqw uostaj aqi uaaqstqsiqL'SupauipnaadxaunXqpuB taaiid
pldnun iCiM )e punoj aq iqSicu qiui joj sonidosopqd ua||E SuiqaBOJddc u; /iinuinq
oaippid pue a;quinq aq ai $t )| ue Moqy 'uicS paiqnopun ub aq ptnow siqi
-suia^qoid s.jaqio qana osuoiinios mqP!JB|!uif$ ainpitif [saxat X^uo jou Xcut qioq jo
uoiiniapisuoo aiiaqieduiXs puB axipafqo uc put sdnojS ih])0 jo asoq) osp mq saios u)
iqinos pun uoas sxnq siaqdosoiiqdjodnoiSDasoiiiXpio muansLuaiqojdaqx
-aqojS qi jbao i|e aauaiJadxa uauinq u[
jaqiaSoi aSRj Oipapuai aABqqMiiwsaauauadxsjoiqSijoq) ui XqJosunqdjo suiaiqcud
uj auop
oisnq aqj Xpnjs oj Xitssaaau si ji siaq ing -Xqdosoiiqd \csjaAmn n axioxa
snq oauaps sn auits aqj ui uo^iiai jo se j&idoso|!qd axuBiBtliuoD Jo suiaiqojd aqi
im
ssauuouiuioa pun
aanj o\ axcq aw jnqj aiqejixau! suiaos ji ajqjwsqj, pu!:<utui laxo i[b
uaxa
XviESjaAiun B oxnq snoiasuoaon puc snoiMUOO-qnsio ssausnopsuoa meajp aqi
01 U33S aq pjnow ssausnojas
IBijl 88Soj 3UI03 iWOU SAnq OAV 'iBSMAJun puB uouHUOO aq
uaxiS suoijbisam auiin}U( (l 'IKjaxiun pun uoaiiuoa
-UM pauaiqaraq m
uouiuioa pun insjaxiun oq
sq piaow uosutdiuaa puc X8o|euc jo saidpujid aqi
pinoii auiiiosnai jo asoqi oqn og
uouuiioo pun aiqnijuaA aq uiav sutuinq no joj aapaj
jo suuauj jo saunos jaqio
wouq Xjosuas snqj, -Xiiucuinq mj h (nsiaiiun aSpaiwouii
si [oxai pun adoas jnitvaiund e jq
Xq pMuanuuiun jo paicuuutiuoiun uoq sioqw aji uo
-pwiuaoo X|inj aq oi snqi axnq uosnaj
aSpaiMouH ieq) auiuijajap oj sn diaq jqSlin s^L
ouvuvid qaca
iosiaAa[aill-iiuojiuaJOiwJM;unaiapa|*u>u^iil3ujoiuauinJisui jo
.SJ
,B^jaqj3V8uiaaspuBacwKdWJoa2paiwouqjo;u3uiriJiu!<UBXq
oi psjjKKud
'<i %Z
awfliDA nimAnos vxiniv 'ts
 AN iNRODUCTlON TO COMPARATIVE PHILOSOHPY 2$

it is <1 human problem. Knowledge is required to live in it, to adapt ourselves to it,

avoid avoidable risks and suffering. This is the first objective of

intelligently so as to

any attempt to know about our cxteraal world, or Nature or the physical universe.

It involves knowing about ourselves and how far we can adapt ourselves to the
external world and how far that world could be adapted to our needs, and what are
the limits of our knowledge, and the limits of our activity. The practical bias of all
education arises out of this need to know in order to act. Tlic practical utility of

knowledge is something assumed in all efforts to know about the external world or

science. Science is an attempt to know the external world of Nature in its physical
and chemical and biological aspects. It may include all the levels of matter and kinds
of energy. It may study the original constitution of matter and how everything has
evolved out of certain primal elements_ or energy. All this once constituted Natural
philosophy.
The modern studies of the nature of our body and its psychological functions

or behaviour also comes under psychological or'cmpiricistic philosophy.

The basic studies on human behaviour and goals to which it moves are undou*
btedly a larger section of human ideals and herein arises the social context of human
behaviour leading to the ethical problems of right behaviour or. conduct and evolu-
tion of cliaracter and culture. The problems of philosophy in the context of human
relations becomes extremely practical, and the instrument of knowledge in this sphere
of philosophy or the ethical is to be discovered to lie beyond the range of the scienti-
fic physical area. Indeed in the West Immanuel Kant it was be who clearly discerned the

need for a different type of organon of knowledge called the Practical, and following
his footsteps Benedetto Croce developed the Philosophy of the Practical, which stands
for the intuition of the ethical and the practical (utihly). All knowledge is for the
practical or utility but the ethical practical is something different and in India this

organon was known as (/^arnia-Jn^fia and vyavafidra-jndira.

It is the practical bias of alt knowledge or verily its first incentive that has

stamped all knowledge as practically directed lo^va^^is human goafs or endsparHilidr-

ihas of ari/ia-ko;ni7. P/mrma is the right manner of use or the ethical aspect of the

The test of truth has been held by philosophers and scientists to be the practi-
cal verification through utility or use. Sontc philosophers have held that it is not
enough that truth involves or utility, but also the notion of its worka-
verifiability

bility. Not only is a thing what it does but also what it ckiims to do or solve. An

hypothesis is a solution of a problem or rather it is proposed to solve a problem :

this would be true of all hypothesis whether itinvolws a hypothesis regarding the
whole realityor a particular bit or sphere of it or about any particular mode of beha-
viour. The hypothesis then has to be tested by drawing consequences from it anil
testing whether the consequences do follow or noL Sckntitic testing is based on experi-
mental verification and would constitute elements for the determination of
all this
truth about Reality or the particubr. Thus truth involves several tests, (1) the test of
correspondence, (2) the of coherence or non-stlf-contradicloriness between the
lest

several propositions about the same pbenomcnoit, (3) the test of vyavahara or utility
and lastly (4) the test of being able to solve the problems of practical conduct. And a
paujcms SI XuoimsH PIJOAV icin wi siauj jmo| ar,, ni uoiivd.j.ui!d snaidn? sui
wirnduiamro wauijo XlMomtjaiiiJoiBiajd.
a loi'spuioijp uiopi,^
a,mm^
*! "O s.o.m:o.M;
ofZ T
OJ auijjjjjx vipixv 10 nApi.i.y,vJo
osiB gSpaiAouf js^oi am disii Xcm Dunuf
4 u.S
BJBJ losjsouQiovpiA plow
ia -si|doso|!4d JismU Liapunoi au j sq omsmssi w
psuiiciD suujiBzutAp JO sajnjjna juaptm
]|
asuas tnu ui ti Jim
JCT30S pop
u -iiiw sa Xioism
iBiJi!jjai lao uo luaii woim papadna aq itui pjm Jiii lo uamasi islti
am iuops!A\ JO jdMuoo ituiSuo itui 3|q Ja3 uoa aw -jaAtwon Ji -ooi uoiSiiai
puTt AH0[0ip^sJ puB soiJijod puBsanjia pwsaauajas
aiji jo sapapiouH a^ o
^l9uww
AijEug poB jsju IB Xtsnonasiujojd pasnimq seqtuopstM pJuw
aip lai '/invay jo
3;ot[W aiji
mfw /uouuEtj 18 3(1 suo aifciu jcnj s3n|BA luspuaMueiiaiiijoiuaujiijinj
puB asjiacjd
am aoo siuej2 lioinnA mi'll W'|jjom''JH*aH3njam'5m!HW93pai
A\ou)| oiBuijijii isqi
JO juautuieiiK am o PM!u3oj aq pinoaiuopsiAV qSnoqi
-mnpuc aaoaijadiajouaXci [ijaAas uiojj s3pai
MOUJ( JO sjiq snj S]33 oqAA utut fjVBmKi mioj uirSiBuiB iinaijjip AjjaidBiujojoi
maos asaqi pv 'sapnimc snoiSipi aqi UMa uuiapuoa saoDatiadxa ib3 {)sXui aqi /Cpcpiuis
'^asniij puG aiisiGopaq ib {ssiSojotq aqi jo aiaqdi a|oqw Mp uuiapuoa uaxa >i
juauiooi puB qijow ou jo ajc squuj iut|d jaao| aq) im aSin uaAa puc suoiianpiA jo
pujx luajajqp 8 spuBuiap uQiS{{a^ -) oi UBui joj Xicssaaan put jeai ajoui Kipunejoid
oq OJ p]jq ajB /am sMjaqiiaASjq p!1 P** japi *! m""! J!**!! ismSui
sjjBaj30 SuTWouq joj qaaoidde juajajjip z Somaau Xjpaiqnopun aiB jaqdosouqd janp
jATpui aqi OJ aSuaiiBqa aqjsj jcm ssauiquowaiJupiV! sit pUB'Xjiin^juapuaatuui
0 JO amjjdas aqx, -ssiqia laiiosiad puB tnaoj jo aiaqd? >m puoXaq udab i(itBuuou us
Xjaioos puB unjetd qiiw Xuouutq Soipiqe jo asuas e luoij Samoa jiiqi ssauiddeq snou
luiu] JSAB aqj puB sSuiAjijt jmo( ||e uojj paqanap jaaj 01 /ipcdca pus ^iiuiiuBnba
:jGuii| uc 1'^) >1 i3 J^linq^JOd JO ^cpuoq tuojj uiopauj n anpA qaiis
-uoiniauiip wau a)<0 qijAS paqaiiua sauioaaq qjiuj
puu m>U| JO jsaj 0 SB Samoa sanpu tvijijids aijj jo ssauajBAAC mns 'saiJlIBjjuajod
gji JO iajaAJiap pus sojiiijqissod s.amjBtq jo jojcaia b jnq unjBM jo ainjuajo s /piaiu
joujjanuiq SJ3Aoas|p jenpiAiput ai|] jo sassaj9<ud uoiiBJiiiAia so aSiaiua ^juo sanpA
qang -^jpedBa pjjuoui IBIJa ^poq jeaisJCiid s.ouo daaq oj ssaijjs auo qajuw
puc flu'qB
Xq sanpA 3i|j sc juGiJodiui qanuj av u? jmds se ainiBU uciuciq jO sacjcA aqj, 'ji jnd
p[noA\ jaauodg JJaqiaH s ppow jaajjad oi uoijvidcpv jaajjad juaSiuajui pajapisuoa
auiaqjo aiqcdua aq oj SB osiaa qaasu; pc oj Xji|iqB aqj sspcpui uiopsi/ft -(tiqdos)
luopsiAJ JO aAOj aijj oq jouuca naijowd aqj apniaui jou Mop jcqj Xqdosoiuid aqj_
3uo|E *ji JO )jcJ auo JO JOU puB Xuicajj jo pbj b si paapui
siqi puB oaijbjSoju! puu oApippc si jca^oioipiCsd
puc paiSopiq Xiouiaj*! paiSoj
JoqaXsd puB iBo|3o|0!q oqi ut sc uaAa jiosji sagtiw pJlpo ^uiaq Xpucjsuoa si
puc asuuqa siqj SuioSjapun ^ XjiiEay uaua 'SRl Xjuo joh aauaudMqSnojqj Sui
-jciniutiMC XiicoiuJuuXp luq Mjcjsiro si adpajwoux aqj
's^pajwouq Suipaaaans Xjjpoiu
suiaijcd Sui^uEqa siu
saSpaimoun snouaia -aapainvoujf amuapiw pus wniina jo
SuiqjXue jo ainjcu aqj jo uopd
Xq pijipoui Xjjucjsuoa mq aiospiA b se inajsXs oqi jo
lasap DiiBjsjuauEUJJodjcmJW* 9*1! qinii -smi'il lo suopisodoid ajuud
puc suouipuoa icjusui
-ojddc jiiajaijip SuiijCjua suoijBjdBpB puc sqvsnuS icupiAipui
pasodojil aq Xcm jsaj laijunj pijs
-uo^fAuajo XuifqMffutrip jui-jiwoi sq iuipjsSaj
5lwnof. aifiJAnos VAacj-V ts 'aa of
 AK iNtftoOUCrtON TO COltPARATlVn PHILOSOPHY 31

maintained. FurlUcr that wisdom too requires its vigilant exercise and therefore

is dynamic and self-supporting and self-verifying in the lives of one and all who aspire

for that Ultimate Realisation of Reality.

Therefore, philosophy or love of xvisdom is a life of the utmost spiritual being,
which transcends the little philosophies of the logical or the rational, or the empirical
and the pragmatic or the utilitarian which oonlioes its knowledge to the upkeep and
maintenance of the physical body and its appetites. Kor is it to be confined to the fife
of the body in terms of the world which caters to the upkeep of it or the society of
similarly materialistic souls however socialised in tlus sense of trying to live in commu-
nity in terms of the basic economic wants or hedonistic wants so nicely idealised by
eudomonism by Aristotle and even the stoics and the epicureans in the Greek world
and Roman world, and in India by the gracious brahaspatyas or Carvakas or lokaya-
tikas of all levels of scliool philosophies, in India and elsewhere. The concept of
moderation or the golden mean or the sophrosyne is a Way of revealing the basic
oneness of the Real which exhibits itself in Matter and the Spirit, in the temporal
and the eternal, in the mortal and the immortal. Philosophical wisdom ultimately in
terms of this world lieswhat was pcihaps maJly meant by the middle
in moderation or
path (niadhyamika) avoiding the extremes or as it vras also expressed smaira or
equilibrium of the qualities in Nature.
All these fertile concepts have to be studied iu the history of thought and etliios,

religion and spirituality (mysticism).

The tendency to separate these areas of thinking and Isolated study of these
has led to extraordinary paradoxes in philosophy. Metaphysics has been made separate
from logic, the logic of science has been isolated
from the logic of deduction, and
these have been isolated front the of economics and ethics and politics or social
fields

sciences, and the religious aod mystical have been isolated if not insulated from the
former and thus multi-furcation of an integral wisdom has taken place. No wonder
the special training in one area bars him from other disciplines. In facts discipline
has also lost its meaning. Symbolic treatment no better than mythological treatment

is bound to be confusing if not self-defeating and barren. Fertile ideas unfortunately

become barren in the hands of modern philosophers whose only discipline consists in
cleverness and ingenuity which lacks the quality of genius.
All this might well be difTicult to surmount in any exposition of comparative
philosophy, but they have to be faced whh dedication to arrive at that integral philo-
sophy of man by which he can live and move and have his being in the Reality that
has lifted itself beyond the clouds of understanding and illusion.

Rercreiicw;

P.T. Raju, Jntfcduciion lo Comparoffw PAitosopby, University of Houston.

Mason Oursell, Comparolii'C Pklhsop/iy, Kcgan Paul Trent
Rene Guenon, Inlrocfitcliort to Hindu Doctrines, Luzac London.
Moniet Williams, Hinduism.
Paul Dcusson Outline oj Metaphysics and Vedanta.
:
iaijl ^irmiuB Hit-* Xam HJiq* ii wcajkl.*
aitipiouii iumninjL saij jwui 3 Kogi siojia '(WliJ) Jit|?
-saiujj us Xq ONnHUVJy3 5a!W?s-I(1Jll*u!lujii?tMiiq^Ha.ai^ij
sinpauimi ut Uouoiiujiis SutMojoj Xquoepwbtnii mcauaq \>ol wujtf
u3(i)di3 JO Xiidofoiiqd ai() fi ai3o( *,lux 'uuolsiw 30 u^iSw^
5]! uj pspunoj aq o| ^ijdqinod atoi{ a9p;iMui{taidMuo)'jcftp3Q:];,|
sataiu ai{ s3piwDu:( <q puy i mou:^ t =*! -<4<low^q<J jo uotitaab iu<j
-ijqSnoq) S!Hjoa(iiMqi!$3iii(uy{!p|caoj Am pusuuirf jo Ai'isuoi
jad [eatiidofoiiqd aioqw, aqi UMaqaq XiuGiIajMip aqijo usmb ui j -{uiMPipuiuua
pue$a!au9is{{u03u;Miii]i3idJXljo|MisX)u!tuiqsui(iQ>a;d I
:tqsk pjj 'aui^adint
A[aiiu<jU! [BUiSjiO 43^ '3|Aii joistnui c ^ Muitf uiD[p^ ucqi M4dciw;ii(J Suiuuni}
puc suciunq aioiu ou a^aqi 'uiiq 8ut)3ui vi pcq mSuap jo Aiifuatui sqi paysj
|
lou ^p juooaau /bp Am pus .unq uoivsuiwm Ou jo 4\iu}j aqv aveuoiuod
ojdsjpsf Modaj Aut jo Aiumq siu, -uunp uic|||!^ m isuyed luasajd A^|
'SS33(Ud |S31133l1ip
0 St Surpuciuapun iMiqdMornjd Xwta tuoqs 01 -puttaw tsq suo jsq* Aq psqaiiua
_pu(xlMJisnui8uoU3ili:3unumjuMO$.juo oj paiucsj stq suo jtq* stcijdojdds
jSRUt suo uqqj tujiq Ql U'J * auosiuos puntJspun oi jspio oj
wjvw tyiratni-
-uj iMq^J ujpjjttv/wn
//
illP sun sap aiH'^osomd a*"*"
jusaut<^3 jos'poa.,
s
 WnUAM JAMES RADICAL EMflRlClSM 33

arc biologically awake, they are spiritually as if they were asleep; as Hegel puts it: "the
experience of the waking natural soul is the sleep of the spirit. Hegel also calls this,

like James : a magic life, which maintains itself fay appropriating other forms of life
to sustain its own; physically this appears as eating. drlnJdng and sleeping, in which
the natural soul (Hegels term) is tired of being engaged in the life of others and
egotistically refuses contact. Both for Hegel and James trances, hypnosis and tefcpathy
are vestiges of magic life in maturity. In immediate experience there is no world yet,

but only an immediate environment. Particular events stand in the center of attention,
surrounded by vague fringes. They interact. To be active is to be alive. All things

interact among themselves and in reference to the one who is immediately involved
and aware of them. They sometimes coalesce, unite, confuse, sometimes they separate,
divide, get out of sight. Both conjunctive and disjunctive relations are equally experi-
enced; discontinuity is just as real as continuity. My immediate consciousness is not
yours, but on the other hand one state of consctousncis may continuously pass into
anothen as when I think of a place to be reached and then arrive there.
Things or events as immediately experienced (er/ebl) arc both relative among
themselves as well as subjective with reference to the capacities and organs of the
experient : as there are no colours or tones without seeing and hearing them.
As subjective immediate expcrtcoce is no (ess real than are (he events that are
immediately experienced. This physical room in which I find myself is at the same time
my present field of awareness.
This action and reaction, this relative and subjective life of r/ehn/r is at the
same time filled with affectionate values. We live in an affective continuum: and in an
affective discontinuum when we are frustrated, disappointed and expectations leave us
in the lurch. The raw unverbalized life of the natural soul is a flux of unexpected "set

of eaches, which are entirely beyond any scientific-rational prediction or control.

Physical, mental, moral accidents break equilibriums. Tlie cruelty of the universe
is shocking to morality and upsets religious altitudes. "Of no special system of good
attained docs the universe recognize the value as sacred. This dogging of everything by
Its negative, this perpetual undoing and moving on to something future, whicli shall
supercede the present, this is the Hcgoliao vision of the essential provisionality and

unreality of everything empirical and finite. This is accurate-*

Reason and its "absolute through and through is too clean for (he vast, slow-
breathing, unconscious cosmos, with its dread abysses and its unknown tides.*
Perhaps the most famous expression of James feeling of immediate experience is
the following

If you should liken the universe of absolute idealism to an aquarium, a crystal

globe in which goldfish are swimming, you would have to compare the universe
to something more like one of those dried human heads with which tlic Dyaks
of Borneo deck their lodges. The skull forms a solid nucleus ; but innumerable

James, A J/uraUsde Um-erse, (Longmans, Green A Cb., New York, New Impression. 1923),
p. 31.
JWrf..p.89.
James, {n Jiadleal Enwlridsm, (LODEioaoi, Green & Co., New York, Second Ediltan
1922). p. 277,
uoisjsAuoa oi itjiuiis
am si jj tnmuduia (Rpu *ri{ o; turn pj( see,
B
uoisjuuoa
uoiiBipsui saort!]3, 5 o$iB taujtf ui * aiMfi moqn Su.^^s puv
,, ^3{He3iutnfXqp33ua43 A'nunsuoa
m ,35MA!un a^v DO luspuadap XjsmiosqB pua
aqt ui ajE 2f\ sftj aq ;
saiisodJo ]BsiaAtun pii itquaMa Supepi pue
SuiqsinSuiisip ui \B3iiMicip
ajE suojlajyaj
[BDiqd0S0(iqil uao nq ici|| MEeun aiojaisqi
gj pa 'Suti^uiqi-iaatqo
aynuaiasjo uosgaj aqi inw uihebj
ayjiu^ {[snoaucjn sh siuauiSpnf'aijriujiM
iau sosusjjadM aigrpaiuuii
nqinu U8 qDiqm'uofiMuai L!Jicip puc pxnqdosouqd
sit
JO uo3aiB5sasn aq 'suo^b^m ictuoiui
qiin p|joAv icniijids,. aqi ov iSBUuoi
u; SU0 [iB[aj [Eujaiva
sq qiim (eaigXqd^ aqt jnoqa s^sads wj uaq^^
'a3pa|Mouq sijiiuaias tpuj;| puu gauyap qaiqu
a|d!aii[id ibibioj pus (SMaAiun s jnq (snK|a|ja) ajoapidxa aicipammi bo ;ou jjasq
*! f>B0Eid aijugap 9 ti| ;uaiia<]xa avuos auiq aiiuyap anos ic paauauadga aq uca
^
wqA\ idaaxa laej e ss paiquipe s( SumlOM,, : oVpaiMoaq sijiiuwas qs jo aidiaujjd aqj,
aauaiaadsa aiMpsuiui gi is |taj ss jsnf si piiOA Miwafqo ub equj juauiuojiAua jo ssau
MoiJBU ai|i qtnojqi sqeaiq qaii|M asuauadira atjiiuacn jsqi iiiiopB ai; 'sassep ipm jo
si(i JO }UB(u<3aje ui puBsausp iBniJaauoaiiaqijo saaquiaui ts iqSnoin an ssaua
iisdva joinaiiicd aiaqM aauauadxa aijiiuajas (euoqej aqi qiiAs aauMiadsa ajaipamuii
siq lasoddo lauic; S[d puoaas aqi u] 'Xafpcjg'a si ouisu Koq 'amApja<qaaiq
s{isj[9ua]|tiB JO uoipaTai siq qSnojqi paieipaiu si uigpujduia leatpti s]q JiasuijM
samT(si( jauqaaj ut ..inaS'quua,, aqiuo Xcssastq ug ^gipiidxa isoui SMoqs sauioi
t'ajniBM JO ajit snogasuo^ns aigi jo mo psAgoAa ssq ig letgi ut paietpaut sg gi ^gpuoaag
,\/)jlvuojiu JO sujjoj,, aiiaqisae put iJoui isnoiiBX poiTgpaiu aqi luojj papsimv
SI It }n(i ojBggwmujg Xguo lou si ig isjg : %i.u\ oi m jsqi si ij i pajaipaui osgs lou
..aauaiiadxa ajsipaiuiui,, sj nuugisanb icagigio auios o) tun) mou i pauaisig auiAEH
^soqaug,, au susd sq jo auo asiaAiufi
aqi UI pawEs io /[oh aqijo jMdsraqisi ..voo^uB3JaH
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agduiBxo joj so 'xaqious jo ssoj aqi aq osge jCbui auo jo sscosns aqi )Bq) qans aiisiiBingd
am Xsqi puE !
auioaino paaiUEjnna on qigin sqsu aiB signsind-angaA asuqi 'PEJaiu?
X^aqg qagigAv qig/a siuaiuuwiAua jgaqv m ajuajajjgp JuiqEui ajiug aio qagqAt 'sjtnsind
angEAjoXiaiiEAB sggBWa ..losiueuinjirt SuguESUJ wubs aigi lOAoa saiii) qioq )na
'..lusiuBiunH,, oj sijiqs ..uisogigdma gB3gpe)i agii) aqi zpooq sqi jo ^ppra aqi u|
.-jaq)ouE auo o) agqBi^euigun puc lUEAaiaur puE gqSis jo gno liad
uoiuiDoajosnqanu b ug if 'anjisg 'SuiiEuniuai
isout uiaqi joj inq uoiidaoiad
'jaqjauB atto tpiAi op
o(3ucp puB lEQu sinoK puB saauaixadxa iCui os uoAg
0) auiqiou OAtq 0) luaas
ig'uiaicutuuajXaqUBq) aABS puB ig uiojj aiSuEf) puB
spaa) sSwsis ssAEsg ssaqmaj
lEoy tiojiduasop itjanajosaDipuaddBOSOOipno
aHnTO^^iisanfiosvAmv'TBiia H
 WbXlAM JAMES RADICAL EMPIRICISM 35

of Augustine, who asks in his Confessions (book VIII, eh. 55) why he should be
the
ashamed to follow the example of the uncultured in accepting piety. Similar also is
conversion of Tolstoy, described by James in the Varieties of Religions Experience:
Tolstoy tlircw away his intellectual and artistic life to become a simple farmer. James
speaks in a similar vein of the "bankruplty of the intellect to let life in, and com*
pares this to Luther's religion of the cross.*
Sometimes James seems to be aware of the non-immediacy of immediate experi-
ence, as when he says: "Concepts arc as real in the realm which they inhabit as the
changing things of sense arc in the realm of space.** Or : Direct acquaintance and
conceptual knowledge are complementary.* Here he thinks dialectically according to
the logic of philosophical reflection. Universal opposites define each other by each not
being what its complementary other is. But how does that jibe with the following
statement: For my own part I have finally compelled myself to give up the logic,
fairly, squarely, irrevocably,*- ? I ask : which logic" ? The logic of scientific intellect
'
(Vcrsland), or the logic of dialectical self-knowledge of philosophy ? I would like to
quote another sentence of his against himself : The empiricists use logic against the
absolute, but refuse to use it against finite experiences.**
Anyone wlio disregards logic should quit writing philosophical books wbicb
intend to be true and not false and take to football instead.

II

So far have followed Janies' text and have noticed several inconsistencies and self-
I

contradictions ; what Hegel calls imoiancni criticism. I now turn to the mort difficult
task of evaluating James as philosopher. I shall not preface this with the
pseudo-
modest and redundant remark that such an evaluation must be in terms of
what I
understand by philosophy. That self-evident and unavoidable. A physician
is not'
expected to say : According to my subjective opinion this is a case of shingles. It
is a
case of shingles ; and James is a ease of empiricbm.
As empiricist is perfectly Justified in saying : According to my point of view,
a
philosophy is nothing but an expression of moods and feelings, of
healthy or sick 'of
tenderminded and toughminded souls. The strength of James is his
scientific descrip-
tion of states and phases of consciousness ; his psychological strength
is at the same
time his philosophical weakness : p^hologism is not philosophy.
I dont recall a single passage which would show an understanding of what
is
meant by the concept in classical philosophy and logic.
Concepts are objective
contents (Sachvcrhaltc), thought in their universal validity fGcltung)
CacaUtKcii
instances. They are known in philosophical reflection on them. It
is through
concepts
and not only percepts that realhy becomes articulate. The world of perception is
a concept of philosophy.
1 shall confine my critical remarks to two objections. The first is : his radical

9. James, A Plurolisih Unhvrse, p. 3t7. \0. James, VarUlkt of Religious Experience

11. James. A Pluralisltc Unnvrse, p, 57. P.S7.
'

\2. Ibid., p, 212,

13. IbbL,p.2n.
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'
aioiixs
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jou SI 3 SJ 3 MUTI sijsjpjnid
awnoA uiJtKvaos Via^iv ts -aa pj
 WILUAM JAfrcs RADICAL BIPIRiaSM 37

order of reality; as an empirical scientist represents an aspect of given experiences

which he has isolated; as a statesman represents a legal order ; as an artist dedicates
himself to beauty which he actualizes in various arts ; as religious faith orients itself in

the holy a being which cannot be but goodwhich in turn is the founding principle
of his religious life. God is the mythical personification of the absoluteness of Being.
We need an ontological anthropology : in man reality becomes systematically articulate
and aware of itself.

CoDCloSiOD

The Greeks are and remain the founders oi Philosophia Pereunis, because they did not
only think in order to live more comfortably or draw property lines more properly,
but they also lived in order to think to serve truth in all manifestations of cultural life.
Platos Idea of the unconditional whole (anhypotheton) is the absolute
standard, in the light of which all levels of knowledge and of insight in all reals of
values are justly given their due in their limitations. They are relative approximations
and involve contradictions in that lo'ver levels rebel against higher levels of insight. The
realms of values are dialectically contrary as well as complimentary. His focus of all
values is the soul. It is a political one. It incarnates itself in the individual. It builds
the
organs, enabling conununlcatlon with others. That is the soul's external politics, Inter-
nally it preserves its unity and integrity In the flux of vitality (Government). Because
Platos identity Is not naked, but is the identity of that which is not identical or
different. Thus it is clothed. The same soul also embodies itself in the state, the Palis,
where the same functions of values which are in the individual become visible on a
greater scale in the economic, legal and moral institutions of the whole. Every individual
is the Palis in miniature, and the Palis is the individual soul writ large and therefore
more easily discernible. This correlation is the basts for intersubjective oommunicafioii,
which cannot be understood if one starts from the isolated individual, as James is
trying to do. The soul is the dialectical unity ofl/mc, I/wc.
Aristotles One Being kinds and in all individual beings is logically
in all its

necessary and ontologically the ground of everything whatsoever. (I disregard

here his
and extramundane "God, the darling of scholasticism.)
dualistic
Tothink reality as a whole world itself, is the universal and unique
task of
philosophy, which no other discipline can replace least of all logistics.
It is always
loycal reflection or sclf-knostdcdge, regardless of whether the
dialectical
content of
this selfknowledgc be or rational in the sense of formal logic, or
scientific
non-rational
or irrational and negative. Nonbeing is no less real than being
to mention Plato
again. The concrete whole of reality is a. whole of opposites
it is not an
obiect :

scientific object-thinking is only one of those opposites within

iL Reality is dialectical
because it posits, cancels and contains all aj^ioaclies to it within itself.
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ajftM ^sijx 'luain pa\|Mai Xjduiii Xsiu, -suijm pu
ptiuiutijtn^ >l^ "icjisniisup^
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9
 REVELATION : TO MEANING, ftODES AND POLARITY 39

unquestionable authority in different religions and religious traditions. They 'consti-

tute thesupreme source of religious knowledge.
But there are other modes of revelation as well. I propose to discus.s here only
one other important form of revelation which is known as intuition. It is a direct
and immediate experience of livara, the Supreme Being or the Supreme Reality. It
may also be characterized as the diiccl experience of self, atman, purusa or of

nirvSna. From this point of view, revelation may be understood as the direct manife-
tation or experience of the transcendent reali^- This experience is attained by a yogi

in the state of samadhi. But saniddhi is possible only if the individual attains comp-
lete 'freedom from the distractions of mind. It is a widespread belief in the Indian
religious or yogic traditions that mind can he completely silenced. Different methods

are prescribed for the attainment of this supreme state. But one important fact that
has to be noted in this connection is that each yoga prescribed a rigorous moral and
spiritual discipline for one who aspires to attain samadlii and to have a direct experi-

ence of the Divine. It has always been conceived as a rare achievement. Though
theoretically speaking, it is open to all, yet it is actually attained
only by the very
few. The state has been conceived in the Indian religious tradition,
of samSdhl, as, it

cannot be attained by the use of narcotics, or any other artificial means. It is also
not the result of any mental abnormality or disorder. Thus samSdhi has to be clearly
distinguished from that kind of trance which is brought about by any artificial means

or occurs due to disorders in the nervous system. The state of sompdhi can bo attain-
ed by man by his own sustained efforts or by a single-minded devotion to God and
by His grace. But the perfect control of senses and mind, cultivation of detachment
are its prerequisites. Thus ia the state of meditation or samadhi, man has an immed-
iate experience or intuition of the Divine. In the other great religions also we have (he
traditions of mystics. They arc supposed to have direct experience or revelation of God.
While the ordinary man enjoys a living experience of God by believing in Him and
having an unshakable faith in Him. the mystic or the yogi has a direct vision of Him
and enjoys union with Him. A mystic is one who is detached from the world and i.s
united with God. A true mystic who enjoys direct vision of God in the state of deep
meditation or samadhi can be dearly distinguished from a pseudo-mystic who only
pretends to have the vision of God. A pseudo-mystic necessarily lacks the quality of
detachment. The world inevitably slicks to him. But a true mystic even while be lives
in the world remains above it. He knows that he simply is in the world but he is not
of the world.
has been taken in the different religiou.s traditions
Intuition or mystic experience
as an extremely important Corra of levelatum. The srwti (scripture) and Intuition ace
both revelation. Tlie Sruti imparls toman the knowledge of the Divine ; intuition
enableshim to have a direct vision of Him. TTirough Sruti, man hears about God;
through intuition, he sees Him, has direct and immediate experience of Him. It is
only after iravana (hearing) that manana (reflection} and nldidliyasana (contemplation)
can take place. Unless one receives the divine word of the Sruti from an enlightened
teacher and ascertain real meaning in respect of Brahman one cannot embark on
its

the path of reflection and meditation. ButXor Sruti, man would never have been aware
of the Divine Being and of his higher destiny. Ar4 in the absence of this saving know-
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 REVTLMION ; ns JffiANlNG, MODES AND POLARITY 4!

who do not admit the possibility of the descent of God in history and even consider
this belief as blasphemous. Hinduism and Christianity also differ in some fundamental
respects in their conception of the nature and role of Avaiara and Incarnation. The
crucifixion and resurrection of Christ constitutes the very foundation of Christianity
as it symbolizes his complete conquest of evil and death. It is supposed to give peren-
nial hope to man that if he follows the way of Christ, he is destined to conquer evil
and death. But the phenomenon of resurrection of Christ may be explained quite diff-
erently, say by the specialists in psychical research. The belief in resurrection which
occupies a place of great importance in' some world-religions is not shared by Indian
religions. Thus the xvorld-religions have serious and fundamental differences in respect
of their beliefs in revelation and the revelatory phenomena. Each great religion is

based on its own revelation. It explains the various phenomena of revelation in its

own way. There is no doctrine, fact or event which is or which can be universally
regarded as revelatory. It cannot be taken as absolutely objective and unconditional.
Thus every revelation or revelatory phenomenon is fraught with subjectivity.
It is always a revelation for a certain class or category of believers. It necessarily

involves a polarity, the polarity between the content of revelation and the subject
who receives It or experiences it. The subject not only receives revelation but he also
interprets it and makes his own contribution to it. Man receives revelation under the
conditions of his own existence. Everyone, whether he happens to be a seer, a pro-
phet or a mystic, is conditioned in some way or the other by finitude. He is also
conditioned by his tradition, culture, language, environment, education and so on.
So every revelation is received by man under these oenditions asd it necessarily
undergoes luodification and even distortion. It b interpreted by man in accordance
with the conditions of his own existence. It applies to every revelation whether it is

given through the word or event or mystic experieoce. Thus every revelation becomes
a conditioned revelation. It is always conditioned by mans existential situation. This
fact introduces an element of subjcclirity and relativity in every revelation.
Revelations differ from each other not only in respect of their form but also
in respect of their content. They are expressed through different languages, idioms,
symbols, etc., and different myths and sron'es are associated with them. These consti-

tute the form of revelation. But every revelation possesses a content which expresses
itself through these forms or is dothed in them. Tlic content is not always the same

for every revelation. The-<on1eni of revelation is constituted of the truths that it

embodies or reveals. These truths are not necessarily common to ah revelations. There
are some truths e,g., some moral values, the idea of holiness, the idea of liberation,
eta, which form the content of every revelation. But there are -other important and
/cfodr/neiWdi' nHrAafr tav itai by'ofihrr reveihribns. Wc imrf
some radical difference bclneen tlie contents of the Fedj and the Bible. This is equ-
ally true of other scriptures as well.
But it docs not mean that all revelations lematn always in a state of conflict and
tension with each other and there is do lUKting ground between them. Inspite of

their divergences, they also conrei^on some point and that is the transcendent
reality itself. It constitutes the ultimate content of every revelation. Every revelation
ultimately serves as a pointer to it The moment it tries to apprehend it or embody
 'suoi3![9a
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qjnji auisidns aqi sanijjsuoa spu, noT|^%ai psunqpuDaun uc ]ou si pauoi|ipuo3un
aq) jO uoiic^SAai aqj, 'psuoiqpuoa /({uenasau a uoiiniSAu sq mg -pauoiiipuoaun puu
sjaiosqe s; ^)!]C8H )uapU33$urj] aq) jo aiuaidns sqj, -pauoiiipuoa siaS q spjDA\ ui q
aismoA aituAnos VAaaiv ts 'aa jp
 7

Aristotles Unity of Sensation As

A Response To Plato

Aristotle must always be interpreted a$ clarifying, reforming, systematizing, .and

extending the iosiglits of bis great master. This is particularly true in his analysis of
sensation. Whereas for Plato the scosc world is a cave from which wc must escape in
order to get to the light of knowledge, for Aristotle sensation is the solid liaso upon
which memory, experience, and science are erected. Tlterefore it is not surprising
art,

that Aristotle devotes far more attention to problems of sensation than does Plato,
Indeed Plato docs not even indicate that he has a theory of sensation. In the
Theaetetus, after referring to the unsophisticated who believe that nothing is real save
that which they are able to grasp with their hands. Plato has Socrates say that he will
now introduce young Theaetetus to a much more refined and subtle^ theory of
sensation. The hypothesis that this theory is Plato's is adequately supported by his
reference to aspects of it in other dialogues. In typical western manner Plato uses sight
as his example of sensation, assuming that what is (rue about sight is mutatis mutandis
applicable to the other senses. The key statement is this ; . .as the vision from the
eyes and the whiteness from the thing ibal joins in giving birth to the color pass in the
space between, the eye becomes filled with insion, and now sees, and becomes, not
vision,but a seeing eye ; while the other parent of the color is saturated with whiteness
and becomes, on its side, not whiteness, but a white thing.* Plato, recal'ing his
training under Cratylus, locates sensation in a world in which nothing is but is always
becoming, nothing is good but is always becoming food, and nothing is beautiful but
is always becoming beautiful.* Color comes to be from two parents (1) the becoming :

eye which is also called both the patient*** and that which has the power of being
acted upon and (2) the becoming object* which is also called both the agent"* and

1.156 A. 5. 157 A.

2.156B. .156A.
3. 157D. 7. 157B.
A. 157 B. 8. IS7 A.
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jo uiesiis sqi simuj a^a
asEds sqi ui puB
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ownOA awaivnos VAimv
 ARlfTOTLE's UNiry OF SOSAflON AS A ftESfONSfe TO PLATO 45

It is a problem whether touch is a single sense or a group of senses.

Aristotle in his conception of inddental objects of sense is distinguishing the

object of sense qua sensed and the object of sense qua interpreted, but his four
illustrations cloud the distinction, One illustration* is that of seeing a white object
which is the son of Diarcs. Aristotle here seems to be saying that we sec a white
object, yet we indicate that what we are seeing is tlw son of Diarcs. Tliis we do because
we were expecting to see him at this lime and place. At first we see the object directly

as white and incidentally as the son of Diares, but presumably as we approach the
object we see it of Diares. The second illustration in Aristotles owu
directly as tl c son
words is the perception of Cleons son, where we perceive him not as Cleons son
but as white, and the white thing which we really perceive happens to be Cleons
son." In this case we see a while object, and we do not while seeing it identify it as
Cleons son. Later we arc informed that the white object we saw was Cleon's son. It
may be that we liave never met Cleons son, or we may not even have known that
Cleon had a son. In this illustration the incidental object of sense may never be
perceived as an object of sense, i.e., we did not know this was Cleons son when we
saw the wliite object and we never happen to see Cleons son after we ate told Cleon
has a son and that the white object we once saw was indeed Cleons son. His third
illustration is a passing remark that we might perceive what is sweet by vision. This
he says is due to the fact that, although we sense sweetness by taste and whiteness by
color, when sweet and white commonly meet in one sensed object we are aware of
both contemporaneously. This is a confusing statement, perliaps because of the word
contemporaneously. There surely must be a time lag between seeing the white object
and inferring that it is a sweet object. Die fererth illustration** is a variation of the
third. We have because of past experiences come to associate the bitterness of bile with
a certain shade of yellow. Thus whenever we sec this shade of yellow we tend to
suppose that the object so colored is also bitter. Thb identifying of bitterness and
yellowness isnot the act of the sense of sight nor of the sense of taste. It is, says
Aristotle, a "belier' the belief that if a thing is yellow it b bile." But beliefs are not
sensed ! This illusion of sense is based upon sensation, memory, and experience. This
belief ought to be linked with what Aristotle has to say about the man of experience
in the opening sentences of the Metaphysics. This illustration is ideally suited to lead
into discussion of the third kind of sense objects-
In special sensation there is a one-to-one relationship of sctj.se oigan and sense
of object, and in incidental sensation there is a one-to-two relationship. The third form
of sensation is one in which there is a iwo-to-one relationship of sense oigans and sense

object, j,c., it is a form of sensation in which two or more sense organs JBay scn.se the
same sense object. In other words, whereas incideata] sensations do not depend upon
any one sense object, common sensations do not depend upon any one sense organ. In
several places in his works Aristotle lists the seose objects common to the senses. The
lists are not always the same, c.g., movement, rest, figure, magnitude, movement,

19.2bl9. 22.425 a22.

20.418a20-22. 23.42Sa32b2.
21. 425 a 26. 24. 418 a 18.
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 AKi?rOTLE's UNITY OF SEI6AliON AS A RESPONSE TO RaTO 47

Sensorium belonging to nil the sense organs. Now, it has been definitely settled
already in anotherwork that sense-perception in animals originates in the same part of
the organism in which movement originates Hiis in sanguineous animals is the
region of the hcart.'=* it is the repon of the heart that constitutes tlie sensory
. .

center.^* the heart ... is the principle of life and the source of all motion and
. .

sensation. Similar statements are found in De Partlbus Animalhint 647 a 25 and De

Molu Animalliim 702 b 21. In identifying the heart as the primary organ of sensation
Aristotle is correct in that all sensation depends upon life, and life depends upon the
functioning of the heart. To call attention to the fact that he often refers to the locus

of common sensibility as the region of the heart does not bail Aristotle out of an
absurd physiology, but this does call attention to Aristotles teleological mode of
reasoning. The central position of the heart in the body and its protecting rib cage
suggests to Aristotle that very important functions take place in thisarea, and what

ismore important in the life of man than sensation which is the foundation of all art
and science ? Such is his thinking when he approaches sensation physiologically, but
when he approaches it in terms of his functional behaviorism, he falls into no such
speculation, treating common sensibility instead as a functioning of each specific
sense in a manner which can only be described as common.
The word aistlmis serves double duty for Aristotle : it is used for both sensation
and perception, i.e., for that which results from the use of our senses and also for the

identification which follows sensation. For example, we may be said to sense heat and
light, end we may be said to perceire the sun. The special objects are the objects of
bare sensation, and about them we do not err says Aristotle. The incidental objects arc
perceptions, i.e., they arc formed by judging upon the bare sensations. Dut while the
distinction between special scnsibles and incidental sensibles is based on the distinction
between sensation and perception, the distinction between specific sensibles and
common sensibles is based on the distinction between an individual idion relation-
ship and a common {koinon) relationship.
Plato, as wc have noted, presents the view that sensation consists in an inter-
action between that which comes through a sense organ and that which conies through
a sense object. In the case of sight it is the light from the eye interacting with the fiery

particles
35.
from the object. Aristotle, accepting the general outlines of this view, argues
that the sensation of color is a relationship between eye and object. But the sensation

of shape is not like the sensation of color, for whereas the former is a relation solely
between eye and object, the latter is a relation either between eye and object or bet-
ween hand and object. The sense object qua color subsists in an individual relationship
of eye and object, but the sense object qua shape subsists in a common relationship in
that It may be a refation between and object, or between hand and object, or
between both eye and hand and the object. Both sight and touch arc able to dis-
criminate shape, but sight alone discriminates color. Theoretically each sense organ has
both one peculiar Function and one or more functions which it shares with other sense

3J. De luyenmic el Senecluie, De Vila el Marie, De Ke^imihae 469 a 10. This work is Arisiotelisn
but probably not Acislotle's.
34. De Som/fo el VlgWa 456 a 1 . 4. 35. De Farillias Animallum 656 a 30.
;6M,.665a]l.
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 ARISTOTLES tlNHY OF SENSATION AS A RESPONSE TO PLATO 49

toward which Aristotle gropes and which he never explicity formulates is that the
human individual qua sensing being as contrasted to the human individual qua rati-
onal being has a power of integration which is expressed through the five senses.
This integration is inherent in the sense life of the individualand does not require
entities transcendent to sensation such as the Platonic mind as presented in the
Tlieacteliis or the child of the Good as in the Republic.

Aristotles common sensibility is not a concept presented to solve a variety of

problems of sensation left over from his treatment of the individual senses, but it is a
concept arising from contemplation upon the transcendent Integrations offered by
Plato. The analysis of its functioning therefore is not to be regarded as argument for
its reality but as evidence for its utility. In other words, Aristotle seems to have first

arrived at the notion of the unity of sensation, and then to have spelled out its impli-
than to have inductively discovered a variety of nctivities of the senses,
cations, rather
and then to have formulated a mechanism to account for all the activities. If this
interpretation is correct, (hen his refereoccs lo the functioning of common sensibility

support and illustrate his belief in the unity of sensation rather than provide a founda-
tion for the creation of the concept. On the basis of this interpretation Aristotle's
position on the unity of sensation may be stated as follows

(1) The human individual fimciions as a unit in his sense experiences. The one
who sees is also the one who hears. The senses perceive each others special
objects incidentally; not because (he percipient sense is this or that special
- sense, but because all form a unity.

(2) This unity is a pov^cr in the living being which perceives as one even
though it genus of objects of sensation through a different
receives each
organ. . , (he general faculty of scnsc-perceplio/i is one. ... it perceives
.

each different genus of sensibles through a dilTercnt organ."

(3) This unity is in sensation, not in thought or mind. Since it is through
sense thatwc are aware that we arc seeing or hearing, it must be either by
sight thatwe are aware of seeing, or by some sense other timn sight . .

42.
we must assume a sense wbicli is aware of itself."
(4) This explains how it is that we are aWe to sense morement, rest, number,
figure, time, etc., by sight, or by touch, or by other senses. . . . (here
cannot be a special sctse organ for the common sensibles.*
(5) This explains how it is that we are able to discriminate the taste of sweet-
ness from the sight of yellowness, as well as sweet from bitter and yellow
from white. .Since we also discriminate white from sweet, and indeed each
sensible quality from every other, with svJiat do w perceive (hat they are
different? It must be by sense; for what is before us is sensible objects.'*
(6) This explains how it is that the activity of the sense organs becomes simul-
taneously inactive in sleeping or swooning. . . . waking and sleeping are
an affection of the common organ of sense perception.

-125 0 30. 45. 423 a 15.

43. OrS<nsii 449 a 7 10
46.426bll-14.
44- 425 b 11,
16. 47.De Sonrno el V.gjfi 455 a 26.
 Sutsuos JO ain luoij oiBjudas m
uoiicjSaiui jciii U11CI3 s.oic[<j oj aAi)EUm[c uvse DOjiautij ?q<j!un ^uausuiuii ub ujjo
g) ]duis);B sit{ SB poa)SJ3pun ;S3C{ SI nopBsuos jo ^lun aijijo uuijdacucn s.aijoisiiv
isill 9IBj)suouJ3p o; ST JsdBd sii|) JO )u3)in 9ip 33un ^pms juasajd aiji uii^lus auiO)
TiojUAV sDijiAipB 3Jt! sssqj inq 'uoiiouiojo] puB uoijcui3buii 'fouaiadtlBjo sa]i
lou op
-upoB oqj oj paiE[aj Xiasops! spoisuy ni Xmiq^osuoujiiiQajooTiijwop aqx
aiemt w2Anos wsaiv to 'ao oj
 8

The Eternal Quest

Different systems of philosophy define the eternal quest of man differenlly. Epicureanism
would say that it is pleasure, Kant holds that it is moral pcifcction, theists suggest that
it is the attainment of God, VedSnta and others point out that it it self-realisation and
liuddhism would not possible to derme the ullimatc goal of man in
call it nirvana. Tt is

a manner acceptable to evecyor.e who ever cares to bother about this question ? In the
present paper, an attempt will be made in that direction.

It appears to us that the first of the ultimate goal should be

criterion or characlcristic

that it is permanent or that it h never lost once tt is attained. Whether such a goal is

attainable or not and what that goal can be is a different question. But it is certain
that no body would like to lose it niter having it. This is obvious from the fact that
even in our worldly wc consider anything good such as money, health, name,
life if

fame and other things wc do not like to lose them even if they are lost with
like that,

the hest of our efforts. Wc try to preserve even what cannot be preserved. Even if we
are not able to have things for ever, wc try to extend their possession os long as we
can. Our inner craving is for the penoiinent. This b why the Gifa says that after attain-
ing the highest goal, there b no return or coming hack (Yati gatra na nirartaiite
taddliama paraman mana Ch. XV, 6) My abode b that from where llicrc is no return
M btft. hra/iv can. ofeipet to Um.
The other characteristic which seems to be no less important is that flic highest
goal should be such that there arises no question of more or less about it. If such a
question arises about any thing, then it cannot be our ultimate goal because then there
willbe ever a craving for more and more. A state of life in which we want some thing
more and more c.an be hardly called desirable or ultimate. The possibility of being more

1. Also, V, 21, SuVham afcassj-am.

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 THE ETERNAL QUEST 53

Does have the above characteristics ? There is no doubt that virtue or

that goal ? it

is a noble goal and definitely superior

to the hedonistic ideal. But we
moral perfection
it may not be relative, is definitely relational
should remember that morality, though
it refers to the relation
between one individu^ and another and is therefore essentially
Moreover, moral perfection is something acquired ; it does not belong to us
social.
intrinsically. Howcan we be sure that moral perfection can be attained in this life ?
What is the guarantee that it
will slick to us and wDl never diminish or drop down ?

Further, how can we be sure that the morally perfect roan, if there be any, will also be
connection between virtue and happi-
a happy man ? There seems to be no necessary
ness. Kant saw this difficulty and left it to
God to solve it It seems to us that for Kant
God is who is both morally perfect and happy is an unattainable ideal. There is a kind
of self-transccndcnce in morality ; it must pass into religion. Mere morality cannot be
our goal.
Kants ideal of morality seems to have double sclf-transccndcncc or rather trans-
cendence at two levels. At tUo social level, Kant seems to combine morality with
humanism when he says that our goal should be to make ourselves perfect and others
happy. Hot perfection alone but also others happiness should be our goal. There is a
self-transcendence of morality at a higher level where Kant introduces the idea of God.

It becomes obvious that moral perfection is not a self-sufficient ideal ; it is Incomplete

without refereacc to God.

HI

Taking a clue from Buddhism; some people think that the goal of life is to attain a
cettain peace and poise of mind, something which is necessary even to carry on our
^vardly life successfully. Tliis equanimity of mind is different from mere roorulity. But
bc.1t thing about it is
that it is just a matter of cultivation and actual experience
the
and has nothing to do, as some people think, with any metaphysical or religious faith.
Moral purity and even religious devotion may be necessary as means but they arc not
ends in themselves. Mental equanimity is good as experience and necessary as worldly
policy and is possible to have keeping with our inclination. God, the all-perfcct can be
regarded as the natural object of our love and attraction once wc become aware of His
existence. Nothing would he more unnatural than not loving God affer knowing Him.
In other words, the goal of out life may bo couccivcd as the love of God or the
attainment of the evcr-perfect being, God. Tle logic of the devotional schools of

philosophy is tlie same everywhere. Th^ all urge us to change llic direction of our
love from the world to God, because that alone can bring us permanent and infinite

happiness.
God-realisation as the goal of which is definitely more popular
life is an ideal

than any other ideal. It is upheld by all thdstic religions. There is certainly nothing
mote ennobling and edifying than the love of God. But let us try to understand wliat
it means precisely. Generally speaking love of God or Bhakli has been imdcrsfood in
three different ways. Bhakti for some people is a training and transformation of the
Bhakti a gift from God. Still others would hold that Bhakti is the
will. For others, is

very nature of the soul. It is in ignorance that the soul loves other objects ; by nature
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 THE ETERNAt QUEST 55

be done.* This is the true spirit of Bhakti, It is the acceptance of only one Divine
Universal will and rejection of every other. But how is the rejection or surrender of

ones own will possible ? This is possible not by an exercise of our will but rather by
the realisation of the only supreme cosmic. Being Bhakti in this sense amounts to

knowledge.
The second view of Bhakti as a gift from God seems to Iiave the merit of making
Bhakti not a matter of will and effort but purely a matter of grace. Tliis view is more
consistent with the spirit of Bhakti which essentially means utter dependence. This is
the spirit contained in the concept of Saroiiagati. God is our shelter and our refuge;
without Him we are nothing and no-where- We are His whether He accepts or rejects us.

He has to hold our hands ; we do not have the necessary strength to hold His Hands.
There is greater security if He holds our hands than if we hold
Are we to take this
His.
as gift in the literal sense 1 1f so, a certain fear mil always be dogging us here too, the
fear of His leaving our hands. How can the fcai of fall go. It can go only if the Divine
understood as inner illuminaiion, an illumination which .strikes at the root of our
gift is

problem and solves it for ever. In the Gita the Lord says that He gives to His Bliakla,
the yoga of wisdom {Dadami buddhl yogom tarn X-10). If the holding of hand is
understood to mean becoming one with Him, then the fear of the fall will not be there.

But becoming one with God can be only a kind of discovery or knowledge and not
this

a becoming or transfortnatiou, berause all beconuDg is impermeucat. But

literal

unfortunately most of the ilicists or the followers of the Bhakti School find the idea of
becoming one witli God unpalatable or unacceptable. More often than not, the difference

between man and God is insisted upon, and what Is more, BItokii is in a sense made to
depend on that difrcrence. But the logic of Bhakti would actually lead us in a different
dlicction. The different kinds of relation with God attained by Bhakti are admitted;
sehkya. (being in the loka with God), Saniipya (beiog near God) Suyujya (being not
only near but part of God), and sarvpya (acquiring tbe same form as God). All these
tend to suggest greater and greater nearness or unity. This unity in order to be perma-
nent must be rooted In reality ; H must not be merely some thing brought about or else
it cannot be permanent. Whatever has a beginning has also an end, is temporal and
not eternal. Whether wc hold God to our bosom or God holds us, in either case, there
can be no freedom from the fear of fall unless it means the realisation of the unity of
man with God.

vn
The third conception of Bhakti as the very nature of the soul or as a natural relation
between soul and God makes a great advance on the first two views and converts
Bhakii into a metaphysical not possible here to go into the question
reality. It is

whether Bhakti can be so conceived or not The analogy of the needle and the magnet
is generally used to express the idea. When coated with rust or ignorance, the soul
may not feel the attraction for God, but when there is knowledge, there is the inevi-
table and necessary and the soul feels happy and restored. Thus the soul
attraction,
cannot feel happy except God. The soul's object of Jove is permanent and
as united to
infinite, tiie soul's attraction (God) u natural, and so our happiness is
for that object
bound to be permanent and infinite when tve have realised God. The only difficulty in
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Xjiun JO ojnjBU aqt pusisjapun oj Xsro
Xpun jo pun
-uta uoiun ajaio ; paAOjjqsqi pucjMojaqi uaaupq uoiiin aiaiu jou pus
!
autos aqisnuiajaia-SAOi 301} SI aJaVtqi'IDPJps^ "Wt
aAiqaftJJTna -sswipijjas pus jtsj Xq Kiuopwidsuiwjiiw
jias itjaA Jito ss poQ
ti
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si ajaqiawijtiA Xlo SAOi
51 waq} J3Aa cwqAi t Ximii
Suiutaui lou
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situ Qi lias aq, aissq piro Xjuuujd ! Jl aq} josAopu mqpus
iuoa
wj oaoi inQ 'Jiss aqj Jo atin
pus OAIIEAIJSP puB jCjBpiioaas s; sSuiq, jaqio
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310 loj lias SI
3Hl 0, JEsp Jaq.aq.u s, .=-a s.q,
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u?q, 4,0
awnnoA uimiaoos vajuiv tu 'ua 9S
 THE ETERNAL QUEST 57

itirvaim, sho\vs remarkable insightand comes Iciy near VcdaiUa. ifirvuiia is conceived
negatively and is attained only by knowledge iprajaa). But a certain difTcrcnce may be
noted. Knowledge for the Madhyamika is iitteriy negative and means merely the
awareness of the falsity of everything. It is not that falsity is known, because cannot
be known but only rejected ;
reality alone can be known. In fact, falsity can be rejected

only by knowing But the MSdhyamika docs not speak of any positive know-
reality.

ledge. So the Mdilhyomika does not seem to be the way of knowledge as it is

ordinarily understood. Secondly, the Mddhyamika is not able as point out how one
can own or appropriate mnana. How can I say that it is my nirvana unless it is

related to myself.Thus there seems to be a lacuna in the Madliyamika conception, a

lacuna which is most probably due lo his exclusive dependence on negation. The
Veddnia is able to overcome Ibis dilTicully by taking recourse to smli, a step whicli
cannot be called dogmatic. Even the Mddltyamika has to do it to the extent he calls
himself a Buddhist or depends on the Buddhist tradition. It is only on the basis of
the Buddhist tradition that the Madhyamika can believe in the possibility of attaining
m'rvdjja and not by his dialectical negation. There is no way of demonstrating all this
in a dialectical way. The VedSnta makes this dependence on tradition necessary
and explicit.
fPS P
6
 THE GROWTH OF THE SELF 59

tion of tlicm possible, then we must inevitably begin to assert with Hume that the
self is only a succession of impressions, or vdth Hobbes that the self is the body.
The self is nonetheless rcaf because it, litc the body, comes into being and, at
least in part, passes away.
But while the self is more than a dngle stale or succession of states, of the body,
and more than a single aotiofi of the body, it is not, as the idealists hold, capable of

leaving that to which and on which it is dependent. It is no more capable

it is tied

of patting from its body than a shadow can part from the substance which casts it or
imagination can taka flight from the slumbering body in which it originates. TJiat is
to say, the self, so far as it is an activL^ of the body, exists in space-time and is sub-
ject to the conditions and laws of space-time operating in tlic physical and biological
realm; and so fur as, in the qualities which it experiences and the relations it enter-

tains, it 'subsists, iu subsistence is subject to and dependent upon that self-same

domain of matter and space-time.
Nor is the self here interpreted as a mere illusion which masks or illustrates an
all-inclusive cosmic Self. The self is, in a sense, a microcosm, having certain resem-
blances to the universe as a whole, and displays, like anything else, the generic cate-
gories of all existence. But the self is not just a vacuous actuality," or a bloodless
ballet of categories," or a moving image of eternity, obediently assuming the pose
of material existence so os to glorify the great puppeteer who is not iumself materioJ.
The self is real in its own right Its body, its felt qualities, its entertained relations,
its ideals, its processes of achievement or failure, its changes of iieart and mind : these
are real and belong to it, and it belongs to that universe of plurals and has as much
status there as a star or a particular paramccium. In this view, the whole world the
space-time continuum of ene^ is infinitely severed and severalized. Variety,
Uiough transient, is real. And And while it may be that some
so is contingency.
divine spirit broods on the face of the cosmic deep
and imparts some measure of ulti-
mate order to that turbulence and vastness, yet sports and experiments persist,
causally and logically independent of other events, including those in which they took
their rise. And the human self possesses such iodcpcndcncc.
Tlie human self is created out of certain factors processes, qualia, forms when
those are brought together in a certain way. These materials of self may be divided
into three classes.

U
The Bodily Factors in the Self

For a self to exist an organism of a certain kind and

a certain normality must first
existThe self is an organized complex of raperiences, arising in a social matrix, and
funded through time. The are experiences of a body as engaged in transactions
with
itsenvirons. The self arises as a function of the infant
organism ; it grows as the
organism grows; it continues after the organism has reached
anatomical maturity ; and
itbegins to die, as living subject, as the organism dies, so that in senility the
organism
may have no more selfhood than it had as a baby.
To become a self, the onanism must be of the species f/ojm sapiens. Careful
 'l1 ^U'jioiu pu
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'IM41 'utlilnstW
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oiui pszificnu ud^i JO siujoj aisq
s|i d]iii dn oirjojq
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puc uojuipajd SAsman ]ou p|noa osui sc
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amucduioa sj jnauicjsduwj puc adJioitiucw
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qaiii.w aiUi Xpoq aiji jo
uoipunj pajip aq 01 suiaasiusuHaada-ai'astaXuooi
-ttismcSjoucjo ..aaucucMi,,
OAiimiiEnb puc oduiai aqi ucaui osjc Xctn luauiewdwai j'ajnicinssnm jo
uuii
saidxa sqi sj ^jiAjiac axtsssjaSc 'ajduicu
joj sc 'sjusaodiuos -tp.poq qi jo uoiisaidia
ojuicuXp aqi juraiu wsujbj*<Jiii 9] aiaii 'luauicudwai puc sdXj Xpoq^iijJMUq
suoiicjaiioa qSiq X[3ujau!AU0> UMOtis scq qaicasaj jjqjo puc
u.oo iiq puc d.?|
qoBS paqijassp puc psijiiusp] scq tiopii(s
'H *A\ Hicsp onjuiq uiojj Su|3uciiaun
siwuodtuoaXiipoqaQfcuiaqijoajftwuis pjxxj c adtjowuos ovu. wUwcvum
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1
sjaijio qiiAs suoiiacjaiui n; ui smip mou o uuioocq lun; ui
CiloG Q
giss[[iuXs aqj $i Xiiiauosjad putt sitaqi'iiuc ot|i oic uniinc puc iuu)uoj|au> iU]sXt)d
siqj si(} s; UiSiueSjoicailoioiq iropjAipuiaqi -suuoj )iMJj]!PiOtuo[iiiu) pcuinns
Bcq 'aid aqi UI puc; pus cat uosaqaiu Xdnsoo oi ioj SAjiucdsa ug Xq ua.sijp
]aU8[d Sjqi ud uisE^doioJd icqi XcA antes aqt ui pasaXet puc paiqnuinnc suotioiu
jajsucji snoiiSA saoSjapuii sitainoasnoucA 0)ui pa^iadoid lusiucSjo .ist(d (ccip
lAjpui oqi X?o|Guc sjiucuXp XiSuniy aioui e asn oi jq luauiucJiAUS si] jo queq eqi
qSnoiq] Suiuuiu jaAij ptny c sqii si uisiueSio aqj. -saauauadxa si] ju uo]|Cuijojsuc]}
snonujiuoa aqi u; snssi uisiueSjo iubjui at|t jo saiisiiaiacieqa asaqi ,aA{i oi qiAi
oqi ,ssn;cA jo juauiajuEqua sqi joj OAup oqj aqi ..''uimiimac-jiss,,
Jo.j -Jias
sqi ,..iUBjado sjonuiqi Xq psuco XisnoiJtA lac oi SAUp H'l* psiduoa
eqi Jo XiiJiuiuiiu! puc
aqi JO juamdOjaAap sqj joj sSopy sqi Xc| qaiqjA uismcSto
'ssauaisainuaiapm Xaujpuadap aqi sioiaejasaqi si Hjnisiuc3joaqijosjoiaasa3jci
jnssaidia 'ooyan jo aAiicjadui] uicuaa e Xq uoAUp ?q
JO siuaujaAOW tuopucj ssoi3 ui
auitj aunts aijj IV -XjiJUicui icaiSoiOjsXqd jinj 0} aujoa 01 1] Joj
0] suiaas uisiucSjo oqj
'joiouicooi joj suc3 io
paiinbaj aq hiaa sicaX Xucui luauidqaAap jciaos puc '^osuss
aqi j[tr sassassod osic puc'a^jaippireSmdVKS'^.ifttuJ'ctAA'^ci'qiciiqvcqis-'S'mvj
ssssassod ji ^aa joj \ Sunjeads Xi)ca]Soioi$Xqd ainicuiui] Xjoa
mj paujcaiun ogpads
85**od5ajjos8poui
St II puy -UMO SI] uo puc XHScaaAiAjnsoniaiqcuoiqSpu
'SasoasoAH ni-ajaidiuoMii st ujsiucSjq DioqAiau aqi
Mumqcvsa-ajd
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svci
SJBoXO.UIJ0 83BIC1U8U1C
uj ponoj sc qans saiouaiaysp iEaiiJ03
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SoipncjsjapDn oiisirSmipaiiuJUcpuoXaq
isuuou aq jsnui lusmcSjo aqj XiiBijims
sidmsiic
aDzucduipp e jo wqueSjo aqi atnunu oi
Suijq 01 papej OAcq pooqiias olui
5*r
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 TITE CROWIH OF THE SELF 61

personality wilt fail to achieve precision of prediction and control so long as bodies,

the basic foundation on which personality rises, ate treated as irrelevant or as essen-

tially identical, and are not treated as illustrations of general types and as unique
combinations of universal variables. TTicre is some evidence that when environment
throws into conflict the dcjp-lying dispositions of body-temperament the
frustrates or
result is mental illness; and that when a thwarted temperament, tlirough change of

circumstance, comes into its own and realizes its native tendencies, it passes from

a divided self to an integrated self. The dialectic between thesis and antithesis
between body and symbols, the real and the ideal, the past and the future, the indivi-
dual and the culture is resolved into a creative synthesis. This experience of
synthesis has been described as fulfillment, moksha, salvation, satori and
seeing God.
But, it may be body is so important to the being and character of
asked, if the

the self, is not the self determined and not free 1 The answer is, yes: to the extent
that the body is the given and unalterable material on winch the self rises and must
use for its advance, the self is not free. The major choice of materials has been
made at conception; secondary choices what the pr^nant mother shall eat, what the
nursing mother shall feed the baby, etc.can modify that initial and fateful choice
but cannot undo it. From the point of view of the embryo conceived, the ruyth of
Er, told by Socrates to Glaucon, is true, after a fashion Lachesis, the daughter of ;

Necessity, distributes among the yet to be embodied spirits her lots and samples of
mortal lives, but- once the lot is chosen the chooser must live with it the rest of his
mortal days, This is an ancient teaching, rccognhcd by Calvinists and materialists
alike. Now the necessity is the laws of chance, which govern the meeting of ovum

i and sperm. And is this a matter beyond the control of man and woman ? By no
means. For mating is, or can be, a selective matter and an act of freedom. But it be-

comes freedom only when those mating know what is good and act accordingly, And
if the good consists in the ihlfillinent of selves, and if the body is an indispensable

part of the self, then to practice eugenics is to serve t!ie good, and to free the future
for the good and deliver it from evil.

Ill

The Envfronmentfl/ Factors in the SeiJ

For a subject or self to exist, it must be participant in inter-subjective or inter-

personal relations.Evidence from llie psycho-social sciences indicates that the self
cannot be adequately defined, predicted, or controlled apart from considerations of
the environs in which it ori^nntes, continues, and grows. The view of mechanistic
materialism, which posits the atomic self as a discrete, self-sufficient, and independent
entity, must accordingly be rejected. These properties seem to be displayed at the
finish of a given process, when an enthy stands in isolation from all its contempora-
ries; they are therefore phases and not finalities.
While the self (any given self) b contingent and unique, it could not he so if it
were not also characterized by certain necessary and generic features. Dm this does
8. Plato, T/i Book X, 614 B ff.
 Sfwct 'iarufffiaiJfK Mwa '^niwa
pun T9S-19I <Sd o^|llu^3n^J VA WM F/ > tijnnt'fy pji)ji!ii\\ 'NV 'S
ja< iOi; mii Xq pjtn apunoii%k ws
3 b un 5o*Bsojii iv!>rt m lusJ
-wiped SAIWB ue SB JIM 9i|i 'wuM K9|in} Ml uiJiwaij) JilJliJuejo uoiiiaow Juj
oj pcsj suo JO uoiiBjijAa am pnji ^
'uiapAt * u|ut poisauuosuiui aaiowq meixb
asaqi 'soSis <j3n<M(ll 'jaAowm^ 'siuwo pne uisjui3io
jo uoiucjjiui ui tiinnb jsoni
JO aousunaw aiii psaiojujw si aaumnpua sii|i poc Soiiwj jo sj;( iuj3j5uja ai|
111 saScuii so ojnpua (suuoj pun ni.innb) ssauaicAt jo siusinoa uhpjd huuiuoiku*
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u; paiiss;
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ciouids S'i'a
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oiioj
amnOA aiH3A[ios VAssiv -ra "ao jp
 THE GROWTH OF THE SELF 63

emerged into being. In order for the biolo^cal organism to become minded, selved,
and socialized, it must undergo certaio prior transformations which prepare the way
the emergence of self. To be a self, the or^nism must be accukurated ; but accultu-

ration does not occur immediately after birth.

Initially, the behavior of the oi^nbm is poorly coordinated, both as an
individual system and in its relation to its world. The infants relation to the
world is receptive and passive, and its behaviour [is dominated by the principle of
physiological stabilityand comfort. Early in the first year this principle is qualified
by the interest taken in sensa color, sounds, tactile feelings. Sometime during

the first year, ordinarily, culture begins to touch and affect the organism, and it
ceases to live merely at an animal level. Behavior is determined not only by physio-
logical satisfaction and sensory delight but also by the experience of participating in

a certain kind of interactive relation with human beings. Accelerated muscular

development in the second year and a sui^e of activity on the part of the child at
this time carry him into, nnd engage him with, the activities, values, demands, and

symbols of others that is, into culture. This is the training period in which
regulatory" behavior
is taught and the individuallcarns to harmonize his activities
with those of his operative group. Through habit the child internalizes and indivi-
dualizes the customs and rituals of his culture.
The basis for this socialization through habit which is primarily mimetic and
non-linguistic-has already been provided in the nature of the biological organism
and the peculiar relation it bears to those who nurture it. The infant is physiologi-
callydependent; his development is foelalized, slowed down, prolonged. Ho is

markedly unprotected and sensitive. These factors his dependency, his slow physio-
logical development, and his sensitivity combined with the brain, the hand, and
the voice mechanism* constitute the individual pofeotial for socialization. And
when the infant comes into inter-aclion with persons who nurture him and employ a
language in that nurture, socialization is the consequence.
The primitive foundation for socialization lies in the mammalian dependence
of the infant upon his mother. Soon after birth the baby displays anticipatory
reactions toward his mother, and emp.'ithelic responses. He begins to take on the
affective lone of those who care for him. As the infant empathizes positively with
the feeling-states of othershe differentiates certain molar complexes of fccling-sensa-
activity;and these familiar complexes are in turn connected into stimulus-response or
sign-referent bonds. The sight of the mothers face cxcitics an over-ak empathctic
response and also means pleasure to comea promised land flowing with milk and
honc3ed words. Moreover, the mother happens to be a creature wJio makes loving
sounds and whose sounds, because she reciprocates an empathy toward her baby,
adapt themselves easily to the level of the baby's vocabulary sighs, coos, clucks, and
the like. Such sounds become signs participant in complexes of meaning, and by the
second year the normal infant is imitating those phonemes and learning those
meaning which constitute the language of its mother tongue. For its mother now is
not only she who gives it suck at the breast, but is the whole matrix of language
to. Julian Uaxley, Afan In (he Afcdem HMJ, New AnKricaa Library of World Lilcralure, W8,
ch. ],'The Uniqueness of Man.*'
 m:

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 THE GUOWH OP THE SELP 69

ted body is given by radiant energy. The body seems to be the locus of cumulated and
as yet unfaded qualities and meanings on the ground on which subsequent experience
can rise and be retained. And experience is qualm feelings, emotions, sensations, and
forms of various kinds. Such feelings and the like are the perceived resonances of
material processes.
Now body of the scIf>to-be, as it interacts with the things of the
the infant
environments, gives rise to such experience. But it is an original chaos, as James

says, of transient and disconnected qualia. This experience would remain so fleeting,
meager, and in the main unremembeied if the infant were so isolated from human
association and raised apart from interpersonal relations. The result would be so
the studies of feral cliifdren teach us that the organism would not acquire a human
self in the usual sense of that term. But when (he infant is subject to the influence
of an interpersonal, linguistic matrix; not only do (he intensity and exteQsity.^(spatial
and temporal) of its experiences increase, bul iu addition they acquire (hat special kind
of integration or identity which wc associate with personality or self." But in
passing WQ want to emphasize that the experience which makes up the content of the
human self is social in origin, quality, structure, and direction.
An expetience, as a dynamic act, is a prehension a grasping together of por*
tions of the world into a particular space^iime pattern.
It is a structuralizing, n differ-

entiating, an an act of genuine creation, There is the creator, mate-

individuating. It is

rials of creation, the creating, and the created. Strictly speaking, any given creator,

or briug, which is finished, ciinnot create ; it is the product of past creativity, and
can be involved in subsequent crealuig only as data or materials. So it is more accu-
rate to say that there is the activity of creating, operating upon wbat is given as
material, and issuing in somelfiing created. Only when such a process is completed
can there be a creator in the full sense of that icon. As Whitehead says, The feeler
is emergent from its feelings.*^
The span of an experience moves from a state of need to a state of completion.
Experience is thus what takes place it is a spatial-temporal localization between the
impulse and the fulfillment. It is the consequence of the tendency of all things to move
toward a ground state.^* Experience is thus an espousal" of activi ty witii materials
which arc acted upon, the mating of subject and object so as to issue in superjcct,"
the interacting of present process upon past product so as to produce a new product.
Now everyone knows that an espousal involves dinbrcnlial feeling or valuation.
It also involves selection. And selection unpotls organization. Feeling, selection, and
organization all signify pcrspccUvc, or definite experience. And this is the distinctive
psychic factor, if be remembered that perspective never arises in any uniquely
it

human sense apart from interpersonal and symbolic relations beuveon the body and
others.
It may be asked If the body has perspectives, then which part of tlie body is it
'

which accounts for those perspectives, or feels them ? Clearly tlic eyes and the visual
apparatus account for visual factors in our perspectives ;
similarly, the organs in the
abdominal region participate in our perspectives Uiat arc gloomy (it is ilic pcrspcciirc

17. rrocestaiU Rtaliiy,p. llfi.

IS. Coiiiinc Chiihulni Trost, in an unpublished manmaipi.

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 ;

THE GROWTH OF TIIE SELF 71

not only in tho body as a whole but also in sprafic regions of the body.?^ And it, was
Freud who pointed out (hut (he loci of bodi/y fceJitigs and of psychic identity shift
from one region of the body to another as the child develops. While, however, the

body is a multiplicity of distinct continuitks what Whitbhead calls personal

societies it also seems to be characterized, at least under certain conditions, by a

vague sense of unity. This sense of unity is felt more vividly b) foetuses and by
children, in whom the differentiation of physical structure and function (especially the
brain, the base of the psyche) has not proceeded as far as in adult bodies. Jt is also
felt sporad'ically in the bodies of mystics, lovers, and heroes, wliose affective or active
commitment lo some intensely felt value succeeds, for the time being, in suppressing

the feelings of the various parts in favor of an over-all feelings, and in subjugating

their diverse fonns under the dominance of a single form. Of such is tlie kingdom of
heaven, regnant over tho discordant animal body of this world.
Continuity af perspective' is, in addition, culturally induced, It arises when the

organism of tho infant comes into contact with others and, through the stimulation
and direction given to behavior by social symbols, develops perspectives which are
positively enjoyed, reinforced by others, and delibemtcly repeated. Such perspectives
we call interests," for the term signifies an activity going on belwceii subject and that
which is o/interest of value to the subject. A live interest is an indication of psyche
for interests are strands out of which the texture of personality is woven. If huiuan
beings were simple-minded and as selves developnl only one interest, then the story
of the growth of the human seif and of history would be much less tortuous and tragic
but it would also be much less variegated and interesting. What constitutes the great
problem and the principal source of excitement in human life is the fact that interests
differ and clash within bodi-js, and between bodies. The proWexp of harmonizing
diverse interests within the activity of one body is a problem of harmonizing a
plurality of psyches or of psychic dements. And it is essentially no different as
psychology is now pointingout from the problem of harmonizing one minded, selved
body, or personality, with another. The fact of dual" or multiple personalities is
the rule and not the exception ; 've notice only those extreme cases of genius
(Leonardo) or of pathology (the Beauchamp case) or of both (Nietzeche) only because
. our own individual selves arc sparsely developed or because we possess a dominant
interest which succeeds in suppressing the others driving for expression.
Wc are brought, then, to the third dimension of self the t}2iril source of con-
tinuity in perspective. That is the aim or ideal of the experiences in question. To the
extent that this subjective aim, this conceptual valuation, is constant and is able to
'
hind together the plural interests of the body's acUvities into a common form to the
extent that it provides an intcresl in the haruioniang of interest it serves to issue in
a more inclusive self than the disparate interests previously developed. Some such
ideals or forms are probably deeply laid in the form of the somatotype of the organism,
and an animal like man are dimly striven toward : it may bo clearer what tJiey arc
in
not than what they arc. But they normally arc not profoundly determinative of mans
self-development until they arc arttculated in the synrbols of social ijitercoufsc and are
32. Varieiies cf Human Physique, pasrisi.
23. Motion Prince, eVin/ca/ and Sludies in Persoiialily. Cambridge. M45i..5i;ijrl
1929.
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SII|L -OIIIHA i|1! paissAui puc II Xucdnioooc
qoiqw suotiraijuduiaxo puc
ojmnwAui
oouoiJDdxo 0)3Kni( UIOJJ patoBiisqc uuoj c si icsp] ny
aioiioiuiil sqi JO paisaAip
jailicj siq uiwj unc ivoisnui icjtucu siq
UI luauioScjnootia lo3 )U3iri
iroBmu qijA paMopua Xtqwi ijczdj^ snopBuiy SucSjjo^
unSaq
iijr|ui3qi-osadjrdpuE3jii)3nJis8u!ijjoiiuna|3u!SCOiuf luaqj oacsas oi
(siiiaiuuadxa sc SuiUJoqc JO Sliqrq sc
paqs^qcisa JoqiwjM) sisaiaiui snoiicx siq
SBU puc
)CT|)
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SI jdiipSqi liV.oj9 ioUA\0
psiCDiunuiuioa
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aranoA uw.iAnQs vashiv TC
 THE GROWTH OF THE SELF 73

that w rise from lliose dreams rehearsed and refreshed for a new cnactraent of our
unitary selves.
The health of the soul, as Plato and Aristotle observed, is the harmony of its

parts the harmony of its bodily selves, its iaterest-sclvcs, and its ideal selves. Plato,

who favored unities rather than pluralities, called the bodily selves by one name
(concupiscence), the interest-selves by one name (spirit), and the ideal selves by one
name (reason). He tended to overestimate the case with which unity is achieved even
in superior persons at the three levels as well as in tlic personality as a whole. More-
over, the social problem was arbitrarily simplified by a division of labor into bodily

selves, interest-selves, and ideal selves i.c., workers, warriors, and philosophers. Such
division is based on Ihe insight (developed also in ancient India) that the soraalolypes

of men are specialised and that in some visceral needs dominate, in others somatic

needs, and in still others cerebral needs. But the state, no matter what form it takes, is

not the individual writ large; bcc;iuse tl individual (if we may use that term with wide

license) is a congeries of bodily selves aud interest-selves, striving toward an ideal, and
the state is a congeries not of selves but of would-be selves. Statecraft is at least as

ditlicult us tile governance of the soul ; and the uoiiics it may perchance achieve are
considerably inferior to tlie uuities achieved by (he individual soul.

As a biologist Aristotle was able to give a more specific description of the human
soul. It is the dynamic principle of life ; the generic functioning of the body ; the
primary actualization of a natural organic body,** detennining and crowning, as a
form, ^c natural evolution of a hierarchy of forms. Aristotle's nutritive soul, sensitive
or locomotory soul, and rational soul are equivalent to wbat we have called the bodily
and the ideal-self.
self, live interest-self,

The harmonizing of the various continuities or psychic processes associated with a

given body is as difficult as it is rare. Plurality and hence discord arc more common
than unity and harmony. It is only because people neglect to consider their concrete
experiences in their spccific^and unique character that they glibly and abstractly assuriie,
as Ilumc observed, a single self.** A modicum of harmony or soulhood is achieved at
varLaus levels. The pie-socialized child, like the pre-historical man lacking language,
social feelings, objects of ideutification, interests, or even comple.\ bodily reelings
enjoys an Eden-like innocence and bliss not yet disrupted by the disharmonies of the
life of interests of self and class and the life of (he ideal. Once tJiis aboriginal harmony
Li broken, then men may attempt to recover it, as Niebuhr has pointed out, by retreat-
ing downward to the animal level or suppressing the life of impulse ig favor of the
ideal.* Again, men may lose themselves in a round of activities, subjugating the desires
of the body and the lure of final causes : in the language of the Phaedrus,
the white
horse of spirit runs away with the black horse of desire and the charioteer himself, and
drags them after him.
Bodily needs condiet with interests and ideals ; interests and ideals conflict. The
unhappiness and sickness of the soul docs not lie in frustration, though That may be a
precipitating or contributory cause of sickness. It lies, as Paul said, in an internal

Z6. Be Anima, Book 11.

27. A Trta:ise of Human Nature, 1733. Rook I. Part IV, Scclion VI.
28, The Nature aiul Destiny of Man, Vol. I. New York, Qurles Scribners Sons, 1941.

'Owa<rei smitoig fue idii 'iIioA
IVfnbu!i3(j p trptJi>^
A5N f BopiaK -n m psionh e 5.n iicion jg -if
6Ci 9:41 '*s9>qa jo uuj
tvl
llAlutlUCfU ti
si sn in luju jo soAuuns
JOA pwlsqi; UE 5 An|C jwjw puc *p3rq niiti psrqns JsiiiouB
nw ow
ftnuaiBdxajSAaii iiSniHu, -uosjad siqjopadscaKtutafiinfsn)} 'sicspi su| 'sji] siq
3]itis onbiun sqj 'sissjsiur srtj sucHiuaitn
ja nq 'sSunMj sjq-uousd aqj jo '/k av
^ijjids,, oqj sMUEjEsddi; Xiipoq uaiji Jaqio si ifmiM jEqi j<i qaiqi mie a IHq 'Xpoq
XliApsE XiEipn aqi si sniaXsd aqi loj -oils *sun|S33 punos adcqs azis joicia
aqj JO
jnjsMUBJWddc Xjrpoq stq JO nu[qi am Janiouc joaqatsd Wjatioo quiqi t.v.
usqAV 'uoipidisqE uj Oaes Xpoq aqj ump jaqut wu si aqoXsd aqj ing -uoqrAjasqo Xjos
. ujspaDijMitn 0} sjEsddc (Xpoq sip) )i sc Xpoq aqi niaij luaiajjip si atpXsd aiQ.
jooj lapun
sjoiicin sqi 05 Xpawi.p piwnB lou Xnui spuim asoqm pue ..pvilwoo he ucni
JO pu'J'l
.oiiiSsui; jo ajt oi(m isod am pue 'joaoi aip aptuni aqi ui se luwqT! aiuoasq puE
japiitm Xeua ji 5H([ 'Xinp OAtieuwomi sit 9u|aMojid inos jo aqoXsd oqi si ii own Xpoq
oqijo asuodm aqi Xjiun 01 spun) isqi 9in|aaj joj ami e ^joapi^ ue apjAOJd
suopaunj pujoj aqi vaq^ issiuoa |cpos ut pasuap rtujiaaj Xiipoq aqi savcu
0] se os
.ipjeoo pLiE siacJlsqs qoniM 'Xnsoadsa atais.(s snoAjau aqi jo Suiuomunj jadoid aip
uo
uoipuiij o
Iuspuadop sj puiBi aqi sasias Suisn-faqo* ipim spojaiui q sb Xpcq aqi jo
***15 poiio 8i|i. "SloquiXs icjaos jo juEaijiuSis Xq passaidw puc
SI puc Xpoq 5I)
*! 51 uuiunq sqi ui 'leopi aqi jo
un) aqi sapmojd puc 'sacipimdaaaos
paicj|n**J
.jjjgjisqc }ci{i J0J8CJ aqt si Ji sj ..pcro,, aqi
-oqaXsd ui tuauiafa |C||uassa uc
uoHcu aqi ut uisiiciiaduii puc
onn pansa si ji waqm Xiaiaos jo la^q aqi ic jo 'Xjiicuosjad jo pai aqi
UOSJS^ 5n 55!
'[aAl 5 ^ 55 laqiaip Jaqiouc jjao Xauapuai on^aXid auo jo Xaucpnaasc
JO
oMIjasni aq) sj cioucjrd puy a'lniP* q o ctouwcd,. lasuca paiica stq
qc
sfMn ^Q 'saiduicxa ajo jubo puc 'ssouoMSsajSc piouwcd auiaJina 'siaqio
i3A0
3o-*vo<i*1'55aMOlfniispurp)tMSunjXiiiU3P!0qjXsd oiSuts c isu9|D1 XuucjXi
1" siaiyuos
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ssjuip JO
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jWACiiaq aiuajqdoziqos Xiiciiiuig quosqu
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JO aiEsm
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IT oojaiua 3 asoqt
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imam =ss3JdJi.-=iotiii lo 'pioidfe 'oidiom mj ..sppM p.s .,iss].,<i n. n
.< 05;s.lsjli niiviimosnss s, sss sinamn
Dtnicjajiwsip * i^poq cqi Jo
Msaicoip5i'335iPAH -aiiiioiuisjtjniiaajo
Xiuicijaaun sc sjsawpH jo lowi aip ie pau^w
si h I^JiAliae paiicq poc
0 pjliodai
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<>5 iJnSaqaAEq
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n'liss aS 01
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DUE IJIOUM oim aiuco
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LaaUuauidoiDAop icnuauadsa
icqm sq Sumoi aunjicm
c CXpAreu icqaiauios) pajica si
ciTM* -uigijo ailciaos-oqaXsd 1 aiujJEm
OOUaiasicafloioqaXsdpuc icaipaui puc ,,
!o sSiinri'!'
anmoA tiiraAnos vahhiv -ts 'sa ti
 THE GROWTH OF THE SEtF 75

he may be participant in our living experience not,

sioii of his coiicrclion, still

body but as a psychic content, cither feeling or

indeed, as a surviving pliysical
ideal.
Throughout the history of thought, various theories have been proposed as to
the real nature and reJatioa of the elements of the sdf- The problem lias been
staled

as the mind-body problem, or, in out terms, the psycho-physical problem. The pre-
sent view finds that at least some of these major solutions of the psycho-pliysical prob-

lem are partially true.

Psychical monism is true insofar as it emphasizes that ultimate entities are

processes which possess alTcctive identity in lime, and that bodies arc the speciously

present appearances of processes.

Physical morusm is true iiisofar as it emphasizes that higher or more complex
levels of process rise on lower and simpler levels, and tliat the human body is the

foundation and means for the exercise of what is called, the human mind.
The two-aspect theory (recently called Nco-Realism) is true insofar as it empha-
sizes that wlialaro called minds and bodies are special organizations or funded identi-
ties of a reality which
is, by itself, neutral to both.

Dualism and interactionbm are true insofar os they emphasize that a body, as a
structured record of past experiences, and mentality, as that aspect of the psyclre which
responds to form with valuacioiii cun affect one another.

The Final Commiment oj Self

The achievement of the human self is natural. in the sense that the embryonic and
infant body is impelled by dialectic of forces to develop, and in the sense
its own-inner
that the self Is a certain way in which the body
feels, thinks, and acts. The achieve-

ment of the human self is also cultural or * acquired, for the inter-personal rela-
tions and the symbols of culture are needed to elicit, stabilize, and elaborate the forms
of identity whose basis ]ic.s in the somatotype. The development of the self is a
smooth and normal process, passing in ordered sequence from one stage to another
and from one strength to another. But since it is a temporal process it is a also dis-
contiuuous and instinct with conflict struggle, and suffering. And it bears into its
future the scars of its past.
self is an attempt to bring harmony out of its disparate processes : it is the
The
drive, under the guidance of a cherished ideal, to unify the various tendencies which
rise and persist and conflict vritbin the field of the body and of society. It is a child of

the body and of its social relations ; yet, like every olT spring, it grows and influences
the matrix which gives it birth and nurture. The emergent sclFhooti, which, if success-
ful, cumulatively brings the melodic lines of each part into a symphonic whole, lias a

precarious esistcnce. Disturbances within its body, or witltin its social relations, or
within biosphorlcal nexus, can alter its delicate balance and maim, divide, or dcs-
its

toiy it.Drugs, hypnosis, sleep, amnesia, physical disease, fatigue, starvation all can
suspend its unifying hegemony over the acUrittes and feelings of Uie body, so tlial the
soul disappears, in whole or in a part, and the minded, living organism relapses to the
 XinJJitufj U0IS3UIJJ uoiMiiJ.i 'iirtMil n>qoTi i- ;
fa
ii( JO asusKOJauoo jo pt usviS c w aa^ci jsitiaqnj|s sii ]0 lusiuilopvap
j.,| 31)1
iirumt) j<i pnj at)! jo sia insisjiip e la^ti wmi'i'd jiiS-aid
i|l spJcS-"'^ 51
ip.'rtOJS pin: Suuajitis 'SjSSnjjs jo astoaini ft) isrj le aiai)) j.'hivi ui sirn jo
ituij nuios oi jjKii puoXsq siiiiod qivioiS s.ueu jnp pnunjui a\tii i<9in JO sPuTun
pun
piic jouadiis Suiipsuios JO SuiddcjM XicKn]|i puc lunnocn nqi ii paiaptiuon
ijQ^jq
sip jo ftuipc )upU3Kucj|-j( siiucu^p siqi pnituSoMi
jsqijn axri) Xsqi jna 'JIK
lusjj puc Itjouids seuinbv Q3qd 'niduitxa joj<jaqdo>l!Hd
nJl"^
snirisj uopBiai ntp jcip ij jqj stunonnc qsniw tioi.inw
UA1.0 SI!
JD uo 51! 01 uotitinj e si jias om
ui )cm SI 1! 'Jios JlJ! sojvpa
31)1
: tiotirayap snouitj s.picrSnqpi^
osp! pssssjdxa xiopoiiT! .,'aao8piiassutJi-j|asicii3rjs!ipps|jm5Ri jntiqnjn Muq
ui
isiiodsnj put uiopaajj-jt> Sii|UT!aiii aioij a)|) si siqj. -jpsii ^dpaijd jciuMudoiaxop
" aip Ut luaui
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umq si! satiiwaq
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UOJixuo
c Xaqi st st icqj. -ipwojS
5 31,,
uauitt Xq noamisaj jo suisiuctiMUt Xrpoi pqtua
^Mifloiwq jqs ui piasaid loii JdJBj *u e sannpoiiui ajunisstios put ^iiitisos
135 3(fi jo AlinnpMipuj
'putm agrtiauci jo osu sin -yittCjS jaipjnj aitpiisrj
I
oi|l Jo
,,.,,miiisjuaiuniisu!UlSon5S!J|asaqi jo qimcij3 otu, -saSw snoixJjd
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unstaid snonsuas
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 THE GROWTH OF THE SELF 77

span as real, as an irreducible datum which \ve do experience or can experience. It

also takes growth to be fsnal as a value. The process by wluch the self unifies its
component processes and grows into a new level of achievement is not just a means
to a state of satisfaction or to another IcvcL It Is good in its own right. And against
Aquinas argument that a gradation implies an end, the present view is tliat gradation
indicates, a structure of change, a direction, a vector, and that the tvhoJe meaning of
human life is to be found within that structure and direction.
The self is fragile and precarious, tenuous and episodic. Like a flower, it is the
labor of the ages" lovely, brief, transient. It rises out of the massive compost of
living and dying cells called the body, a living structure cumulative, continuous, and
crescivc through myriad generations, itself rising on the rock and air, tbc water and
light,and the forms or organic and inorganic existence of the whole biosphere. The
self lives and breathes by the grace of lliis delicate balance of processes, deep and
distant in time, vast in their extensions into space. But the self withers, as the flower
fades ; and all the goodlines thereof is as the flower of the field. And though that

finer essence of the self may wander, like a rare fragrance, through the Elysium fields

of the imagination, and absent itself a while from the locus of its origin, it cannot do
so forever.

Odours, when sweet violets sicken,

Live within the sense they quicken.*

But -

Odours fade from rich topoor

When the violet is no more.
The life of the psyche teaches us the meaning of its death; for the beginning of
a thing contains in a dim sense its end. In every psychic process, to grow is to die ;
to
put off past cxpcficnces for present ones, or present ones for future ones. It is true
that psychic development entails a conimou form, and a pattern of persistence
through diverse experiences ; but the whole past is never retained exactly as it was ;
the very process of prehension prohibits that it can be perfectly remembered and
presened within theJifo of the psychic entity. Morcover, the process of achievement

which is the inner life of all psyches and especially of the human self comes to an
end as a dynamic process ; it is worn out, it is finished. And in the case of the human
psyche this must be so if satiety or weariness does not first overtake it, for the body,
that too, too solid stage whereon the sdf enacts its whole career and plat, crumbles
and falls into ruin, and will v

like this insubstantial pageant faded

Leave not a rack behind.

Thus, as Socrates saw, wc pass out lives, if wc are wise, in learning how to die for
as growtli is the primary necesuty once wc are conceived, so death Is the primary
necessity into which our living process is, recunentiy, and stage by stage, converted.

33. Percy Sysshe Shelley, Music, When Soft Voice* Die."

34. PliaeJo, (14 IT.
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*330 31)) o) puc 'UCIII
St p|ii]3 rttj jo uojicnonuosTS
sqi 01 JsqiBj sm 'Xaucjui sjij iinpr siij)t;m jamim
OtuK 3'-)) ut snuiiuoj Him sssMjd Sujttj sm jotiuoj 310 )cin aauwnsst: otp sud 3m3
auiJdsilo Xjrpoa Xl!|t!UOUiiu! JO pu!:{muoaici|snai3p33EicIn9t))o Xunu put:
si5!ue!5''J'>D ssidood 0!p\ eni pny sstpoq jo uoKSsaatis b qSnoiii)
ssnopuos t)5!i['\ sm;." e oi sno3oiBUC si
ai|:^sd aiji : naiicumuisj jo uwicutidio
psipuH It s'Uit sopuiH am SuHdsjjomojosstpoqsq) uisouawnsaj iisHHianojm
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 tliE GROWTH OP TilE SLP 7'J

subsequent aclivilies in tlie form of interests. Interests arc extensions

of bodilv
feelings, but are not necessarily bound to the basic or body-sustaining and or
bodv-
renewing needs. A
fanners predecessors ate immortalized in his interest in
farmin' so
far as his activities continue their form. This is the immortality usually
conferred b
teaching, or culture. It perhaps appears less substantial than biological
immortaliiv^
partly because it is more variable and less stable ; yet it is the continuity
of prow
through generations.
Third, there is the immortality of identifying ones whole
self- heart m I

soul with the source of all selfhood, which I take to be the developing
ccolo 1

system of our planet. This is tlie supreme identity, the embracing stay
and
human life. This supreme and creative identity is the generic process of - i

itself, which characterizes and participates in all manifestations of

*

growth ""V
*
iinmaneiU in the growth of the body, and in its reproduction of new
bodies h r

confined to those processes. It isimmanent in the emergence of the human

nsveh -

is not confined to that process. As the human self is a striving to unite the
mulr
of sub-selves within the region of the body, so be ultimate or
cosmic ideni'!'^^'*^
striving alongside it in that task but is also striving to unite human sclv
communities, communities into a world society, and a world society into
com
with the non-human domain of nature. In this sense deity is, as Samuel
Alexamr^l^^
the next higher empirical identity toward which the diversified world
said,
drives
vLyon of deity is vouchsafed to ail who have faith, courage, and sensitivity
to r'
to it. As the ideal that draws us on toward a wider and deeper community
never realized. It is a symbol, a lure, which, unlike
perverse and opiate its *
fornu
people to devote themselves to the development of persons, society, and
natur

andnowonlhUi)!anet.
The work of the growth process in the world requires our work. The
price
panicip.iiion in the community of saints which binds self to self in
a
througii the seas of history is the labor of love. Immortality is a temporal
h-
ment a genetic line of bodies, a culturallioe of iiilcrBsts,
a minded line
of^'^
martyrs, and saints who lay down their lives for their friends, for unborn nencrM'^^
of children, and for the line of creative activity that sustains and advances all
To
the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless, care for tlie sick,
comfon
broken-hearted, educate the ignorant, smite tlie tyrranous, and therisli and
nurture
the truly human abilities of our kindsuch arc our ancient and still demanded
d
III such sacrifice of self lies the whole meaning of the resurrection, the
apostalic-su^''*^'
sLon, and the chuich universal. He who loses his self in that way shall not find it'^r^'
it indeed shall be lost to himas itis recurrently being lost in living-and lost
pulsating psychic process aiming at something bcyo.ad itself. Yet he shall
be foi^^ f
and not found wanting, by others. Blessed are those who die in the Lord; fop .i
works shall follow after time. In this final commitment which is a far, far
bett
thing* than any self for its own self can dot the self is committed at last to
som'^*^
-
thing that brought it into being, raised to its highest levels of enjoyments,
and wm
outlast it. Thus the self returns unto its source, and as its body has been its
qJ
3fi. Spate, Time aaJ Tiei'O', Londoo, Nfaciailloa, 19Z0.
37. Rcvelillon XIV, 13.
 JI3S iiciuni{ 3i|) JO j(uns3p puc juamiHuinoo puij sqi si
JDBod puij OJ SI JCM IB puc p0lEll9;i8 Sj JJIOn 01 9[93ni1S om UI ^^!I 05 ol -OJH
issq sin SI 'ajjiSatoSuo aiji ut [<fojp c nipCsd .vao i.ouo S'ui:1CUI -p^jonb
'wfi os oi
uoo sq Suiaquou jo pcojp.jno UC3 9n|CA oiuoidns oj axAUS puc ispusuns ui Xjuo
joj ; XpiKUB jjo 1SC3 01 ST sj!i S.3U0 JOj iij?noqj 3ut)|e) incnfim 3 a]( os oi lusssjii aqi
JO saijnp om UI jpsauo osoj oi si 'jcwa X|iui si jbiim oi uojioAop ui '3Aq os oi
Ojoj9q iqSnoj puc psAoj oi|A OSOijj ijiia oacid Xui aqcj,, o) 'ji ind pmiiJTds
^ s? ujsiojJT) icup ctfx ^^xocad mbij Xcuj pjjqo Xiu jcqj 'oiup Xui
3i(J
us sq JI 'j3| 'aiqnoJJ 3q aJsqJ JL, W* P ss^ias JSiwq jo osiidn
stp loj suoii]puo3 spiinq icqi }(J0 jo itCAmi )} si qons -SKuna jo juaiudoiSAsp aqi
joj jujumjisu; uc sc Xpoq jcqt sosn X|?u!i|[a U 8J!I i os liisuidopASp jo juDUinjjsut
onnioA !N3Anos vamiv to aa pg
 On Understanding Philosophy

)w is it that an intellectual discipline with thousands of years of tradition

hind it is itself not clear about its own subjea matter t Have we en^er heard uf a

Dup of Physicists or Economists discussing the questionWJmt is Physics ? or What

Economics 1 But is (his not a fact that the most stimulating topic for philosophical
scussions and seminars continues to be the age-old questbo. namely, What is Philo-
ipby'? Does it not lead us to think, that there is something in the nature of philoso-
ly that baffles understanding ?
This paper does not claim to bring philosophy out of this situation, it does not
aim to open any door leading to an easy understanding of philosophy. This delibera-
on going to proceed in complete awareness of the fact that philosophical discipline
is

uniquely dilTerent from every other discipline, and that it is not possible to delimit
le scope of philosophical thinking in a very clear and unambiguous manner. The
ndefined limits of its area &vc to it the thrill and the appeal and tlie freedom that

ther disciplines lack.

But then, it is not impossible for an individual inquiier to form his own idea
bout the nature of philosophy and be completely satisfied with it. This paper intends
0 add to the equipment of the philosophical adventure, it merely seeks to advise the
.'urious individual to take note of certain factorsia the absence of which (he under-

.tanding of philosophy may become both tedious and baffling.

n
As it has been suggested above, the fust recommendation is that one must not try to

make philosophy a science. It is not possible to determine iu field of study in

definite terms. Indeed there is a vagueness about the nature of philosophy, hut this
vagueness gives to it a vitality and a broadness. Oiw must never forget that a dclibera-
pnet^JJjrr^t'iiLinuiqud Rcja rjoimioi
910 *"'0 * ** *11
ji{ Krvi PV JS^Jwojiijdjnajrj t!nnnqM!|i jn (jii;tupT}[ jm
ru)ne 1 P= Mil 01 P*!'* ^iJowpudjowMajojil Jrt'd sijt pit
^unpuj u* *!J 5 o? aioui) jjiiilmcntud t p^UMp irnpjMpui Xu^;] n
jwow syi 'O {fOtn'iui JO) pn f|Mjj < tnj pifo s{io OU drqtil t.lljd w^i^d
f" ^al^Moimd. t U39wnq unvuinip i jtrj cs^ jmnji
JO
Xi]<I<C>|it!<l JO Snipucuwpun JSJtud c 9 \Tt| m ajqr Swjq jou jpj umtoi jjquxiv
91,1 ti
M
'uoiisrjsjin ]cn]39|p)ui ^uifnn jo ooitMtij otp i(tw|e puM
ooniHTibac uasq Js\au ieq Xqi]ou)tn|d jouoiiunj uitui sqnnq
5CH1! sSpaittoo^ JO
tioiir|n39dt |nii[dnso|!q[I inj nirp U|CU93 muofot ointj ts'jri X)|dcKe|iitd jcqi a>u]

tjHO Jjaiji JO saindOJOiiqd auios d0(3\p oj pnaj nun) |estt|tj:w uao Xijh ii
5, jj
J9IJ5 waijuni ucui uotpcjnjts itio 3^3 .<eie touuta ji jnq iintm pire
inji
{tiu!a ''0 S01J s8p3[ou5) 'ja'Astn! oj uo;mo*l tui job sj wuaw jtqi sumiwnb
'Jxioiiciiuiii iiMo siisrij osjt aauofss -aiuat oiaiqBUnnnuauidinba
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xiqSiui n; [|C V)!v^ oauaix um 3 t|3U|M odiRdc3Mxo)sqa3s X|MaU) inq'Xpnx 8 uk^
,97pj,V,ou:i C Sutaq JO uojtuaiaid Xirc 3v;q tou Mop Ki|douii{d icqi pim t ^aqi
I joadtnj puc iRAOiddc qioq qijM /qdoiotti(d cpjeMoi qoo( <n uiSaq puc
da o^iS 11!'^
ajdoad asaqi uaAg 'sicniaaKaiui papotui ujspoui puc paiuauo XpeaiJ'ditia
.m/q jnq iS5l!aMl Xiuoiou psqqnu^stsq j3AiS-33p3|ou!f cSuiaqjoiaiqs
moujj oi suitejj iaqdo;o(tild stp uaqn sjojajsqj. aSpq'aouq
nu ssaJd oi tatii jo
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aSpatViOUJllou IBM
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jiain B
c oq oj pajaprsuoo sb<a uat|c(naoiIs [csjqdosoiiqd souni sipiujjjd aip uj
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P<*qj
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graiTOA W3WQS VA3I11V TD na ?
 -
ON UNDERSTANDING PHILOSOPHY 83

free way of conceiving the nature of philosophy is the greatest obstacle in the way of
understanding its nature.

Therefore it must be asserted that there is a basic dilference between the imports
of the expressions philosoplier and 'professor of philosophy. It does not mean that a
philosopher cannot be a professor or that a professor of philosophy cannot be a
philosopher, but this a fact that a professor qua a professor is not a philosopher. A
philosopher is a seer, he has' a knack of having intuitions about the objects of his
contemplation; on the other hand, a professor of philosophy is concerned with tlic

statements of these seers or of other philosophers. That is way a professor as a profes-

sor is interested in, what is called, a second-order enquiry, and is at a loss to say any-

thing when he is pressed to say something of the first order. At times, either in over-

enthusiasm or in desperation he starts showing the way and issuing prescriptions

more or less in the manner of a seer or a prophet. He does not realise that such acts
not merely mislead the hearer but also distort the very purpose and the function of
philosophy.
Therefore, any attempt to understand philosophy must be clear about its aim.
It must first decide whether it is trying to understand philosophy of the first order, or
philosophy of the second order. If one comes to the university with the first type of
request, he will almost invariably be disappointed. The academic philosophy, as it is

taught and studied by professional men, cannot afford to have any pretension of being
able to solve the problems of life. It Is basically an intellectual discipline pursued
with the sole intention of deriving intellectual satisfaction.

Now wc come a very relevant and a very important point regarding the
to consider
understanding of philosophy. It is a fact that the philosophies that develop at a parti-
cular time are invariably consistent with the spirit of the time, they reflect some of
the prominent tendencies of that tiroc. In every age certain tendencies do become
prominent, they, in their own ways, come to reprcsent the general World-Viow' of
that time. The philosophy that developes during iliat period tries, in its own w.iy to
give expression to those tendencies or and to that world-view. This is a very significant
aspect of philosophical development, and therefore it is necessary to appreciate this
fully in order to be able to understand the nature of philosophy. Let us try to illust-

rate this by following the course of the development of western philosophy.

The ancient frame of mind was not indined to accept that what was evident
to the senses reptesented the real Rtperiences of sort tisui Jed to the emef-
gcncc of the impression that reality was invariably something different from
what appeared to the naked eyes. For example, an individual appeared to the
it

ordinary view of the ancient man as a physical body-frame, impressive and full of
vitality. But he could learn by experieiux that there was something more basic than
the body, without which it was not posrifale for tlic body to prevent its own decom-
position. Again, he could see that even ordinary objects were in reality different from
what they appeared to be, for example, an ordinary box was described to him us a
box of iron, but he could see that articles were kept not in the iron but where iron
iUJ!Iiio3p|''0.re!>M8qt josatiiMnc jmi|nj pwc itismsnmejopouaJ
sxiijo jjni
-wJii/ sifl le ur|3 isnsra c ustg 'ajlit atpssjjai-citfw
ejojo aJtj avtpaujj s.n ja
J3HI1J stssi|iu.(5 inIo;3\3p 01 paiJi ^aii; jo
'wp jpm qioqwstp otauiuSmr siuicia
a^tl33lIs3l Jwn) suiiujsiap 01 paiduisiir fsip jo 'taLnispuai owi
aqi Hioqjo itmiintn
{f vinuicw 0) J3i/)w pjui *{(| xuotwwp asxqj uc smi jo ojoia w3
tgoija itioiwi
-|3U033J asst]! uQiiniinuoaaj jo; sgojjs ampojil oi paposj
o-m sqi iiaawiaq
jsiijuM 3i|l uo jo]C7 'S3!3u3pu3i 9S3I11 JO oauxajd oqi jsumjpoauo jc jji* 3ij '(poijwl
lTi(t Sifunp pMnpaid sjnjejsiii 3t(i3|diiicjDj)pcu3dsn(tj0
3jq (eninna aip stsuns
3U0J] jailio qats qi[A\ piyutn m siuoa Muoapuoj o*i oaquMjjo aiinbicqi anil
Bii[ 'uoscaijo 3sn sajj 3qi un Sui<[w isj{i>uopi!J J0 3j3i3uo3aiiijo\oicJ3illis
s| urui uiapoui ot)j_ -ajii jo Xjsw ui isoui|c aiqcAJssqo ost /aqi piie rCiJcap
^J9A laqicj ssAiasmaiu liqiqxa sapuapuaj anj poud lu^po/^ aqi qsiqiA jo jpssJ m
c SB U0I13MJ c paanpojd sauousdja ^cuipjo pun uoscas tpoqjounissajddns siiu.
lA
'ndX) auiGS sqi jo s| JO aioui paannuaj ucils sii jo SJca^
pucsnot|l aqi Surinp pajnpoid wav. jcm S3ii|doso{n|d aqi *1(301 ic puu spcis isoiuis
i|/iunj|n3 p3uit!ui3j poiiad oqj usds $)i jno i^ncoqx -AjiMon pini ssauqsaij
pcfiad ni|] Sujinp paanpojd ^qdosQ|iqd aqi 8uo| Mqiui si poiiad tcAtarpsiu aqijo
uedsoin ijSnonlIV suoiicjsqiijp (tnSoioaq) jo MOiAjud oqiqnpiAfi suits iBqisrap!
o <<|uo onfJsqf|ap o( uoscv pa|(c pc XSotoaiii oi aa'ucpioqns
pire sa.rdoj Cfstii
eiiimaq o3c itin m pampoid stA icin /:i(dosopiid jo sd^ oqi wojajaqi i^urjnirN
'XjpilJac put aji] JO laadsr Aisas (OJiuoa put spjnS sit^nSw cq pKti qJiuiQ
suDjjjassc |t3i?o]osi]i psidsMt aqi qiin niyiios ui auioa oi JO s3u3||tq3 oi aaijlis
psMOllD IQU sJSM uojioauaj put uosuai stin sn|CA i|3nui os vaA^S sjm lapjo si] put
qajnns 8t(l pufiSd iCAanipsui aqi qt jnq *iniuaApt jo puii( iCot ut s^inpui pinos s3ui
ni uo 3 utXi] uoiiC[naad$ poriad lusiaue oqi uj ',8uii|uim psqiiasuitiMp, oi ,qo;irinnds
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otjj, uioJj ijitp
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SirioSjopuc 1501 st snoTAQo aip Supdaast loujo opnipjt aqi porjad luaiaut aqi
st yt snqi jsuutui ouits aip
saqiaio^icip Itqi apnijiic iwoiiag aqi itrp juajtddt
qr ssoi 15 IsAiaacioa wan jaKcm ptm u/joj iacw jossuoJajoa jrquaiuspunj
s aiioisiiy uaA 3 'piioMitai oqi jo ^doo pajiaduii utuoiiiniuiuii uc inq Smqiou
ppoAi jua
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%wi
putissjcsiasii sisS
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gpnifj'jB snonsuos-uou Suiipauios qiisi sauijj it put apnnSuiqwuios qii^Ajno
siqx
suoissaidiui luajtddt oqi puiqaq o?l oi
aiuto i<aqj somj)
jv 'PIIoas aqi jo sw^qo jo
^BjAUMOSiq ut pain aaqdosouqd Aisia saicqi jopuniaqiaouis
posswdw pu<?ijoapn}!i?if iwauaSsiqj,
nsaiauia itqi saiudosojiqd aqi citjpsi?
' - -sSqqijoaiintiiitai oqiiuassidai
suoissMdmi jtituipjo imp mwa iwoiioS aqi jo nausSrtuia
jou ntp sjaafqo Xtp-<J0A3 jo
saouaiiadxa uoiuuioD -stoaid uoji uaaviiaq dtS aip lu-iou stw
ai|j oi pai 3di<l K\\i JO
SRPIOA upnAflos VAaviv -to 'OT
 ON UNDERSTANDING PHILOSOPflY 85

a perfect correspondence between the tendencies and tiie types of phi-

There is

losophies that were produced during that period.

In tlic early stages of the modern

period the two tendencies mentioned above ^vcte dearly represented in the two philo-

sophies of Empiricism and Rationalism. Bodi rtcommend an overthrowing of tlw

shackles put on philosophical thinking during the mediaeval period, both recommend
a breathing of fresh air. One makes sense-experience its model, and the other relies
on the innate capacities of the mind.
The rcconciliatory tendencies are represented in the philosophies of Kant,
Hegel and idealists like Bradley. Indeed the three ways of reconciliation are not simi-
lar with each other. Kant tries to assign to both these tendencies their respective

places and thereby delimits their respective fields. According to him there are certain
vistas that are not open to the senses, likewise, rcllcction has also its own limitations

as it has to rely on tlic data gathered by the senses. Hegel proceeds in another manner
and tries to comprehend sweep all aspects of experience giving to them all
in his mighty

(at times even forcibly) rational garb. Nothing, he feels, can have a being in isolation,
and everything in a way involves everything else. That is Ijow lie comes to evolve the
concept of an all-embracing and all comprehensive whole, Bradley carries ihe Hege-
lian conclusion to a different height. He 1$ aware that Hegels philosophy is an expres-
sion of the tendency towards unity prevalcot at that time, but be feels that this end

cannot be wholly served, by a rational whole, for the simple reason that reason or
intellect is a tool for dissection and analysis. That is why be comes to assert that the

Absolute is not merely reason, but is of the nature of experience, llis sense of the

word experience is comprehensive enough to include even the cjnpiricists sense of

the world. Thus, even Bradley's Idealism is an expression of the tendency that seeks tp

resolve the conflict between the empirical tendencies and the emphasis on the apeiori.

vu

Thus, in every stage of its development western philosophy reflects the general ten-
dencics of the time in which it fiourishes. This fact is most clearly evident in the con-
temporary period. What are the broad and important tendencies of the present times ?
At least the following ate clearly evident, (1) the preseat-day individual is a busy man-
almost always in a hurry, and yet he is never satisfied with what he has. A sense of
anxiety and boredom and a feeiiog of despair cliaracterise his life, (2) he always
wants definite and precise solutions, for his problems and lie accepts them only wlien
they have some experiential Kasis, (3) he somehow believes that every problem has
to be tackled in its own way and that there cannot be a total or a complete solution
of the whole situation, (4) he has come to realise the importance of nrct/ioJs and
'

techniques, and consequently he tries to evolve a methodology for every kind of

study.
All these tendencies have been given dear and vivid expression in some of llie
prominent pliilosophies of the recent tones. The tendency of the first kind finds its
expression in the philosophy of Existcndalisin. Existentialism does not promise to
show the way out of despair or anguish, it merely paints a very vivid picture of the
modern man. When an individual looks at thu picture he finds it to be familiar, and
 oiisTijsiicf icntaanaitn a<o(K taiq saiS him juqi Suh'ugk
.;3pDn UG XTidti50ijt[d jo Suipuinuspun aiuosjpnu;i|40j3uuisi]mpxmssdcq;3d
ntM sq 'SAoqe pauoiiuaiu siuiod aqi puiui ui Suiila^ Xqdoso|!i^ saqacoidde (mp
:
nneiaisspoiu uXiuo |Btu joj3uo .tfliu aqi jBsp tn,
-Mipm snoUMBJ!
<(01^13101) op suoiiipum ssaqi iq) uitSe asoo papassiaq tjmPi'uoKnpuoa U|
-SUIH |tm JB WJpASjd $M3IA
asnas-oouJuHO sqi put) tapnjint lajoujposi luaujaioid am iW* oonciTJicnbas pjausS
ji3[n3!iJBd Ts JO Xqdosouqd aip jo flajputisjapnn cb jcj )ii
B 8M3H
toiWOTin -^qdosoitiid owisajft *! J 3
jaqj aqi
ItlA
sXrM uno Jiaq)
BtnoneSRIOJO^OT Xxoijiqjosidasuos'aqi JP oojtWHiJtp atp joj anbiuqas)
jo i<qd3S0|rqd Ajojsih JO Xqd0|{qd Kiwajin
pw
ctin x'tdds uonesnpa
R saSwiuo HJ asustps jo sjdaauoaoqi JOOU039PPSV J ^
li* XQtloiOiiqd
uoitoagutis wp J^nt.iuqaai'B sii^lsuBJoonb
inbtmisot B qsM oIA\ 'Sldsauoa jo
oribiuqaa)
imiaa] t anbtuqan b osib si Xqdosofiqd JoqJ ! 1 s|doad araos pai sbh
sib Xjqi
nrre Xfloiopoqlara
no nscqduia XjBJoduiajuas aq asi"!!! pawnnosua
jo sssn aqi SoreXinn: puc) soiaiqoJd sqi Sn]lMui '^q
L /niaism P3ST1 suoissajdxa
^1 aunS-aSEnSuci aqi SujXBfd Xqdosoiiqd Suiop icqi p3l53?9w
jwj ni s;
d ub no
SldvasTtiaKq^'uiaisnaSajllM P ouB3.KMni jraqdosopqd aqi jo Xqd
aqi ui psiaaijM si nopiijos |loi Xtre Jo XiUiqissod sqi J
iwnid renaatiDU' aq^a-S^
,Ba3
; rSr aL-ioa Xaq;^ su.3iqoid 3u,3Bj jo W
P uoissaidxa oi wS
nnB msSirsod IwiSoTiosiiaoiV I!*! Xouspns) aqj.
' ijaas oi
nn XisiEiuiiin Xiaj 01 poc uotsiaajd
k' r-ifn bo
notidaa^ljoBiBp
P "i*
,n. ni leaddc ain suicidxa stqi Jps'?
;u^aJdajsa3uaiJ=dxapuus8u!pj[Bni>!"Pnisn
Swam cqMOM '
b mq amad
Wi ainp-.d atp
B sia3
asnaiaaioisniSaqaqsB
amncMiiHMaAnosvAasivTa'^a 98
 a

11

Towards An Educational Philosophy

For A Viable Democracy

1. The DUeinmas Dmocraey Faces

Traditional forms of damocraty arc today on the defensive everywhere throughout

the world. Even on those occasions when it can truly be said that democratic forms
of government and the democratic spirit are in no sense being abused, the point is
commonly made that Ignorance of the social complexities created by modura, large-
scale technology, expanding urbanization, and excessive, central governmental
conttoi of community functions, is so great that, in a sense, we are all living on
borrowed, poliUcal' capital and borrowed time. Neither the enlightened citizen nor
his governmental representatives understand the complex, contemporary irarM. altho-
ugh they may make a stab at trying to understand a pienfal/y constructed and overly
simplihed sector of it.

The world that we all inhabit is James Farrell

in reality to paraphrase

world that everyone has made and one with all of whoso parts no one is familiar. It
is even more strongly insisted upon In some quarters, that tire task of analyzing our

contemporary problems almost aE of which tend to be interlocked is too formid-

able for even the most sophisticated type of planning. Derivatively it is held that the
task, of formulating le^lacion and inventing new institutions to deal with the

interrelated urban and regional issues of our time, is even more formidable. This
latter difficulty is associated with pace of social change and with the fact that
unforeseen factors must arise which even for the most perceptive planning will
knock even the best measures of attack upon our problems, into a cocked hat. With
respect to world order, it is felt that the best laid schemes of mica and men gang
aft agicy.

In our time members of the younger generation arc demanding, as a cure for
what they choose to call participa-
the deficiencies of "representative demociaor,
tory" democracy. The latter is boltom-up democracy, two-way democracy or (o
phrase the matter most succinctly democracy in whjcli those who arc affected by
 -suiaiqojd siii ;o ixnrcjSDsa aq) iq
aioj aitsnjsxa ut lou iranouiiB
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p,
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suo uodn
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2umm siqj jo Knnwi
piiDifyJ^m iiStiojisgiuojjq 'll /a/ nuajqoid MoynuoiitzqiAu imq-ii^p c jt
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SuniicJJ oq) vi'
aninoA. WNSAtios v/fl^iv 'Tfl "aa 88
 TOWARDS AN EDUCATIONAL PIIILOSORHY POR A VIABLE DEMOCRACY 89

But the fundio/ia! inierdcpnulency of om

problems creates what are noiY cal-
Icd systems and if we are to come up with viable solutions for problems that are
part of our intricate and changing, social systems, both our methods of analysis for
these problems and the detailed measures we propose for their solution, must be con-
structed within the framework of systems theory. This necessity is an unfortunate
and unpleasant one, but also an inescapable one. If the proceeding assertion is true,
then the notion that the typical government representative usually with a legal
background at best is prepared to understand a systems approaeJj and the
soludons derived from it, will not stand inspection. This is a notion which, ut best, is
unrealistic and, at worst, absurd. This unhappy fact holds even more strongly for the
'
citizen-elector.

If, then, wc are to restrorc democracy to its pristine vigor in a mass society,

the electorate will have to be provided with that type of training, beginning either

at the end of (he elementary school or, perhaps, at the beginning of the secondary
school, which will furnish some general bat adequate ideas as (o what is meant by a
system. Such training should indicate to a gwiero/ wey how we go about exploring
the properties of systems whose componcots have high interdependence and what are
the methods by which procedures can be developed for the regulation of such systems
particularly social ones that will enable them to remain fairly stable. Further-
more, we must present to the oomlng generations a picture of alternative ways
open to man for the'control of his own social systems, while guoranteeing that those
same social systems will have built into them certain traditional, political virtues of
a democratic nature. These virtues that wc must guarantee will have to be a sys-
tems capacity to preserve both the substaoce and (he epirit of such traditional
notions as freedom, individual choice and social responsibility. Finally, those same
systems will have to guarantee the nccoMiiwhtVity to the electorate which we have
always demanded of those who do the governing.
!n order, however, for men to deal with the growing social complexity oF their
world, familiarity with tlic regular features of lUe systems approacli may still not be

enough. Planning which seeks to provide solutions to a host of prabJcjns which inter-
mesh with one another and the nature of which, in turn, change over time, demands
the coordination of all the ditTerent solutions to all the different, current problems

which men must be prepared to tackle at the satne time. Tin's raises the level of dif-
hcully of the analysis required. Yet sucb a coordinativc approach is much more real-
istic hi relation to tlie social and cavironmental problems faced by technologically
advanced societies, than a slrjiightforwanJ, coRTOntlonal, systenrs approach. The
additional knowledge required will raise both the information load mid the complexity
of analysis that both planners and enlightened voters would have to bring to a study
of the issues faring a modern communi^. There is no help for this burden if wc
really wish to undsrstaid our problems and if wc wish to express by vote or referen-
dum what we tliinfc ought to fae done about them. A brief statement as to why this is

so, will be attempted in the material that follows.

2. The Problems of Coordinaiive Planning

A community whether it be only a city or whether it be as large as an entire country-

 UlSiqojd oj TJO]ir,|t: spiAOjiJ w
siqwn Soramo asujdxsaqni: Xitjo inq icsiqwO
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inq I! psAjesttp r/ojja/mo pfjot wiojihu qaiif* jno jnod ci luanuja
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qsy inq paXoJisap X|pidci Suiaq spaq doiijqs jcmauiuioa poj cut Xiuo lou
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gmjouSj JO uaqi Itqcq aqx -mwp aqi UMOp o3 Xjicap '/laAiicjnSij put Xipuaiii '[(i*
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IIC
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JO XJisnpui ajcAijd ji asn qaM pjnoa ^luniotuoa aqi itqi sitiiaitni ainioiioaa
'-ujaA03
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siuan^a aqi ui paAjossip
asoddns
situoicm pjjos aqx (l) 'siuajqwd aaiqi SuiMogoj aqi scq Xiinnwnioa t
leap luaniaids aqi aqBia oi aagns pinoqs
sjicjuc jo
Xinmuiuioaaqijosnjaiqojdjaqiooqi aimiisuoa qaiq*
ajdcncxa tjSuis V
sajcis asoqj slMjjc majqojd qaeasainiqsnoaqaiqMrjnijb/f
UI siqx luopusdsp'jsiui me Xaqi icqi sacaui XgcjaiiaS aqi satjaitq ui auioa suiDjqoid sji
ui auioa stuajqojd s/ijunomioa joiiot ajSiqs c saaej Xjaarj
'saqaicq y
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aMtinOA aiNSAnos VAauiv 'td 'ua 06
 TOWARDS AN EDUCATIOHAL PHILOSOPHY FOR A VIABLE DEMOCRACY 91

3. In this case the cure for water poUutioo would be purchased at the cost of creating

an economic rather than an agrobiologital difficulty for the farmers, the cattlemen and
the diarymen involved. Finally, local growers and cattlemen might make use of one or
more detoxifying agents for the water that they actually used, the costs of which still
left them in a competitive position but vnth smaller, profit mar^ns. If
this were done,

independently of the community making an attack upon industrial waste or water

pollution, we would then have a wKkIi problem 3 was solved but without
situation in

any solutions for the other two probfems.

Id the example furnished there may be au ideal solution for problem 1 which, ai
the same time, proves to he completely effective for the remaining two problems. This
could be spoken of as a best possible solution. On the other hand, the three
problems may require three solutions that are independent of each other, in the sense
that the solution to any one of them has no effect, whatsoever, on the conditions that
create the remaining two problems. This could be spoken of as a maximum cost
solution. Finally, we can have iolermediale outcomes, in which the solution to
problem I may also be a solution for problem 2 but not for problem 3, or the solution
to problem 2 may also be a solution to problem 3 but will do nothing to elimitiate

problem 1. A complete outline of the contingencies and possibilities is shown in

Table L
Table 1.

Different Cootiogeoefes that may arbe for the three community problems in the

example chosen
Status of A
Contuigency Solution For Problem Thai Could Effect A Solution Judgment
For Probl6in(s)

(1) (2) 0) (4)

1 1 2 and 3 Possible
2 2 but not 3 Possible
3 bat not 2 Possible
2 1 and 3 Impossible
1 but not 3 Impossible
3 but not 1 Possible
1 and 2 Impossible
1 but not 2 Impossible
2 but not 1 Impossible

Let us examine each of the conliogcncies In tuns, shown in the table referring to
them by number.

(1) This contingency is clearly possible and represents what we have referred to
as the best possible solution.
(2) This contingency is feasible, since the task of recovering valuable wastes by
jiqenicA jo /CjaAOMj sip uo Sutjrsq od teq
JWMBoqcgiwTjoii^ran
.K0)3pic3oiasjno3jopuv uiCTJisdn noienpoid uiojj
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y
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IISIJ (9)
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Xq
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 TOWARDS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY FOR A VIABLE DEMOCRACY $5

Another feature of the example I have furnished here is the fact that the inter-
dependence of the problems involved is latidireclionaK that is to say, we have assumdii
that the solution to problem 1 can aggravate problem 2 and that the solution to
problem 2 can aggravate problem 3. But the solutions to other batches of inter-
dependent problems may be bidirectional with feedback effects. Another three
problems, for instance, could have been so related that a solution to problem 1 aggra-
vated problem 2, a solution to problem 2 aggravated problem 3 and a solution Jo
problem 3 1. This is a type of situation that provides a circular
aggravated problem
feedback But one could also have had a situation in which a solution to prob-
effect.
lem 1 the other two problems and the respective solutions for each of
aggravated
these two problems aggravated the other problem but had no effect on problem 1.
There are still other feedback possibilities even for a batch of only three inter-
dependent problems. As the number of probkms faced by a community, increases, the
nature of the iiucrdepeiidencies will be much more varied than those we have just
pointed out and, in gctteral, will show both unidirectional and bidirectional relation-

ships. The reader can therefore see what staggering difficulties for the understanding

are present when a commuoity has a batch of interdependent problems to solve.

What about the solutions, themselves, that is the measures we take to solve our
problems. The so/ui/onr, themselves, it should emphasized, present a fresh set of
difficulties. We want to make certain that a measure which solves some given problem
does not aggravate some of our other problems and does not interfere with the ubility
of a proposed solution for any other problem, to doits work. In other words, solutions
must be compatible if all our problems are (o be solved simultaneously, for ell practical
purposes.
Tltc force of these observatioos will be driven home more strongly if we take a
lopk at how a set of community problems that arc interdependent and call for joint
solution at the same lime, look to u grotip of professional planners wlio propose to
attack them.
If the reader will allow me to indulge in sonte slight techniKilities via the use of
symbob, let us imagine that our planners arc engaged in the task of solving three
problems which we shalldesignate as Aj, A. and Aj. Let the three measures or solutions
proposed for these be M
and Mj. These measures aim at achieving certain
prliiwry consequences namely, the elimination of three, undesirable, existing states of
alTairs,or the creation, perhaps, of three desirable states of alfairs that do not exist at
present, or possibly some mixture or these two types of primary consequences. In the
example fuinishcd above, the three primary consequences, symbolized as P and Pj,
would be as follows : P, the recovery of valuable industrial waste ; Pj the elimina-
tion of water pollution ; and P^ the elimination of soil poisoning. The reader, how-
ever, should think of Ai, A. and A, as any batch of three problems witli jnixed types of

unidirectional and feedback features. The primary consequences arc, as the reader can
now sec, the solutions to the problems, themselves. The problems arc always either
unwanted conditions or desired states of alfairs which, unhappily for the communliy,
arc not in existence at the monKnt. The measures wc actually take to solve the
problems are, of course, not to be confused with their solutions. There may be several,
equaUygoodmeasures dial wiJlachicvclJiesoal phiDncdfor, in connecUoa with any
 ^ !,p,nad. ,q,
S30V lins V 'a-3icpiC|t!iiiis?ui:^wd*Bwjrtuqcu^mvrurvv.OT
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v!* 'sdnpowjq^ ii=nu^Jmu; vZ
pOB MSU JO las i;rAO ue 'pwtJJt sc^ uoncniis s/nonnucoa a<|i
jo sins jaitt siiii aiuii
,q, /q wnpojd S!iU '*otj pn a,ew pnis'w
Ji 'mou aic /Csiiucqw luojj .lu/'i;
jajt>;i;Bluajiip9imbaqj|t/A'$ii}Mpjspue siuanoid
jo msisXs
piet asncaaq sj siiq, 'v pui! 'V JO suoimios |i joj
sajnvnui siqisscrf jsiosi
sqi uaaq b/ibij oi oAo^d X[|EniuaAa Xeuj w ptre w mou pansEl jr
'v puc >v i^tno ji
ma * >JI! 9U1II sim i poeii ut pucq 03 tp pac hhi si ucaui \ nn/f^
-Runua|!p iiiBuaa sasnpojd siuaiqojd
s/l!onuiuioa c oi suaimios aqi 3uii933tis >K>!lniis SM^buioob ue asrtj asv -jaiui
ysilio puc MOU Sluaiqojd aqi jo oinos X|ua at^irj oi asodoja sjauutid jno prsisui
jl
-13^0 tl3E3 asiojuiM ni p9l39dxa osjE sjB )nq aiquisap sq oj Xjuo inu paiMdxa
sjosaJUsnhssucoXitpucsBsssoiiAisajnssauijoiasujsooijaAtpaiqnopuii piM sjauuqd
gifl
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j
ti
sdXi utrii93 99BJ sXbmio 150iij|b ||;m 9ai *uo;)n|05 i9ir| loj
jj9( ajE ispureuai sqi 3im*i
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-sip JO asHEasq jo jaKrdxBi ai[j jo ^isnpui 5uoi|n|05 flsjnaitird
mnjasjo siios
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'JI -auijj
^011 uann sunssaui sjubai Xijtmuituoa aiji
9AI0S <li!of Il* >'n jbui sauinssB sisXtruB
'3 ^bib3j joroia iaqio
gu!P5<l otU. auo inoqB Xuom cn aAcq osjc pinow siauutij
-jiuiajnjiira) aq o) 99I|1 dub auo m SAtq
Xain in 9|qcii5ap aq oi uiaqi jo |[b ioj aq pinon sasuanbasuoa
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*j9U8nbani Xitpuoaai siqojitipun aqi vadoiep oi pue jajnswui j 9 hio jo sasuanbasuoa
lOcpQooas iiqoJisip aqi aaiojufai oj 'a|qcj|$apun jo aiquisap jaqiaqAi asuanbasuoa
jOcpoOMS Xlii? JUCM 9A5-a5i aqi aq oi X|ai(i| si $c asnscaui jsqiout josaauanbas
Xm
uoa Xjspuoaas aqj losjje ajnscaiu auo jo saiuanbawoi Xjcpuoaas aqi ji 'uoiitpp
ui ]ng ''aiqciisap ^luo aie lam
saauanbasuoa Xitpuoaas aanpoid o) ajnsTsaui qaca lucM
gu qou oiB Buios J 9iqcj[5ap 9JB asaqi JO auiog S9Alu'Ii 'siib9suo3 XjBpooas?
smjnoqtX/iOAioiaAtni os|c sm 'uonippc mi -XjuJiHuuioa aqi Xq psay siuaiqwd
jaqio 9qi aiBAwSSo lliAi 'iU9|qojd uaAiS b joj ajitSBam Xin> jo ssauanbasuoa Xicpuoaas
snou icni adoq oi si inoqe Xxiom oj aACi| oaa iBip laiiuui jsqiiBjauo aw^
aai 10
-WWJ'W
aAcq Xiqtqoid jiaqs aAi uaqoi
JO pun 'V 'W J saauDnbasuoo Xjrpuoaas iwoAas
XiBpuoaas >00395 aqi puB isjjj aqi XpiUBU
'XiaAtjasdsaj 'saaBanbasuoa
aiuBS aqi Xa
oj Jajw sidiiasqns oa\i aiji jo puoaas aqi -v
'paAiOAui aouatibasuoa XicpuoMS aqi m*
sjduasqns oi aqi jo jsnj aqi -'V iOJ W
nm
XpuiEU paAioAor luaiqojd 041 oi jajoj
jsiij
,0 oauanbasuoa
'Xjnpuoa:s 'piinaas aq pue 'y Joj w joaaoanbosucoXitipuooas
oic asaqi puc s aouanlKCToo Xropuoaas nons oi Xuna 'V m
aui SB pti aq oj
asoddng -laouanfoww XJopwwsy-ajoq niaqi pBo U'is
SJauireid aqt
aoi i*nctn aziiuaJ
^5^_j533^3.ayj/ypa7oJjj[ ao wwwjjo/ aanpoid l|!MaJnsBauiXj9AaiBiii pcj oqi
.aB)corJdBB3iiJBasiuaiqoJdiuapiidapiaiu!icJaAJoauooiuo!iniosXJ3Aa
5,ur
-iaati'^lODWB'suiaiqojdJisilJaAlosoiaqin iwu siJnscaui aqj XiaiEuruJojun
I39JJ9U I in
'uiaiqoid uaAiS
aruiloA MWaAnos vashiv 'tq na p6
 toWARDS AN CDLiCATlONAL PJllLOSOPHy TOR A VIABLE DEMOCRACY ^5

Interrelationships that have been ushered into being, may create new and unwanted
problems or may even bring about tlic recrudescence of the two problems that were
solved earlier.
In short, timingimportant in picking measures to solve our problems. And at
is

present planners cannot almys foresee too well what the later state of tlie total, social
system will be like and therefore cannot euaranlcc the feasibility of Mi and Mj for Ai
and Aj, if Aj, interrelated with A, and A., is allowed to continue. Planners could not
be sure that Ml and Mj, used itoir. wDl prove to be of eventual value if M3 is used
much later for A3. One result of this dilemma is tiut all Iwlisiic and coordinate
plannins for a complex, social milieu, m.ay not prove to be very viable unless the
community is willing to pay the costs of solving all its current problems now ratiier

than sequentially. A sequence of solutions over time may prove to be the planning
equivalent of buying a pig in a poke.
The preceding, then, represents the type of complexity that, in a sense, sometimes
passeth understanding even for highly sophisticated planners who wish to give tlieir

best effort and thought to the solution of some of the pressing social issues and
problems facing the modern community. If this is so for our planning cxpeits, think
how much less available to the modern, intelligent and concerned layman, is an under-
standing of the same type of situation. And yet without this understanding our voles
which, in a sense, are supposed to reflect indirectly our wishes with respect to govern-
ment policy become uncnllglucfted and ineomprehending decisions. Nor would the
more direct expression of our preferences through participatory democracy be any
improvement, if we come to face-to-face discussion with no more understanding of tlio
issues faced by the community than we have when we go to the polls. To make matters

worse, consider how much social complexity of (his sort within a modern democracy,
Intellectually disfranchises the concerned, arerage citizen who has even less marked
propensities for dealing with this sort of thing than the expert planner. Mo.st ironical
fact of all is that we have to recognize that citizens of less than average endowments
or education or citizens who are usuHy unconcerned with understanding tiicsu social
issues at all, can vote only under the limitation that their vote is citst without any

relevance at all.

Tn sense the participatory democracy that the young in the West now rail
tliis

for, if their leaders are prepared to cnaiuragc members of their own

snakes sense only
genemtion to acquire an expertise short of professional planning, itself that will
provide enough background to express good, social judgment. Such judgement will
have to uaderly the support or rejecdoa by vote, of (he different proposals for
the solution of the complex problems faced by communities in technologically advanced
The hearts of the yoaag ate hi the rr^t phtce. There cofttpassioft for those
countfiifs.

who have been denied the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is well
taken.The insistence on action that something bo done is absolutely sound. But com-
passion for those who are exploited and active and social concern for them will simply
not be enough. The depth of understanding and the willingness to deal with abstrac-
tion both of which are so cliaracterisdcally required in the systems approach- are
also vital. The price of a rebirth of democracy is a willingness to face the social
complexity we have, ourselves, created. Will the democratic ethos in the West
accommodate to this new demand 7 Only time can tell.
 t.'j Ttrrv^f'U I
,o]iuno3 irco jopno S'!! paq>sopoj>q tii] ti{ppnii ii
fK>rv'n>-l
VJ^ryff JO l[n3 <]a\i| ai|i jurJKij, jo MaiuifS t laS i t|v^n ut n-n
'XiTTtB sjtajstij. jJiinotn
uwo5n| no tuu()9lnu)Jlo^r]||3)^ stp jo ujpjoq jir st|i j^n
fiuqojjf 3VI tuppnji ri<rj |pion -jiav aiquio^, *f<( ?UlU3mpjT
o, j,tuiojU am JO
fWtir'!t SoUTiqiiiiB ^<1 nfjqiiMp tiq tri) i]i
iri'O" i .1*JrtWs.eipojiusjqn(njn''nr<^l
aonimu iiviij] sinjojrjiidSuiurtJdnt
sqi uq
*ri| uonoiap tti]j_ 'um oi ppmae %rM Horjotapijnj pue rur<ri[c|y ui
ppg jc pwldiiisjan tiasq rci| ciipptia pjcri -sum inji i nuriiciltu! ou tri( poSl jme
uoiSilSJ riippnn
lUSput ut 'ajutijodm; to3 m| r/iptuurio^ Xjco -ipia
J"
dop'sp pstisniiJitia 15 n .uoiicksq. atp lapiuq sjdpupd rtiryrji/
1 |ns oiu! paitujiuina uo
jjitj voiio^ap jitij nq^ -qjiiia {wpciidius u
j*i trq
iiojjOAap Jinj sqj, ttlita aqi Ui>(jrurjp)qujqfu(ftpqiiy.pua>q
jetfl spJfMOi
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eutXtticiq JO lirtJ aqi ui
s.cqppi'a jo sidpuud
*35 curXrqrjS 0 } pwsjua jpo rr.fi>V(r aqj_ PXpifnyi/pi^tf oi iitj
tun q 3 '' 0 -'!l
jodtu; P*1 *H> istH*** oidiHtta xsiij. ut
pp!tu snoiSttaj st oiiM utui t *utui tnojfnM t it stu oj wsiPiJq
S9 n 9q
A ^ ****'^ ** *!* **3 ii.< ppiOM jtqAA )
iicjiqTjS., tiiiq Cl
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piPspuB uitt)SJOJ?qjlsiu!q
patucM an 'll' <I 5 ''oJW|jaji|c:nAP''(r"^?Vff) UO
pj<n
aui wijc luouta aq u!* *oiloj o nof, ps^iit SAni t
sidiiiBXS jsqiouc laX it ajaiij. .i
qaiijM uo ssauaiqtunq put uodtipj aqi vi>ut:uv,.-l"S ;
U3IU UO pu " 0 ^ IMIOBajd I
^'tidnd BH OJ PllSJd ctippna uo!I'!*|w8utuicn:ji>9mii sqnv podoptsplina
^dpujjd Bill tuttXtticiq uj
jfjfpiff
vuvi(vipM HI WV /Wff
 : :

BHAKTI CULT IN MAHAYANA 97

men and women have taken shelter under benevolent fatlier /^itabh ! They look it as

the way of the salvation. This clears the fact that die principle of Prapalli Baltva

along with the principles of Ishwirrad, and Aratarvad has also been referred to in

Mahayana Bhakti sect.

Maiura anijTip are the salient features of Mahayana Bhakti Cult. Mantra and
much importance in countries like Tibet etc. Along with Mantra and jdp
jdp has got
prayer has also got importance. Hanendra's pupil Shinrain was of the view that they
should pray to Lord Buddlia with devotion. They can atLnin their goal only by this
support and strength.

The undermentioned factors have got importance for achievement of Bhakti

(1) The feelings of spiritual enjoyment by whole hearted/devotiou.

(2) To have association with Guru and to worship Lord Buddha.
(3) The study of Religious Canons and to spend life accordingly,
(4) The puriDcatioii of the soul.
(5) To silently count beads uttering the Mantra iff stRi3T (
rttf: afftra-

V^)
Ashwa-ghosh has emphasied very much on Buildlia Bhakti in !PriiJn}vpdrmild"
He took BJijkii BhSra as the means for the upJifi of the sinners. Shand Deva in
'BodhlcharyavatSr' and Shiksha Swnuchaya' has put emphasis on anxiousness to
know one self, the worship of Lord Buddha, the devotion in Biwkti Bhava, to forget
one self and surrender of the soul for the freedom from sins. This Acharya advised
to be the slave of Lord Buddlia, and Bodfii-Saivas. Tlius he is the first Acharya who
brought slave Bhakti in Buddlia religion-The act ofsurrcnderiiig himself, the anxiouos*
ness of idcntJtlcatfon with flic worshipped, (he expression ofmoral ideologies are
there in the Bhakti of Sh3nti Dev.

In Bodhi Charyfivatar

^ rnTtirr siRta i

^ Tur tniPaffr

Meaning thereby -

May the sulTering of all the living beings be ended by what over has been collec-
ted by Punya and good deeds. In Shanii Deva's principle like humbleness, the cont-
rol of egoism, the worship of Lord Buddha surrendering oneself and love towards God
are same as of Vaishnavas.

The following are the divisions ofBhakti according to Bodhi-charya and Shiksha
Samuchya.
(l)qs^ sftr; ij^T : The worship of Lord Buddlia and Bodhi-Satvas. The want to
worship Bodhi-satvas by ofTcriiig everything available in this world. Tlicy ofTcr every
flower ami fruit to their God.Even tluqr want to offer themselves to Lord Buddlia and
Bodhi-Saixan. Being inspired by the kind feeling of Lord Buddha they
offer their slave

A. Badhichary^vaiCr, 3/tf.
licdmojj p,u, vu.
.,!r,^ u. sii spMp

pooo_.t../^ 1 n.r<rqr r,d 7,vrw r-r^

ut, , ,r,,
.,w 'iinj -, i.;!r,|t m
,|i,V
*P* !n'ltl wetcucn; ui Mioiip t jo stjtujje.i
I'jpntauiniOEoi niuioJd o| Snipjmjs puc sSuuq
Sunn
3i,ljoij!|dnsi|uoja5tiuojdoivflu!53sj n|tui aqj sumcjj
7;^,,^ ,0 tuo,;p sm,
U[ snqx4-,.ooj sjsqio ui
lou K\\h, <|wq s.auo nt wqjcid .tq aSpsj^ou^
wsu, w
.piKSHI 'IMSUurXrticjvjosMio^^aqijoonouisti, fl sSwiajins iwn ujsssr
ct
puB sSuisq auMil ai[i \[n jo ssauiddtijun aqi ojtqj 01 -tjwp poog
jq j.'njjj 3,., 5;.
^ll. suii ai| Jawicqw q3 iiojiii ^BSpucXddiq Suijq aujAtiXisoqucj^a,,
33jHmi nq SutAcai 'sjaqio jo ijinln aqi joj qiau 01 nutiA ssjoAsp ijqdn
y
Jiaqj aoj
spaap-pooS siq jo i;nj oqi awqt pjnoqs uruiXiata jbi|j
ajj -piJOH
sifi UI
UJUJ JO Miiaisnto aqi qiiA\ 8awi siq Xjiiiiapi 01 *TurM ucui
q/na ti'^rqa v
rucXcqtW U! uisioSa jo sreaisj >qj uo nsnultua si aiaqi idriyi >)iwfeh}J
(9)
MH lunjjiuopawj aqt
joj irpuasso s; l(9 ucs pitc uotSqaj vqppnfl pjirj jo jaipip aq^ -jiiii si|![ aiuiqi sXcA^lt
ooiowp c ^oipqi jnoX u| uic i.-wiiaqs aqi ai(ti r
p[noils x Ituidb^ (5)
,'jauucui
eniBS 9111 UI nippnfl pjoi 01 sXcid an -sSuuajjns jiaqi Suiuassaj ui uiaqi o) dijq jo
aq Xtui ai( puc Pl^OM aqi uc istxa <wi suiaqu}Ajj aqi (jt jcqi os scAin.iqpoa sXud
aajOAap c siqi uj -Xtud 01 jo Saq 01 suvaui pw>vrAfi/p|/jaXtJd :
(p)
,'jai [|0 JO spaap-pooS Sutuasqo Xq wnsrajd naS a^ SJaqio
Suisrcjd iO} X)!|!qc sjaS jjcaq iijf -spaap-pooSasiwd 01 qiSuajisaqispSoaioAspaqj
aaociuadai jo ajij aqi ui paijipw :
wc spaap |iw Xiwa upqA\ liaihElttl (?)
'suis asoqt pc uiojjjjasunq aaijoituiq piaqo) soj|05--iiy;in(7josXcjd
BAaQ'ilurqs isiiis asaqint: usoijjiasXio aajj ] ajojaq ^ Xaiiijiaqi piBJjc qanui
me 1
'su!s asoqi luuy 1 'sSaiop^oufc asoqi pa jo jduuis uib
'asoqi !IB ]daaac j .,bu)qjux aqi isusuSi! sSujqi (uia Xuaiu auo|> axirq j quoxu qo
]
a3paiAiouJt-tn 2'P paowqma aacq 1 aauBiuadaj qijtt pnj st iicaq Xiq
aUl Xq paScjnoaua uaaq aArq oq sjaqio joj jo ajH |d ui os]c pue ajq siqi ui auop
-saXasiq ui sjTaj qiisi sXes pun
OAcq I jcqt sSiiiop-sim aqj ][r JOjaiqisuodswraBi,,
cAiTS-iqpoa JO jaiioi'is saiiBj ajj S3iib|ii1mi! in^ajn PU' sSmop
8 doja\ siq ino s3u[jq aaioAap u aqi uj joivx^iJoqjtqpoff ci viiijsspdoj panca uaaq
l[B
ni SuiXBJdjiaspanrouwqsiiq JawjBq/A '.ilili? til* (Z)
stq qjyp'/ff vtmiswyi
'dtqsjOAs
uipapnpiiiospsiSnuapiiawnsJiaspurnmiaajBi:^ slsaj Xpii sih 01 sSuqMj
5p
anniOA WKSAaos vauui-v -tu -aa gg
 Shakti cult in mahayana 99

'argawi word. A man get panmtas by doing good-deeds. Panitilas are of six kinds

mainly

(1) Dan P3mUaTo give alms to all the living beings of the world without any
elf interest behind them is Dan Parmita. All the Parikgralm are taken as the causes

if the griefs of the world. So is the cause of liberation. A devotee has no

ittachment with any thing after being adorned with Danmiia. He secs Ms own image
n all the beings. For full success of this Parmita a devotee has to leave malice feelings
xtmpletely like, (vrs^r, After we are free of these malice
celings Dan PSrmita gets its completeness.

(2) Sheel Panju'/d Shcol means lo have no attachments with wrong doings,
h other words the release (yirakti) itself may be called Sbccl. There is a necessity for
he tranquility of the feelings and the healthy body in this
refinement of the heart,
Vamita. Smriti means to remember Vividk and Pralhidlia. A body who remembers
what to do and what not to do and acts accordiogly deserves Sheet Parmiiu. There
should be no germination of (he malice feelings with the observation of the heart and
body a constant attempt for the same is Shed parmita. Without sheet you cannot get
Sambldhu Thus Sheel Pdrmitd is attached with Bhakti.

(3) Shuntl Wr/jihd One may feel the necessity of this Parmita in lessening the
MgadweshSdl.

Tliere arc three kinds of peace.

(a) DukhSdi vSshna Slutiui.

(b) Propkarmarshana Shaml.
(c) Dharma Nidhyun Shdiiii.
In first, there is no ill feelings even a devotee is sonounded by griefs and

troubles. One has lo practice 'MudUa' for the release of the ill feelings.
S/jwi/i in the 2nd Category is to be gotten by tolerance. A devotee has to
bear the ill doings of others. In all the condition to have close attachment
with religion leaving the anger aside is Dharmanidhyait Shdiiii. A devotee
becomes habilitated of tolerance in this P<irrai/d and tries to become devoted.
(4) Veerya Wr/n/fd Vccrya means enthusiasm. Thcie is importance of Karma-
ruda in Buddha-religion. A
man gels iVirva<i by his good-deeds. To have
fullenthusiasm in work is Veerya Parmild. Karina arc of two varieties
one Karma and other Karma. There should be enthusiasm
towards BadKarma. For thisoneshouldhavc to leave idleness and niustbe
prompt to do his duties. The good deeds done enthusiastically a devotee
gets his feelings fixed and gets his unhappiness lessened. To lesson un-
happiness there arc two means for that 0) Shamaih (ii) Vipashyaitu. Shaniath
means Samadhi and I'ipashyaim means the vaikl knowledge. BoUi can be
attained ftom Bhokti.
(5) farni/ru is closely related with Showalh and Vipa-
shyand. Shamaih or Samadhi a not possible without renunciation. That
is why renunciation has been emphasized in Mahayana sect. The release of
I
II i iiiias usiiEjii .\ \
\
^,JJtl5S^8l!'l'J9VWJcl!^5<o,ft^opl9^lluolS!lW puc wnijM anjnij siji uj
|ioi3!|Si cuppnii jo Muanyw aip Kq pmsriu
ajoi amcj ooj diiisjo*. lopi
pac ! ipoiiTWWmipiw sqAcuiituoip u?nm,
qua frifwifl pusa sip .(q paaanu
.ufaat'l SUJ3J? jsjs eiir/rifciv JO ^na J/)W cis^jim/q jojaanpu;
a
Xf^jqnopun ussq stq jss cuuXfiirj'f 'duRssii) qcHdniQ wji si Suiissiq s.eqppnij
piDT piio.'' s'p JO oqi suicsoq nuajouusq siq Xq puc uioq tibbi aoio
-aq o'lPPi'flPJT 'eiBajlb pancj aic Xaqi ; ci|ppn(t pjiri ipiii 9iiaic sporj Xutui
siucaW3'!i lo'iuasa n luoqw oj duisJow pog b
paqiu^p uaaq scq tuppnji w
pjoT 1595 cutXtMOW m 'tPlEqn Jo P sqi a (nn>P"a Jo asoiiii quiq aqi
jpjc0J uoiio.iap ifft; s^utf ox 'CutwiKI95y aq layt pxctja sc patfoiaup iiopoxap
atlX
cXfJjcmJci^a spjCAioj uoijOAsp ojai stio sSueqa <n afq* 9*1 foq 9H 'Jtt ^{Pl^o
aioiu ijanH! pa*oipsi;dnd snj mtppna jo siup sjij sqj uj
jrq joj uoijcujasy
tntfiiijaj JO MR 3i[x (x)
'pfnj jp/imy (*;)
Jii saojaMp snopcA aqt jotuaicdoiaiaa (jiia)
[nos poc ucaq aqi jo uotteaytind oi|j no ascuduia
oj!i Xioq poads oj, (u)
nyn*) TfijcMOi uoiionap poc voiic^sst am {i)
vpoj .NP^J Vioioij JO sjsnjwXs
am (ai)
M'?*'
Oil)
Xiwcujftif m)
pur Sfaupui:} aiiAOOinp:(cicjui!S}rfli!f joSuijaaj sqx (ij)
w As 8iiJ
nXpjf ofmjjfj put
nipifottUBija s.ntlppna P^ol nopoAsp puu tsausApuoiw aUL (l)
q{n5 jJWff J wawdojaup ojp Joj U{dau(jd uai ow aiam
'I'ViS omtitf/foa JO laafqo oip oq oj u j)(bj
s\ vuurJOJ sm -poo 0 JO '"y
-tiowiuilin opqosj pa #. r'.mup*/
Bufoj'd P osuWodiDi sim
Kipjuaptiltsu'a -JpiiSuioyuiopoajjaaSaiMuoiuauijaj
ptic uoijcapTJnd Xq puy lusmsirgai pro uoijwijund ia3 o'! 11^1*
luopswj 3 ajft -uoiapai tqppnQ
aopawi CM* ^9 Xiajsidinoa labjte mojj
** paj > pu *. oijiit/prf ijufi-'j
joijafqo utcm aid ssausjJlKn snoflipi
*1 9saussapsTl snoiSipi Xjsas 'UoiSipi Jo ssausssiasa eqi woiis
8111 Xq ipj
paVqo upiw oiu. tan jp jo jooj sqi si latja
oin piiu'-'ij r'foJJ JO
uojjisinfioB ay* PM CM *" 'isfej* -sssa
s3paiAiouif JhSij Jo
y pn'i'-'ed psipcaid ot( acw
'.inJXJ 0 5siluiii59qi'si33ootici!jKiat
H^iff pwaiqao iuK)iJ?Fa(CU3CJl9Sll ?//wy' wx^joaaiiscjd
psASUpS ST jaafqojBinwwcdBOjuiMpjipoulwiL -*"?,/
ifq
0)
aill '
,
-pttSsj sjip ui injdpusi
pui? mJBd iindiia li^noJip Jlflissod pjio* sqi jo sSuisq SuiMi
joXipJdsW puficuBjpAi oifl |5tWiadaqo)n(o!ii:}(5S])i*b^aii
3,J
awnoATnM3Aaos\Aai!iY 'TO -aa ool
 BHi'iKTI CULT IN MAHAYANA 101

practised by Buddha religion. So Bhakli cult of Mahayana is the natural development

of tJiose devotional feelings which we get in Lord Buddhas original preaching or
The encouragement towards renunmatioa established iu a true historical
aspect is a of Mahayana sect. It is said
salient feature in the Galha,.

"Bt nfrRBI fTnr ^ ^ 5?^

In conclusion we find that the Bhakti cult was there Lord Buddha's life it
in ;

was prevalent even before his birth and it has undoubtedly iafluenced the Bhakti cult
of Mahayana sect. In Bhakti cult of Mahayana there are not only the ancient ele-

ments of Buddhas philosophy but there are inclusion of some new elements too.
or srqffr is the prominent element among these new elements. Lord Buddlia
became (he God. By utteriog his name one can get Nirvana. Due to the influence
of the Bhakti cult even the Narkiya living beings begin to get freedom from the chains
of Karmas.
siqistod re iisrim re oziitcmoj oj idaisiic ne aqppiottsisijj ji paicjoipuic oq pjnoK
uor9[[3J aqi
JO ylswre siuDs ireai ]c jq aSpainon^aqi tcQI anSin 05 a^Vk
I popjwin JO JO jcnpuipui aip
JO uoijciwdJjjD! JaA9jEi( uopsAps
m 9111 jg uopBJsqn sqi ajiqi puij iiiitt Xam jrqi
SASipq aidosd ssi^nu uoiSjisj ui os iwdde ssopnoiBijai ui jtqjft
itep-oj UMojai aiom BuripS s; uoiSipi jo
0i3o[ puc XqdoEoiiqd Xjoisiq /Sojoqa^sd fflo|opos -uofl^oj qsoojddc ayiiujjss
sureidsa siqj, jjasii tio^pijanaqpaeisjapvnotsdoqsm ui 'jatiio
gqi JO icAiAOJ 9HJ
qo ijliiVi iDStp ajBdojoa oj paiQBuo aq oj raqSipi jo ssdXj pjsASS stp jo oSpaj
-Monq isiiaq o='0'?oj oin "so^OAUisisjusuisiiioiusnoiajpj psiaus aqi mou 3(

pUE joj ssauado [ojaEaS ssaj jo ajnui *03 "suOfinSfl sni>i9ii93 pnopcB
0] ssawaHtia
-uou aqi UI pauiaouoa ajotu aju a|d09d jap|0 Xueui osjc *q|noXai{i Xjudjou jng
319 niEinpulH uisiqppng 1132 oRi re reoiSipi uepv OW SutHwojdde Xq qreaj oi
adoq Xaqi piij^jusui Atau e Xiaiaos mou ojoSuisueaqi. 'PI'Ow aasu e jo 'X]9iaos
AAou c JO SbisuR sifl spadcoi p(no. jaqiBJ XjniettEuqj |((t XpiJOi Safjuq puc tdtiuoa
jijqi PI paiwaaim XjSooJis os st Xguciupq:^ icip oMIioq Xaqv joj Xjiueivsuij3
SI qaiq* uO)3![9J iciuounjicd 9qi o; jop.mq ooiaipi in noiiia9qg siqj puij oj
sA9tpq lusqi SuouiR XuEjq 'S|!A3 oiqRsoiI ijE JO uoi)e<|j| JO Xiiiiqissod gqi oi
oqi '1
ajiiinj op Xaqj ssaiaipjaAaM qi ut jaMOil jo a|oj SuiioiaqituiaAO aqt
sj! 'XjawiK uiapoui aqi saspijua X(3aojts qmoX sqj.
ooildnjjossii 'MoainiA
aspoiaoi am no XjipTais si luolllp^!3^
o8!oj osaqj qpAA juaiii8AioM>| aAiiisod aip osjs inq 'miaiuj aq) Xiue
jjijlgnai
oqj ui p|OS wt qaiqw suocSiiai S'!!
sdOTiMOoq pooiaw uepv o sqeoq P isqionu
^uduii aqi spucdw XjxsiRb Xj8a auiAij Jo Xc/a iwisXqdEjsui Jtaqi poB suejS
*9dXi ]5JaAas aqi 0; isajaiui aqi inp qituiM op ** jnQ -Somstuiiiiip
.,JI gflsy JO
qaiis mis ipm* shwisumo jo quinu aqi sinaa
Xnainb' ojb sismjJ ituoiiipai) aqi 01
otadomatiMisaM
dMO c qSnoxiU sasred uoiaqai on{aeoj<Jltitoon!pwi>qi
uotSuai si) juasaid aqi IV
g^ju,Jp}9qi3l!*sp uotiuanB tpntu saAiaaaj
mnvztpmoi puo uoiSip}!
 RELIGION AND FORMALIZATION 103

the description and the intcrpreiatioa of the religious pbciionisna. What is meant
here by formalization is the process by which (a) the analysis is made of tlie several
components rvhicli constiiutc the description or the theory, and subsequently (b) the
substitution of these elements by certain symbols. Then, (c) relations between the ele-
ments and properties of these relations are determined. On the basis of these relations
and their properties, it must be possible to ditTcrcatiate the several components in the

observation set or in the theory.'

by formalization a better systematization of tlie data
In general, they agree that
canjbe got. You can communicate more correctly your hypotheses, your points of
view. This is so, because you get a much more distinct account of the situation. The
formalization can also have an importaiK heuristical value.
One big problem witb the development of theories on religion is the strong
tendency, one has, to distort the data, so that it fits in the theoretical framework.
When in a nne bears an explicit conlradictioa, one does not treat it as a con-
ritual

tradiction, but rather as a symbolic expression of a non-contradictory idea so that

it can easily fit in a theoretical system, which fulfils the traditional logical require-
ments. Bven the description and tfic interpretation of primitive religions are made in
such a way, that ones own religion seems to be a normal continuation on a higher
level of these religions.^

It would be a very important step fonvard, if one could try to differentiate as

much ns possible the phases (a) of describing the data and the coUecUon of tlie

material, and (b) the interpretation and the explanation of it .*

the building of a
theoretical framework. In principleboth phases can be formalized.
Of course, one must be aware of the fact that a description is not possible
independently of any theorelicai framework. Modern rnethodologica) research iias
exposed this very clearly.* This does not mean, however, that no important difference
exists between the iow-theorelical, hypothetical framework which is sufficient for

observation to take place and the highly systematized framework of the theory by
which the phenomena themselves are interpreted and explained. We believe that tiicrc
is an important quantitative and qualitative diiTcteiice between both levels, as far as

the type and degree of systemafization are concerned.*

It is important to keep this dilTerentiatioQ in mind. Witli the two-level-approach
one is in abetter position to evaluate the explanative power of a theory, its hypotheti-
cal character and its scientific value. Also in this way the specific character of religion
can better be brought to the foie. For, the danger is rather high that its peculiar
characteristics are strained or conceabd more easily in the process of putting every-

thing in a traditional theoretical framewoik. In the two-level-approach, viz. the dcs-

cnpffve fowl tersifs fftconrfkal /svet, the (^rstatciiait process is made explicitly so tfiaf

clearly can he seen which data are neglected Tor the sake of the theory. In this way

1. A good appioscti (o tormalization can he found in Aposicl (1970),

2. This tendency cau be found rather clearly in Haulbarth's (1972) description of the death rituals
ii Africa.
3. Cf. Durheip (1914), Nagel (1961), Hanson (1971). etc.
4. Pike (1967) defends this point of new. TIus is illustrated by the differentialion he makes
between the elic and emic level in the approach to tbe phcuoiqeiia,
 apluns tw,i jq d>qi p,no> (p> rnn
(3) noilcjlo 3U 'uo-UOTjoiwe;, 0^,,
Wt uoiicndK aqi i>Be(*)uonc3i(iunsi|i
uno3Jo 'fi
CK 61 >puA t
aaortjisj JO ipnis 0,1, , ram 'T i
'*"*" *i 1! n3..i st oqwsnh aiu,-3u=i3S irrsoa
n. 0510 o-warw Irmio. ...
^
'n5 J 9J '9
Bffrt <J -I n a /-a ^ 1t<liiQ!orus|pnjonnuicaiciii8cioma53qx {
:iHi^iasdoieut^purjojioejjsm (o)
lu jusniiijjsui si{j Slnsn 3 joue aip Xq
q ctnjxj psiwBdw si b
0('tn *q 'c)$ : uoitEiadosiprjmdH eip (q')
3 J0;3C 3qi Xq q jMfqo uv qjju payiim a b iDofqo uy
(q)n;uonei3douo]jc33iunaiij, (c)
KMOHOJ SB pazi|Biiuoj aq ires suoiiuado lOjsAss ssaqi
3U11J
soJBS sqi jB pDinaoYS aq ura p puB a snofiuado aqi j-jsaijiJ aqj jo
asinm jq sunimns
IBUMIU! nqi Jo uoikwxojsubjj b aAcq tun saut stq jpcajds issiJd is uaqM 05 (P
uoiltjsdo jruoijttniqjrouJi) astjd xaqioDC oj pMom Swaq jnoipw Xijriupju! psduTip
sq OSF UBSisafqo oqx '(3 uoiitjado ]cuopcuuo;sDBii) paSusqa si sinianqs pejaAO
9i|) leqi Bousnhasiioo aqi quM (siqn aqi jm iqSnojq si a\03 b J'o) ascid Jaqiouc
0) vlSnojq oq oro joofqa uy sXbm oaij ti| uaddtq un laafqo us ^0 boijkwI jo oJottp
SWX *! oJnionjjs juwajjip u icqj osoanbasBO) m|j qiiM sjssfqo sqi jo juojliiod
aqi oSimqa (p pnu a) suc^Bia(Sa)ruopBUMoj$uci|^aqj,quauiiu)su! 0 |t:ucjo snuaw Xq
sMtd I013A88 oiu]
laafqoouodn s^cojq J013RUB (q)uopasdoiioprjcdas aqinj
ajs
jaded pnc Wj iaqjaaoj auiM pue jaitM -a-o IXinin avju t tojoj Xaqi i?qi Xb c qans ni
J013B tie XqjsqtSoin(3n(ijqainsj33fqonyaAM(i)uo}jBJadoiion'raUlU''8'n^C
'niopBiado
(Guoptuijojsuci) o/A) (p pQC ) pUB uopiusdo uoiiBJcilas aqi (q) uo]tBjado
uoi(t3 (f;i/n sift (c) ; jDOj jmsf ir tpww !> 'psujosuco st (sasi
IciioiirAJosqo sift jo noijraiitiujoj ) scJBj sr irtp suioasij 108 siiiiaj oqi moj^q
j'Bfaj piianja u Xvfd ssaquaes
aqi 3/ot(M 'icnifJ qip ucsfjjv ocjo iic^dpassp aqi <fc <n?ssqi Jir psziiBiiuoja.ttq
Xaifi 'uojjKifBUiJaj atp jo anjUA sqi 110 icutuoa t sy I'BRXqi otit pue qBfo aqi aic waqi
SB S03IJIJ3PS qswsf JO sodXi |CJ3M 3qj iii utmu sip wj auop jr OACtf Xoqj, sirmu
puaAssjouoijdposapniiroiicuuojojpuBaqipsop ot opBiu ojsw stduioiic og
nolAjqi Xui ui ojat juttioduit no Xc;d simity
uo qacojddo jo putq snjl osn 01 siiqift-qtJOAt jt pianotp dnoJS sqi
simtii JO Xpnis aqi
oj tianoidiltJ-pAoi-cwi aqj jo snjBA mfi tsai ox ,-EUouiouaqd
,ooiS!l!ujo Xpms oill
1 uoiSipi uo Xpnis oijtiiiaps oip loj ia>
snoi3ipJ oqt sorpnjs quotiQ jo XttsjoAinn n
-1133 oqi JO ,.iiDiSi/3y pile 3iSoi dnojflqiOM aqj punu ui siqSnoqi ossqv ai'UBH
apBUi aq XpMisafqo sjoui uro uoilBsiJiqBJ
J3*odaAiicuT!]dxo aip jo nopeniBAa oqi
JO uoiiRoytJaA [inipiduis sq piic Xjosqisqi jo
nwnioA 'aiMDAnos VAJtiiv 'tq -ua wi
 RELIGION AND FORMALIZATION lOS

The object a gets another position. Object a is brought to the place ki by

the actor c, Of course, a can be the actor itself.

(d) the transformational operation : D(api)c

Object a lakes the form pi by the intervention of the actor c (here a can
be also the actor itself).

Once the formalization of the description is made, it is easy now to make the

comparison between se\eral rituals and construct models for these.

The formalization of Uie description of the rituals has this advantage that one is
obliged to look more carefully at the phenomena. We can illustrate this easily. Wash-
ing is an operation which is very frequently executed in the rituals of sacrifices. Most
generally it is interpreted as an operation by which the evils arc separated from that
what is washed. If we, however, describe this operation of washing more carefully,
we see that this washing operation is in fact very complex. We only have to look at

the proceedings we make when washing our hands. Firstly water and hands arc unified,

are brought together; secondly the water is separated from the hands. Therefore, this

washing includes at least two operations.

Now wo can give an imctprciaiioa of this hand washing. This brings ns, how-
ever, to Uie second level ; the level of the theory coostruclion. In our interpretation
we can stress the first or the second operation. In fact we see that for instance in the
Mamabob death ritual (a South-African negro population) the penetration in the
hands of certain liquids by the washing operation and the subsequently colour cjianges
it produces, is most strongly stressed. In the interpretation of the tliysia, how-
ever, the separation operation: the separation of the evils from the hands, is mostly
emphasized. Doth aspects are sUli present and both can but must not have a symbolic
value for the actors, Therefore, great cate should be taken that one does not take a
simple interpretation of n phenorocnon as the only possible description of this
phenomenon.
We hope to have illustrated somewhat (a) the importance of the difierentiatiou
between the observational and the (fieoretical level (how relative this diffcrcntiatfon
also may be), and of the fonnalization of each level.
(b) the value
Of course, we are aware of the fact that eventually not everything on religion
can be put by means of formalization or by science in general. But that what can he
said scientifically, can be better understood and has a higher methodological evalua-
tion, the more it is formalized.

Bibliugcapfiy

Apostel, L., 1970, The Jtisiificailon of Farmalhallon, In : Quantity and Quality; IV

No.l, 3-38.

Apostel, L., 1974, A PraxSohs'ical /titroduct/on/or the Logic of Peligion, Workdoc. 1

Delacrc, R., 1974, /Ienip( fo the fonmliaaioit of the Tliysia, Workdoc. 3.

 '/rowtf iHD?a '// P" ti6[ '"i 'siuiuEpucA
antIcH aqi uoinoM 'jonsijiff
vmufj fo Oinpiuis syi/o poifiun o m twiP/ u; aSonSuoj ^951 -7 a^j
[ncj ut 3J^ piic aJpajinoa uopuo^ 'aatapsfo 3in\ 3iws sin 3
19CI
HOpiIOl -uwun 5? USIIV 'D
3Wps /O (fiidosojiifj 01 apjnS y : uoiimidxj pm miioutsqo 'U6I a'N uosubh
joins, oijosiji rrj ''j ursqnQ
aiUllOA BUHAnOS VA3)I1V Ta '30 901
 14

A New Refutation of the Ontological Proof of

Gods Existence

111 this essay I shall preseoi a new rcAitation of the Anselmic-Cartesfan ontological

proof.' But is a new refutation needed ? Arent there already enough old ones around 7

Why increase the population 7

One is tempted to say Because the old rufutations have obviously failed to
dispose of the beast, witness its present, flourishing condition.^ But this would suggest
that our new refutation might hopefully succeed where they failed, and if we are
correct in our subsequent analyses, it will not The animal will teinain alive and iefek-

ing, spile of our refutations being a genuine rufutatiun. But what wo shall be able
In
to show, I believe,is that the proofs hidden roectooism of conviction is merely psycho-

logical and hence, though we may find it impossible to resist its persuasive power, we
;

shall see that our succumbing to it counts no more with respect to Uie truth of things
than our finding that when we look at a duck-rabbit we now sec a duck and now a
rabbit.
But this is not all. Our netv refutation will make possible a certain long-overdue
distnbution of justice. Everyone will remember that the ontological argument is used

in Anselms Proslogioa to demonstrate that (he Ibol denies (he existence of God only
by virtue of being stupid and foolish. The present refutation of the onlological
argument will force the philosopher, by his very assent to the argument, to deny tliat
cither he is a philosopher of that there can be such a thing as a plidojopJier. Who is

I. Much of Anselm's ODtologicat argumcDtatlon'' can be, and has becu viewed in terms of ihe
concept of passibUity and modal logic. But Anselm also cefsts In his argunicalalion to
natures (sec T/ie Prosloiian, chap. l|, 'But is there any such nature, since the fool has said in

his heart: Qod is not? (tcans.A C. McGill, Ciassical and Contemporary Readings In the
Philosapliy of Religion, ed. Hick, 19M. p.28). By "Anselmie-Carlesian proof I mean that
form of the ontoIoEieal proof, whether occuting in Anselm, Descartes, or elsewhere, that depends
on aTCfercnce to the nature or essence of Cod.
Z See, for instance, John Hick, Ofltologica] Argiuiient for the Existence of Cod,'* Tfie Ency-
clopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edwards, Vol S, p. 540: "Discussion of the Oolological Proof . . is
perhaps as active today as at any time in the past.
 ^'mSnom |oopgraX|iioaret|tu>uun||t]
put !,.ii{fnoi{i JRD puOibq a: suits ou Suinanod >uxjjniTin_'fd
i<tiiui iusu it lo ii IJIlllJO
--
UOTlMJJtSUl

sSpl'iWun japon utj tinCqe
, oi "JM- ;Kf<lii3i!aA
I vnto uJdo /Ctiioseijiij Jo itidiMijj yiniuyiiqM|jyP((0,,2
|ip;Vt3UKjoas>s y
:J jn ssqoao U|
opEjniOQ JO i^tiasuifi sqi pj,,p| >
swxsainlNjjBtn {
ps[pdiU03 9JB axv puci| jaqio 341 uq -aim cip Sintcq Saqpuios lEin iiroi?
'aidiDtro joj ainicii
itqi Sbii[ sinw Suimwios jcqi (lem,
amjru 8iqB.uo3 oinjw
B fi W3HI iBtji J3EJ 31)1 saop poQ JO OTO aiji Uf X]Da leqj $1 sn|i Xij ucam
maw iii^uu m
sq IcqAV 'aRWcuM 8JE satioiswo puBODWSSOpoojoMO at|i ut jdaaw imii sn si'isi
saiiwsaa ll5K3j|i| siSurijitjo souasw mjj Vipo* luapuxlspBi iitp saoQ
'Aipoa itispuadapui'puiui r ti ir tnp jajui
01 sAEq pitioqs aw siusiuiunn assqt luoij -manoqi Xtu uodfi <c Xuc lit luspuaUap
JO pujut Xiii Xq pajiiOAUt lou Surqiaiuos oq O) s3|itKQ
Kq pres si siSuwJi c ]o
oatrassa jo uijoj sqi attit] amts aqj jy i pujais puc oiqcinuiui! aq uta Xjpua m: inq asia
!! JOJ JlJOS auiOS JO XljlUS OBSl Jjltqt SJS393nSJl9Slt Snjj,-11ICK3 XlUeJUMUOUJ SI
qaitfAV 3 i9ue;ji
aqi JO a2nim aqimoij pu5iS!p3u!q|3iuosaqajoj3iaqi isniu 'ituisis n
pnc 3[qT?|oiuiu[ aq 01 joa3woi| prcssiaouassa jo uuoj si| -saop Xumn aStmi ut ucqi
jsSuoi on jsua /[sjns jinui 01 Ejsjaj sautasag jvqj atSucui pauiStmj atp MOjq
(..-iqSnoqi Xu uo luapuadap eaiSap Xut u;
jon stti Xq pauiBJjionpiic'[tui3)aputaiqiqnuu!S!iiaTqMaau3S5ajoRijojajnjTU
olBOTUiia^ap umuaa n sassKSod MoSgsnintqissaiaqiauoa onn surmajii 'unSiiqans
anoii[Snoqi/uuiojjiJi:dtas}aAianaq)U|aoc)dXoc at stAi jaxau put sdtqjad lou
ij eiaqi qfnottip! 'aiSuctJt t atnSctni j aaq ^dutm loj Hy ,, : sn siiai aq uoiitiipsjij
aqi uo saiisa<j oionb o) acqi Jantq ou op tta a uopdasuoa
qijfj nq] Bi 'jancu
}ST[CM Souajgp osjo agqM aq uoa|ioqaos oxiuojidaauoaisiicntdaauoa
nn
om sc 'pasoddo aq aauassa jo uotidaauoa utisajJto n
aqi 01 Suiaq tif paiiduit aAvij
uo uaqi MOq itiQ isfienidaouoa c asodojd 01 ntodind aq 'paapu] '3uas
isi(tt34 t asodojd lou saop saunasag t.poo sc jiaw sc op piAV s.ujwpii
JO ooiidaouiM
oqj_ aauaisitra qsqqcisa 01 japjo u; aatiassa uc aip X|uo paau aug 'Xtid o) ojoj ou
fvq jnojd ]cai5o[Oiuo oqi AiaiA isipaj aqi ui sc satiriita Suiisisa Xntiipc sc paApauoa
[[cojcsaaiiflssaji 'Xiiiiqipaja sjeoJd aq) ui paAiOAU 8maq sc aauassa jo uoiidaa
iioa jS[ltsit 01 jajw jou pip JOSsajojjXqjAflo iqSjj aas iito aun mo^j
ja||!V4
aq iqSiiu Xaqi q3noqi
auiqjXuc jo iicd 'Mouq
tmcp o) jucM piROAi JO panncp scq Jsinw Jossajoj^ itqi
puc DWjcjoqcja siqj ppc iq8nu -ji puajap put ojcjoqcjD
fg je; as )oa ojt asuajap : j
I
iDCAi Mou uoijcinjM Xtu JO asruiajd isig aqi si s.JainW JQSsajoJj JO uoiidaoiad
01 I
siqi oauig nopdsouoa isiicuiuou aojsiicnidaoooocoi pasoddo sc tnuassa jo uojidaa
Xliiiqipaja Joj spuaJap
-iioa ucisaiico t paqca aq icqtt Soiidaom jno noaaioj pnc
oqi no soinpai Jiiaaai euros
loojd aqi jcqi pauiicp jaipM jossajojj ,'jooJd icaSoioino
jossajojjjo uoijdOModBqiiiVi pnajOD iicqs I q^noqi 'ui3aq I
uj -SJaniW incj
jaMSuG 0} sjaqio joj oacsi ntqs j qaiqAv uoiisanb
ui jasu) jsicaoSoqi
oam c SI jaqdosoirqd aqi JO |00j aqj 'saniqi joiuauuflucjjc spii
anaioA aainiuios vauulv rs. "aa goi
 A NE\^' REVUTATlOa OF tlie pjlOOP OF COO's EVJSTENCE J0i>

by our very conception of God's nature to grant that something exists having that
nature, namely, God. But the matter is really not quUa so simple as it so far appears.
If an essence or nature is an independent, immutable entity of some sort is Gods

nature one entity and God another ? Here the realist complexion of Descartes des-
cription of a nature or essence would seem to demand a quite JilTcrent answer from
the straightforward one we have just given. If we arc not to divide God into two
entities we should presumably have to maintain tjiat God and wJiat he is arc one and
the same tiling. To say, tJicn, that God necessarily exists is to say something like tins
that the mode, existence, necessarily attaches to that entity which is indifferently God's
nature or God. Correspondingly, to say that a unicorn or a triangle does not necessarily

exist is to say that the mode, existence, docs not necessarily attach itself to the essence

of a unicorn or a triangle. It is in this way that Descartes' conception of essence or

what we want a Cartesian essence differs from a realist conception. But it is

to call
because it is simUar to the realist conception tiiat it can endow the
in other respects
ontological proof vrith credibility and force, as we shall presently see.

Finally, a Cartesian essence is apparently something that anything with an

idenlifiaWe nature cajwot help but have. We shall posjpojic for tlic time being con-
sideration of this last Minus it. we generate then from Descartes
cltaraclcrisUc.

prescription the following conception of an essence it is an independent, immutable,

:

eternal entity win'ch may or may not take on. as a mode or property, existence. Wo
shall hencefortli refer to an essence so conceived as a Cartesian essence," even though
we may be doing some maybe
violence to Descartes official intentions in doing so (and
even, to Professor Millers unolRcial ones).
In what way docs such an entity enter into (he ontological argument so as to
lend that argument credibility and force ?
In answer to this questionwe might first see what happens to the argument if tvo
lake essence to be nothing more ll>an a way of conceiving, Ajj essence in lids inter-
pretation is at best a canccpi entertained transiently by a mind. Now a concept
entertained by the mind even
a concept of something wiiose definition includes neces-
sary wi.t/enec pLiinly does not itself guarantee the existence of what it depicts.
Suppose for instance I have the idea t/ia( of which noihing greater can be conccirej. In
die vein of someone who says, I do not believe there exists a God but I think the idea
of a single God is the greatest thing that exKls or has ever existed greater than any
person, civilization, or anything else that exists or has existed,
1 could say, Die
greatest thing that exists or that has ever existed is just Anselms idea, that
of which
nnihi/ig greater can be conceived." If what i said were true, as it contingently might be,
then the assertion, A somclWog than wbidi nothing ^reiiU'r can be conceived exists"
would be false just in ease 1 could conceive of something greater than that idea
; but
surely can, e.g., 1 can conceive of something possessing necessary existence and that,
; I
lakeit, is something greater than the idea, ifiot o/ir/iWr
nothing greater can be conceived
*
though the latter happens to he the greatest thing in fact existing.
All Ibis, let mo repeat, simply an illastrjfion of the plain fact that our con-
ceiving somcihing docs not guarantee tlutt soroelbiujj's
cnee, no matter how we
conceive it. Hence, if we suppose Uiat an essco is merely
a form of eonwivinn ncilJie,
we nor the ontological proof can proceed ftom essence to existence ; the endeavor
 *i.ivw
iijivn/ow/V-c^p,'VJrM'',ouura
3Z![r.->i ^laiccpouiuii a*v
]{ IBIJI J *S9''!saioe5ounpuT:!(uii/wnor5MiMfqo
in!ji>suuo>u!>|u.moirsi 9JB o -ajoww# Swnswod /piKsasu s.s ,Wj w
W paj/Wl/pa ^ HPJ Jwj/jou l^v/o loyi jo oj pioj ssAiKjno Sumui
: onSJB Jipjui 3AV -UD'iodiuPAV -lo oduinAV c i||i!a m
Ajrjiiqjn.'aui
111 Xiuo aiiq/ft %3ff jw/jpj JQ p3.i,MO> gquto wiwjg Suiiftou i/jyi/ii/omifi
tihw
XcM ^K$soau ^iicujajm smos ut psjaaunco n iMiitixi Xiiuajoj -uoii^anb
iii ssjnjtu
luaiajjcp aqi qiiw paiaautioa si (sisiiiaX|inu3)a -ai) snat X/jjoftwm jo jirjw'xuadwd
JO apoiii oqnaqi Xuitt Si|i 0! spissi oi uiaas ii^tui uoieaioqjjo indKcai JV
I Suiajj laj/ja^ lO pawiMios b j)oA iuii/iou jpi/j jo asM aqi
ut paiiodun os aq suosjad pjnoqs oaqj Xqy^^ saauasn ue^uto st spjiq utqoduin/ft
JO odiunA^ JO ssjniBU oqj oniisiios o psiiaduii si auo on asncaaq (jcj os jssjjoa ussq
aAnq aA\ J!) XiiuapjAg i lou XqM jng -os qwqi Xipicq j isisixaXpiBssaaau ji jrqi jo
si$i AiBsiodmNv aqnwp a M^ou smoXuc si -(jsixa 0] asc jo Muaisixa
oini aiuoo jquum ''a'! isiiis Xiiuoaapuos lonnu jcqi pnq e snqi) pjiq inaiSHo Xiico
-jaja till 'Acs sjsjita X][jbsssmu pnc pjCMi|ocq saig icip pjjq c sc ucq^uinjvtr gisiso
pue picj{3cq S8!ii jcqj pj'q se o<luinA\ t 'luciiaqaeq soiu jcqi pjiq v sc duinA\
c ougsp OM snil 3*'!'! 'F'Jso Jo eouaisivo oqi sAOJd oj iilmaivc asv 'ujsi
iwlc SB luoujn&r jBjiSoiolUo oqiSuisn asoddns joj sisaqj aiqisnsqd b sq oi uisas
jou soop sjqi 9/3B/ciHwrf jna 'ajuassa ucjsauBO t sc Su/aj P3fjj ajcuSoa ni jo paa
liiues iq iivtjsimj! Sus'IWi i/a;i/in /> m/i anjisuoo o) $jai)doso^n[d s^adiui ieqi uopd
ii jcqi Acs pinoM aiBoipajd c oq oi touaisiva Suiipn jno iio A[aiBui
uinsse Xjoa sjqi si
joojd [wiSoiowo aqs jo aojoj cn|i wp Ajoasp suMitsjjd jsoui siy,
.,,!f8]Ii sissJ
^ sq snp pinoqs XqA mg -os op onoD saoniauios
pniB 08 op OJ pauiiouf souiiisuias ajc sJoipo put *op jaxau auios wusssa iibisojjco
psiiopoatn ainiBO aqj aiuisuoa sXba\ic sjai)<Ioso|!i[d atuos
e so jflOjJ [BBjSoiojao oqj
siqi'sisAicuB jno jii JCj os ii|3|j uwq OABq wn ji -iiqqitj b sjpt avqu puc Jjanp
joqi SUMiu
co;j![sqoo[ou5<q<l-51'P'l>*H''' I sop wupamos puc sapBnsjod souijj
-aUJOS JI (pjoicq Ajuorcui aqj) siaqio put jic je jou duios 'Xubjoj sjaqdosoiiqd aujos
j
p3pi;n5MdsBqjljcqiuaaqWIJOff!>loi'<>1JAiojsw5 0io.'(auo3uiri8 Aq pasn
jdaaaioa ajaui c sc jt onjisuoa
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suopnaui jt Dinjcu oqj arujs
posaaris OJ waas in JuauinSjB jBwSoiojuo aqj uaqj Xiqciatpajj
-uoa aw uaqw
sjsin paftiaauoa aq uca lajcadtnjiqjDu
^ immou qajqw jO m\ OJ BOijiugsp
uaiqw JO JEiD Ji^qJ SWOIIOJ
jo oanaiswa jBip asoddns w. ji puc -aouasso uKsaycD b
Xd'Suoiaq wuaisixa AJcssasau
ws JsivfjS Suiqiou ipiiimjo mi aiujsuoa aw j; snqi -sisiw uopsanb
SB ra.ipaa fq
aptui Jo AjJadwd aip sassassod Ajpna ub ji XuuaiB,! (aai/Jlfjyj
Xjijiia am aauajsixa
pafqo jo Xjijua jcuiaja aiqcjniura] bb
/jvsmm JO) msisix!> spoi oqj sassossod qMqw jou
wou ojciduiaiuoa om jcil JOJ -SJS!" W 'Suiqjauios jcqj qajHw jajjBiu
Bi
puc'sauajsuaXjCssaaaujowoajniauqiTugapXqsassassodajnjBuqansXUBJl
sioi> JI
scsanjEa jaidjajui awji 'pocq Jaqjo oqj uq
unisajJBD
Xiicaia ajinb uaqj soauassS
' aw ji aiui spjoq auiEs aqi puy 'sasdBKOS
ui oauossa awjsnoa
suuaj 3|js!iGuiuiou Aiajnd
pnirjOA iiN3Msis vxa^iv -ya "aa
 A NBW refutation op the ONtOLdOlCAt PfeOOF OF GOD's EXISTENCE 11i

But if this explanation is the right some philosophers

one why is it that only
feel impelled to assent to the ontological proof? Why is It that some arc never so

impelled (to gather from the disdain they express for the proof) ? Ought it not to be
the case Oiat every philosopher should immediately assent to the argument, for surely

every philosopher will want to admit that existence or even necessary existence is

somehow necessarily connected with that of which nothing greater can be conceived or
Perfect Being ? ,

Moreover, if the present explanation is the correct one, why should not the
following argument, patterned exactly on the ontological proof, succeed in persuading

us of an existence ? We propose the term perfect island. We go on to state that

the perfect island must be perfectly round, perfectly fcnipcrate in climale, etc., etc.,

and (wc add) it must clearly exist indeed, necessarily exist; for an island that necess-

arily existed instead of merely contingently exisled would surely be more perfect than
the latter, and hence the perfect island would, by definition, have to necessarily exist.

All the attributes wc have connected with our perfea island seem to be connected to

itby some kind of internal necessity or at least by non-arbitiary bonds. But is any-
one now templed to maintain that the perfect island exists ? The very fact that the
perfect island has been used to forma logical analogy refuting the ontological proof
tells us otherwise.
Thus, on closer analysis, it docs not seem that it is the fact Chat existence is

Internally connected with that of which nothing greater can be conceived or with Per-
fect Being that accounts for ihc power that the ootological proof undeniably sometimes
exerts. This means, of course, that the force of the proof has basically nothing to do
with oui taking or not taking existence to be a predicate. But wbat then does it have
to do with ? Clearly,a successful theory concerning the mechanism of the ontological
argument will have to tell us why some persons arc impelled to assent to it, why
some are not impelled at all to assent to it, aad why some persons are sometiines
impelled to assent to it and sometimes are not
One possibility
that has sometimes been advanced is this tliat when we speaJc of :

Perfect Being and of the Perfect Being we can form a coherent, unique
in particular
reference whereas when we speak of the perfect island or any other sensuous purpor-
tedly perfect thing we cannot. For instance, when wo think of the perfect island we
might conceive an island of such-and-such, character but having done so we can always
conceive another island, and still another, possessing just the same character or cJtara-
cters. Thus, the nation of "the perfect island, a definite description, dissolves
in our
contemplation, leaving us wilh either a perfect isbnd or the perfect islands,
whereas the non-sensuous abstraction, The Perfect Being cannot lead itself to
duplication since it does not, like a perfect island, lend itself to any spatial individua-
^tion. Buton several counts this very sophisticated argument fails. For one thing it
fails because of very sophistication. Assuredy, none of these recondite
its
consideni
tions typically insinuate themselves into the thought of
the persons who rejects
assenU to. or oscillates in his assent or rejection of the ontological
proof In addition
however, what is being maintained would appear to have nothing
essential to do with
clis ontological proof and its peculiar force.
Everything is made to tiincr,,.,,.
had a paad.
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oi'-9js*s*jppBj<snuoj'a3cn3uBijosnon
.ua<tiM^qr3lixim( nisuMoipj Sunsapmuimos jiKtw pu,j m
pmoii
j'poDqqiscSuiinqwBOU sisuj aiMn in,, uwnpuos aip
i awoa /(ucnpipui
jpinoqs-snm lioiiwaum Xq*, -poo sunrti sq, o, Muodsai
jcio
u[ : Xk
iqSiiu suo qswas JO suiantd iisqi ui siiliuenjqjl
jotieqaq jo soojiWAUOi
jjjijiui
jnq X|inj9dot| suicsq uo?JDd iBmJoauicuaqucajquuji uousd $iqj'uaii si:
jotAnjjq IBBPJ-'IP*'! Jl^qi ui Xiuo jou siq, op Xsqj, -laumui aiKiicsj c ui pOQ cj
taauwajii oi puodsaj Xwpos ino ui sitouod asuanhxnoa c sy ./poo.. q^.q'^
Xljjpc m
jsjisq sqi sujCiJSiua 93ji:( pun Xq 9AI| qM|u uiXiaiSOS sqi ojq
^-SSIUOdSaj 311S11E5J,,
p3[[m OM itqm iptM paisciiuoa re ..sasuodsai icnidaauco,, sastiodrej jo suos 3Sqi p
jqSitu 0,^ ..i q uiox uus Moq os lispw jou
oopsneQ rpieg ,, ',du inq
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sooneui^'j^) ^nu^puadapuj qijw ,ou qans sc uaqeisawijaq-auiqcuijasSui
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aqi 'snqi 'HC si r:qi puo saAM|8q-9ntqcui jo sSounaum aaaui sc uiaqi
l^qi suotisanb

aiuisaoa Finoqso^ XlpailsiiMi sat0i:|iic5 aiucu aqi o, sasuodsaj Jtaqj wuiwioa
jaSuo] 00 pinoqs aw puc jojAcqaq jo uiioj o aquasap o, ..MnSHtit,, uuai aqj 9uisn aq
-jtHjqs ow inu inq 'snoo ciucs q SupiiSBiui sc
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'jaqumu jiaqi jo auo tvqi aAa!(aq>9ut!pmi lo Suipuaiajd aiaw
cues ^
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'JojAViIoq JO ujjoj o oqiiaiap oi aoi3cui! uiwjoqjSoisn ;ou sic ewinto
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?vri/i(5U
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uiojj
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3 JO sjuaiuaimbajosaqiqq^- (c)
sqi }oauiti9jr iraSoioiuo aqi jo oajoj ginuiaas aqi
oiniw UI sXsw luajajjrp (q) pvc
aju woq :
'oijsanb icuiSpo jtio jradai oi pa( aiojwaqi wu
mi luncDau
'y *
01 aw
luaiunSiK jBUOprpwi a\|i sc apunsjad
poj cin Jissssod low.nSre liitSopi^ 'Ml =
minjioimmtniirfoi SJJMrf
aimm VIM3MWK vxmv TO 'va m
 A NEW HEFUTATION ON THE ONTOLOGICAL PROOF OF CODS EXISTENSE 113

conceptual responses ;
ways Uiat one would concerning an accepted
that is, in the

existence. Tlius, I would be expected to offer evidence for my denial of Gods exist-
ence ; and using a realistic grammar, I would have to say, e.g., I no longer believe
that God exists.

In contrast, the tcrn?s that of wlrlcli nolhing greater can be conceived and
Perfect Being arc not in fact coiuicclcd by convention with realistic responses.

Unless c.xternal forces intervene, as they may, our responses to these terms are con-
ceptual. Like the terms perfect island or Wumpokan we treat them as conceivings.
Thus, unless some extrinsic connection has been formed, we will be inclined, presented
with them, to ask what sort of thing is nuant rather than who is meant. We may,
for instance, puzzle indecisively over whether we can conceive anything by tlieiii. Or
more vividly illustrative of their conceptual status, if someone said, Perfect Being is an

absurdity or That of which nothing greater can be conceived is some kind of non-
sense people would not respond with the sort of outrage and sense of fese majeste
committed that they wuld if he said, "God is an absurdity or God is a hoax,
The point is, of course ; We may commit lese mojeste against real beings ;
not against

what are deemed mere conceivings or imaginings.

Now wiiat occurs where the ontological argument succeeds in convinciag us,
I want to maintuiiu is that we are led to transpose our realistic responses viz the
reference, God, to lire proofs verbalisms, that of which Mtliing greater can be canceiv'
etiot Perfect Jieliig. This transposition in effect convciis conceptual essences into
Cartesian essences; for when we treat, c. g.. Perfect Being, no longer In terms of
conceptual but realistic responses, wo assume the attitude of a person pointing to
some independently existing object. At this juncture, but only
at it, the property or
mode, exisleiica, plays its peculiarly persuasive role in the proof. While use of the
term God is connected by eonventfon with roa/rstcc responses and while tfiesc res-
ponses import, as ic wen, existence, existence does not form an integral part of the
definition of tlic term God" itself; no mure than it forms an integmi part of the
dcfiniticin of man or any other tenn to which wo respond realistically. Thus, there
isno contradiction in affirming iliat God does not exist. On the other kind, wliile the
conceptual responses connected with the terms (fiat of which nothing greater can
be conceived" and "Perfect Being do not import existence, tie terms themselves
have been so constructed that existence or even necessary existence is an integral part

of their definition, just as is the ease with the terms Wumpokan and Perfect
Island. Thus, a kind of conceptual or verbal contradiction attaches to the alfimiation,
Perfect Being docs not exist," comparable to the verbal contradiction that attaches
to A Wumpokan does not exist." But when the realistic responses belonging by
convention to God" get transposed to, c. g., Infect Being," and so convert tlic
latter into a Cartesian essence, we end up at the same time with an entity that con-
tains as a definitional part of itself existence or necessary existence. Thus, where
before we were engaged in a merely verbal contraclictioii in denying that Perfect
Being existed we now seem to be engaged in something like an ontological contradic-
tion. Conversely, having already equated the term Perfect Being with God" it seems
to us that we cannot deny Gods existence without something like an ontological
contradiction.
 r.-=r>* <*!wt V"?* />
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 k NEW REFUTATION ON THE ONTOLOGICAL FROOF OF GODS EXISTENCE 1 15

w)io entertains the philosophical or theological prejudice that it is infra dig to flatter

God Of treat Him in any manner suggesting anthropomorphism. Thus, the ontological
proof will typically and ironically exert no persuasive power just upon the strictest

haters of God and the strictest worshippers of Him.

In the case of most persons, however, conventions of attaching flattering
epithets to God and the oriynal conceptuaincss of our responses to such terms as

that of which nothing greater can be conenved" and Perfect Being, meeting to-

gether like opposing tides, result in the usual ambivalence of response elicited by the
argument. Sometimes one psychological force will momentarily win out, sometimes
the other. Thus, held hack by the given conceptuaincss of response to Perfect Being,
we sometimes Jail to transfer to the term the realistic grammar of tlie term God,
and then find the ontological a^umeni unpersuasive and remote. Sometimes, having
done so, the artificially imposed transference of responses turns out to be, Okc Van
dcr Val bonds, too weak to endure and wc then pass from a moment of conviction to
ones of unconviction. At other times the Van der Val bonds of the transference endure
longer, in which case we shake our heads in ain.'izement at just how persuasive the
ontological proof really is ! It is in this way, for Instance, tliat 1 would explain my own
reactions to it : One moment, being gripped by It and thinking it almost irresistible;

the next, wondering how anyone could have ever been persuaded by such sterile sophi*
stcy, and so on.
So far os I can have been proposing entirely succeeds in
sec, the theory (hat I

explaining the.divergent Ways in which the ontological proof actually affects diiTerent
minds. 1 want to maintain, therefore, that our account has really penetrated to the
very heart of the proofs mechanism and not, like the usual disqu^itions on existence
and predicates, merely excliangcd one philosophical cheat for another. On the other
hand, we have so far merely reduced the persuasive force of the proof to psychological
factors. Having done so wc have undoubtedly cast some suspicion on its force. We
have not, though, refuted the proof. We may now see that our past responses of
assent to it were fraudulently elicited. That still does not mean that the proof itself

cannot rationally be assented to.

This segment of out original task, then remains to be carried out. And here what
we shall try to show is that the ontolo^cal argument cannot appeal, as it must if it is
to warrant assent, to Cartesian essences without also convicting itself of absurdity. But

to carry through this demonstration wc shall vrant to add to Professor Millers premise
concerning the proof and CaTicsiim essciKes two additional ones.
The first is, I think, iiardly debatable. This premise says that, as there is a Car-
tesian essence possessed-by a triangle, there must be a Cartesian essence possessed by
a philosopher. For surely, if there is reason to afiirm the one, as Descartes does, there
is equal reason to affirm the other.
Atblush our second eontcDtion or premise is not nearly so apt to command
first

agreement. This premise says that, except for some accidental features and except for
not possessing the property or mode^ existence, a Cartesian essence that docs not
actually exist docs not differ from an actually existent thing denominated by tlie same
name. In support of this premisewe argue as follows. If the essence of a triangle is,
as Descartes says, a determinate form which a triangle cannot help having, then it
pjureurrt pttt pspioi* oi jo tionMij;r ikj> viJtwii oi|
?iu^ufiii
iin JO j;^tJ ipa, <0B oi^pstus ({ ioch pi ^jn oj; ; Sjf.]
Srii ai|) Suunp P'Jc sjojsq pJiura-jiJtutm laitcnjo woij t||riiU3H3 lujjjjpp nu-
JSijJinoiiijJ [tnwn UP itiji jii
mrtniciii oi 3q 9H 'uMi^iSunuiiPj 01Ji tx'u.'nO
uo;3AUo> ai|i sjop i, jp 9uuii>b.->i inane jno'jcwnl it^2i>|0ii;o am t>i lu^itt <|p3l
-iiujCM OI are Ow 'ujiii -Jl SuTflSm t i|ini tn3iqt\iuniuJiajiJs;|i o3c weal jn
suoiiiiq auiOT 'MUJIX joiuiP||nq luir]
a|l 0| 3tii(wniy ;pjnqe lO J i1i|Mt nu
j5ijaoso|nnl r it (AiJca^jQ jomru la 3|tfli>iiv injl u3J s;ii
a'P
Jsi| osojunl e ^i;s ot si icin put 'pwiito s(r]r srq jic(dootutii imut uc iti<i [cuiJlJ
sc .sausass urisaijc^ jo uo(,(ljj,-Ksj* aqi pu* asmiaid pitt)) mo oi fuipiosjn 'suvsiu
siqi infl -jaiidcRoiiijir c jii Kiuwts otp KwuMSjaqiKiwiatjJo-iMldosenniJrio
"ip 0] i3i[5cnB Xpmucau *aaiu;rri.t 'pwu ayi in(i snouo; i[ its
odoitl icajpcj siijijdopc Xi3utpjo33B smrj aui|<iMXi|Enj3B2u;iipujguwiou
sJttnjj 01 aicdioiijpd UC3 Jaitcj aqi Muasu ucisauc^
cot jiasii uipene
apoiu 9111 uaiiM ici|] ssoildiis oj
sMa| )|cqs 9A\ psciSciPjiio Siji jo sicxiipc
s.pASQ c so Sui'josds sn oi ;t(|c]|CAR iiusas
*ajojUM|i 'uDiido sub Xjufl aipni
Mlir iriji Sunq
psiMfnj iwaiAoii oacii s^V scqtnnd i<hi sii ;o uoiiMjtp stji iii siuiod
wuapiAS aip [jc jcijl Xuap loa op
j 0|<|ifK>d JsijJuwmil cjoasusvss utosijc^ e
SI uaiii MOH '[[B icsaiiuiijcw aSeSus louuro pospin :'s3u{i|a SumoMii isimilJi: ui
oSrSua Xiqissi'd jouucaXiiiuoui: ipnj Xmvs ss9|uoi(iuJ Sufflutusun Xi9is;dm c sq
X|sjnj isnui isixs Xunniso wu jsop icqi asussss urrour^
v '^unp Suj i]6au| ssijwpse
osofStlnMid 'JSAs.ViOiiiwu^wd osstij, *513 ^(iiitnba! 'Siijuunji joniuadcoJ suiw
ai(] ssassoduai[i isniuuqdP^oiujd o jo fiiiin
asosssswnwuc^sHi jtiii sj oi i] ii
J| CVBIJ inq d[3q jouupo aujijl e ict|| lujoj ainituiwvip aqi si coussts iir|vii (3 b Ming
assqi iSB3[ 10 Xiuns i aiiiiuexa 'ajinbu; 'ifuiiii oi svi| suo *jai|ilosO]ii{d c sq 0 | Aiojq
paiS|X3 s.(cM|e stic iai(doso|!<|d irniac uc iciji [iciua ui^iwnb
ii{ usjiuud 9aji|| :
ai|nn;x ^A!lt:uJa|[c luy aip st asojaiaiii 'piiajsp cj juw utiis
ott IDijM 'liiaafw oj
a.wj tictisomsritnaKl inojosuosiatprjiuDSSojtujsiic wisip
javaMOij oauis 'SjaqdoMjinii isaM3i|ii|3notii jaiidosojjqd rjosaiwa ou it siaiji
JO paisjxa sXcAi]t) $Tn{ jai|(Ioso|Eqd (cniacuciaiiiis : xuanbasuDa 9uia\d[I(ij aqi pciua
0] paiupuouiap aq uto pjssnasfp isnf tsstuojd {cuojitppu o.im sqi 'jbojiI aip Xq
uaiauuoa jucjicm O] tajusssauepauc^ sepanjisuoasq umu joud |C3|ao[o)uDaqi
OI 0] P3IJ3J3X saauassa aqj jBi|isHmsjd jcoT^iJOJnoqjiii uoipunriioa ui mo.'q
Suipua poQ sATJii an sb
isnf 'Suiisixs js 4doso|U[d icnjac in> OAcq a puo wusssa siq oj Muaisua ppo 'si icqi
jaqdosoiiqd c jo aauasM sqi oiiaadsojqiwpiOTi^ains aiauniii c jn aauasoaqi ei
Taadsai ipiM pioq icqi sluauinSjc ouns sqj inJI -sjaCTiij luaisixa '[cniDC oc icq
pUB II <3l wusjriara -apoui oqi 'iwip ppV 3!9q sn WH^PiuilP ^'-*1
sajnicaj waqi jo siiou jo aoiusqcoqiinq *snoaicKrXqc jo; saipTii omj 'iiiguai cnpovi
'ssjmcaj iciuapiaac auios w soDajsnoqoqXnuji pomuo siautiJi esj aiSucuicjo
saiuodojd oqj !|b seq jeqj urjojema -^uinjiraq oj o.\cinsmu lujojcicqi np
d'ojd aqi jp: ucaiu pia aqj ui jsnui a 3ii!.\Bqd[3q jOTUoa,, Xq snqi ouii iqSicjis
jo laiac
aq jsniu SuiAcq dpq iouu5 3? swfl aMip 8t| -'oojo}q 'wnSg auc|d pasop tJ
-jcqa aqi SuiAcq dpq jouuco osp }i saw| OMip aicq inq dpq jouuca aiSuciji
c q9(T0i|i
ssnessq JjSocin ^ ;o saiwsss aq\ are sauij auquEqi'-a -a-Xcsoiaaiijns lou ittw
areitOA VTOAnos VA3U1V TO na 911
 A NEW REFUTATION ON TUB ONTOLOGICAL PROOF OF gods EXISTliNCG 117

assent to the ontological proof nt the same Utni; mads possible ? Since tliu conclusion
of the proof follows only if essences are Cattesiaa essence there so far as I can sec,
is,

only one last desperate remedy left. If we suppose that what is an impossibility can-
not have a Cartesian essence, and (here can be said something in favour of this conten-
tion, then we might accept the ontological proof without having also to suppose tliat

an actual philosopher existed during the Big Bang by claiming that a philosopher is
an impossibility. It follows, therefore, that if the ontological proof is to liavc any
title to assent no one who assents to it can coosistcotly claim to be a philosopher nor
can he be a philosopher.
This where the proponent of the ontological proof must stop; lie has come to
is

the end of his road ; to tl\e fool a no doubt highly amusing denoument, but haidly to
the proofs proponent. For our parts, who ate not die-liard proponents of tlie proof,
a next step is possible and called fuC. Taking this step, we simply point out that it is

absurd to suppose that a person who assents to die oulological argument cannot be a
philosopher. Thus, the ontological proof demonstrably concludes in an absurdity and
so stands refuted an absurdity, moreover, which even its most zealous proponent
,

will have to admit to be ooe, since he cannot defend the proof wiUiout pretending to
be a philosopher.
stfi sc au3S era suoicsjssmu.fcciiJns's^Towpl'oiiwssuaiaqi jure JtiVuolmio^J^I^l
irmoiiEj^utn aqi pne [cuoiiej ai|i jonsatiitUiaiiiiniXp stp $i ctnicitjato icajpjiria
tnji <n uo^wipjp puo TOcxSiai s^o io awwiiumst puc corrMicawco a'lptsoil uriji
ssa[ on 9[q;ic<lai03ui aqi puc lotMiaui aqijo uoiiarfu sssiqiiu puc iicnscnpcAa (coptia
mji 9si.3ii"[ -Suiiaic* kjoSm puc uosicatiuat aveoftipc usqi sssj ou sssmsj 3.\twvaid
JO oofisnjisuoa ptio ssppijwd josai $iioi3(piifii spsau U5pJt3 jnjpnwq 'JailuSoi
v
Ijaw pucq SApciasidde m{i jo ssauMpusi aio ptm ajiu^ Sunimd aqi jo Rsudicqs
oifluspjo3 eiiijQ unpti3 piicimi3iininU3to m
ing -sauejauj jo qsnoi auipuqi
puc jnD[Oo JO Xpofsai irStsap jo uuc^o aDbntnottOsii qpM i(3ca 'ujostoiq m^aviou
pucsnoi|] c qitM uapjcS |nji)ntq e 0|ui 9ucaq |c|0] s^auo tiuojsocj) oi noic ij
'SS3Usnfliuo3jo ujcuiop atji in SuiuapjcSjo uenjiaijis; uoticiqiaiu jcanaaiqQ
'PjisXiu aqi
puc icspus aqi 'pnoinasUEH aqi pile iciKHisiaqi'iEuopmjuiaip puc irnwipiuiaqi
Alipcuouadjo J)a;dna;qprEdunKn)t Kiaaimaassqiauipxflaiei Xq tioiiCTiicaa-Jl^S
aAajipc oipMiSisap/iicaijiaodssiilHWaiS <ii(EuosjI Mnjetn pticpaauc|iq jo icapi
oqj oi siwjdojdde ISOMS awpIsstsip-jFajosftbvnqoavaiii vopevn'^
/iiojaq paiuasaid o qaeudde papaSsitii stqi jo junoaac jaiiq y
aiewpsn aqi ipw uoiun. 8tiiipjiaj>)\as jo ipjxx ill ssea aqv ui qseosdds atisiuo^vpwj aqi
Ttoc isaA\ 8qi nt ijatojdile wKneui^ej aqi jo sisaipaXs atmeuXp e si ij nioijnvpsw iw'i
-MfTia 3 ^le^s^lp^^lopMpaem saftbinqMHiotisi^auipuesauu^rasrpeSo^ snojjw
JO piai; aqi ui ppaoid puc (capajoaip ipoq 'qMOsai 9 ud] j!l Xui jo sinq eqi uo
<punijoddo spn $o
JtriAiS Xipcj^ joj r^any j-f lossajoij p arc rpnp injaiuS x^ajiv Tfl qa
aand0[5qd ncipU[p80MoaaiamjOinouoq uiaumioMunisoOuiXs aip oj uoijnqpiQOa
jisufl /ui si l[
8 [n!i JO Xifuntioddo aip aAcq oi aaaijAjjd put ajoscaid
qittojQ aniejq pn paaniCQ jo Jiy eu
uononpsM P^H^BjcnQ
91
 DIALECTICAL MEDITATION 1 19

firiu foundation for integrated and fruilful Imng.

Transcendental Consciousness

According to the traditional view, the ultimate goal of meditation is the attainment of
transcendental consciousness Whereas cmpincal consciousness consists in per-
ceptual awareness of the phenomenal world of cliange and relativity, transcendental
consciousness is believed to reveal with unerring immediacy the immutable being and
eternal perfection of the absolute reality or the ultimate ground of all existence. The
absolute or the ultimate has been variously designated as God, Supreme being.
Brahman, Taa, timeless Spirit, eternal L<^, absolute void, indeterminable cxistence-

consclousness-bllss {Saccidinanddi. The ultimate goal of meditation in tijc Eastern

spiritual tradition is blissful union with the ultimate ground of all existence, no matter
by wliat name it is called.

Uufocluaately, oftencr than not the concept of transccadcntal consciousness lias

proved very misleading partly due to tlic inexactitude of language aud partly due to the
intellects proclivity to and iiiisconsiructlon.
wishful thinicing
How is and ultimate reality of meditation, related to the
the absolute, eternal
phenomenal world of change and relativity ? Is tlie phenomenal world an entirely
diifcrent kind or order of reality existing io complete separation from, or out of
continuity with the absolute? In that case we have an unmitigated dualism oftwo
absolutes seponted by a gulf of ignorance.
Is the phenomenal world an inferior, imperfect and secondary type of reality
existing in separation from and yet in utter dependence upon the absolute ? This also
implies a metaphysical dualism militating against the aondual unity and eternal
perfection of the absolute.
In order to avoid the consequence of metaphysical dualism some boldly go to
the extreme length of dechniing the phenonieoal world as absolutely unreal or non-
existent from the utlimatc stmvdpoint, even though it may be real from the standpoint

of ignorance [avidya) i.e., the empirical and cunveiitioaai standpoint. This is, to be sure,
a logically perfect sequel to the doctrine of meditation as direct revelation of the
eternally perfect absolute, but alas logical pCTfectioii m the mode of vertical consistency
is a sheer abstraction which hovers like a shadow, at the opposite extreme to the
concrete fullness of life.

It is the doctrine of unreality of the plienocnenal world, a logical sequel to the

timeless perfection of the absolute of metUiatioo, which has been largely responsible
for the Eastern peoples lack of progress or comparative backwardness in the
phenomenal world due lo blissful iodifierence to the values of time, evolution and
bistory.

According to integcal phHosopIiy ttie philosophy that/ affirms the integral

fullness of life and reality transcendental consciousness must not be interpreted as the

revelation of any separate, self-exUtent, absolute and eternally perfect reality. Correct
iiUcrpceiatiQiv reveals the true ntcanios of meditation as a higher perspective as n
penetrative insight into the depth dimension of the same universe wliich is disclosed to
our sensory perception. Our perceptual experience focuses attention upon the endless
details, the perishing momeat, the di^Kicate segments of the infiniluly vaiiesaied
 1!d">io<ic,5vjj)5SwttaB'|rnt4 '
I m|0sqcj0 3uijoi.3i||0!
lunuHuj Ruaiq<ud prcwjojr oi uoiw^S^aa
^ 3"
='W\ sT-llno jnod m* ai{^ ,! Jo tdrpSimireuijj jq, S^np wff
i.M^.f-2^
^ '"
-
3!a snj Xj^,K 0 ) \psnv
aqi 0 ) oa iJiAi sq s<3putis uq 9,^,5
|c:^!iJo4<i t do|ap Xnu a'u ViumiMUrv
Muuisn(ov st\a -^wowjo ijmjnd snoindnissun
puc man 01 tioiicsipspjowirjri
ffinuuiuoa sqi 3-T
uoannciv puc poQ jo luapinp sip jo uu[qojd sqi SuipirSai
popii
opuTi put oituaoan 11 oijw iiosjad
p jo stw aqt a^cj asucini! Joj nnsncd inoiAtu xi
fltuaiqdiHTqMt joXisiaosui lanpixo
{EanuwdXq {i<.a swnpojil ji(fntno ui5\qoJd
pJA[^jun uy {SrtQn Jo sui3|qc>id |t3n{d(Koin|(I
psA|ojan sajiDM cuwiiousqd
pniidjWAdjo p{iayij9oi am opippe ^
Mijcu j jspso jsqSni -c jc ftipsi w
ainjosqB Xjuo aqi st jaqija iioficppaoi jo aicnin|a
ai|> jo uqicuuijjE s.misXui wji
sjoqw atui>9 oqjjo MAicnpnoo OMiuaqwduios-ipi aqi aSutqa wq
pat )in[}jop|jQA\ Bifi 3Aoqt put ao Xiifcai jo aauejsqns pjisXqdGiaui jnaispqns
Jl Xjltujsw Xut jeif^jiuSis SUU81 Msqi 'pooKJ^qmn XjjqSjH Xiidosoiiqd jo Jiuaits
oAipadsw jfaqj jpadopAap ^laitioqtiawaaq aAtaj iaqi jttp wiJoSaiw it5!3o|Djuq Jo
{cajsXqdrjsta jtjaarucauj sc5ji( 'a||9|uijO)i|9no<pjotauo93iea sqjajdiaiui OJt jn;
'
Soiucau) X|Miuai]stp aau Xaip se jtj ot ui suriai 3ipjidsui-Mt asaqi 'uaiiaipuiuoo
jl UI ssnjajM afioqdna ue X|iuaptA si sjqj. ssmiijicq so[*!a naugunpajq ssaujiiJia^
'P!A **^1 'Soiqq-uoH Saijg sc mmntim aoiw wnpwtqa vavi 9q\ w put
aiqtnmtiaiapui /[amio^qe aiciuiip oip tcqi pucq 900 am uo smj^rc 3i)$Xui aqj,
uniitTiiCM apUtu ttiuapuaaniu}
jo^naiaoaaqijo aopcn^Aa put sitXfmie |C3<i!Ja u> S^urun'j) )u^!a^^ns jo }|:c] s]q
oj snp q osnn[osq8 snoiacjicj t.ansXui aqi -aJpaiMouai utianq [ps jo iJoptj MKuajxaoa
XlHuittnaaadiaiuc put paiqamim M^aitdasui jn opii'niui pueuanaiuijoaouauad
xa puc mSnoqi ittp iaa*9oiouiwnl9 (tiuaunqionj qi njouS; 'tusiAjkaefqns
pauitJn put uoptinJodsinpixiM Xqpaiidiw (^<pu) uMiodrauadM Bsjtj jo 5V
tpiautto copaajjad [ttuaia jo a^|MOa]| muapuaasuwi
o)n|osqc ta sssuAPonnioa aqi jd
uoijcjajiiajaiicJlsXqdtiaius.qisXuiqm Wl P*ii*oj *i in'" 1!
uopcuiiutxa asopuo
*uoivilo*a put auip jo aaueApt aAijssia aqj luoy ssaujooiu Ditaqtsdt
JO uojiB[o?i ity iiowaap 9uiftO|-wiad siq Ui sikXui auntSau-aji] aip
p5 pa 3 |ds
piiott itJDos-rt3isSqdsq-ijtiTiMXT3Mdp i09nbu<o am put aauausdio [taiiJXiu oqi
JO no()ti|E-jaio 'aoijisjiraj jtniiJ?is snj jo JwatJtqa papiBJoi oqi jo uoptaipq ut si
s.aiisXui Suiaunousj ppo* aqj.
piJOtt [tusuiouaiitl put [CSisXqJ oi|i j(J uojiqounuap
Xjacjos uvuinq jtqoi3 ut ssauowiAip manbasnw put uisnodoucui
swwp^sXw 'uK!l8iu3op 01 asij saAiS siqj. lusiapsXro jo
oAijiuSoa pot lusimiosqc 01
psisSqdtwra Misnpsra inniWui lUWUdM sjdaaiioa itaisXqdciaiu wajajjip asaqi
suisisXs
usAg -sqii am put 'ssiiq-ssausnoiasaco wuaiqxa
aauauadxa aiuts aijl Jo sjoqiojfa qSnoqi
ojnd 'iluraa siqcuiu'^^i^pui sd3niqioM p'n/^ oti utiaipan
osiJ saMS'saautisuiniuia
atou oiuiscR auras am josidaoucojuajfljjrpXntaTittJJScjd ol
pawdiaiui uaqAS uoisuauiip qi ap
itatjoisra jiitwajiip japun i)cuiuni|E luaiajI'P Xq
wajiutuiun pnc paitnuajaiiipun
jamraainasiui'-osjaAmnsiMwsnp
uoi|m]ui OAijtitpaM -DasAiiin
iw^uiaiaou [Bjjtrdsuou atp siroA uoiltmtnnut jo
aivniOA uwaAnos vaohiv -to raa OZI
 1

DIALECTICAL MEDITATION 12

lion of the fact that even the highest religious faith or llic purest iransccmluntal con-

sciousness of man is only relatively valid, not absolutely valid knowledge. All know-
ledge, whcthcT scientific, religious, mystical or, (ransccrdcntal is the inlcrpcnctralion of

thought and experience, reason and intuition, cbhoratc intellectuality ard sensory
immediacy. The notion of absolute immediacy and unerring knowledge immanent in

the doctrine religious rcvcl.-ition or mystical intuition is a trarsccrdontal illusion of

nescience. It is a projection of wishful speculation prompted by unconscious needs of
the psyche. It is a false supcriniposition of Maya, the mind's projective mechanism,
presenting longed-for possibility as immediately given actuality. In ultim.ile analysis,
the essential structure of all human knowledge is that in which sensory, imaginative or
intuitive immediacy, r.'itional inlcrprcmtiDn and emotional reaction inseparably inler-

penelt'.ite.

In order lliereforo to promote the integral ^owth of personality as well as the

continuous advance of culture and civilization, llic practice of nicdilalion should
include adequate training of the critical, interpretative, and analytical functions of the
intellect as well as cultivation of the holistic, syntlictic, appreciative, and penetrative
functions of intuition.
The Inherent contradictions and inadequacies of the purely intuitional or devo-
tional approach of meditation drive us then by immaoent necessity to a careful consi-
deration of the role of irilellcot or reason in human self-devclopmeot.

Free flwicf/oH//i^ of the Rational Self

We have seen tiiat the predominant keynote of the Eastern culture ard clviljzatloii is

to be found in its profound intuitive faithin the transcendent nondualily of ultimate

reality or the universe. By contrast, the predominant keynote of the mainstream of the
We.stern eidtuie and civilization lias been the intellectual faith in the rational or logical
structure of the universe. The West confronts the East by emphasizing the primacy o f
Reason in the liumaii psyche and the Supremacy of the worlds rational structure. On
the other hand the East confronts the West by laying stress upon the primacy of intui-
tion or authentic mystical cxperwoces such as N{iT5*ia, Somadfif. Som6orf/tf, or Sotori
in the human psyche and the didiotomy-dissolving non-duality of the univeree.
Tlic finest flowers of modem Western culture bloomed in tiie noetic atmosphere
of radical rational thinking and meditation in the form of critical self inquiry and
rigorous rational investigation into tlie nature of tiling. Socrates developed the techni-
que of rational meditation as critical self-knowledge and anvilyticai dialogue.
Descartes and Kant, Freud and Marx, Heidegger and Sartre, Einstein and Ber-
trand Russell, William James and Alfred North Wliilchoad carried on the meditative
search for truth in tlic mode of critically focussed rational inquiry with, unrestricted
freedom. In the East meditation assumed the form of all-out search for truth with
increasing freeiloin from the fetters of the unconscious personal psyche, including
instinct, ego and unconscious motwaUon. In the West meditation mainly assumed the

form of all-out search for truth with increasing freedom from the bonds of the
unconscious social psycho including mythobgy, tradition and authority. Eastern medi-
tation has been primarily designed for insightful union with the nondual
ground of llic
a^ipuii jQ oStrjs siijiiojui flifi 01 tiiniiu
pire ftmicu I||im uoiiBjijiiuspf inoniisaui oiui
dsiw uroui Tinow i{ -Suisioiiii Minimmuiap
ptm tuiAjj aAiinuijd' jo sSi: suijuaijs
-9IQ aiji
01 woissySsi Moiu piTiom i| >dnjsjOiK iaoi]9 aci||
asnsq 9un(i<uc oi luiioiuc
jouuio ss3UI(Pijoai. nia s\i u; \usn^(ui nojSyM jeuojupiaijo
pm 1'da]\3H
*3tat^ JO sinjcj. s^nutuinn-paiSoi'nsuj 5151
pile oii!iita:ss itaiaoj siji 'inioiimioi 9i|) pue (imoitci aij} jo iiotinjSsiui SAisnsniiduiM
Mao c jqj psaii lunoiurjtd oi(i_fo pmujAUOo Xpiuy sic ifatu. Uispiiitnucuopipcj]
JO uoiiBiusjjo X|P[JOAi JSijio isiicjuapiBostreji sio iiiooigiflo saAiasiuatp oacij istg aip
JO 5japEa[ ujapow 'Dui.ojiw aitsoddo aqi o| Sutus c Xipsiqnoptifl s; spu. -suoipuiisip
sTifCA Ei!pue5|oO[inon!uo[]tuiajiii9Mp ajepstp (ejoi u( jssfw 01 jwiCAjiuui jssj !cji|i
1SB3 ni JO uspiKAUi HJuDTiipcji
MJ1 uiojj utn)rJid! Sui!(*>S 'KA\ SiilJ"!M!5os
posqcijKnpui ^njfiq jo sju5imjsJiqi t)i ifluvparocijsua^ ait Xcpoj s;a<d SunoJ
Xuui ;Xk(do5 put aju ui swioj sMuup oj osu OAtS saoiiaiMip sqi soins
Xtapoa wuroq Xtcpucid jo upio psijain Xiiwiicutaiuj u
ui jOojsiqjo luatnjimnj Suiumojj sip Joj 9iqimic\ oOTuzipAp amiioa Jo aauuApt pm
XiBiformtoAs aqi joj siqnnpi^ -a(uiczt|cn)3c-j|oc Supiaiou! puB qiirtoiS joj a^qDn^B^
9iqe!i]CA Xjosusniuji are Xsqi '({inJi uj -Kiueyiu9|S jO piOA icu ojc uoreaj jo ttoiicnirAO
SA|lDJiaus(l puB iMiJsui! joucKisunj fiapX[Buc sqj optoi suoimiinpoqj
'sOMid 01 iiojiRiiMio in) 0] SuiuaiEwqi (uoinnuoijuoa
puc $.U3 *$upuoSb)ub puD ssujBAji JO iMUBui |[B q|t 9u}||oq XjiUBituoo uaqijnn
!ni)td;i)l ftiUTOinq jn cjq oa]im|)( ip uiqiijft jnoiAtqiq ps<lJriKlppwJsvi)ii
piuoui joreuurui i|e oi att saiS siaiyuoa put saoifusi qorif sj^npiAjpui josjj] {va
iqaXsd art) opiBuj 'uiaip SuutoiM jo sneaiu )CU^|bj Xut inoqijw siajuuoa puu tuojsuai
SRDpuituajjmcreuaS tpruijo )iftS)nd inoiltj jo apoui qi ui iioptiipani snqi
'tiosm jn BSAiirj^tui imioiiipDcoun qi Aq |<id)ui J)M aaqStq pu)*-
-op putsjaupsui jo novi Mi)U)pMiiJdttijiom 'Xiiioiiioi! puo uwvipTn o) pww
-usos ji inonutx OMI pue ucipooy oq) jo jps ttQpcipaqi'jiR\ouo(i
sqi puc Jia<i saouipiqti aqj )( <n ttAiBii o|qcicduiu{ oavx cqui iiiiruosjod oruitni
siaioiids qimi jo tionBjdui3Hu in)$>ivuoiiej sqi jo Xiod-uoiitMnjWou'CBW[j,
B qiw Sims
X8oioopi-iKi JB XSotnapt-jaiuiioo
-oddo piiOM ojuouiap Xipuaujtm sqt puB XSojoapi oooiiuw c aurre>[S PlJii'" Xipusijj aqi
Xjiaijrej [Taijtdraa om puc Xiriwpi (enidMuoa ayi X)i|e?jun icatlsXtu
aqi puc Xii|c
paAisojad iBniaaKajui oip pne jcuf^oiDo om 'icuoiiwii aiji
puB [cuoiicj sqi se qans
aqi
sajisoddo oiqBipnoawi! ojut pasijaA|nd q otmaiuh aqi jo X)[!WJ oqi oiSdijo U[2[i3ii[
-Itfjusiajjip X(djui|s sqj iapujl 'flssj! X)i|8aijo ijcaqaq) oim aSpSAV fi Arjp /jiicaJ rej
waiBas oqi UI 3i?0| JO iioiicaijddB s||U3ia> aqi jcq)*! javattoq luajqoid aqi
'
qEiiopciJi sqi je
jaAoisqiA XuiAUsaseqoi! JoS^J
[C3l3a[ oqj snojjaisXuj 8qj pUB [boiScui aip a:g( sqooi
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pc soiXibub )\ wSoj
joim'i'A
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-ipotu 'asjMiiin ail) ro sjnjaiiiis icnwra sq) jowssiA KopBOAS^qacoiispiQui
asisAiuo oqA jo wnjanns jcuoiicj oqi
-aiisAmn
HliA\ uoiun ;r>jiq8noto joj pouSwp Aijnonrf 5q oopciipara ui3i/\
'aa zl\
awiTQA auOAnos vxaaiv 'Ta
 :

orALECTICAL AJEDITATION 123

The practice of . meditation as thought-annihilation and unthinking protest

agiinst civilization can only lead to the peace of escapism, bliss of primitivism and

beatitude of paganism or nature worship-

Tlwis we find ourselves involved in the spiral movement of the dialectical process.

Ancient mysticism shows its inadequacy by ignoring (he rational structure of evolu-
and historical processes in the world. The progressive spirit of modern civiliza-
tionary
tion shows its imperfection and by failing to unify on a rational
self-destructive trend

and ideological basis the gaping splits of human personality and the antagonistic divi-
sions of collective humanity.
The goal of dialectical meditation is to realize the total self as tlic indivisible and
integrated whole of the rational and the non-ratmiial, the logical and the analogical, the

intelligibleand the luminous aspects of persooaliiy. To realize the total self in its

dynamic and evolutionary wholeness does therefore entail the (ask of developing a total
perspective of the entire human species engaged in an exciting process of creative
adveolure on earth.
To sum up, integral self-realization has a threefold significance. First, it means an
active appreciation of the distinctive functions of the instinct, intuition, intellect, volition

and emotion in the integrated growtii of personality. Secondly, it means a natural,

social, dynamic integration of th humanistic and cosmic dimensions of existence.
Thirdly, It implies illumined partidpalion in the planetary process of human evolution
by rising above the divisive forces of racism, religious paroclualis.m, cultural provincialism

and ideological combativeness.

The Dialectical Technique

How do you go about achieving the process of dialectical growth that of increasing
self-realization, meaningful self-manifestatjoa and a pancrn of integrated living ? What
is the dialecdcal technique ?

A few essential factors of the dialectical process of Self-realizatioo are listed

below

(1) Dialecticalmeditation which is the most effective technique of integral yoga

aims at dynamic and creative self-integration. It must begin with the clari-
of self-realization as an unceasing creative process. Self realization is
fication
neither a static dead-end fact, nor the final destination of all spiritual acts.
The true Self is a dynamic centre of diversified manifestation of the inexhaus-
tible riches of Being. It is an imagB of Iteing as the unity of consciousness
and energy, wisdom and creativity. So coiicentiate on the Seif, not as time-
less finality, but as the dynamic unity of being and beeoiaing, of Uberative
knowledge and creative acUon. Tlie Self is the inmost centre of an ever-
expanding movement of selfless action. Dont therefore allow meditation to
take an extremely introverted turn cutting off the inmost centre of conscious-
ness from the outward flow of life-affitining and life-enriching action.
(2) Develop a balanced scheme of living in which a program of ineaningfui social,
humanitarian and cosmicetlucal action is judiciously combined with
meditative exploration of the higher levels of consciousness. Since higher
 Xuouinill
ptre luopsjjj 5AO[ itinKKj iijnJi jd uois9ii(n JO puaci43 c ojut Supq
lolo) spiio SucuuojsuBJi 01 ttaw o qjuft 'soopstiojun aqi jo sjaujoa
jsaqisp sqi ua\a oi Stnaq jo
spAsi |C3RA(d ?= icnwuiisut icjusui
sqi oj ujniM Xq P5M0 [|d; sq pjoaqs senisnopsuoa leiuspuassusjj jo
Jjiuinns aqi 0 )
Suisr^j (iwywnio jtkb iwqoi )u}*W#p pw iioisiwjsi:
5 ^q)
'UOpSB
(Ciaos JO ticraic aq\ oi (iiD;iB.wftiud) njTvM paifto^^crj tFqpinoqi
(ojni/pif;w(f) lB/i\Bjpq]i JO X!oniMonii\ 'uPUJMvjiui puo uois/Mojiij (c)
:
ajii iicamq j[>sM)uc|od iPiuaioepunjaniosjo aiduics e ;; aisH

ISuaa vtq sq\ 30 spnssi
SujiaiUuoo Xi3 u[uia 3s pire aaosiswa onpiC^ jo saiisoddo aqi
up jo jqi Jnfejq
(5 )
ptniuiatliis aqi jo jq?![ aqj-ssau
-snojosuoo paiBiSajin JO iq^ sqi a) luaqi a7iuouuet| poo lusqi jo ([c oi qum
JO siuamaia aqj uo snao 'Uwiwitj pnc uifllni||aiui aoiajm utqv ^josniir
sa\ ou ate m?ip:uoi\Qua pii unniD^mtui ouia;ic3 'ifjqcqojttaui jo pooq
-jpiB.10 pa|^n-Ji9s wuotitOTfisp-jiwjodwJJ'^fpjirojujsiiBwXipuiiqj.uoa
uoiJUUiTOxs-jiss !)] puB Xpn)>j| pmif>)uco jo aponi nqi ai noppapt
ipnji ainiojqo
JO stooiitooanouojct cipaquu xa qiM Suqiu puc jo djquoM puiiq ]d^
mi)5ut<oru9 jcisapad B uoj(3siu^3u!oqd 'POSnuap e jo sSbui] poijiu8na
eqi oiur pnjui uoinijpaai aqi dn Aqq 01 qdnoua uoyo os si ici]] puc 'iqSjsui
j0 59qscQ.8jT! 'sstiqjo oittSaumcuKc lOi'vodflW.iV 'UopciipaiapuecaoS
JO tped ai(i uo usSurp ip: jo jssjewS | s{ sim -uopcouiop-jias S[ma5 put
teuMMjjns-jiMatpwiCFai uopwopc-jiss jo o^Tidtoi aiisjssioiw sip citipcjTjs 03
aarod jauutjoaauatiadxa Sutscqmjpiieus^citpauiui aj9wd Mojie ),uQ (f)
(nt/ji./uBV?
uw/jjp.O) ,;3uiaunousJ Xq ptaow aqi puc ajU Xo(u3 sXes ipiq*v pnisintdn :
aiiijo3ujuu3iu ot|i osjB ST
spu. puSpCAcSclB 5*D JoaSeswuj luaiuas 3i|i^ !
siqj. poQ puc piKi/^ jO ooiVBijjcj^
ajqcajwi /(OifwfJin i/oifjfprjjuo? ji/ojcddc aqj. ipro SujusqjSuaJB
pou1!;s:q) ojv S9S|ndiU! sqi i|>Ofl 'oaninfj puc iiijtfs
Xq j3qia3oj mojS 01
u93AM3q 'p|JOAS aqi pur pcQ noMvjaq XijpuiBduiojui 10 XJirAij Xiiu stiiScuii
ojojojsi)! l.uofl 'XSjaua atuisoj amts ot|i Joij SniMog swiniliiu Xjwuaiuoid
ttioa inq XJojaipcjiuiM loti ajc 'jaiiiD aty uo ajBuiBlfl P'' P0
m]Hi0 3jl[lii ssaukWcii pnrXiWJos Uj ssaojns joj qoicas (E)
oqj ptrn 'pucq ouo
auTqJoj j sasjaM) H* JO Wpiu aqi ui wiotl-jps auaias
auiutciuiEcu s8ui?q MO[pj ]|B JO poo? ajp joj puc aniaiiitig oqj 01 auiwjjo-jiss
JO itjids ai|i ur pjuiiojiad aq suoipe j|b jal hoipb ut uoiicjjpaiu ssijouja og
X3U33CldUID>JlS5 3nuis
ainscaiu 'ssaipunoq oip qaiai ]
JO ainisod opcjsc iJopcsmu puc'ijc ]i
luicp uBo Xpoqou *qqtinsBaiuui puc sipunDq si ssausnopsuto
X(3ictiiii|33i
hinuacios vAmv 'Ta i
anniOA
 DlALECtlCAL MEDITATION 125

bonds of ego, intellect and conventional morality may be dissolved in

the uinincd vision of the supreme good. Let the iliumir.cd vision then
ill

transform individuality from the cgo-ceniric to the cosnioccnlric orienta-

tion. The result would be the humble sclf-aifirmation of the transfor-
med individual as a servant of cosmic welfare. Ecstatic visiouoflhc
universal, the collective of the iransccndcnlal should not be allowed to
6.
annihilate individuality along with cgoiiy. Dont allow your total surr-

ender to the Supreme Being be unconsciously shifted from the Supreme

Being to any finite symbol of (lie Supreme such as a Scripture, a System
or a Guru.
Objecihe widerstaiiditig and appreciation of oilier viewpomis. The joy of sclf-
pjaliialioa is the joy of freedom from all fixed ideas and frozen values,
from theological creeds and metaphysical .ystems. The joy of freedom is

essentially different from the easily attained joy of exclusive identification

with a given creed, thought system or ideology. No thought system is absolu-

tely valid knowledge or exhaustive manifestation of the infinite truth. By
the very nature of the ease that, would beasbter absotdivy. Truth is orani-
7. present. human knowledge is only relatively and conditionoIJy valid.
But all

A teacher may find some unknown elements of truth in the statements of

his students. A great gum may discover some new jnsiglits from tlie experi-
ences of his disciples. A (licologian or metaphysician, if he keeps an open

mind, may find many things to learn about lire and reality from the criti-
cism of his opponents.
So practise meditaiion in the mpde of dynamic open /K/nded/ierr. Never close
the perception doors of your mind. Never withdraw into the ivory tower of a fixed
theological or metaphysical or mystical posture. Have courage to throw yourself into
humble situalwns of exposure to uncesiiiclcd criticism and unfettered discussion on a
8. equality with
footing of all fellow beings, learned or illiterate.

Develop a bahmeed aililude to all pupuiar symbols of divinity imh as hoiy

Scriptures, Guru or Pope, Avatir or IdoJalrous worship of any
of them leads to the polarization of life resulting in tltc loss of authentic

individuality, freedom of Ihoughl acd illumined creativity. It can produce

only the peace of arrested spiritual growth and immature emotional
exhubcrancc.
On the other hand complete lack of faith in this aforesaid symbols of divinity
prematurely shuts tlie door to valuable sources of spiritual nourishment and
inspiration.

Meditate in the mode of dialeeileal selfopening- Open the door of your heart
with sufiicieiil faith, to whatever important elements of truth and value might be
embedded in the and m3rsUque personalities. But never put to
deified scriptures
sleep your human prerogative of ciitical intelligence and balanced evaluation.
Even the most exalted Guru or God-man is there lo help you realize your own
indwelling divine Guru, not to enslave you lo the hypnotic spell of his persona-
lity or spoken word.
Train yourself to be stble to sulyect even the holiest of innet experiences to
 :aB |cqD|3 M9U p juaxpc s^i ui omirdiatutd
SI
)U33i[|sttnjt>suwuisAiusjj3 uu
uounipaui (iWBJCnp 'jscj [! jo mstiriuspuwsuiiii
atl^Riojimim stji put* am jq nmuofiniOAa wisitcuoiici am jo nssipu^Cs u sy
(.WV'y) Suiiowaa Xituo[]nioiu jo aiiuas
c sc U0iss3jd)C3-j|3s cAiicajo
1|J1 aujsg ,q^| ,q, 0, Suiusdo-jtJs' sauib ssuiquioa
p
JI Xujisapjo |[B3 0t[i 0) asiiodsM ui mniqajdiaiu; jnj^ujuwui iCitcjtjoistq ijl!'sa3ua
-liadva aiisXiu Ojluat;inc ja ooiicjpnisjc pajiad MuiquMauaijciipsiu
icai)aa|Btpos
riUIllBq aipui aicdia
-]ucd X|SS5|1B3; puB OUTAIQ Sip q^M paijun iCiinpacad ag,. sq; ut pics cuijsu^
leqiA <p3cw s.wqx njopw loj pnsiod Apmuijja puc aacad laajjad jc ii<no3Uciinui!S
sj uosjad paiBjaqfi aqi aiuti JO tuaiaoui ua/iiSXiie ic nip ainicu t qans jotjstati
aacMc-.iiss pau[uin|[i -auiagjo squJap na^uioqitj oiiiq8iut*m5>iaap-J3A8}o
;q?p
aqs UI iioricujuicxa.jijs puc i(pnts-Jps irajiua jo ssaMjtl Suinuiiuca
b saAiOABi uj
nipsin [CDitaajcjp 'uojicaijiap-jjjs jo Xnciopi 'luqnuiaop iii9a>j(3 oj japjo ui
'aiqtimq saiucoaq aq JOUi qi smou)[ uosjad v anui sip
H jsvx upcunif iicjawmanju |riti'sqf pjapufH/iqAiiciaa uoirazfiiwj
poo JO 'I'lpptvps Xqpajfihui uiopsiA jsaqSjqoipjouaAa anjjnsiqx
s[8iitioiaw| X]qTijni3iuj lou op uopcimdjaiut {cuoiiu puc uopriaAaj iioinjipaui pur
XoBipswiui niSnuqi puc uopitpui qjiq^ ui sjusiiadxo uvmnq ou ti njaqi lacj uj
'qpiit stuaidns jo pjcpucjs aqi sc uisiuopaq atriu'iqn: o) XMd o si|o;
aiiaBsr emfnt s\p ujsniopaq qc Xomc auuijp Apsajqinj Xq iisi[v> jap(i!ntl
Jiaqi lanuoa ^IpJaq uca uaAcsq ui spoo 'XincsJ sicuifiin puc qnai aio|
-osqc joj uoijsiua aqi sc ssijq [ciiiapiiaasucm sqi jo uoiimtcxajaAO oj tpni
sjnjcu snou{(q|( io icnioupsui sqi jo uoissudtlns iqjasjO;] 'jias [cuosJad
-suus io pnuapuaxacil aqi jo uopnq^ asic^ Oi tpcai JlK iBuaiiiQuaqd ,
jojias-oSa aipjo ucnpafai aiajduioD icqi OlCJ Jo Xioji uc psapui si II
uoimajdjaini [cniasipiui snopcflcj oi spc3| Xpnops
saaiiausdsa orisXiu ;o
uoaunjOTiiaiui jo iiofiaafaj siaidwoa jtqi oapou oi pej XaqjL 'uoiiaB XiBOop
-TiiOAs ur asioil-j[3S pauimciji! jo
iwpi jKiSaiDi aqi uiojj oxiiiicdap 3ui:iuiipun
UBsj siqi ssainidms jo ssausncnssuoa paiisutoBBIP''' J
iCiciaucid
uoijBiiqiiiiic-jpsjo sSTjq fciuapuoosuej) aqi <q (nJOjiB uojinioAs
puc uoiiac iciaos jo sjaqds oqj uiOJj Xgmg <cis Xaqi
3 u!A[! JO Xctt aAp
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luqjd JO siijurjui aqj OJ ssBJJaj puc pXrui jo doJ| aqi
sqvJapiin 'P-tPivio
sisiicuouodsutaj put saiisXui ooisniiiOTlposjOHods
wojaJaqi puc sicipaiuiui
uoisnip lejuapuMsuwi e nqi -piiCA Xiaoiuaion
ssousnmssuoo aApjun lo iiiamuaiqfjiua
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aqj, 'MOU aajj Jiaqi ui
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gnniDA ujNai'fos vac^v "I'a 'na 5:1
 16

This Original Sins :

Gullibility and Nincompoopery

'Humanism is now widely proclaimed "by a vaiieiy <5^ Va&iiig tiunVers. A wlio^e
series of schools has emerged hat use the term humanism from humanistic psycho-

logy and humanistic social science, to humanistic religion, medicine, law, even architec-
ture. Many assert that we need w enhance and develop humanistic values or create
a humanistic society. What do we mc:m, however, hy the term humanism? In
the following paper 1 wish to point out the close atBnUy of humanism and skepticism,
which should not be overlooked in the current discussion. In other words, for the
humanist there aw two original sinsgulUbiliiy and nincompoopery that result from
a failure to apply reason to thought and to conduct.

The human species has a perverse streak that runs deep in its nature. It is the capacity
for being easily deceived, the tendency to allow our wishes, desires, fancies, hopes, or
fears to coior our imagination or to influence our judgment or beliefs. Bacon identi-

fied this as the idol of tlic tribe.

Gullibility is the best term to describe this tendencyfor humanists it is the

cardinal sin corrupting human nature. It is our willingness to be culled, lulled, or
dulled into assenting to a truth claim without adequate evidence or grounds for its
support. Gullibility is so mdely distributed among humans that few arc without it

cnivTcly, No one can escape its temptation, though lUcic are obviously degrees of per-
versity or wickedness ; but some, by hard therapeutic cfTorls of will, can cultivate
virtue by means of intcUigencc.
critical The most gullible sinners in our midst arc
those who arc willing to whole whatever ilwy Itear or arc promised,
swallow
10 gulp it down hook, and anker. TTicy are, as it were, the sitting gulls, ducks
line,
or pigeons choose your own metaphor - prey to every huckster at the fair ; they arc
the suckers, if you will, game for cscry am man, willing w gobble down everything
fed titem, unsophisticated, green horns, fall-guys. In the most extreme form ilicse are
 ^
WldjIJ'! OTH -tnoisns pga qiici iq m .
anminw EsiqmnSsni ** P^aiwj siji iilrans oj
-noiirnT-Ti
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-saiiajiD 5U, i,uB I'' ''3
SJ9A\ oqM K01 -^*PP*P=*opxopOHliosiiinivwP'u
|j 'u3-,,m 11.,
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Ji aaitis asnpTwi /m.1 *0*!*^^ P='^PR^
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JO SuuaiicuK c oimbaiicmsvpiiuUiiKiwdss
SJii-surni^nhMmL I
* uonnca *cm|i o| 3u!i,j*i ooi
Xi;m.b DunniS jp aic ^sqi sisn wuoh oiojj
P ^aPa X3t|j uai| poiinS Xjisea jjui an:
aidosd )?HT:isu39
''^^isi.^oopjooqi 'dnpaddoissiiaiioiaqi ssiwijooj aniXqm
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ajc uayo uiopsiM jrajiai-jd
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Xq pa|[n3 Xiisca jsoui aqi sjc s|vn|3a)|aiuj pa)CA|i|iia
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ajc OJA iioiicanpa jo puiq ai[j
uodn ^.puadap i 'aoipq o) mm atp jo Xiisjausd oibuui
J no oiuoajSAO |]im ji
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X|Uo aqi s] aujiiivai
qooq JO osop poo3 c pue uoyeanpajvqi SAaqaq aidoadoiuos
XsE9 jou SI JI 1
inq
'pi
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puiui Bijx 'uoiitldiusi si{ 01 Xaid iOAaioj aic sm joj Suipusiusp puBJinamipsj Ij i fj*
X|Buc iniiiia SI iijs |bu|Suo sqj ioj ajnpiiuc sih 'oaiiotjd ui mo qjom Xaqj ipM Moq
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 THtJ ORIGINAL SINS 129

questions its veracity.

Historically the term frccthlnket* was used lo describe a person skeptical of
religious credulity. The frcclhiukcc rejected systems of doctrine that rested upon
dogma, revelation, custom, or authority, and he held that the individual must himself
investigate at least in principle the claims made and abandon any position whose
validity could not be rationally or evidentially demonstrated. A number of epithets,

mostly uncomplimentary, have been used by the believers to characterize frcediinkers in

the Iiistocic debate I sliould not say debate, because for a long time tliey burned free-
thinkers at the stake. They were Uie doubters, dissented, nonconformists, heretics, agno-
stics, atheists or stronger : infidels, apostates, miscrcanls,C8cusants (those who refuse
to comply with or conforai lo religious regulations or practices), nuUifldians {persons
of no faith or icli&on), minimifiadians (utcli^ous unbdicvecs) or, just plain backsliders.
At the turn of the century the term Tationalist* was often used interchangeably
with 'freethinker, pointing lo those who atcmplcd to ground religious and other beliefs

on reason. More recently, the term humanist has been used (o designate those

individuals who supposed to be a code word or a

are skeptical of religious faith ; it is

more polite tcrin for atheist, a word whose usage is still considered to be ia bad
taste, Most humanists generally resist the simple equation of atheism and humanism,

for atheism is primarily a negative rejection, whereas the humacist claims to have a
more positive ethical philosophy. Indeed some post-modern humanists define human-
ism picenfineutiy in ethical teems. Nevertheless, I submit that, wbatever else he may
be, the huniaaist is at root a skeptic ; and his natural tendency is to combat gullibility
wherever it occurs though, God knows, many huoaoists are prey in their own philo-
sophies to the same vice of origiua) sin as other mortals.

II

When I say that the humanist is committed to reason, I mean in two ways ; first for
judging descriptive, cognitive, or explanloty truth daims; and second far more contro-
versial for making nonuaiive or ethical evaluative and prescriptive judgments.
And,
once embodied in ones life and culture it lias an atdtudinat effect on the whole person
in creating an active disposition.
Humaiusts, with ftetlhiukeis, ratiosalists, and aihdsts, have invariably been
skeptical about classical religious tbeisiii. Thus humanism more often than not is in
opposition to the claims of supcrnaturalists concerning the existence of God. And
humanists have been skeptics about a whole range of religious phenomena miracles
and revelation. Biblical (ruths, {ny&ucisiii,iiam.Qrtality of the soul, and pereonal survival.
In every age there are people of overweening faith, insisting that fhat_ qj
something else is absolutely true, ultimately real, and the source of salvation,
even
though, it traosceewis the limits of ordinary understanding or evidence.
Today, we are
deluged by a whole scries of new sects and calt^ from
demon-possession, exorcism and
With craft, astrology
and occultism, Kdshna cults, sdcntology and dianctics, UFOs and
chanou of the Gods, to paranormal phenomena.
^^{hiiEccles.brainscicntistandNobdPrirelaureate, a colleague of mine at the
at Buffalo, is greatly distressed by the current iolelfectual
seen*
s- Kc believes that we may be reaching the dmisc
of Western civilization wiihout
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 tlE ORIGINAL SINS I3l

indepcnilent confirmations and tliat cannot be repeated by competent observers must be

questioned. The evidence for a belief surely need not be direct, it often is not in the
most advanced theoretical sciences, yet there most be some independent predictive test
that will confirm the hypothesis.
Third is the criterion of logical validity. We can ask whether the belief is
interoally contradictory, whether it is logically consistent with other well-fouaded

beliefs thatwe hold.

Fourth, we also test ideas by hovit well they serve us in practice. Beliefs are judged

by whether they are convenient in helping us to explain data or resolve problems. To

evaluate ideas in pragmatic terms is surely never sufBcient in itself. We cannot say
simply that ideas without supporting evidence or reasons ate true because they work.
-
Nevertheless tlie pragmatic criterion may be a factor that we consider in a reasoned
justification for a telief.

To illustrate the use of objective criteria : Widespread reference to deinoa-

posscssion, funned by The ExorcUt, awakens publw interest. Yet until careful scienciiic

tests are introduced we ought to be skeptical Blatty's novel violates every canon of
objectivity. The uotebooks of the alleged Georgetown case of possession are locked
away. The chief witnesses were an hysterical mother and two imprcsssionablc Jesuit
priests. Possessioit is a psychological abnoimaJity a split personality iliat can be
explained in psychopathofogical terms, without need for demonological explanations.
The above some broad sense describes wliat I consider to be the principles
in

that fioveca siotigulUbility ; they make up whit constitutes more or less an objeelive
method for testing belief ctnlms. But there arc other aspects to objectivity. These not
only guide inquiry, but they characterize the normative attitude.

Fifth, where we do not have sufficient supponiug data, we ought to suspend or

withhold judgment. We should be doubtful of whatever has not been adequately

Skepticism and agnosticism accordingly arc important responses for areas in
verified.

which we do not, as yet, have sulEcient evidence. On many topics, then, we should have
no opinion until all tho data arc iu. That UFOs exist is surely possible ;
that we were
visited by intelligent beings from other planets is possible, I do not find Van Danikens
alleged evidence for this thesis coavlncmg, however.
Sixth is the principle of fallil^ism, as Charles Peirce labds it. Beliefs should be
taken as tentative hypotheses, no more than probable, open to revision in the light of
new evidence. New facts need to be accouitted for, and if they cannot then the theories
must be modified. The world view of comnioii sense is often mistaken. We should not
be restricted by existing sdeiitiflc or commonsense explanations of the world. Thus we
need to be willing to introduce new theories that go beyond tho prevailing perspective,
whether in ordinary life or in the sciences. When I refer to common sense, I simply
^
mean that some point \vc need to test our hypotheses by hard evidence. Related to
is the need to keep the door open to inquiry. We should be willing to investigate
lliis

any area. We should not foreclose future investigation on a priori grounds.

Seventh is the need to be receptive to creative imagination, new hypotheses,
alternative explanations, fresh departuns in thought. Subjective intuition and intro-
spection may be important as the source of novel ide.is. While they may help to
originate ideas, however, they caanat at the same timo validate them. It is one thing to
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 TUB ORIGINAL SINS I3J

Stake is not what we believe but wfiat we ought to value or do, how we ought to
live. Again, there is a tendency to rush in to follow astrology, to go on a erasii diet,

to enroll in an encounter group, to devote ones life to God or country, socialism, or

sexual hedonism.
We are living through a moral revolution today that in many respects is a
humanistic revolution. This involves among its values ; a new sense of individual free-

dom ;
the need to humanize alienating institutions, to actualize the human potential, to

recognize the cxiual rights of all groups in society, to extend participatory democracy to

a whole range of social institutions, and to build a genuine world community;

people representing dilPacni points of view today claim to be humanistic in
Many
their concern. The quesUonthat I want to raise is whe(h and to what dc^ee reason

can intervene. Can, objective criteria play a role in warranting value judgements ?
'

This is the most complex area, for the moral life is full of feeling and passion,
impulse and habit.
We surely recognize that there arc tmporunt uses for reason in ordinary life.

Whatever ones values or norms, it is possible to avoid stupid mistakes, foolish or

impetuous action, and to use practical reason to control life, moderate desires, mollify
passions, and direct actioas.
Thus we say that sonic people are reasonable. They have horse sense, good sense,
plain sense, and sound judgment. Tbey roanifest prudence and foresight. They are level-
headed, sensible, thoughtful, sagacious, experienced, ot deliberate in making choices. On
the other hand, gtillibilUy in belief has its counterpart in choice and action. Some people
arc foolish, irrational, imprudent, impetuous, atites, or inexperienced in their conduct.
They manifest a notable lack of wisdom in life. They may bungle and botch, blunder
and fumble in their choices. They arc, if extreme, muddleheadcd. mutton headed, thick-
skulled, fatheaded, boneheaded, noodlebeadcd, or empty headed 1 These are the people

wlio cannot see an inch before ibclr noses, or arc willuig to cut off their noses to spite
their faces ;
they dont have enou^ sense to come in out of the rain, or they invariably
put the cart Ixfote the horse, or arc penny-wise and pound-foolish, don't know their
elbows ftocn lioles in the ground (to mix metaphors),
on wild-goose chases,
ate apt to go
have too many buy a pig ia a poke, count
irons in the fire, play with fire, are williag to
their chickens before they are hatched ; they tend to bark up the wrong tree or to carry
coals to Newcastle, They arc, if you will, the nincompoops of tliis world !

VI

What I am suggesting by tliis siring of synonyms and proverbs is that there is a kind
of cTUieal intelligent in judging values and making choices : in buying a house, select-
ing a male, taking a trip to Florida, or studying for an oxaniioalion. Tlicrc is, if you
will, a praclical logic of decision-making, which wc ail recognize. Tliis is analogous, in
pari, at least, to the use of objective intelligence in formulating beliefs about the world.
What are its characteristics in outline 1
First, pmctical inlclligcnce seeks to define values, ends, goats, to understand
wants and tic^, to be clear about interests and ideals.
Second, it seeks to ground choices to sonie extent in a knowledge of the conlext
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BiinKM niunAiios vaixxv to nia pci
 THE ORIGIONAL SINS 135

life and happiness a human goal, ioclw^ng the satistaction of basic needs and
is

But the humanist does not seek to impose a set of values to

creative actualization.
suppress The good and the right begin-as John Stuart Mill said -with
individuals.
constitutive principle intervenes in
existing human desires and wants. Reason as a
the processes of human valuing, seeking to revise them,
and negotiate possible diffe-

rences in the light of intelligent appr^s. This enables continuing processes of

icconstruction.
Given the great pace of sodal and technological change in post-industrial
society, the old morality cannot always be easily stretched.
Only new moral princi-
ples, appropriate to present desires and future needs, seem appropriate.
Oniy critical
intelligence can help us to clear our way onto new terrain.
apparent that it is possible to be a humanist in this second sense-helping
It is

to develop a new moralitywithout bemg a humanist in the first sense

being a skeptic-

in religion. Secular humanists have many allies within the churches in

their efforts to

mold a new morality. Similarly, one can be a skepUe in religion and yet intransigent
in his moral values; some
secular humanists are Aihofitarian in morality. Thu.s there

ate two senses of humanism : one in regard to belief and other in regard to values.
Though, hero, I must also point out that many so-called etliical huraanLsts often get
carried away by emotion. One can be commiiled to humanistic values in the present
context in an unthinking and fanatic way. 1 have in mind certain excesses in humani-
psychology and education for example, those who emphasize affective education
stic :

and ignore congitive development, or stress freedom and ignore self-discipline, or are
against hangups, yet ignore social responsibility. Tliey arc all too often moved more
by passion and rhetoric than by reason.
If, as I have argued, the basic element in the humanist point of view is the use
of critical intelligence in belief and action, then there can be no absolute or final val-
ues that We need not even those that we presently defendbut a constant process of
inquiry. Of central significance here b the importance of cognitive and inoral educa-
tion and young adults. The schools should attempt to teach cliildrcn how
for children
to think, how to detect deception, bow to avoid gullibility, but also how to engage
in moral reflection. The most appropriate kind of moral education is that which
emphasizes awareness, inquiry, growth not one (Imt seeks blindly to impose values or
inculcate virtues as tiie be-all and end-all of moral mstniction. The colleges and
universities liavc a vital role here too : in education in the liberating arts humaoistic
and scietuific in order to keep aKvc titc sense of wonder, to expand the horizons of
knowledge, to be able to formulate ciiUcal value judgments.

VllI

Tlius liumanism not to be defended simply as equivalent to a set of episte-

is

mological principles. For although an essential characteristic of humanism is its commit-

incut to objective criteria of knowledge, the difference between the statement of
epistemological mel.vcthical criteria and humanism is that the latter involves
a civniHf/mwif to a set of rules of evidence and validation Uiat is non/janVe. In other
words liuiiMiiisni is basically, whether in epistemology or ethics proper, a normative
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 The Religion We Need

From iha time 5avmn\otwl religion Um bcca the craving and support of a vast bulk of

manklird. A history of the nuukind reveals this very fact. Religion connotes a distinct

type of consciousness about the notion of the most Supreme and most elevated. It
signifies an attitude towards the Truth accepted by heart with due faith acd capable of

transforming ones conduct aod even life. Il is not a mere supposition. It is a hearty
acceptance of the suprenw truth in the light of ones enlightening knowledge. That is

why (he nature of religion lias changed from age to age, and from iudividual to

individual. Where religion has been accepted as the common creed, even there indivi-
duals have concealed in their hearts certain variations. Of coune, such variations have

been less in number where the individuals have been least inclined towards independcnr
thinking or where rational thinking could not be dcvelo^^d to the desirable extent. But
os rationality has become alive and awakened, this tendency of varitation has tried to

assert itself. This is why there was a terrific unity in the individual constituting the
original tribes. But the modera societies cannot find such a unity of faitli in their folds.
But a more fundamental question is whether we need religion at all in the modern
period ? An answer to thisqueslion underlioes the importance of religion itself. Religion
has bcen'said to mean according to Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary belief in,
recognition of, or an awakened sense of, a higher unseen controlling power of powers,
with the emotion and morality connected therewith : rites or worship. Tiierefore, there
is no dispute os to itxe fact that idigioa cncaus two things ; first, belief in a higher
power, and second, nionility connected tAeimvitb. Now these both
are very important.
A person derives his attitude towards the world from his basic concept about the
Supreme. If a person believes in a God that is pleased only with liclp and cooperation
tendered to ones fellow beings, one shall try to cooperate with one's fellow-beings and
will inculcate a spirit of self-sacrifice.
Then it sliould be noted that the word God' should mean not only the Supreme
Being of moiiothcisilc religions, the Creator ; it should also mean and does mean the
object of exesssive dcN-otion. It should be lemcmbcred that ihis object of cxcccssivc
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 THE RELIGION WE NEED 139

evil aod uncnliglitcncd education as well as misleading

preaching by the priests and the

leaders of reiigious folds also play thdr own part in this direction. The second
view,

however, does not admit such confusion as the aim is clear like day-light.

One should not be surprised therefore that the former view of religion has some-

times been severely criticised by certain social thinkers like Marx. The world has seen
that many atrocities have been perpetrated in the holy name of religion. People have
been subjected to the worst possible exploitation, persecution, violence in the sacred
name of religion. People were taught to tolerate everything by the selfish religious heads
who joined the ruling powers to subserve Ihdr own petty ends. The rulers also helped

such, dements becausethey found in religion that power wliich can deaden the spirit of
revolt and give a spirit of complaisance on the part of the public which gave ruiers
security and protection which were not otherwise possible.
It should not be imagined that all religious leaders were of this nasty kind. In fact
only the counterfeit religious hearts thus conspired against the welfare of the common
men. The true and devout religious hearts made tremei-.dous sacrifice to get justice to

the underdogi!. An impartial reading of the history of roarkind shall convince every
human heart that real religion lias always produced brave souls like Buddha, Socrates,
Gandhi etc,, who sacrificed even personal comfort to get the wellbeing of one aid all.

We should, thcTcfurc, be very careful when we read the criticism of (be institution of
religion. In fact every such criticism is the criticism of only fake and false religion.

True religion remains unaffected by such crilidsm. It is uofortunate that in a craze of

condemiug cruelly aad exploitation people descended to the level of be heading the
truth itself.

Those who believe in u supernatural euitity like God in a way serve mankind in a
much better way than a humanist wlio does not believe in the existence of God at all.

The reason lying behind this fact is that a person believing in God has a sentiment that
everything is replete with Cod and filled with His presence. Hcr.ee if any being is hurt,
it would amount to hurting (he Supreme. A God-iutoxicated person, ihetcfore, loves
every being from the bottom of his heart. His dominant ambition is to please his Lord.
It is on the other liand does not have that background
his natural urge. Tlic humanist
of emotional fervour. It is a wcU-known fact that a mere intellectual man cannot rise
I to that height of sclf-sacriQcc to which a God-intoxicated man can easily ascend. A
humanist standing merely on the ground of intellectuality not ripened in the emotional
warmth is always in a danger of lo^ig his horizon.
Tlic two approaches meet, however, on this point that the ideal
of serving
humanity, or to express the same thing in other teems, to oppose the forces of suppres-
sion and oppeesdoa a covetabk vtsaU Axiy persoa wtva asawts tb'iV
is SMppotls
injustice either f.iils meaning of religion or purposely distorts the import
to imbibe the
of icligion. Any and igiTOrant acts perpetrated in the name of religion cannot
cTuctly
spoil or soil the true nature of religion just as wc cannot asscit from ccriain cases of
food-poisoning that food is bad. Gandhi has rightly stated, Religion is not wliat is
grasped by the hraln but by the hearts. (IPir and lyisdoni of Mabalma Gandhi,
edited by N.Q. Sen, p. 191, I960). Radhokrishnan asserts True religious life must
c.xprcss itself in love and aim at the unity of mankind. Bead necklaces, rosaries, triple
paint on forehead, or putting on aslics, jrilgrimages, baths in holy rivers, meditation, or
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 tHH religion we need 141

It is the smc life that shoots ia joy

through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass and breaks
into tumultous waves of leaves and flowers.

It fe the same life that is rocked

in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death,
iaebbaodinftow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious

by the touch of world of life-

this
And my pride isfiom the life-throb of ages
dancing in my blood this moment
{Tagore's Giiaajali, No. 69)

A handful of dust could hide your signal

when I did not know its roeaoing.
Now that I am wiser I read it in ail

that hid it before.

It is painted in patterns of flowers j

waves flash It from their foam

hills hold it high on their summits.
I had my face turned from you,
therefore I icid the letters awry
and knew not their meaning.'

(Tagore's Fruit-GaihetUig, No. $)

And When a man who understands, the Self has become all things, ^vluit sorrow,
to
what trouble can thwe be to him who once beheld that unity T {Ua Vpaniiad)

A God intoxicated person always prays ;

"This is my prayer to thee, my Lord

y ve mo the stccaglh to make my love fruitful in service.

{Gitanjali, 36)

'Give me the strength never to disown the poor

or bend my knees before insolent migliL (Gitanjali, 36)

A truly religious soul rebels against every sodal injustice

because Cod is not present in the temples, mosques or churches ;

He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground

and where the path-maker is breaking stones.

He is wilJi them in sun and irt shower,

and bis garment is co\ cred with dust."
{CUanjali, 1 1)
 H J ura 15 IllUB JSBod pio ] ureSsi lou jiiw uojSipy,^
: sppB pist{9|n|/y\ ujwis aiucs aqi uj
C6ll <I8fr6I <PospuoueiStiay)
1.
3 , pui,,*, irj 0(n >ou nnou!
* apjduif puB sn du)s j|i ji asoof ooi sj ji ji i'oiinio\w put Xquuuc
*3 ^iqa.. saiMp ueuii5ij!(ei[pTa
,!t ,LT^,r. -m uoddns oi Xpraj
^ UMiwostiiJOi qieS jcanwaun 'spnia hi mo
^NE'iopw
JO (jnS B dttSiiw 8.3 iflito OAV 'uoiSnai uap.o sip iinp
nl
pBjjpJCiu SuiAjas OJC qau{M ssausiss
jmw
ujspoui oqj anajjiia ov si\' (Jiat? lou pitt
Ji
'noj3|pi JO sjninj Xuc sdoij jb'juts bw
Switupn iBsiitis
puEAit|cuoi|5/jQsgBt!muirct9!|Mwpi0 3ipj<iqijtjjovuisii put wopou pjo atp
01 :jS5i5 0,11
j] aausiqxoHH JO iooidsnonaiqurencpucitapr jurMStt X||cstiiiin :
POQJQ SUOIlOlf ClSlJsa SBlldsOOB/qpysjJK j;SrO| ou SJC
9f\ 'wmoim jo uitiuop
oqi ui ssjitApoB [Bjniru jo smjaj ui paiitidMauwqajBpoiKdiiopioain jospioAO
IBjniBuirdns ; Xao[aiq pun
xaoioqaXsd jo sajuatss viapow aqi Xq paSusnsqs Sutjq
c sXcpjora,? oqi jo (nos pue puna
jnoqe swiiou apn sip XBojosa put Xuiouojiw !
wapoiu Xq paitrpriioj autcq X|rtpaJCuopcsjsjosqiXai
aqi jcqi 3awj jou sn la^
Xiiiug uuiunqiadng oqj pim oujAia wp oj luauiqatiic
tii js ivoiuoa itniijtdj ii Sqiz
ireqdcna Xnluiis Xq roiBjiaj ui qjrej wtAM oj
sn joj lou ii 'ipuiui aiqin^ s; itrpiAipui
JO juaiudjnba imuaui aqi jo jjcd aiqrjtdosui ut suiosoq siq 8iii)iunii jo uiaiitd syil
usjss Tj tiaq juasDJd IV 'itjoisiq joniosKd
paijia now oqijoouios Uij uojSiiOi jo
uisjapjjs dJcqs iqBnojq stq sowjapjd
snotfjioj jo Xaaspusi OAipnjistp Xntiaos oqj put
sjat;sq mojBrisi 'aiimSop
JO Sinmiagiiuajasunaqi icijj jsBjoj iou piroqs t>f\
sinjEU ui ayiiuaias jq isnoi put oBuii i|naso Xwj owj saaj sq isncn uott[i uiapoui
aqx psidJ3iu]Sjttr Buraq S}| jo XiiuniJoddo Xut aq utqs oqj ioli lusiaiius 11
ioj U0ISB530 Xuc aq lou iict|Sjaqj taqi suojt apmpic oAiiatiHsuDD Xnqsos JO suijsi
lit jrouipp put UJdJSiuj 01 Xij OM JI ujai|i Joj iireuodu; Xjsa iou si uoiBjjaj jo spis
ftniiiids aqi -lutruoduit wt spadsc asaqi uaui vouiuico aqi Joj itoiBrpi jo sisadso
[cnpiAipui put jcrsos aqi oi osucijodiui OAissraia Xtd isniu aiup-oidn aq oi poiJod
ujspoui oqi UI uoiBijay uoiSjiai jnoqc moia jno lasiioai oi paiadoid Xynj aq pinoqs
OM oSb ujapoui aqi iif 'aiojwaqx 'Suip ipns XjaAo larj ut uiaiiEd icaiiijod iioopno
ftpos uoiSiiw spjrMoi apniiiiB mo ci uoiiBayipoui ureiisa spucuiap aSu Xioxg ,
ureA puB ssajimuj sauioaaq }i JaiaBjtqa in iniaos-iiut w lanpuoa siq ji put ; aiq^nicA
souicoaq uof2[|w aqi 'shiica iqsosSBqBnpuoasiqji -pjiri aqi oi paioAop ItnpiAipui
aqj JO pnpuoo pjcMinn aqi sAtasjsd XjutBiJaaura aq WQ 'poQ put pios jo aaiiaisiia
Xi3A aqi inoqE siqnop, umo wq stq oqasneasq aauuayiuBjs qsnui ou Stq jnOAEopua
tiB qans unui oaEiOAt uc joj pd *aA!)aafqo ajqcpnci Xjsa t si BuiAtja icmiJids v
-piJOM aqi put jEnpiAipui aqi jnj snoiiSESip
Xjoa OAOJd uto ijnsai aqi luajxo Xuc oi puou3i jo papaiRau s; issdst siqi jj -uotSiiaj
JO J3,i\o[[oj ann B Xq Xjoiig Xjba padscjS aq oj stq uoiBqaj jo laodsE siqj,
ius![tuiJoj iiiDA XjaA3 spJBasip [Hos snoiSiiaj Xinji z icqi si ipsaj a'li
ttnitioA airaAnos Yxaaiv Ta aa tpi
 TUB RELIGION WB NEED 143

rccluircs continual development.

^Science am! the Modern World, 1926, p. 235}

Hence religion must be prepared to accept a change a change in the emphasis to

be laid on the socially constructive tendencies. If this change is emphasized and the
mystical element is subordinated, then religion can become a miglity force. Man is
essentiallya rational being and as such necessarily a rcHgious being because religion is
but the other name of an enlightened soebi tendency that tries to serve society in a
sincere manner. U. Thithib in his work Vie Path of the Siiddlia has staled :
means truth, that which really b. It also means law, the law which
It (religion)
exists a mans own heart and mind. It is the prmciple of righteousness. Dharma,
in

this exists not only in a man's heart and mind ; it exists in tiie
law of righteousness,
universe also. All the universe is an embodiment and revelation of dharma. When the
moon rises and sets, the rains come, the crops grow, the seasons change, it is because
of dharma, for dharma is the law residing b the universe which makes matter act in

the ways revealed by the studies of modern science in physics, chemistry, zoology,

botany, and astronomy. Dharma is the true nature of every existing thing, animate
and inanimate."
The marks of true religion arc love for truth, respect for humanity, readiness of
ovakvng any amount of self-saetifice, and greatest identiiveacion with the widest possible
extent of humanity.

For all must love the human form,

Turk or Jew
in heathen,
Where mercy, peace and piety dwell
There God is dwelling too.

We can bring about the distmclioo between the old religion by stating that the
new religion helps a person to love humanity from the bottom of his heart.
Coupled with this soebi aspect b an individual aspect of religion. An individual
who has drunk deep at the fountain of religion gets an exciting joy at the cSacement of
his ego and at enlarging it to this exleiu that the entire world becomes his own self.
Thus is' socially constructive and iotecnally an agency yielding supreme joy
religion
which with utter spontaneity. Smih an enlargement of individual self need not
rises

rest on the acceptance of a God

; it can very well spring from an acceptance of certain

lofty ideal. Religion docs not care whether God cxbts or not ;
it only cares whether an
individual has accepted an ideal that b as big as the world itself and his actual conduct
la Vhft Ideal t^vtawi'BesJy.
I recommetied acceptance of sudi an ideal by all the people. Then we shall cease
to classifypeople as Muslims or Hindus, Chlistbiis or Jews or Communists and non-
Comniunists. Only then the new world of our dream skill arise, because to be in
contact with the old customary religious sects is to kill the very spirit of enlightened
religion.
 J^pitwnbop ' pn*-,Bin ;
u5q3dsET.i,.i,Jd, jo sw,
J inn WK SuiAcq lou !1
|js;^vc.scw,ijosuq
I
-IWV mill =,>,, 1 !lS!B"f!t=i.o>
;o, 5rt,"^''i
'iloq aiiiriaimissTji ** ?"* 1 1 ' sajistifunriqo
]b ijSnoui nsws^!!!
*!15 Jtqi <snii ,i|
-^H^nssaq ^nfscsisnCui ui puj
u,,oJs
-
3U0 Join 8 tii 8 pau}ns,in;,L -J pue cujq ssauinpis
inioru =^Uoao Vo "!
oiloj iwimi(siurid
,i!ui dot iMdS ml! Ml
'SmS qj JO A\Cf sif ,
""'*08 J XliJoqiM! oin
sutciiinmi
'spoSjsillou sinjOA\r
^5 Ml JO Mi!| otp qi|M DojsmOT 0101 S9m
O) rwriB?
oi*M leqM Xioij sj jcqAx oaoi ^IIujbj kto
sji|| uj
Ois 'P^MtsisAlun jeo sjc Xai|i re 8oo[ oi BiTiuimSgi
II 5IIIM !0 Uloa saidmurf !!?.!!
St iitoin ** itsjaqpc jiKp jo }(nt3j
mn
uMJ 9 q i^uoj aui ibui
>nq lim S '" ' " "5 P ""am
II ranST 2
H JO ty wjl owes noSjiuy ot|i jo iioijcjwdisiui puepuejs oin
ioijfuoj m i(pnis suoSimy
8!
 AKCOI<E ; STUDY IN CONFLICT 145

Crcoij is quick to label Etoclcs a hero and Polyniccs a traitor.

However, tlicrc
ace reasons for bcUis wary of this evaluation. According to one account Etoclcs and
Polynices were twins and agreed to rule in alternate years, but at tlic end of the first
year Eioclcs refused to give up die throne. Accotthng to another account, one given by
Sophocles himself in the later play Oedipus at Colo/ie, Polyniccs was the elder brot-

her and, therefore, legitimate heir to the throne. If either of these accounts were acce-
pted, then it would be Etoclcs and not Polyniccs who was the traitor. All that we are
was banished and return-
told in the Aiuisone is that the brothers quarreled. Polyniccs

ed with an army to besiege the and they killed one another in battle. We have
city,

only Creons word, then that Polyniccs was a traitor.

Creon also accuses Polyniccs of intending to burn the temples and to enslave
the people, but once again we have only his word tliat this was the ease. Polyniccs

may have planned only a palace revolution, i.c., his quarrel may have been only with
Etodes and his followers, not with the people of Tlwbcs.
Since Creon remained in Thebes railicf than flee with Polyniccs, h is reasonable
to assume that he was a supporter of Etoclcs. If so his decree that Etocks be given a
state burial with honors, while Polyniccs' body is to bo left in the geld to be devoured
by dogs and vultures, was a highly partisan act. Since there were likely supporters of
Polyniccs among the people, was also an imprudent act. Prudence would have
it

dictated actions to not actions which might prolong conflict. Creon's

heal wounds,
liatted of Polynices seems to have been so great that he was notconlent toseehiia
dead ; he wanted to k^p even further indignities upon iiim. Finally, in issuing the
decrco Creon acted hastily. Although he later says that he values advice, ho issued the
decree before he called the elders together. He called tJiem together only to inform
them of his action.

Creon not only remained mtb Etocles but was his uncle, so it is likely that he
held some position in the government. If this were true, it would account for the
seemlns anomaly that while he has ba king foe less than a day he is treated and
acts as though he had held office much longer. If he had held ofiice previously, Iiis

tyiannkaichatatler would no doubt have been wdl known to the people of Thebes.
This would explaia the which the guard exhibited in reporting to him. It would
fejir

also explain the obvious reluctance of the elders to disagree wilh him. Finally, it would
explain his belief that political CDcmics were trying to bribe people in an eJTort to
undermine his rule.
Despite his hasty, imprudent and partisan action in issuing the decree, Creon
appears anxious to prove liimsclf a good king. In particubr, be seems concerned to
establish a reputation as a stern but impartial judge. Thus in addition to praising
public serviceand labeling Eioclis a beta and. Polyaioes alra.ivat,CK<inwsiTLbvi
opening speech to punish wrongdoers wiihont exception. He says that even if a wrong-
doer were a member of his own fuiDtly he would punish him. It does not seem to have
occurred to him that a member of his own family might ia fact violate his decree. He
isvisibly shaken when Antigone is brought before liim and asks whether she
knew that
her act was prohibited, apparently expecting hex to answer negatively. Antigone
not
only replies that she knew the act was prohibited, but in one of the most famous
passages in Etetalute says
 Tionntmu, ti.m srt nb
jiuntmin ||( fjn,, ^noo; s, rii injljo owidCTj
Ml '!M '(IKI "pil uiwun put
u:ilValo 3>op<n)*lJ>rV2'<a
Mj'loos Woflsq pOTt;dU3n!ij mou sip
ppioiis
^ auu uwn c aioia 'i anyi wu ovj
'XRUjQo jsq tij apijd ,]jr^ pue
jUJoui sijj
'SQtDlom jMn (um pile pysrepio si^
9'Taqtn 'siojsq ajosjosu; psttoq? jifl
. iKvt aj Moqn (oimb q3d< *,8 uo3!Hiv yc 'Xiitimtis
pjS B neqj js^u
ij am ne^ -uwop sv^
|inn jsnui ueut oiuot linui -saj *5131(1
j iicj j[
|p S^tlCDlM B ]]CI1S JSUjq
: ttmijiuiM ^isnijliuiuj aq ; iBjod sfip )tdoK ]ourp
sq >isuivo{} 'lapiopuc
MCI iiitnuiBiuoUjissasau 8111 oqoicsddciuu03 3uc(wuwosiH -SlusuitiMS iSHiSn
si 'i|xi3ds
sqi auissajdxa qaasds 3|qou puc pucj3 c
isig s.Bnao'pTI *uii
puq ap Ms pne paCaqo n mh wm 8ji
pucis (Cjjjrs ssiiw
"
jsaiipcsp 51
5(1! ucoinq pc jo jU8ipsqntp 5II^,
3*>!^ spi 01 sjapjo Mr9 pue osucjisq
Suig 01 $1(88$ oi(M 'Siuq sqi 01 U^I 0 tA ssoq
spud eipi qitM umoq .oqu uiiq lou osirid i
op snSouis |(! itniM 'pjiistundun srtn sv
nqc ipsvs wpwid nnui \J!i( bmo wm j(
! 5ns2 uoJitd Jisip pcc pajpti:! pco qi!^ Jo
OAti t8i| '<>!? * cidnsd
u( qo
9Ac 9 I icqi sSpsid uiOMS oqi qtsaq lou ipAv j
. : UOUJ9CH
S|[3 i OH -jspjosip [w !3 01 pc5j pne Suiq so iCirjoqint siq auimiopuc ppiow 01
op oj osneoaq S8XJ Jsq jas jouuna aq }bi|J 9iii(irBp 4q Tiatnspp sqi oaiosoj oi sicoddc
aj-I AioA tpi 3in)C|OiA pq iijAi aq ^joaq si 3S 3qj!'p'''l^ 9 0 'n'O 'Wuaqs.uos
V
cuiuJsi'P **
siq puc ooaiu vo nq 3u!U!^ 9*1 HI* 9*1 *11 ^ i wio3iiv swd oq 31
tocj 0) SUI33S 'aiojSJaqj 'uowo 'AJiniS auoEipiv l**qi nsqi iqnop ou si aiaqi
jUia.Mioun
aut)H9*w J^*l*999*I*'P JaqiJCaqi ainil (ic jnoqSnoiqi
OTBSS aq wn Scp-oi jfHOM
:p(q)j0 8MTn3uTXpi]R pne BsiirjMim oqi,
pojinAo aAWj eft qiSasns -otmq Sq sV
IcaaS 05 Suiqj r aoj suojjuuiciaojil ^qj.
sjta ion P!P 1
qna'ioA wk^ahos VASBiV TS 'sa 9tI
 ::

AjmOWR : ST135Y IN CONFLICT 147

It is not an obligation to keep liis vow wWch motivates Cteon here ; it is woun'
id pride. More specifically, it is wounded masculine pride. Creons pride is also evi-

ent in his refusal to take advice. He says that be has contempt for the man who will

ot speak out firmly and clearly, stating wbal he tlunks to be in ti\o public interest,

'ct when the leader of the elders suggests that the dust storm which covered the
)ody may be the work of the gods, he replies

Silence, before my anger break its bound

Gainst one so old and eke so foolish found 1

And when Haeraan offers him advice he becomes angry mtd says :

Shall I then at the fulness of my age

Be tutored by this stripling to be s<^c ?

The ciders are too old to advise him Hactnon is too young and wet behind the cars.
;

And when tbe prophet Tiresias attempts to vfacn him that his actions have offended
the gods, he accuses him of having bewi bribed.
These prophets always had a lust for gain.
HorisU law and order which Cieon demands; rather it is absolute and unques-
tioning obedience. There is no room for pride, he tells Antigone, in one who is a
slave. And la talking with Haemon he says

Whomso the city raise, we must obey

la small tilings, fight (hiags, aad their opposites'

When Haemon replies that thepeople of Tltebes^ arc opposed to his actions, Crton
asks who are they to dictate laws to him. "The City is the Kings."
In demanding total obedience from others, Creon strips them of their humanity,
making them instruments of his own wilL He brushes aside affection, devotion to
faraiiy, religious sentiment and the value of the individuaJ. Foe Antigone, her brother

No matter how perfidious the cause for which he

itmtdncd her brother after death.
might have died, he was a human bring and deserved to be treated as a human being.
His body should therefore be given a proper buriaU For Creon, on the other hand,
Polyaiccs body was only carrion, food for -dogs and vultures. In his opinion neither
gods nor men should have concern for the dead.
had no concern for the dead and did not honour the ancient Jaws of
Since he
kinship and piety, Creon failed to sec any distloction between someone who breaks
the law for personal gain and Antigone who broke it from love and a sense of duty.
Thus he treated Antigone, daughter of a king and his owi nicce, as though she were a
common criminal.
Croon's debasement of human personality and his brushing aside of affection,
devotion to family and religious sentimeot can be seen in other actions also. When

3. C. M. Bowra, 'Antisoce,'' in SopiiocUat TnttJy (Oxford; Clarendon Pieai, 1944) p. 7J.

 i
F V aitKOdmoj jsq pwivasj Xiaicipauinn
snoSuuv
isuu" aurT nn-%-Mi.',^5
K I I inaw AKunitSai
^ j,, jt^qg j,qnop amn s.auo ic^vi JSliaiii O}^
j Mndim jwinoj nin
j 'oj put 'iCijind jnQ
aitisua oj }t(3n<B
1 1 ajjqi uioJj iJ|3H io Xitj
IsS OJ sdoij jure UMcajj oj
^ooi \ wup oh
;
usm iq sb [p* se tpog gqi iq pauepwav aq oi iiauaii
p.a;,aqaipua.[M pauo^jdun aq oi
<rMB fmaq^raJ^ jua^am jujlr auo
^ojaqi suoipBMtijD ^awmjtSai ai|j moqosiqnop ptq jutad ^ub aaMu aq^irq!
i
ivs OJ jou 51 5iqx qinap jjq oqe 3uuq
Xpcqeid Xia^ MauJi atp uoiisi: jo
ssjnco c pansjnd aqs 'asodjnd jo <nun pus
qj3(^|5 jtaiS pBi[ sqs 'aiors aqj puc ouo
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SCA5 oq'j jcqj jauj aqi oi snp svM osnco jaij
oj nofjOAap Suqi|aitnn s^aiioSiiuv"
'po|C puc pioa tCAv nqu auoauio;
snji sr
{UCMoj jpj uaaq aAcq p|no3 XjibAoj jo jeqj stqeAiaauosm
piq j[ -painq scai
8U09i]tiY ssncaaq spijias pajitiuwoaput jaqjcj snj upj oj paidiuaiic nwnacH 'X^iririuis
qjuap puc asncs s,8tio8iiuv ajoqs oj Suidoq jiiuutoj lou pip aqs qsiqAv b uo m
pasjsjuoa uaxa sususi ..;.aJ0iu cu ajaq jjc noip uaqM 'Rifc aqs aAtq aj{[ icq^it
jaq moqiiAA gu[Ait tpwA\ ajq iaptsuoa jou pip aoaiusi vaq oJ XiTcXq asuajuj jjjj
qioa uotnsoH sustusi oi SBO|jC|aj aaq Xq inq taaiuXpa pcap sqi ioj luaaiios q
Xq pajTsrpq /[uo jon aCM aidoad jaqjo Joj uoijaajic puc jpiujcA JSH Fpa
JOU sCAi aqs jnq fiutpprXun nt.\ oqa jcqj acuj $; jj *joo)C puc p]03 'Su^piaiXun sc paj
udiaiui pq usijo scq aqs L moipc isq ui payiiinf aqs sca^ L ouoSpuv jncqc jcqM
II
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smaas
|p je X|!uiej siq loj ojaanoa aujcma? ou aAtq oj
'Siqi^nciduii Xpuiaiiva sjojaiaqj aic Xjjuivj sjq oi uoTjCfqqo puc ajcjs aqj <W
H
uoijcSjiqo uaamiaq 1311)000 luoij 9uil|nsai sc snonsc s.uoaia
ja suoijcjaidiajui
osp qjcap OJ ind aq ptnoqs auauisi inqi XjoJs Jaq 3uijcaq uaAa
inoqii.u pappap uaqi aAiiq iqnojASq jcqi Xis^tj" *!'!
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puy ura op Xq/A,.
immoA iK3Anos VAawv tu na SH
 ; .:

'
ANTIGONE : STUDY IN CONfUCT 149

If these things by Gods pleasure, before long

By pain I shall be taught mine was the wrong ;

But if the wrong lies with my judge,

may he
. Meet no worse pain than he has wrought on me

Antigone did what lo'/e and duty required of her. She did it with great icsolvc
and purpose. Furthermore, she consistently acted so as to avoid suffering and pain for
others. That is why she refused to allow ismenc to join her at the end. Because she
simultaneously exhibited both the resoluteness required to pursue a moral goal and
the concern for others which one must show In puisuing it, she may be spoken of as a
moral heroine. In fact, just as Crcon may be taken as a paradigm of a tyrant, Anti-
gone may be taken as a paradigm of a moral heroine.

Ill

Even those critics who have seen that Crcon was a tyrant have usually maintained
that the principles which he espoused were very noble. For example, H. D. F. Kilto
says

In his grand sentiments Uierc is oothing to which we need take exception

complete loyalty to the Polls is 1)1$ theme.*

KiCto stales that he disugress only with Creons application of ibis principle, not with
the principle itself.

Are the principles which Creon advocates legitimate ones 7 Do they have the
grandeur winch at first they seem to liavc ? Or are they, like Creon, noble at first

sight, but on further examination ignoble and unworthy 7 Are tlie activities of the
stale more important than all other areas of human life, and is our obligation to obey
it higher than atl our other obligations ? Should we obey whoso the city raise . .

in small things, right things, and their opposites! Is civil disobedience the deadliest
of all human ills 7
The answers which most of us who live aOct Hitler would give to these ques-
tions is obvious. The principles which Creon espouses arc not noble ; they arc morally

indefensible. Instead of arguing for the valL^ty of this judgment, I think it more

appropriate to ask what answers Sophocles gave to these questions. Although the
attempt to attribute opinions to a playwrito on the basis of his plays is a perilous
matter, I believe tlul in tliis case wc can say with some probability what Sophocles'
position was.
At the beginning of The Antig.oae it is Crcon who appears to have reason on his
side while Aniigaue appears stubborn and proud. However, wc gradually come to
realize lliat it b Antigone who has reason on her side and Crcon who is stubborn and
proud. Similarly, at the bcgiiuiiog of the play it is Creon who appears the defender of
law and order and Antigone who appears lawless and a threat to society. But once

li It. D. r. Kiilo, romanJ.Um/jtf / BramtfLoQilon : Mclhucn and Co., Ltd , (19Jfi), p. Ul.
UTWUfi poc U8IIV sSJOar, uoputn
I <n AEunw WJqpD WCJX noSfwy
fu 'sspoiidog
-pn -^D ,-. .opi.oi <, JW
p. .wc-i-a'ii
sm SIQI .. aiO\t9M'3ursMJdS9WaTOnH
^
Jz.. . =
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m
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'l'll!A'k sSiwo [33H
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{'S6I llSBQ *|U7jvo 'snojtfj pMj y^/jpi/dey JOJOJA 'aJsqusiijg
ftfil
Hsajj uopD9J?|3 *piojifo Apaypy tw/jor/dflj
'W -j) wog
<i|<Iei3o!l<|in
'Ujcat Xoij) uojaq pjo mojS dsd pay
'Oita iitauind tadins qj
XlwsA put sdji srtoti3.cj8;^
Mil lo^ot f.poQpiMuaq ostu wog
o.Ht uioiiM oqi put I uopsi^ sj
^j)0[jq; s.ttozTit aoiuilng
:
uotiKOd .sojooqdoc; 3utiCDipin srs ua)(e) oq Atin
XtMt psj Suisq SI iiOTO SB sfiioq^ 9qi Aq paijjin AK(d t|i jo spio* ibuij siji
Mt| siqi pBpiBasjsip sq asncoaq AqBJoanti[
ptro A|qsi[Doj pope uosi^ suoipc wq joj iiojiBoyiisnr so pi suoapuy vuiw mbj
jBOMia a-jiMp scats aqc oc 3uuiqjai sc s^ -swiMp uo viq sca\ jaafqns sci sq qaiqw
si uoSJD lin lUspws sj
01 MBt spnni-iicur Xjuo ai[l 'li^ ojmu-imii oj Suiirajw jou u
poo s.Suisq Jjoqj oi uoas Mt[ jo sAbac stQ.
pujM oqA Asnft am ssta aqx 'J] I '^0 l^A
aijnn [piip ospj jouq siqj psp oq^vt
j
stA Doajs 'pasjMaj si iiiswSpnf
I i;
: sAc9 oq sAba snj jo louo sip ssas Aptug
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sspoqjog SB AlBl
JOi 73PA0 pUB At{ JO Mpliajop Sqj SI oqAC ouoSijuy pUE Xisisos
01 IBSJqi V puU SSSfABI Sf tJl[A 00813 SI JI JBIJl aZIJBSl 01 SOIOO A[icnpiij3 SA UltSB
mmoA oiraAnos vAaoiv tu sa osi
 19

Tulsidas, Precursor of Psycho-Analysis ?

Tulsidas was, according to Vincent Sautb, (he grc-4lc$t man of his age In India, grea'
ter even than Altbai himself; and Sit G. A. Giictsoa thinks that the tcligion in Nor-
them India is narked by two great Buddhism and, two thousand
steps forward :

years later, the teaching of Tulsidas. Besides being a great poct'saint of India, he
was a deep thinker. Some of his writings reveal that in thu medieval age be was the
preouxsot of what U now known as Ps)cho*aoalysis.

The Nature of a Complex

Wholesale repression of desires leads to the formation of complexes. A knot

isranthi), says Tulsidas, is diie to the union of ja^a and cetana, that is, of ignorance
and mind; and though it is only false, it is dilBcult to untie. Tlie soul becomes worl-
dly and knows no happiness. The more (he eflort to untie it, the greater is the
entanglement-^

A Complex CauKs a Disease

As a result, physical and mental diseases, make their appearance. Just as there are
physical diseases, so there arc menial ones (nuHiasnn)6havadciS(]). A patient suffering
from a physical malady craves for unwhoksomc food, which he requests his physician
to give him, but the physician docs not allow it Similarly, a sufferer from men-

tal ills knows ncilhci the casBc nor the tenwdy of his illness. It Is for an expert to
judge what is beneficial or needful for a person suffering from a mental malady, as
Lord Vijiju once told Nurada with a wcw to curing him of his feeling of superiority'.

l. Rama Carlta Maruisa, VJI, 197, 20,

3. ll!U.Vt.iJ7,Cb.y.
3. riu.i. too, J.
J. IblJ.. I, IH, J-4 ; 1.
 t weliA'm 'll
"ti
'tO:'lIA'CT til
{I'mi.'M'K-llATH/ s
>U siooj [Udv puBSXta^cw BDJ!sinaiwqai93
0fljjnnutH'?noi!jt3MUiTU
1 iniscqduw-jsAo kiuhsuhh
DUB asuw
'^^"^""'V"'JJono3iju,-pMjiiKiusspj(>'p 9 ts3 iija,.p53j(lis
jsijiw sjc 'saAiiaq isifoionoXsd uiapoiu om re "sajiiop puc naunsui umtiH
*XlsioiJu]03 paXwissp 135 lou saop mq ^(j|i( b S3ii?iD!m!P Jt iimpinsp UQ
ooSMd Xicjiliwo ut JO XtaiJs oi lott ^jiioiisiieiiiitwepcsi ut
p{'no'i|ssq jpuitst
UQA8 dn sSuijds ostiosip c ipng ^I ijjisp ors Xpo
a\jj joj 'oiOirqr mu wop wrsnp
^'I'S 'suoi^^^ipwa MiiH'aqo 'aaSBjd 'soagiises wjUTUsd 'swucAasqo snoiSipj
put sno)iI so i[3ns pajwSSns sajpoiuwaipaicXocjq^-JMjpucosoi Xq put mouos
put Xof Xq Xioicuisiia paijcjisip pareasfp aiu piJo.n ai[j u| swnjcaja ut sriqi
fjfwr/d 01 >ii(on ti lujos pipjonSu/i
ll[^ 01 saamns :uo jOoildtiasap puoXaq put Xiitia ait satptjtiq -sJaAOj (luaiiiuuaiut
;
put ]ua]|]ural) omi ot|i aic uoiicDiunjasrpu! puc Xsno|cf put sanSt utiuat tqi
Mt (spi'/ola) suojmico aaaqi op> 1 iDUD*|icMqi ii wt apiid put XiwtA XsiJWiXq
Xtsaiaii ui^v 'Xsdwpom si)uc put ;ino38iiptp(ua!taotiist.tnnoSa iXswdDisi
It aaiitni t uisii
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jXAua ! iujoa\*2uij aqi s] ssau
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snoiJtA aqi Xq
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(pinitiiiiiTK) viiioiunaud injuitd
pajuasaidai sascasip ai]i jit jo saiutn aijl liai tts 0HA\
atpsiinsDi aiaip aiiiquioaaaiqiaqiiitoan/^ '(.ojiid) COTTOl JO aiiq am
ui3aiqd{PVq</)pMLiS?(oin,i)33uatnitusi (wun;/) isq
smommi
laSut put iniidBiji
si (wjohi) uoiitnitjuj -sastasip itiuaui Jo
oq) JO 'suitd put siiiauiiic i|c jo jooj aqi
XpaiUM put asnta 'ainitu aqi isanliai s^aijq aqi Tt 'tfitato w suwidsa B>ira
pis/Cpuy Bsnoj
Xiareuc
oqA\
put XAua Mouos jaSuu Jnamt nonomgm Xq paiaMod-WAO uaaq loti stq
Xpipun stm aScs aqi
pnwd
pjJOAV siqi ui aiaqi sr o^>^ ma I*"! pManbuoa peq t Itip
ana'DJA auaAtios vamiv 'Tu u zsi
 TULSIDAS PWECURSOR OF PSYCHO- ANALYSIS ? 153

laxity speech and behaviour on the Holi festival and indulgence in gambling on
in

Govardhana festival are some examples in that direction. Again, women indulge in
abusive, though loving, strains on marriages ; and Tuisidas does not miss to chuckle
over the matter on botn the occasions, once at the marriage of Siva and Parvati^
and twice at that of Rama and St3. The custom of such festal strains prevails in

India even today as in the days of Tulsidas, four hundred years ago. The manner in
which he narrates the whole thing dcftwlcly shows that the saint approves of it,
although he is aware of its dark side also. For the Creator, he says, has made abuse
; that is why a word of abuse
out of the quintessence of ambrosia and poison causes

both love and enmity. It is the prudent, not (he dullards, that understandv this.' A
foul word is catharlie sometimes.

Nu/ure aj Rigftt Ireatmenl

'Mental diseases can be uprooted if rightly treated, acd treatment has a negative and a
positive method. As a negative or preventive measure a distaste for the pleasures of life

{blma-rasa and for envying others and thcii property

vlrfifi)' should be
picked up. Materialism is like an unwholesome diet and should,
therefore, be shunned. This is what b known as samyana (control). Besides this, a
patient requires a good preceptor (sadguru), as physician to treat the malady confi- ;

dence in the tenets of the Vedas for a prescription ; devotion to God for (he life-res-
toring drug; and full faith and intelligence for accompaniments to the medicine.
The company of the good (saisa'iga) leads lo happiness and can serve as amusement
to the patient

Tulsidas a Psyc/io-diialysi

Tulsidas speaks like a psycho-analyst when he prescribes equanimity (so/iiaty

lo kill worldly distress and conceit It abides wlicn one docs not get puffed up on
receiving homage, docs not pine away on getting an insult, remains uaagitated in
gmn, and aloof from the wicked ways.* It abides when one is
loss or just tJie same
on obtaining suitable means, suitable opportunity and the desired fulfilment of an
object-'- U results from
tlic cultivation of discipline detachment (r/ra/i) and
discretion (rireko). The four sages Sanata, Sanandana, Sanatana. and Sanatkuinara
vi^it Lord Ramacamira at Ayodbyi and pray thus 'O Rama, destroy our mental ;

1>. /hU..t, 123. t.

. 1-4; l'0nailfi}i7nfoia,iSD;JanallMaria}a. W. ITO

tJ. DoWraJf, 328.
16. Aj/7foC3///u A/J/idM.lI, 327.
17. /tu. vir. iW. 2.

t8. ;WJ.,V1],209. 3-4.

19. Cf. S'uniiiru aatl Suiratta (CifJ X,5, II, 48). Cotnpoic Jung'i docirineorcompcnuiionaniJ
aniilhcsu.
M. yirajara/rHJ,26S.3;i:6.'}.
21. DoW>fl;r, 539.
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f,
f OIOP c >SSC[
!*W-BVS HWWiJ-ii.oiou.4miU'>iU
t4ffi!'<';vrKi'n'iifL-mi
-k
1 'r*i(ilAPWiTA<'/)/'Oni.r}?
iiotlOAsp sr siqx -sut (tiusut aoj oajcutd
Oi|l quo sSinaj pue X3o!oii3<5rl-Bi9ui oiut saAin
OH -ims JsdMp saog scpisjni -XSoiWFrfsd jo -jojAdputiA oq) luwj iimuios
*j}f }Biii;v jjo jo/ ocm>j
,jUi!Ciq lanojq E JO ps^ lawscij
wjvi lu XiiiiBuinq dfaq oiainapcqiM pa*!! oq* *<> opj- niojjo luoisiswd
JO IJos aqi m siii05so]q qaniM aarnoB tjt 'XjHrunasd sir ci c^qtJiwp
pBc pooS SI wq! [[Bino suctsAiiwniOTAaXaqi niunuoisnjojd s'pswvdiii inojds puE
ptsJiIs i| 3ni. JO sinoj qi 'uopipa iVMipXsd t|i jo paM oqi S{ ii smnixAC aiisunt
puB
JM siiBf jno 'sasnoq-HJOM anoJuintj joj ojqisuodsw s) jj- 'uqirwsjo osJna
' ' '
qj S] Sioiiqs!j[aS ion si jnq oq SAcq iqatn oq squiip oi] jtqAv jb Ai3ub !t S{|
jiarojtl qi! ^jSub'XjSuc si aiquasnu si <it|*i uouad sqj, -jsSuv pastnfsip xjuo 8}
* '
i?sfO pUB : XrtSjn oj spcaf ssJoi|sgias' '/! JO sjqeneqi qiiw paidnaao Xi[i*v
!] oqu SCO ST jauSqiiM-nMop poMoq xpuaisisiad si oqM U08<1 aiy, 'ssauqsyias 8|
siqnoj] u] Si^Aqo s| oqn uosnd sqi ipin aiqnosi ssaltaaS eqj, S[S^ii:ut-oqaXsd
puc ^qicdaqaXsd XdnaipoqaXsd 'jCBni)^sd uo ,:fAAafA uiapoui aqi Xitunqi
-OOP Uf SI siqi tlv pjBi/w to iiionumba si aaqiinj poiBiuntins qajqM '(oipqBd
ojdJJ osuajoAitiaq si iincai
pouiqmoo aiatu, -ojii qsgiasun pun patt]|diip-i!9A* b
S uiptiai iCq paicAjiina sq poqaiqAi u^ajsqp pur juatmuaosip Sj ibi[) o^a.i/.t spuaia
-UI009J stpisini iioiJCjaosse.jsjj jo poqiaui aqifluisn ^qosp jo 'snitsjpSutiaJdJaiU!
Xq SisoudXq SOianpui Xq op Xoo i| siqx TUIW s.juapnd eqi Suipaw Xq SupR
nqi iii uapppi icunuiia
ouiBs 'aqi saop XiltSfiJSJd jsX|COB->qMsd Jqnaas aqx 'puim
oqj Mou}( OJ jjojio ue mq sr wbisj put Xjiucfisf/q^ ui uoissajuoa jo auiJiaop siu
(p:yaAiA)uOT|aiss!ppnc(;pya)jtuiq3inspX'-^''9')!I'J!!r painiinu st qaiq*
nuqj jsajnrennm oqi jnq si (pjoiKOf) Xiuuiunibg
oJuaiOASoaq jo
/dluiiimOs/o ay/uBiV
,j-(iupKfajiwf) aauojoASUoq puc (wui/i/f) MuajojA
awpo oj Xirilui pue Xabo su
-vou spoauiuioMJ pur (pp/J-fJwf pire iqfo^JDiO
siq Jtui snqt pin: sjsa
-nousp 'sjDjawq! stpisini -saj/taBH pus waq sjaadso/d umo
saiEntcjoi q3iq*\ puu su]5 pCB ssaiA jravuoo oj
-J3)U! .sjoqio oJnfiii oi unq sasniP puB
sjoaiEd usao jou ssjj oxb uaui job spo5 jaipiaD
utiu saicmaE qariiAi ssindiiii Sjqp nn
qojqAi uiojj nsindiui qsyiw oip jo wniBii imaiituop oqi jo
OJrMC aiinb si sBpisini iBqj
^-ssspidiin pur sumsscd Jai|10 put Xabs JUfJ
sdoq Juoa
pMijDU U3?q XpMJ[C scq u
'Xlituiucnbs ssnjiia sauijaMns
-3Jd justoqaCiap pac uqjaxKip 'sssiqoooi woisag
OJ
awmoA aWBAnos VAaaiv 'Td a fji
 ;

TULSIDAS, PRECURSOR OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS ? 155

Riima. in devo-
to God or Riima. Such devotion consiste in listening to tbo story of
tional prayers to Him and also jn tepcaihig Hb
nomc. The grievous mental diseases
mbenWe have no rifcct on him who has the jewel of Faith
which ntakc creatures
not even in a dream can he feel the slighiesi pain.'^ Devotion to
Rama is_ the herb
infatuation, all get
which restores life (sJtijrvonuiiiurO-'* Anger, lust, greed, pride,
dissipated by the grace of Rama.* No creature can be happy,
or even dream of rest
to his soul, until he worships Rama after foreswearing lust, that fountain of

rcmorse.

Criteria of hfenial Health

Sucli is the means and end of human life. But what is the criterion by which to
judge whether or not the prescription is restoring health to the mind ? Tulsidas gives
it ; This is how the disease may disappear, otherwise all your efforts may end in

smoke. Then alone know that the mind is free from disease when it begins to notice
the gradual disappearance of the weakness (dKfhn/ard) of material hopes ;
to

, feel fresh strength (Jjala) in self-control (vWga) ; and to cherish appetite {kfudhu) for
good thoughts (sumati). Tlic patient then Itas a bath. He bathes in the water (Jala)
of divine knowledge (vunalajildna) and suffuses his whole soul with faith in Kama
(RSma-bhakli)."

Se}fRealUai'm has a Limited Value

Tlve greatest good caa be attained by knowing ones own self. It should be seen
heard and meditated upon but it cannot be altaiaed by a weak fellow. These ate

some of the stock phrases of the (/panifads which emphasoe t)ic realization of the
Self-knowledge is also recommended through introversion by C. G. Jung in tJie
self.

domain of psychopathoJogy. The more one becomes conscious of ones own self
through 'self knowledge and corresponding action. he says, the more that layer of
the personal over-lying the collective unconscious vanistics. Then arises a conscious-
ness no longer and personally sensitive ego-world. Tliis broader and
captive in petty
deeper consciousness no more that sensitive, ^oistic bundle of personal ambi-
is also
tion, wishes, fears and hopes that must be compensated or perhaps corrected
by
' unconscious personal teiidcDcics, but it is a function of reference connected with tlie
object, the outer world, placing tlic individuai in. unconditional binding, and
in
dissoluble community with it.* Jung also thinks that the psyche is a self-reg-
ulating system, there being no seir-r^ulating system without opposition. All that
lives is energy aud is IhcrofotG lsed opoa miJihLhes.i.v. . .hhi , a. cwaveiMow ioVa the
.

27. Rum Carlia VII. 205, 4-5.

28. 7Wt/.,VH2Ci9,4.
19. liiA, in. 49, 2.
30. /A/,f.,VII,205,8-9.
31. "Alndva arc drajtavyab {rolavyo maotaioiali.', Bfhad. VpmUad, 2. 4. 5; 4.5,6.
32. Ntyomaima balahincfia hbhyah, 3.2.4.
33. 2\i<j Essaysan Analytic Psjiclioloyy, by lung, p. W9.
 Lit 'i 'Fill
'J/Ji'OuWliiiiH "Jt
f!7V Ilnj mioy -jj
tfd'mi 'rt
P're *J!y5 SC Jpni tissj ptinu sip sjiuijut

04 I 01 Pfoii 8 WICA saiWiJns sqi sj 9i!3! V o

P!! c }i)anoqi jsit!| HjOref
i
treS sc30.1 'TAUj-a tnuc^rw&a a Oojid!iK9 ii>|cuij*ri( sasns
owos 8 jicj i<cui !
'.a P[ojaqi ain caw irmwaacs) tuns aqnnji scpjsjnioj 5 i:wdd uc siJiusnc
H
M,.U 0 imj|B.ji 3 s aioidnio^,,
s.ptaypun -iiiauiqanao pue tuainuisssia 'WlldlJra jo
sitisjpwSiij 9jni oitt swi t]jn|A\ XiiiiiiotnbB spuauiuioau jjojai-jni jusrpwSu!
VB Xjuo sr juaimiisflstp jo 09p9j*ou5| jpnjaoos oi 'ttpisjni jo adww oin ui
uww.tajj puoiCiiu/iuonbs
{PpUBlID] tSim JO
(Bij^ns) sssutddrq sb 'XitBtrg put (oyojSpi>n>y0/JoojnyD(fojpt/)oou3iOAu3q iBjjasi;
sjsajjurnr qajqAV (p;cii/o^ Xiiuitucnba liosw pawqiuoa t.Q oajqj eqi 'ttauqsyias
put swissp jd uoivjutwa am smy* ?*W amwssipwttpw
PIJOM aqi qitM aaucjiijtnbai! snj> o) Dspi put (loiituituuasip put uopaiasip jo tiop
CAitino puc sSpaiAOUJi jo uoiiisinbot oip d) spcaf puooas aip ! puos aqt iqj Xun aqi
saAtd put jpt aqi joioJiiicn aq}inoqtt9ur7<l 'sasuas aqi mriitSaj ]SJij aqt 'tiiiatp
-a;Sut asaqj jO '(o^CJIa) juaiuiptiao pinj (dYaji^) joamuiMsiQ '(pXntiiA) ouiidiasiQ
^puiEu - 9,j^ t!35^suts oaiqt oqt jo s^j ipn^ca oaiqi oqt stuarpajSui oajtp ptq tprqtt
BiDuws JO XjjUJiiitnt>3 JO uoijduaswd aip sctt pwaqujawsu aq jsmu jj 'odpai oiUinut
-orpXsd aqj. 3u[iiEjuti si jaqio sip 5 11) /
B)ain jaqjo oip ! aijXicutoipitsd si suo su<mdi959i<l sjoiu oavi soaiS scpisinl
rsdtaay ajo/y w'l
,juit!ic|iD}tuj JQ isip ouiosai
t jo pios My ui uaia di> Surids iCaiy jd^
oqwua aqi uo paj p. tints
uioa jou ojt oaui JO sjojtaiOJOj osaqiinq'tcquiWKK saqsjaj/A aqi uotioaiap
uQ,, Muaisriia Jraip ,8oiMOUJf pojooiiln <ucioj tou tnq panpqns aq uto poiiu
aiy JO saiptpjfuaqi joouios iti|} Aisipiipps^csosit aqpuB saiou^ stpisini 'poqjaui
ttanoaitip 5,[j3an ouo sputum tqSnoqi c;i i-./icoS aqi si iCjvJiuoa
p
p
uotttAjasiioa t inq ^itJiuoa
jiaqt JO uoijiufoaaj E qjiM jsqiaSoi son[CA Jonijoj oqi JO
aimioA aiN3Anos VAaaiv 'Ta ta 9Sl
 20

The Family : External and Internal

Attractions

Introduction

human needs (Bardis, 1973; 1974b), the author

In his kinetlt-potemial theory of
attempted to demonstrate an ajialogy between the well-known Bernoullis principle
and the changins needs of Komo sapiens. In other words, it was stated tliat 'as
science and technology advance and (he resulting alQucncc generates higher levels of
satisfaction for mans physiological drives, our emphasis on sociopsychological needs

becomes greater and greater (Bardis, 1973: 37). If we represent a persons physiologi-
cal needs by PN, his socio-psycIiologjcaJ needs by SPN, and the sum total of Iiis needs

by a fairly constant C, then, as in the case of Bernoullis principle, we obtain the

following approximate formula

PN+SNP+C
Thus, for the value of C to be rciabicd, when the term Pl^ is reduced, the second
term must increase, and vice versa. Once more, this association is only approximately
represented by the above formula.
Nevertheless, similar analyses help us explore some of the reladonships between
iliictuaiing human needs and eban^g social iustitutidns, including the family. In addi-
tion, wc can compare general with specific altitudes and thus more objectively ascertain
the nature of man's response to various institutional innovations on the basis oflus
needs.
In the present paper, an effort, is made to contribute an original approach to the
study of the so-called anti-family movement, the nmst radical forms of which assume
rrccnlcdas the VVorlJ Consreuortbelntenuiional Sociolosicat Associalion, August 1974,
Toronio, Ontario, Canada.
 ^011U0^ ^r!^os (cO
'UISIsXS sscp (Epos sm 111 lUSUJMIfd (JI)
MnjpwjtBiioiiituos s JO uoiitojsanj.
(p)
UOIWSIOJJ (01)
pn. .o,p.po,a
j.
^
^SSU<I1>SC pU0113Um SEU JMJIEJ
W J iMJ[>'0i0'a>suMii!zi|iAi3atuosi sajifAtpE snoiSnsy
(g)
UOpEWSy (i)
dmsuomtdmco (9)
uoddns leuwjouiopuEvoiissjiv ($)
asuspisM Bouiiunj (tr)
ai|) n oiofi aje sSuisq uwarrti ijsfijiiv j3Hn
uoimiiisu] jsjy aiji iCnEnsQ -us^ip jo uopez^aos poo nciiwnvo 9iU. (C)
-S3Ai)miud ]te iC() pooi<Japun
w St poQi|ni[iBj icaitloioiq iwwsa tij -piqa am jo
ajitt stq aai{]cj s/qtiq a^l ssooaaq ojjMpitD sqj S/Ced oq aq twc wipoin!
i*! 'aj! im 01 pun ostioq s,P{np9Mi9P!S)no(ai|ed o3R)pm<o c siuE^d
oqAA ottui aqi oi sfluopiq lutijut woq X(Mau *a|tiiexa joj taio auo ui -lucu
)iiiop uo Antjatad jo suoiiiurjap |e|aos aiiqm panaTai ssmiiauios i pooq
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ii[ ooucuodiu; XJcpuoossaq Xcui Suudsjjojo uopanpojdaqx 'iiotiauaud (t)
suoiyciai itas jo UD\\B)tv9s>\
Xlimaj uvuirq
tnp
: SIPJCfl) >J0
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pnc juspuadapc ipoq sb ajciadoXcujuoiiailKUt siqi^inoa jQ-XiqcMP
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ao! . !
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atmiOA
 :

EXTERHAL AND INTERNAL ATTRACTIONS 159

TUB FAMILY :

lU

Divorce oiirf l/is Deut/i of the FohhTy

advocates assert that the facaily is obso

Despite these coniributioDs, the anti-family
lescent, if not already obsolete, one of their
main arguments being the extremely high
divorce fate. . .

rising, such increase not sulu-

However, although the divorce rate has been
is

and lachrymose jeremiads.

ciently cataclysmic to justify lugubrious
Indeed, in the United Stales, the divorce rate per 1.000 population was 2.0 in
or 10.6
1940, 2.2 in I960, and 4.0 in 1972. In 1971, there were 21,96,000 marriages,
per 1,000 population, and 7,68,000 divorces, or 3.7 per 1.000 population (United

States Bureau, of the Census, 1973 ; 65-66).

Part of thu world, saenehas been as follows (the rates are again per 1,000

populaUon United Nations, 1972 i 89-94)

Canada, 1971, marriages 8.8 ; 1970, divorces 1.4.

France, 1971, marriages 7.9 ; 1969, divorces .8.
Greece, 1971, marriages 8.0, divorces .3.

Japan, 1971, raaniages 10.5, divorces 1.0.

Mexico, 1970, marriages 7.3, divorces .6.

United Kingdom, 1971, marriages 9.4. divorces J.l.

USSR, 1971, marriages 10.0, divorces 2.6.

USA, 197J, marriages 10.6. divorces 3.7.
Venezuela. 1970, marriages 6.0 : 1968, divorces .2.

and DAntoolo (1974 : 3fb) have recently stated, at least

Besides, as Pierson
three out of every four first marriages never end in divorce in the United Stales. And
among these, a high proportion express themselves as subjectively happy or very
happy in their marriage.'
More significantly, historical data indicate that much greater crisis have not
caused the death of llic family. In undent Rome, for instance, divorce was exceed-
ingly common, since the prevalent belief was that no marriage was possible without
ajfcctio marilalis. Consequently, as soon as conjugal a/fection between two
spouses disappeared, it was considered desoablc to dissolve
their union. Even in
small towns, as Cicero's comments on Cluentius and Sassla indicate, divorces were
secured quite frequently and for the most insigiuficant reasons. The dissolution of
aristocratic Unions was especially common. Tcrtullian thus observed that The fruit
of marriage is divorce, while Juvenal spoke contemptuously of a woman who had
eight spouses in five years. SiniUarty, St. Jerome mentioned a lady who married 23
men, the one of wliom Jiad already had 20 other wives. Accordingly, Seneca
last
stated that women no
longer measured lime in tctnis of Roman consults, but in terms
of ihcirhusbands names Of Romes famousmen, Ovid had three wives, Pliny the
!

YoungcrOircc, Antonius four, Sulla fiv^ and Pomp^ five. Other prominent Romans
contributed to the high divorce rate as follows'. Caw divorced Marcia in order to
 '
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 TllG PAMtLY : BJtreRKAL AND INTERNAL AnRACtlONS 16

ibitdcr forms of premarital sexual behaviour have increased.... But this is not the major
agoificance of the changes 1966:125-126). Part of suck disagreement may be
explained by the fact that most of these studies have been based on samples that arc
not exactly comparable.
A, more careful survey (Burgess, 1974) has supplied part of tlie answer to this
difficult problem. According to Burgess, wJiosc study involved American and Norwe-
gian students, actual behavior, which was distinguislied from stated attitudes, proved
to be more conservative tluin the latter. Indeed, 25 percent of the American sample
approved of abstinence before marriage, while 20 percent of the Norwegian respon-
dents considered premarital coitus pcmissiblc as long as there is a physical attraction.
Then, there are various forces that influence sex behaviour, which forces must be
explored more extensively and intensively if we are to view changes in tliis area more
objectively and scientifically and less emotionally and ideologically. Hehslcy and
Broderick (1969), for example, have found that among whiles the relationship between
sexual permissiveness and religiosity has been high and negative.
Still, in general, it seems that a ntajoi sexual revolution generating the death of
tho family is nonexistent. According to Pierson and D' Antonio (1974:267, 278), "in
tile United States and in some other Western countries at least, u significant percent-
age of young people, both females and males, remain virgin during most of ibdi
adoleseencc. Moreover, incerviuws with older adolescents indicate that group sex and
group marriage have little appeal.... Casual sex. devoid of other social commitments,
seems to be a prize of little value to this new geocratlon of young people." And
membersiiip in the Sexual Freedom League has not grown very much in recent years
...it hardly seems a threat to traditional sexual patteros."
And, once more, lack of historical iaformation often tends to make a person
conclude that even the most Infinitesinial innovation constitutes a major and unique
ehange that threatens the cunent social structure. An author has stated that our
"sexual revohitioii is "somewhat similar to (hose of Greece and Rome in about 300
B.c. and 300 a.o,, respeclivdy. Tljrec basic dilferences must be mentioned, however.
First, more gradual than ours. Second, sex and religion were
those levolulioos were
closely related then. . .A final diflerenuc must now be presented. It seems that, despite
,

what some Cassandias ate jwophesying, our greater knowledge of the medical and
socio-psycliological worlds of man will prevent catastrophes similar to those which
history has witnessed (Bardis, 1971b).

V
Coimmnes anti the Deaih of the Family

Modern communes of various types, as well as related experiments, have also been
employed as an argument against faimly survival (W*. and J. Breedlove, 1964 Bartel),
;

1971 ; Roberts, 1971 ; Hocwilz, 1972).

But the Oneida Community, founded by John Noyes in 1848, with its system
of
"complex marriage and sexual promiscuity, failed completely as early as 1880. The
Bolshevik experiment, which oinsidcred the family an undesirable
and obsolescent
81 pun [TOJuiJai 81 SAtS so|t:iuaj puc sstcin
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 TtlE fAiSLY : EXlERtJAl AND INTERNAL ATTRACTIONS 163

significani that the former category included "family

instrumental values. It is

security, and the latter independence (Rakeach, 1973). Even in the Israeli kibbut-

zim there is a tendency to emphasize the nuclear family and farailism : the
now
rebellious teen-agers who set out to dissolw flie nuclear family
half a century ago are

now the ancients doting on their grandchildren and great grandchildren. The kibbut-
zim are experiencing the evolution of strong familism. .and combined family and ,

community responsibility for members. . . .The kibbutz federations estimate that about
15-20 percent of kibhutz-born youth leave kibbutz life (Taubbi, 1974).
is rampant and
Still, the general feeling seems to be that extreme individualism

regnant, and that familism is virtually aonexistent. Moreover, the author's own
preliminary investigation of this subject revealed that immediate, superficial, and
spontaneous reactions by a variety of persons indicated a fairly prevalent anti-family
attitude of a general nature. Upon closer examinatioii, however, it was realized that
toward the family were characterized by a healthy combination of
specific attitudes
familism and individualism. It appears, then, that the fads and ephemetaU that have
misled even some social scientists have gcaerated a superficial inconsistency among the
masses, namely, desultory, perfunctory, and vociferous expressions of anti-

family attitudes, which arc contradicted by more profound, intense and specific pro-
family sentiments. It is such findings (bat have led to the formulation of (ho theory of
(ho Borcomoan Eamily.
The main elements of this theory are as follows

(1) The human family, as its history suggests, is a viable, adaptable, tensile, and
resilient social institution that can survive even major crises.

(2) Human needs, which fluctuate according to the kinetic-potential theory,

influence attitudes toward the family, and the family itself, accordingly.
(3) In view of their physiological and socio-psychologtcai needs, family members
value their independence, often superficially exaggerating its actual extent,
and thus achieving a amount of gratification thioug self-deception.
certain
This is similar to the seeming independence and apparent autonomy of the
Sorromean ringsi' which are employed here merely as a striking analogy
without implying any structural coincidence or functional identity between
this interesting mathematical phenomenon and the family institution.
(4) Still,as in the case of the Borromcatt rings, family members combine such
independence with fairly strong tics and rather permanent bonds that create
a lasting group with its own identi^ the human family.

(5) This theory explains the cootioversy between anli-familists and pro-
farailisls, since, in reality, both independence and familism arc, to a certain
extent cacli, present in modem societies. Thus, wc now have a social insti-

1. The Boffoinean a "conliguraiioa orinicftockcd rincs .

fines are The device
. -

appears irj liie coat of arms of (lie Dorfomeif, a famous Italian family In the
Renaiisanec times; for iliii rc.ison the rinp arc sonieiimes known as the Corto-
taean rincx- A peculiarity of (he arraDficmest is that noiwo oftherinssare
UnVed, yet the sroup cannot be separated. Ifanysinste
ring is broken and
rrawk'ed.itcanbesseatlutUieremaiaiiigwowillnotbe connected (Marb.
 110)103 13*31 ,r.^. .
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 : : : :::
; :

TUB FAMILY : EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ATTRACHlONS 165

1962 .
24, 155).
(2) A simple of 35 : {otetrial Borroinean versus nuclear familism
r=.8I,df^33.P<.001.
(3) A sample of 28 : external Borromeau versus nuclear familism
r=-.93. df=26, P<,OOL
(4) A sample of 40 : external Borromean vcrsiB nuclear faTnilbm
t=*.85,df=38.P<.Q01.

B. ReUabiJlly. Other samples provided data for the reliability tests (Garrett,

1966 : 337-354) of the index

(1) Internal Borromean

'
(a) Split-half(Moser and Kalton, 1972 354-355) a sample of 30 ; ;

c.85, correuted r by means of tbc Spearmau-Brown prophecy formula

(Roscoo. 1969 103)=^2. df=28, P.<.001. :

(b) Odd-even (Roscoc, 1969 ; 105) ; a sample of 40 corrected f=.88 :

df=38.P<.001.
(2) External Botiomean
(a) Split-half a sample of 30 : corrected rs^.SO, P<.001.
(b) Odd-even a sample of 30 corrected r*.79, df=28, P<,001,
: :

(3) Entire Borromn Index test-retest (Young and Schmid, 1966 376)
: :

(a) s3mpleof40:r=.90,df38.P<.001.

VIII

Borromean Family Index : For Married Persons

The second index (see Appendix B) vras constiucted in exactly the same way, except
for two diiTcrences : first, only married subjects were included ; and second, this index
deals with the family of procreation. Hierefotc, the 5-point scale, scoring, the theoreti-
cal range of scores, and their meaning are the same as in the case of the first index.
The validity and reliability of the second instrument, which were tested similarly,
were as follows

A. ValidUy.

(1) A sampk of 30 ; internal Conomcan versus nuclear familism :

r=.77, df=28, P<.00l.

(2) A sample of 30 internal BorriMneait versus nuclear familism
: :

r=.86, df=28, P<.001.

(3) A sample of 30 : external Boirom^n versus nuclear familism :

r=-.90, dr=28, P<C.00l.

(4) A sample of 30 : external BoROmean venus nuclear familjsnj
r=-.S2, df28, P<,00:.
 JI U0i.m ' 1 pn ,0
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im/Jiirs pumi}
i^lBUiso tUEd jeiibs asiqt ftlut aojjws (maixa puc icujcqui qws sptAip oj Xst# sA\ ij
E*0 *! jl^I tiwaoMua qaea iio saiosajoaSuu lojpioaqi sqj aauis [[b jft pjy
-$M|iiucj QniuftiioQ JO XSoiodA BJO
juauidoiaAap aqj paicjufitj {Aiqsaajpui waqi jo tiioqjosutamXq paiMuoaBirp
aqx
XgopdXj^ uviiuojios
XI
lQO'>d
98Z=JP'8'='i :0 JO aidiuts t tiwjM-isai ivapui ucaiuojjoti aipua ()
5 =
IOO'>d 'fE^JP t8=J Ppaw< S neAa-ppo W)
:
100'><l EE=JP I6=^ pa>JJ : sc JO aiduiKs b j[cq-Ji[ds (b)
; acaoioHoa pjujaixg (j)
: ua^a-ppo
I00'>d EE=jP 08'=J psiawJoa : s jo g[djats v W)
papaxuw 3(<Itircs v : Jimi-indg (c)
IOO>a 'CE=;P : s J
; UWUJOUOa lEHlJJUl (j)
'fl
armiOA aiNa/dios vahsiv -to 'm 991
 THE TAMILY : EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ATTRACTIONS 167

High and Internal Low-External Low, both of which ai inconsistent and self-contra-

dictory. Indeed, the countless data thus far collected have never fallen within these
categories. Below are four fairly typical samples of single and married subjects, toget-
her with their internal and external Borromcan mean scores

(1) Single : internal 22.90. external 19.43.

(2) Single; internal 21.76, external 15.23.

(3) Manied ; internal 30.71, external 6-S6.

(4) Married : internal 28.97, external 9.15.

The remaining categories arc as follows

(1) Internal Semi-Cohesive Borromcan Family : Internal High-External Middle,

(2) Cohesive Borromcan Family ; Internal High-External Low.
(3) External Sctai-A.dbesive Boctomcan Fanuly : Ititecnal Middle-External
High.
(4) Bonoioean Family , Internal Middle-External Middle.
(5) External Semi-Cohesivo Bonomcan Family : Internal Middle-External Low.
(6) Adhesive Borromean Family ' loternal Low-External High.
(7) Internal Semi-Adhesive Borromcan Family : Internal Low-External Middle.

Conehision

In brief, the debate concerning the obsolescent or death of the family institution has
been dominated by value judgments and Lndologieal arguments at the expense of
empirical evidence. The author has, therefore, introduced the concept of the Borro-
mean Family, and constructed IwoBommcan Family Indices, which have been
found to be both valid and reliable. The emfnrical data thus fat collected by means of
these new Instrucneots have led to Hie following preliminary conclusions and
suggestions for further research :

(1) People do not really believe that the family is obsolescenL On the contrary,
their values and attitudes indicate that this institution is quite viable and
resilient.

(2) In our modern world, it seems that the Borromcan Family is becoming
prevalent, that is, the fonn now emphasized by most people includes a
healthy combination of independence and familism.
(3) Single persons appear to stress a greater balance between familism and
individualism.
(4) Married people, on the othw band, experience much stronger attractions
to their respective families.

(5) The Borromcan Indices may easily be employed in teaching, thus encourag-
inu discussion deoline with the chandnn famllv.
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fifil 'Wq"H
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. ggjj puc gf^I
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o(i sj^sciij rtf puc 'uxioa'lisa
U3p.t.\V 'Xfg diioi/y uamio
-Wld LJ
^
iIMCjuy [ttsogjo MSUay tun}iiil!il^o Sutim0 uf rp33^ UBtanj[/o uo/)"f9ij 'qpiSl
psildvjSowJvaj '.<]iuio^9i)] /oXjOHPjjjju s/pjtfojjrtu^ 'tn.tp^
'SE'CC '(Il'd) a sMmJu94 <|nocj mu^n pint uoiiPiiuj^roig Ci61
pet euung ^jo^ A\a>i 'uoiitp? puons xua/jK/ffiij SuiSw^f^ i// /;/jupj fi/i *ci, 6l
9I5I1Z
\<W) 5 ^ijitniiss UBinnH Jo ti;dsv P3ft*W Hi/'> tueiino^fd ton-Us' -(iliSl
s^oog isumi ]fi}jiuu<o usptstH *^l!ed ;o #11
'/OIIPJ 'JGMUCX 200JI|CI^ U1 s;(-frZ -dJ aieis wtmwpj y sftei -a tourj jjpiGa
VOA **N 'JWJ)5pw>X;j);9P9ej<} uo\ '^5^8
put niutQ
Mgj< no!)rp9 tpinoj 'suoiaiitsmts M[siqvj. *1951 'uoi [(0 H "H
sautT^s
fCBOS oini iqSisn; [uuoptppc sn mi3 Xcui s^pn): p:ntpni|auo[ /iieuy (oi)
Tjjjoj 0*puc 32K jCpuJcj '^Jlsoi2i|aJ uo;iwnp9
UOfltllnSM aSt 29S It IfSttS SS|l}tUCA mi KIJ03S OTaiUPHOfl WCdUlOO pUC
^siMsai 35rtU43rt npum an Ji a\cicntcvw>J<luVA Vi'S (6>
1 01 XpmtJ cciunti
ppcMft lluflutHi iCficnisdJjd
oil) pMOJK soifi sSpoiMOUii jcuojiippv (8)
JO jusnrjsntpc auj sjmjjEi nu9
oj sssipasN
iCjltninraqwojddCiccorioniosjoi cpntfXtuisopis ipoq 'ppt
uoiimiisui Kfiira^oqiioo3usssi05qosipniitt?U!lMpoitVPldi^"'4Uo
wniinoJajonoa puc
jnoaodenoo sqiilsnnwjP snip P
ncstutu^oa oi^ (i)
pDoiitpBj) q)oq JO Suipacisiopnn mo alouioid
nmOinUi"! qi (9)
,nom uopnnoo Jq J|qiai|I !> l I
aiKSAnos YAiniiY -Tfl '20 891
anmoA
 THE Fi^MlLY : EXtEIWAL'AND lOTERNAL ATTRACTIONS 1^9

Pemhsiveitess, Journal of Marriase aad the Family, 3 1 (August), 44 1-443.

Horwitz, Elinor, 1972, Cowjhjuhm Wiimmca, Philadelphia. Lippincott
Kaats G., and K. Davis, 1970, The Dynamics of Sexual Behavior of College Students.
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 32 (August), 390-399.
Leslie, Gerald, 1973. The Family in Social Context, second edition, New York,
Oxford.
Luckey, Eleaiiore, and Gilbert Nass, \%9, A ComparisoAof Sexual AtiUudes and Beha-
vior in an Internaiional Sample, Journal of Mswtiage and the Family, 31 (May),

364-379.
Marks, Robert, 1964, The Ne\f Mathematics Dictionary and Handbook, l<lev/ York,
Bantam.
Moser, C., and G. Kalton, 1972, Survey Methods in Social Investigation, second
edition, New York, Basic Books.

Murdoch, George, 1949, Soc/a/ ^rnre/ure, New York, Macmillan.

O'Ndtl, Nena and George, 1972, Open Marriage, New York, Evans.
Otto, Herbert, editor, 1970, The Family in SeareJx of a Future, New York, Appleton-
Century-Cwfts.
PiersoD, Elaine, and William D'Autonio, 1974, Female and Male, Philadelphia,
Lippincott.
Reiss, Ira, 1966, P/ie Sexual Renaissance: A Summary and Analysis, Journal of
Social Issues, 22 (April), 123-137.
Roberta, Ron, 1971, The Ne^v Communes, New York, PieDticc-lIall.
Robiivson, Iia, et a!., 196S, Change m Sexuo/ Behavior and Attitudes of College,
Siuilenis, The Family Coordinator, 17 (April), 119-123.
Rokeacli, Milton, 1973, The Nature of Human Values, New York, Free Press.
Roscoc, John, 1969, Fundamental Research Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, New
York, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Schofield, Michael, 1965, The Sexual Behavior oj Young People, Boston, Little,
Brown.
Taubin, Sara, 1974, /4g/ng in the Kibbutz, Social Science, in press.
United Nations, 1973, Statistical Yearbook, 1972, New York.
United States Bureau of the Census, 1973, Statistical Abstract oj the United States,
1973, Washington.
WhitcliUKt, Robert, 1974, Tli<? Anti-Family Movement, Social Science, jn press.

Young, Pauline, and Calvin Schmid, 1966, 5cicn(i^c Sociul Surveys and Research,
fourtlj edition, Englewood ailTs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall.
 fm jjMiifio tTMiij t-
TTO]qwd Xiimrj '(_
(l!J "0/ woi/ fo^y tax
tt"J WU
J!mDniiirdmo3 '6
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iMUo) nptic'jljpunii Suj^ioo^) tijpjujca
i
suisiqojd inoqt a3i<pt /Ciiuirj 9
oui tpuTiyspnn /ijUitj /ju 'j
'j|Xui fuidva oj niopaajj 'j
av^j \ dpq \Ksumi {
psiviM SUE a<iv jti[i \j oiLl. :
lOiXiHuej '1-
(Suojis p pun 1 3oi|* * ; qw* lutoui j ; uetistjiic jqi
suEju! [ [jc IB ^iioinj jno,<
: 01 not ijbjjje jou ssop aajoj t subsui
q : jsqiusutay)
Xlimvj jwx 01 "oi iwav Kin SM9J
(tc tuo 01 tugm JO iCut! Su;
9ain[3 iTioiitiu ojc tain sesiuomoim ntnpisuiojytu] not s:sod)nili[3ji!3S3Jio^)
Suojjs XiA : p
SuoJis : C
3WA\ -I
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: 81 5sw?g
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asaqj jo ijobs jo Snmtoai 0151 -p 't | *0
sji }C paptAoid aoEds aqi in *3 ui|MM waqi pun insniomti SmpTO OQ
suosjad Jsqio Au au!i)nsuooav;ii 3un*'J*W" *!*''^*t
3
//p 01 puodsaipUE (C//n/?ywXi5A nuauwmsWopKU ("^**!*
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vsn opsiu Xj^Awn P^iu
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V xioNaddv
anmoA ain3Anos vaihlv -td -aa oit
 THE FAMILY EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ATTRACTIONS
I I7I

3. My job.
4, School responsibilities.
5. A desire for financial independence.
6. I want freedom from family control.
7. A desire for privacy.
8. Difference between my ideas and those of my family.
9. Looking for a mite.

You may add a comment concerning your feeUnga about your family

(Scoring : the sum of the first 9 numerical responses represent the internal attraction
score, while that of the remaining 9 items is the external attraction score. Theoretical
range for internal : 0, least pro-family, to 36, most pro-family ; external : 0, most
pro-family, to 36, least pro-family.)

-
Doi
(?awj /ii
r ii> 1.
~/*.K
(Sucui? his siicaiu
f.
n uauir
-''-7-^
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aujijjj y -j;-
SuNctj! itwuniij 'jr
-aaioq jo nwjuios |!5<tj[i -t)-.
d!q5uo[(itiiuicij -j
uoiJESjunamioj
S>!WSIU!tJolDlUC0 {_
Mnod< Xuj oj uw]jciiji(
ini?(i|,{ j_
9W|X||U1T.J !_
0] mjf Dojiiy iijjffj
(XC.ViXUt Bj UIDlllJBXUtSuia
ueqj motiiiAi ojb /sm sc tu9uijicK (ic japisoto nuj noX sodifld hsiwm joj)
-auoii$ iCx>/v ; t>
SuonS
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3[BJM XiJA : I
juwqv :0
: ST S3jn3ij
9ssi() }o ijaca jo Surucaoi mu, J i o : saaquma auiaoQOj ai^ijo auo X^ho ysi
sii ]c papfAoid sards sqi ui SitjiUM um{S puv luaiusjcis qoua auipcsi Xq sii(t oq
'
suosjad jaqio Xiir Surjinsuos jnot/jw sSoiissjaiiJj UAtoinpXjo siscq sqi uq ium(ijo
IP oj puodssi pur Xiif3J03 Xj3a sjusDiains ;/p pwj 5SCS[j (Xiio Jj 'uiippi) puo
srno*) u.no jnvK jnoqc s3in|m^ pue sapnijiic woX tpisv sicsp jusuituisui siqj,
vsn 0?IO opsiox XJISISMUQ opapi
sn'jca "a
eaosjaj P^jSJClV Jdj : xapaj Xfiiurj urauiojjog
aRnm awoAnos vxauiv -TB -ya ii\
 tliB tAMlLY : feCTERKAt AND iriTERNAL ATTRACTIONS 173

1 Sexual maladjustment with my spouse.

3. Personality clashes with my spouse.
4. My career or job.
5. Financial problems.
6, House chores.
7. Physical attraction to an outsider.
8. I want freedom family resxnnsibilities.
9. My attitude is that having children and caring for them is undesirable (0 means
such an attitude is absent,. ..... 4 means very sliong).

You may add a comment concerning your feelings about your family :

(Scoring : the sum of the first 9 itumerical responses represents the internal attraction
score, -while that of the remaintiig 9 items b (he external attraction score. Theoretical
range for internal : 4, least pro-family, to 36, most pro-family ; external : 0, most
pro-family, to 36, least pro-family.)
 9361 'I -OH ira.SftioipJ^a 'inpattaj >oumu<^X !
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^}!|C3i [tjSaiui -oia icnjijids 'iciM jinaw snojSnu (cnsun 'ssausuM'a Jo sad
(j nc
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JO} SI }i asiM a.ioui am si uoist.s [c^dQ5n|ji|d v ssjsuaqajduioa ajoiu sip puy 'utui oi
[lanjcu s] 3u|piinq luajs^s suo|ic|iuni sji aq /CsttiAajrqift puK
li ui aaciJ U'fto siq
somsna JO Siupunisjjpim
punonjc be joj xpjeass.iaijatsiJiiqd jqi jo ainoaino aqi st
uiais^s iBOiqdosopiid aijj_ eomsoo aijj injm pu^ uijq punojr p[jo sqi qi|A\ ituoiuJcq
joj qai'cas s.UTOi s8A[oau) JOtAuqaq SAijqnaads aiidouis si XiupM: irjiiidosopqj
uoiliso^ r^trqifl)' <(i;dosv[!'ia vi ijipojdd^
poqiaiu oyrinaps jo suD!}E)juii| ai}nja}3tji:i|a aqi qiiM aauaias
ni poqiam jerfajui oqj st tpcojddB toai[dp5!pia>^! *!*IL
.Japan aq iieu ajq unuin^ ,aApmdsiad icio) ui pooisiapun aq uta ^intuosJad uvuinn
-qacoJddo [tsjSoiopos-oinXsd-oiji v. sninbaj Ji -aiMwadsiad piaos jo it9ioio4n<sd
[uoiaotoiq i?q X[Mrid pooisiapim oq louvra JoiAoqaq sjiciq 'smaiqojd qans punis
cpan 01 pasiipn Suiaq si
qarojddn Jdeuiidpsjpjaiu} hu, -^laiajcdas tsauaijs wa
J8CT Xq JO eauMs auo Xire
Xq paipnts aq looosa uciu 30 ainjou eqi st qan$ siuaiqoJil
xBidraoj aqi joqi saauaias jinaos jo pisij aip w pasijcaj aJO pn sjoui Stusq mou h si
tnuips PfXs ) vvojdiy Xjffi/ijtfpj/p'jajv;
sguiqi JO aiuaqas otrasoa oqi m snjois siq puc ajnjmi sffl
01 8up HBiujoaiiBiJOiaBJ^osi 11 smaiqojd icpos pnt lorpwpu} Sujpunsjapua loj
Andos
8AlJD8liSJ8d (5oia oqiSlirsjiiSAntoiicoso n> St JOTpiMptl SB] \qttuiso3
qotwddR piSaiui itin paauuuoa si a|qiii fiiqi jo JoqiTHi M,L
oi'iqd punos Xito oqj si
i(i^doso]n-{(j umpuj
iumodumuoj m yovouddy piimi
IZ
 Integral approach^ coMreMPORARY Indian philosophy 17^

satisfies ouc whole being. A tme' philosophy is a piulosopby of aflirmution. A catholic

and synthetic approach is the need of the time. Philosophy shoald be close to life. It
should bridge the gulf between roan and man and man and nature. The widest and the
most comprehensive seeing is the wisest one. Logic must be based on experience.
Methods should change according to the type of enquiry- In science, philosopliy, rcli-
eion, psychology or any other field of human knowledge the integral
theory should

' place for all other theories, show tlicir limitations and weld them all in an
:
-
nr?.i whole. DilTerent branches of human knowledge need not conflict among
themselves. Philosophy should present a Wcltanshaiing which justifies the truth
of each branch of knowledge.*

hifegroi Approach in Caiueinparary IKcitera P/tilasop/ty

This integral approach in philosophy is chaiactciistic of the present evolutionary

stage of mans spcculaUvc activity. It is hence that many philosophers in the West are
^onsiraiiatlincs.ThcoTt^nichmof AceWe J. Dahm is an example of such a

thinking. The word orgaoicism, however, exhibits Viologioal bias. Intcgralism is a better

word for it sigiiiQcs not only a philosophical view-point for the academician but a
layman as well. In fact
perspective for the it can be applied in all the fields of human

knowledge. Onesidedness and limitation is cbataclcristjc of human ignorance. On

the other imnd, the more he proceeds towards the ideal of iniegralisro, the nearer he
is (0 reality and knowledge. T!)c success of mans life lies in living integrally, in depth
as well as on surface, horkontically as well as veriicafly. The validity of the integral
approach is dervled from the complex aod multisided nature of man, from the wide
variety of his needs, from the distinction of various levels on which he lives and from
bis status between beast and God.

I/ilcgra! Approach in Contemporary Indian Philosophy

This integral approach is characteristic of the thinking of most of tlie contemporary

Indian Philosophies. The work of philosophy" maintains Sri Aurobindo, is to
arrange the data given by the various means of knowledge, excluding none, and put
them into synthetic relation to one truth, the one supremo and universal reality.*
Similar quotations can be traced in the works of Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda, Ram-
krishna, Tagore, Gandhi and Bhagwandas. This is because all these contemporary
Indian philosophers have acclaimed ancient Vedanta philosophy as the basis of their
philosophical ideas. They are all neo-vedantins and the Vedanta philosophy is ciiarac-
and integral. The integral spirit has been characteristic
terislically monistic, idealistic
of not Only the philosophic thinking of these thinkers but also of their multisided life
involving not only a-ligious and ptuiosophical activity hut also intense activity in
social and political fields. Most of them have been great social reformers and political

2. Sharnia, R.N., Tht Philosophy of Sri Aiuiiiido,lauoiM<nioP,po,^ii-'gM\\.l.

J. Shanna, It.N., PiobUmatlc Treatmta! BfrVesten ^Uasophy, (Hindi) Chapter an Tniegralijm
PP. 322-323.
A. Sri AuiobiniJo, Tin Rtnaiisanee in Iitila, p, 72.
 S nrim .5
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rt ipn? niuumjiwi j3oi oq* mm. mq ~ejj_ ,*., _
IcOTlUlJm 5 tv ni!2r.oqi oj^ voraiy,3^at ^
Ui,d0!0i!id 1115,1,1 todMoainM J51 jos>j,
""
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jp =,5 <,,p,=T Id ddddd, ,5,

.P!d, TOdJdmip did, npdt.2
5,mH,d> j3n,5l,,c,5,d,mjp, d,y^ Wld.jo wora =
p5jmdn,os,I, 5 0on,di, poimdidOTod, J,do!d|,,fl pjpm. pdiiBn
d,d,u=,dd,dp,d ddipd, te.!aj,d 5,1 ddpapd,m5,y,ji;,^(,i
-onqd tit
twqiJOC [CTiiua pas [soopci li^dtnjjo woiiciituri sqi
inojinpnoJ
.<yiafainii ui poifw/i' iimwf
quid? stp jo sntunstjsip loaumtsui ititatn sqi
r tEiitls ^F'U. I! *pB9^sfl OJJC jwc it^oi jqj wpnpot pAij MqStq tpes ji oj '.^itnu
.jloS5iP' Xiriusw wusaiain# sb ush w
?ib o'WTB 1 j itissssppuc ju9?t
psipra p:q opufqojnv us tn( tTpnpoi noimiOAd iwjds ,,.T8^<Bm2tJ!pbpae
giniaip .qatq ptie tfuoj, sje fsm(udoiii ittfi CBpisqj swuwujco.buiwihui, mw
Vpoqinj .BC!inio\dUt. put .totinidt*. tpJOM stU-. rtpne.nStqn on'b oi'ntiro
pj [wids t npasMSeqa pac vsuitnrTcqpsH opctqojnv PS 9utps95 U(^n[0A3
'pjpii suo St ssiiOJqi BAticais ptrc naSiBcn* jsapMtsfp jsbuti iraj J9.t9wei| tou,
JO U3!l?2e[iiw lOisotmiets aqi ot statisq sjaqdeiTiid tittpnj itreioduismoo
anjtrijtHj ibjiJs
p9si|up SB n** stnnixtjd 'Jittoi ^ II*"*
pjnrpi st ipft ST 0Jl 'sspis |(e uiojj 9jt( Stt it ouq oi Mpjo uj
upoi jmio
tuq SRja ino3inqioa -XniBrSan! nram
3 [irqi.OsAa sieSBUJd ji ne ssjertaiui n
nr n iPiis S'!* JO oJniwj BiispapfJWI* iwoi xji snin spsdss niwsinp in luidt [WJS A
^ fsnptqr ptrc poQ ips sqj. t-'Binmioj iwn io stqi oj
XlltBstasinn iip 'aoisq wo jo panafiqstqpcT: sissqsqi si i|
^npjx sq loains irqt
sqmi -jpsiioji| wqsTreisqnssiaus! ii:idSWooH
'tramisujpnrpra JO spiovt
awpnrax^jilJW8WniJids]oiioiinioMpu5X?id5qi
juids
tiroqniqrqpsy 'pntu
'opaiqoiny us -ansiirapt wt sjjiplosonqd usipaj tojodUMinos aqi jo isojq
s3!r.<iiioi3;\ sjjf/pfp/
siSTpirq] poe siutcs snorStiSJ sispw|
qwnoA paAnDsvA3aiy TS td 911
its DR. n.L. AtRm SOUVCHIR VOlUHfi
jnicgraircrspecihcofHwmiPersoneliiyandEdacalw^^^^

pWlosopheis have looked to human personality from

The contemrorary Indian
sciences.
discover the kcrnal whidi is often missed by social
aa inteEral perspective to
aspect of man as an integrating principle which
alone
They emphasised the spiritual
is because of an integral theory of human nature
can boost his future evolution. It
dial SriAurohindo, Radhakrishnan. Tagore, Gandhi and Bhagwandas have advoca-
education induding physicai, moral and religious education.
ted a muldsided scheme ol
national system of education true to the spirii of
Again, they have visualised a
scientific truths. The aim and principle
Indian culture, in spile of ineorpoialing latest
said StL AHToWndo, "is not ccriairly to igLorc modern
of a true national education,
truth and knowledge but to
lake our foundation on our own belief, our own mind,

our own spirit."'*

Harmony oj HalionaUsm and Inlemalionidisnt

Sri Aufobindo, Radhakrishnan. Bhagwandas, Gandhi and Vivelanand have been the
leaders of the rise of nationalisin in India. They have relentlessly criticised and oppo-
sed foreign rule in India. Tlwy have evcrywbeie pleaded for swadeshi and swadh-
arma, Sri Aurobindo gave a crushing reply to western attacks on Indian culture.
Radhakrishnan counteraeted'Westem attacks on iodiaa philosophy. Oar.dhi Isur.cbed
polilieal movement of Swadeshi. Bhagwundas, comparing atcient Imliao socialism
with Its mbdetn Vfcsletn counterpart, pointed out the virtues of Indian system. And
yet all and the ideal of world brotherhood.
these stionuly supported inlemationalism
Uwas because of their integral petspeeijve of social and political philosophy in
which the higher does not comradici the lower but fulfils it. The wider patriotism,"
to quote Radhakrishnan, "does not supersede but embraces the narrower patriot-

ism.'* Tagore, the poet of Indian nationalism esiablishcd a irmly international uni-
versity at Vislmbhataii. Sri Aurobindo established an international university at
Bondieheny.

Afrfngo/ttrrme
 INttORAL ARfROACtl IN CONTB.PoRARV
WDIAN RllIlosoMly 179
lures, Upanishads and Gita. Tlicy revived
ancient vcdanfi niiiu i

The, synthesised spiritual truths with

of Eastern and Western culture
scictitilii: dLvcrics

and religioti. They

They X d'u T*
advocated
a world state, so that himanity may
^ Eovemmenl and
in its new, u
munity. They reconciled modern activism
meta physics, epistemology, psjchoIoDy
wi(h' ancient ideals of
'renun r 'X
Thus in
ethics, relinift.. ,

diMght Aurobindo, Tagore,

Sri
Vivekanand^andhi,
have matulained integral approach,
Blu^XX.and EadltV"
the only proper perspemivc
for
hve aelivity of man. The present
this integral
brief
approach ia contemporary Indian
nor^ly'Te ^sX broM"Xr
philosophy The lob of
all its inlrieacies and details has
been left for the miora riscarchfrs

 22

Everyday Life in Literature and

Psychological Research
 EVERYDAY LIFE IN LITERATURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 181

subjects in the same detail and

can hope to gather data on a prcprcscntalivc sample of
information ? And how can
develop measurements which enable us to make use of this
observe the stream of behavior going on covertly
psychology ever hope to be able to
described by James
and overtly in the individual during one day in this continuity as
Joyce ?

1. Psychology njtd Averngc finy Behavior

Some sociologists, psychiatrists and psychologists have chosen the middle road between
challenge and threat : they do not try to compete witli James Joyce regarding amount
of information gathered on one day. However they accept Joyce's principle put

all space in a nutshell. All space is equivalent here with the whole biography,
nutshell equivalent wth the behavior record of one day. Therefore they believe that
the behavior of an individual on an average day can be regarded as a sample some-
what more representative ior bis bebavwr during ^ongm 'oirrftxif his WvVfttury Viian
I

I those behavior stgmetvts which ate measured by tests or questionnaires, It should be

- mcmioned round interview for cross national
here, that sociologists are using the daily
studies, on time budgets or for measuring the degree of social participation in the
different ago groups. Itmore and more is being used in psychological research also.
Some Neo-Marxistic psychologists like K. Hoirkamp (1971) blame traditional
experimental psychology for not taking into account man's everyday behavior. Ho
even states that the telev.ince of any psychological approach should be evaluated in
the frame of reference of everyday life (1970, p. U6). However as he does not
know anything of the recent developments regarding the assessment of everyday
behavior he believes that only n new Marxian philosophy can offer psychology q
chance to come closer to everyday life.

2. Methodological Problems

From, these more recent devetopownts ta this approach we can regard the method of
the daily round assessment hs a compromise between the principles of measurement
within controlled settings and the aim of gaining infonnation on the behavior of the
average man within his social life. Barker and his co-workers (1963) demonstrated the
value of this approadi for tbe ecology of children's and adolescents behavior. Instead
of relying on the subjects ttportsheustdatcamofobservera who followed the actions
of a small sample of subjects during a day. Furthermore he demonstrated that these
behaviour record can be analysed in an objective way and that measurements of
different aspects of these behavioural records can be developed.
There exist, however, several obstacles in following an adolescent or adult in all
bis activities during one day, Thciefore Ldir and Bonn (1974) in a study ou ecological
aspects of development during adolescence used the interview on the beiraviour on aa
average day. Tlie same method was psed by Paukackhoff (1965) in psychiatric
studies
and by the author (1968) for the elaboration of a cognitive theory of personality.
One of the major objections against the u of the interview method refers to
its lack of reliability and validity. The reUabiK^ problem cau be solved by adapting
182 DR. B.L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOLUJIB

proeciluies to principles of objective

measurement,
interview and evaluation
validityproblem, however, does not longer extsl if w
apply principles of cognitive

theory of perscinality. As, nceording to llib

theory hehaviour is a dependent variable of

the situatbn as perceived by tbe individual

(Baldwin 1969,Thomae 1908/1973) a record
c.fpeiH^tionsofan.indivKlu*rilieltavRirdurioganavcragcdaycan bercganlcdas a
influence his decisions
useful iiisttumcnt for the assessment of those systems which
and teacLions.
Following the instructions as applied in the Kansas City Study (Gumming &
Henry 1959, Tobin & Neugatlwi 190) we gathered taped interviews on average
days of app. 500 men and women (oge 40.75 years). Whereas in the American studies
mentioned the daily round iirterwcw was used to measure degree and quality of
social participation in diRcrenl age groi^ we tried to analyse these reports in terms
of formal aspects of behaviour and peicchrtd qualities of the situation.

3. Formal Aspeels of Every Day Bthorlour

Several approaches to comparative analyris of smafl, meihum and long behaviour units
(i.e., single actions, behaviour during an average day. behaviour during a life stage or
during a socially defined
episode) point to <i-10 dimensions of the formal aspect*
life

which can be applied to each of these units CThomae 1968), These dimensions are
products of reductionism if we compare (hem with the huge variety of changes in formal
aspects of Blooms behaviour as leported by James Joyce. They are very global descrip-
tions of these aspects of ibe behaviour of average men and women as studied by
psycholo^sti. IlowYcr, in James Joyces novel as well as in systematic
interviews of
the daily round there cao be observed at least these difwnsions, a which we deSned in
bipolar way i

rest activity
uniformity varhKlily
low liigh cgo-involvemcnt
not open to dsmand, ot
linbalanre balana
r y stoii,,

dependence independence
luw-high stability
low higli centralisation

<0.!i.SnS'S, raployoB (at=

and leisure Urec. li tmned wishat ^
fon^i aspects ofeveryday life did not
diffettnUate fiinenlly between
these
possible if wc define them
in
dilTerent as
iituatian. At least in this middle class that u from the objective
uunnk .t.
itgatdinE this similarity or distribution
difibcnce nf petcc
vd forni.i]
r**'^*^
aspects during working hours
 EVERYDAY LIFE IN LITEHATUBB AND FSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH -183

'

respectively leisure time.
The degree of difference in the perceived behavioral streams during these sections

of the day dependent on variables observed in quite different parts of the interview
is

or even on different days, General satisfaction with job, perceived congruence betrveen
desired and attained goals, and perceived balance of the life situation generally are

more often related to small difftiencts between the scores of the two parts of the day. .

As most of these employees were working in lower supervisory positions the variation
of these differences cannot be explained by the objective situation (or the stimulus
pattern). '
,
;

can be explained only by reference to the individual worlds who enter the
It

duly behaviou_r and interact with eadr oflicr in the same close of distant way as the
heroes and semi-heroes of Joyce's novels. ,

A second analysis was done of reports on daily life behavior of retired workers.
For this evaluation the separation of scores for leisure and non-leisure time was not
possible. The scores for the formal aspects of perceived everyday behaviour were cor-
related (0 a set of variables measuring different personality, health, and social chariic-

tecUtics, of these subjects during the last 2 years. The majority of these infocmatiocis
again was forwarded by intervievvs wliich svere taken at a different day than the daily
round interview.
Perceived activity on average days correlated to a significant degree with
education,SES, frequency of parWiroe jobs, perceived stress in Job during the last
2 years as well as ton years ago, active coping with economic situation, and positive
attitude toward future.
Perceived independence of own bebavlour during an average day was correlated
wilh satisfactoty social contacts In fnmtly, clubs and vith neighbours and with
questionnaire data on positive attiiudo toward future. Those subjects who reported that
they bceome active more independently (from own initiative) reported of better
health, of lower readiness to social adjustment ; they did not wait for help from others
in problem situations (e.g., finandiO situation).
,
High ego-involvement as perceived by the subjects in the report of their every-
day behaviour was correlated most closely to the feeling of being needed. The same was
true for the intensity of family contacts and degree of activity and responsiveness as
rated by trained psychologists who observed tliese subjects during one week. Persons,
who showed in their thwr everyday behaviour that they perceived this
report on
behaviour stream as wcl) balanced were more often of higher social status, lived
in
more-pcrsonnousendfas.'fia'u
s'liigti saliftaction score regarding their roles as
parent,
grandparent and as spouse. They, too, tad a belter performance at a multiple-choice-
reaction lestwhere speed of irrforRialioa processing was required.
Tliis last correlation was found, too,focthcdiracasioii'openness to the
situation.
Those persons, who perceived Itdr behaviour during an average day more closely
related to the lequiTcmcnts of the different situations reacted more elTiciently in this
high-speed multiple-choice reaction test. They also had a higher Uhfj-score
and were
rated by observers as more adjusted than the persons who reported of less
"open to
the situation bcliavioral series. In interview's related to the way how these persons
cope with problem situations it became evident that the liigh-scorcs in openness-io-thc-
 .

VOURtB
184 DK. B.U ATREYA SOUVENIR

,.ly ulio o Itidi aWily lo a4ia to ita list* md P6m

Pe/ii} Ll/c Space end SES

T). simt lotmal tamto.i s. ds.M bsta bs srf .! to

Ms >sd lns (!<) '" J?
spies Eiiss is nleiies os dsily life
peraivtd
iMJy 00
lift

sjolesttols toPd IkH opi" *

f)'*
sdoK" '"'f 5
lib spate ss Stole U, teof sslcmsl resinaiess lhas tael si.ddle cl.s
opes',
feims oP slre mlhis Ihe Geiman issl stlsjo
maeots. This yns espWsal siaisly
cvalnalions of daUy round data point
system. Contrary to widely hdd views the same
to a hisWer dtjtw of dislutbance and fru^Uon in the
daily lives of adolescents. UMC
space of I^MC adolescenls was perceived aS
more monolonous, however as
The life

moie wtll-biUrKed than that of UMC adolescents. .

taising
While this finding poinis to the possibilitie* of the daily round method in
Titw iiSMts caneetning SES-petsonality Tclatiambips there are
other ones which confirm

prevLflusly held -wews. Just to mention one : there exists a higher degree of family
eentetednessorthedailylifeofLMS-adolescents.Onthcolhca'haiid the average day
of UMC fldolesants pointed to a gteater exieiukin of the perceived life space
sllhnugh it was stressful and frustcaling.
Findings like these might help in tpecifyiog theories of adolescence in terms of
the smittuce of the life space as fotmobled by Kurt lewin (1941),

Sc!/ Frreeptfon flur/ng Arerage Days

From many other findings emeipng from the ^tematic evaluation of daily llfo
recoft!} wc should like to mention those eoncernins the dynamics of self perception.^
The many ehanges in formal and content aspects of self pereeptions as verbaliad in
interviews on an awtage day as vrdl as in an assessment of Joyce's 'Ullysses' raise
some questions eoncerning the subility of the stlf<oncepi as assessed
by question-
nairtmeiticpds. They loppoti a theory ot iKtsonalHy liVt that of
Walter Misehel (1973)
which emphssiMS the idiosyneraiie organiuUon of behaviour within
individuals ( 1973,
p. ttS). The aWreetion of telf-coneeirts from records on a\cra6e.day
behnviour has ils
limita due to the siluaiiotj^peeific
modifications of thmo perceptions
Therefore any
imil-otwnted iheacy of personaUty becomes doubtful in terms
of the continuous how-
ever ever changing tiream of beheviour during one day
as delineated by Joyre in his

interviews on

We mi|ll show this, loo. b tenns of a dvetnaric analysis of dilTerenl cnlsodes in

uauy Sound methods from

"npe the life spare' ofempioyed and ni t-^ploycd mothers (Lclir
 EVERYDAY LIFE IN UTERATURB AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 1 S5

Conc/usioH

The difTerent theoretical as well the applied uses of the daily round method can
demonstrate how a medium sized unit of Biography like the daily round can serve as a
frame of reference for psychology. Even if there was no direct contact between /oyee
'and William James the idea of the continuous stream of consciousness with its cataracts
and ever changing manifestations is the same here and there. And in some of the
detailed descriptions of Blooms behaviour (c.g., before going to bed) we get an idea what
other human kind of behaviorism Watsonion conception of
is possible even if the it

cannot be approached. But especially it is a certain idea of man which is common to

Joyce and this humane kind of behaviourism. It is the idea of a being which exists in

the movement from one moment (morningl to another through many episodes and
changes. We may Conceive constructs by which we abstract from these movements and
changes or we may apply techniques by which wc eliminate these changes by defining
them as error variations. However the final challenge of Joyces Ullysscs lo psychology
is defined by specific dynamics of human nature to which it points.

We can behave
,
like rigorous psychologists and evaluate this idea of man as
literature (i.e., nothing worthwhile for a psychologist). On the ether hand, there have
boon many changes in our own science which enable us to sec that this cliallenge can
become stimulating in designing methods and in formulating tlicories regarding
personality.

References

Baldwin, A.L, A cagnltlre theory of socialisatton. In Gosen, D.A.

: (Ed.) Handbook
of SociaUzatiofl theory & research. Chicago 1969, 225*246.
Barker, R. (Ed.), The ifremu o/frefiov/or. Explorations of its structure and content.
New York : Appleton Century 1963.
Cumming, &
Henry, W., Crowing old, Chicago, Univ., of Chicago Press, 1959.
E.
Lehr,U and Bonn, R., Ecology of adolescents as assessed by the Daily Round Method.
In Thomac, H. El Endo, T. (Eds) The adolescent and his environment. Conlri-
bmions to Human Development. Vol. I. Basel-New York. 1974.
Lewin, K Defining the field at a given Ume. Psychol, Rev. 50, 1943, 292-310,
Mischel, W., Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality.
Psvchol.. Jtev.. .19,73. ^D.y52m>S3..
Thomae, H., Das Individvjuin ttnd seine 77611. Bine Petsonlichkeitstheorie. Ghttingen,
Verlag fiir Psychologic 1968.
Tobin, S. & Neiigarten, B.L., life salisfaction & social interaction in aging personality
J. Gerontol, 1961, 16, 344-346.
 23

The Concept of Unreality

1. Sj'iicm, Method and

In discuMiflg tiw mwning of tcalUy, it involves

(a) The Question of System
a variety or rnclapliysiral system* are inevitallc. like
idealism, realism, transcendental-
ism ete. b) 7/te Qu?tert 0/ Arciftexf-a vaticiy of
methods arc involved, like indiiB-
variety ormethods
of intelligibility arc involved, like veehal. symbolical
aod language of silcnre
In any ease, inquiry into Uie nature oftealily is
involved Sind iu eveiy case of
luelv an inquiry mto the nature of reality, some
sort orerherion is involved^

2, /tefllfryojidJrs Crlietlon

w,. C.KP1 a con.-oenc ,o:,ils *'

momeni would assert 'Nolhinc
m..i b, b.iS?

,
J'PS>5t of the present
ssreal or
believe tiolhinc and
I

neic n no reality Jn fact, lie would

aflirm nothing.
Hie opposite view would he lliat of the ObiecUvirt
LS

nal- to -i-
Howwer, there are others wlw would ' **

nppcarancer.ThU means that all tliai is j a

n-.f n<l n
^
-?h

>5 reality behind the

that 'appears to
be" belong
1. JV-tntn.nA, .*.SrAr
''^"^'tonUrUnapknialGl,,^ i- k
 THE CONCEPT OF UNREALITY 187

to yet another class of people, "what

10 two distinct categories of ihines. However,
is taken to be
appearstobercalisonlyrral. This perhaps means that something
a certain criterion assumed by us.^ These criteria might be opposed
real if it fulfils
consider a few of these impoitant
or even contratlictoty to each other. Let us
ctilwia here

(a) Anything is real which is beyond spatio-temporal conditions.

(b) Anything is real only in a spatio-temporal position.

(c) Anything is teal which is normally perceived.

(d) Anything is real what is unrelated.

It seems that the reality is sought to be distinguished from unreality. Real, there-

fore, implies non-Ttai oi Mnical. The question of what is' is instparabic from the

idea of what is not. Thus unreality is as natural to thought as the reality.

The Concept of Unrealiiy

I

But the Concept of unreality is more difficult to define than reality, because the
ioneept of unreality is a negative concept and lienee it is more ambiguous and vague.

Popularly, we conceive of Being or Reality as filling a void, which \vc call as

'l^othiug. Thus real exists within unreal as milk fills the empty bottle or the sugar
fills the empty gunny bag. TIius we cannot conceive of the reality without the unrea-
lity, In this sense the concept of unreality is prior to reality. In any way, tliu concept
of unreality is wider than reality. However, there are thinkers who think that the
reality is self-sufficient and the idea of unreality has no content. It is a wOrd without
a meaning/ hence it is called a conventional idea or an intellectual myth. This Is the
view of thinkers like Bergson. But if we accept lliis position, there will be difficulties
in reconciling reality as maming"
with reality as creative, for the reality as becom-
iug points to an insufficiency. Then, lealily is not meaning' but meanings'.*' Hcoce,
we have to accept unreality and reality as implying eadi other. The concept of
uateality is inseparable froni the question 'what is unreal'? The idea of 'whol is"
necessarily implies "what is not".

Differentia of Unreality

However, the concept of unreality is oRcn confounded and confused

with
many otitei notions, such as (a) with contradiction (b)
Untruth (c) Appearance
(d) SCinya or Void (e) uncterniiy etc. Let us examine.

5. Unreality and Contradiction

Tiie notion of unreality must be distinguished from the notion of contradiction

4. Compare G.R. Malkani's Sfatrment *'BeaIly would not be the reality it is but for the intet-
Prelallon it received front me".4 Staify <tf Ucatf/y (Araalner The Indian Irsiiluie of
Philosophy. 1927), p. 4,
5. Malkani, G.R., He Problenicf ffoihlng (Amiaer, HP., 1918), p. ]3.
6. HctESon. H Crcof[v.c Esoisfiion. p. )t5.
 .

188 D?., Oi. J1.TB.K*. SOUVEMIR VOLUME

or inconshiency. There is contradiction, where we chaiaderise the one with thepropcr-

ty of the other. For example, "the r*iM of a barren woman"
or "Sky-lotus" or
cx-en. They are nei-
"Circular triangle are contradictory. They cannot he thou^t of
ther actual tior possible. There is no conrisUxricy betweem
one idea and another idea,
less to speak between idea and object- In these cases, the iliouglit-constructs are
unmepDingful and lienee no proof is rKoessary to repudiate them. They are unaccep-
there so
table on thought-level. However, the concept of unreality is not so.^They are
that
long as the concept of reality is there, because we know that there is no reality
explains itself. Every reality is conceivable only in the background of some unreality.

6. Unrcaliiy and Unirulli

TheathenQUemoC uarealily has tobe disttnguishicd ftora the notion of untruth

or falsehood.* For example, when 1 wilfully make a false statement that "Mohan dies
to create a rumour, others are bound to Ire deceived but 1 shall remain unaiTeded,
because I know that this is false. The fact of "Mohan being dead" cannot be real, for

it is not affirmed by me in sincerity. Hence, the question of this statement being

uTiTtaV does not arise. This h
not a question of nnieality but untruth or wilful
falKhond. Unreality only appertains to an object of actual experience, and not to
wmeihing that never assumes even the semblance of reality for us".'

7, Vnrealliy and' Appearmee

Appearance Is not reality, it is illusion or svtong pereepiion. li real

is ncitlier
nor unreal. Fat example, when we see a snake in apiece of oppcatancc
rope, it is
but we esnnei say his nothing. At least, something posWreoyipM/i. super*
There is
Imposition (if (he snake upon the
rope. Appeaiaow seems to be real and genuine so
tong atit ls not contradicted
by some belter evidence. Bui unreality only appertains
0 an objert nr actual etperieneo, and
not to something that never assumes the
farm 0t>ialllyHiui,Unr6jy, In wort.,

nn Mndion
bS"E non-bnlnn. It is t ib.l

WTongbeausc of our experiences. Whilethey characterise

the subieot
">. ib. ibX-'w
have also a

MilUai, O.R.. A Slu.1, ofPtaliir.

V. M.
n-U p. 22.

o[ Sri/wit Pralrrp Seth

 .

tllr- COl^CErt OP UHREAUTV l69

S. Vnrcality itiid'Void

Sometimes the concept of unreality is confounded concept of void,

Zero or Siinya, In his four-cornered dialectics, NSgarjuna says that the conception
of ^ii/iya is above the four-fold attributes of reality.*'
s Transcendent
is neither nihilistic nor positivistic but transccndcntalistii
The Tathfigata is free from all theories and h's silence nicans the conscio-
to thought.
usness of the indescribable nature of the UncoudidP'^ Reality.
Thus void to the

Madhyamika can never be unreal. '

The Zero of mathematics is

' father fictitious, bfcaus* mathematics wants to
arrive at Zero only by a process of diminishing. But hnow that any particle how-
I

jver small can be divided and sub*diwdcd ad-infinitt**^ never arrive at

Zero. But since the necessities of action leads matlmm^l'cs to point zero which is

gulf between something and nothing.

However, the Zero of Advaitism is not the fictiticJ'**
Zero of Mathematics. It

T'n^s^^^'ne twCitvy anii VnettftnooVntV

There is no other Ilian this. Hence it is the true Being.
positive reality in itself.^
Hence the Zero of Absolute cannot be identified with 'h* concept of unreality. Zero
is real, the only real one without a second.

9. Unreality and non-clernaliiy

The unreal can never be the real can never biJ dcstoryed. The real never
;

ceases to be^ It moans that whkli b real must be

. real slways.' There can be r.o

relation between being and non-being. Nothing is whicli is not real from the
beginning. So the real already teal and therefore Immutable and unchangeable.
is

We can say that what doss not exist in iho beginning, ai'd does not esisl in the end,
and only appears to exist in the middle, docs not really exist.*' The image of eternity
is connected with reality. Now, the concept of unreality Is bound to be related to the
concept of non-eternity. But this is a wrong tendency to measure unreality, by its
uncternity We have, seen that reality and unreality arc inseparable. Reality is curved
:

out of the unreality.

IQ. Conclusions

Unreality belongs to an obje^ct not to some phantasy.

of actual cxperfencc and
Something is known it is cancelled on some belter evidence. The
to be unreal when
reality on other hand has its and hence it b never cancelled or falsified
own evidence
by any other or better evidence. It is real always. The unreal is dilTerent from what
appears and contradicted by better apprehension. So while reality is its own evi-
dence, unreality has something else as its evi^nce.

12. NagSrJuna, Mad>yamika Karika, 1-7.

13. AtilVaniG.R., The Prpblem of NoiUitg,^. 37.
\+. ibid., p.
i5.-J3luiga\adslla II. 16.
tfi. Malkani. G.R., A Study of Reality, p. 60.
17, Itld., p, 64.
 Personal Growth and Societal Functioning

la aa incredibly short span, of time we have moved from a traditional, lineal, relatively
static, pruadustrial society through a series of icchnolo^cal and ideological holocausts.
The personality of Western Man used to be conceived as a developmental unfolding
within a closed system depeedent upon detetmioism and to a lesser extent upon tcleo-
logy. Such psychoanalytic bdiefs were well suited to traditional civilizations in Europe
and new fact of esbtcnco was o perishable humanity
the United Stales. Suddeely, the
eneapsuhted in a anddiminisbing universe cf resources. Human beings were
finite

confronted with a kalcidescope of diange and a constant necessity for adaptation. The
result has been a continuously modulated relationship between the person and a
variety of environment!.
Psychologists turned first to behaviourislic attempts
to control persons and
environments by imposition of their teehnobgies. Such behavioural innovations, how-
ever, are only effecUve while their rules ami Kiafotects
ate physically present. Ulti-
mately. a responsible, inteioilired locus of control
within the person is required to
direct behiviouf. Some psyeholo^is then teditcovered
the environment and abandoned
,b,n*o 10 iho ,dto ihM htotoo, (.,j
t
dcmod.l,oroaon.i.= onho.OKjioioo.Oo.wo.li2,il,

zs
naessiialedbybothlheraeuof5ccialcbaniaudthen.t^p^"
^
*
survival qu^ty "f
theory emphasires personal growth. ' Hum^stic
Cognit^ affectoal sIa
ahematix-es in the quest fo^ulTea^S^S; ^ adapt wiiout losing
human Aatactcrislics. A growth ibeme
siki.im
crsmiDUous self-renewal and
rSw of^
self
T"
 ^PERSON/itCyiOWTlt ANDSQCtETAL fUNCTIONtNG 1^1

iome taproots of a human growth Ideology and present notions on the rclatcclness of
personal groMli to societal functioning.

A recent credo for providing clinical psychological services illustrates the

lonscqucnccs of focus on Kspict for the persons: accountability by means of- con-
tracted services, phenomenological equality of elinidan and cltcnl, and
empliasis on

client ownership of services ultimately through education. Thus, the something

of value potentially contained in clinical services is shared, and understood as a
catalyst for the personal growth of both clinician and client^
Growth apparently comes about by cnlunccd self-awareness or self-conscious-

Rogerian terms, organismic valuing process transmutes experience from the

ness. In

phenomenal field that we co-inhabit into an expanding consciouness of self. Such

experience is motivating and directive. A first implication thus, is that learning about

the self from whatever experiential sourceis power to recreate the dimensions of
experience, to reinterpret ones own locus in the phenomenal field that is the environ-
'

mental circumstance.
The Jungian archetype self moves from arcane and unconscious sources to
become a conscious and self-conscious balance system and the focus of psrsonMity.
Sitniinrly, Masbw's inner core"the perdurable shared and unique fount of human'

ness -is dtsooveted, created, and accepted by satisfaction of degciency and Being
needs. Hearing and responding to oneself or ones inner voices is a mark of authentic
selfhood and part of the self-actualization experience. Assagioli^ posits a centre for
inner self-control or will power in order to enable directional, means-end activity,
I

I
Since the self, inner core, or centre arc ways of conceptualizing an internal process

whose development coincides with the experiencing of the phenomenal field (or
I environment), a second implication concerns an ultimate personal responsibility for
mes own growth.
.
Each of us presumes a lonely journey by means of an experienced internal
process in which the flesh we cherish is only a symbol and a guide. A third implica-
there are substantial notions of how to further sign the self-expansion
:ion is that

ind self-exploration that I have pcrfeircd to call humanization"',*- For example,

Erikson* provided such benchmarks in epigenetic fomrnt. We
become what we will
from
what we have been and how we live at the painful instant of (he present.
Weutificalkin of these inner foci (or virtues) as hope,
will power, purpose, compe-
tenw, fidelity, love, ca, and wisdom
provides an Idiom for conceptualizing huntan-i
ration. This language is independent
of the specific experiences that resonate across
prototypical developmental crises.

A foitrth implication sets limits upon individual Jiuinan growth. Freedom (o

grow is limited by a matrix of external
and internal constraints and by the stale of
consciousness at .any time. We
think of freedom and responsibility especialiy respon-
sibilitybefore the acl~as being coupled to the existential condition of otiier per-
son$ both those we expeiknec diiectiy
and those hidden from our direct regard but
sharing our humanity.

A
fifth implication is that growth
is futurc-oriented. The concept of a future-
personal and collective
is hinged to our freedom within these external constraints
that ace cotuponents of our
personal wcW-bdng. We cannot grow without attending to
1^2 DR. tl.L. ATltEYA SQUVESIR VaLtWfi

be
the toure, the TcasonaWe
and fantasy-tinged extrapolations of our ability to
iiypothctica?
to bind lime, and to transmogrify the
subject and object simultancoosly.
eipctience.
by fusing Ibe inner core with past
erovrth ocxairs in the present.
Essential to any
A sixtii implication is that
each
apprehension of the future is attending to the present, being responsible far

decision as a consequence of personal meaning,

being "fully funMfomng every m
ultimate expression of
feeling act, and living cadi ndnulcas the onlyand
ami every
is a realization of the mutual
dependency of freedom and
oneself, Sartres anguish
acted upon in changing and
responsibility inan equation ufunJrnown parameters and
often arbitrary circumstances. Beoansc each
hnman dec&ion is a cuiminatron of where
one has been, where one is going, and how one discovers
meaning in the present, it
always involves transition from inertia to action. ^ ,
Inliercntin sudi transitions from mass to motion are
Kvcral opportunities for

Thus, the seventh implication is that growth is painful and exquisitely

difficult
crisis.

to endure. These crisis occasions ate to be protected or to grow, to be personalized

or to be human, to be identified or to be anonymous'. Human growth is predicated

upon cleat awareness of personal reuEty, upon belief in orre's own inlactness, and
upoasharing oneself and berngoncself siniultaneottsly. However, personal reality is

often painful and this pain may be aUeviaied by pnvate parables. Beliefs in one's
intaclness are fta^l'e and tametimes distorted at the expenre of others. Anonymity
in the sense of sumndsriag human obligation.
Since there are at least these three ingredients is every human decision, risk is
inevitable, ensis is unavoidable, hurt is oiunipRseni. and anguish is .in immutable
part of human experience. Under such conditions that we grow at all is a testimony
to die strength of the iiiact buman structure and the drive, or "will" that nay be
invoked for humanization.
An ciglilh implication concerns the mutual interdependence of growth experien-
ces. As we gfow-fitfully, intermittently, and for long periods seemingly not at all-we
Interface with the growth struggks of many other persons. We aU contend with
different fais of a common Kt of social stcuctiires-instUutlcms that live by non-
human rules for survival. We all compete for living space as though it were a com-
modity. Along with Dylan Thonm'. we all "rage, rage, rage against the dying of
the light, experiencing the viablion of perishable time moru quickly consumed in
happiness than despair. We
caught in nete of instant compromise and unremit-
arc tiU

ting folly. We fail and agonire and often cannot

penetrate tlie mini-space and mini-time
of personal circumsianw. And wc have no good
nor ready words for our experiences
of being. Encapsulated in our aging skins, we are
surrounded by the phantasmagoric
future shock of too much change, rtimnlation.
and choice". Seeking sensation when
meaning is dcsireil. we tin become UMetisafc and
sfaJtifted by a rigor mortis inherent
in our own experiences.

'* the transition from some concomitants of the growth toward

self-controi-
!ed seiniood to the larger sodal milieu
which we often feci acted-upon rather than
bi
acton, comrolled rather than responsive,
and eonforming rather than free. If human
mstilutioiu mnot
be enjoyed as contexts fbc humanization,
then we face an almost
certain self-destruction.
 :

fERSONAL QROWni AND SOClBTAt. FUNCTIOKJNO 193

by the persons phenomenal field which includes society,

Since growth is alTccted

the central societal issue for human beinfis is contained in the phrase qualily-of-

life.Maslow believed in a psychology of how to make Good Persons in a Good

Society. Such persons may only flourish in sodeties that offer a high quality-of-life
for all members.
Quahty-oMife is a sensitiring concept lelating to the intentions and awareness of
human being regarding their own social condition and their own capability for muster-

ing environmental and personal resources toward the goals of satisfaction and Jiappi-
ness. More specifically, Hariand has referred to quality-of-iifc as the slate of
satisfaction of essential social and human needs and wants represented by goods,

services, situations, and states of affairs.

In an era when many Western societies arc losing the capacity for Utopian
thinking or leaving such fantasy to social philosophers, science fiction writers, and
futurists, is worthy of reiteration in a context of personality.
the idea of qualiiy*of-Iife
Inthiscontext, what "good for human being becomes equated with what is
is

required within n society in order to foster the most complete expression of the human
potential, or the growth of human belogs.
In order to experience high quality living conditioos, it is necessary to have a
master social plan and the machinery for monitoriiig salient social events and render-
ing them into data descriptive of the functioning adequacy of society. Such a master
*
social plan has been envisioned in this country by governmental and private groups
(s.g., the Institute of the Future) and some relevant data has recently been pub-
lUhed. The Social Science Council of Canada and the United Nations Research
Institute for Social Development have prepared similar plans. We already have a
nomencktucc exemplified by social indicators, or measures of discrete aspects of
quality-of-life, social reporting, or the summarization and reporting of such indicators,
and social acMu/iring, or the welfece balance sheets for large areas of society. We
lack consensus on specific indicators. This fact becomes one way of admitting that
wc do not know or agree upon what social conditions foster humanization, We do
not have a political system that can readily exchange economic for human goals even
in the service of ultimate species survival. A, responsible system for providing itifor-
mation, feedback, and gelf-consdous awareness by citizens 'would lead to more direct
usages of political power in the interests of a more satisfactory life for all persons.
However, the imposition of values as to what constitutes the good life is the most
critical issue. Who is to do it 7 How is it to be done 7

Etzioni has provided one mDdrJ for an zc^ye, or seW-contrciling soacty whose
values can be mediated tlirough social structures in order to permit authentic living
by individuals. Authenticity implies a balanced relationship between commita,ent,
awareness, and sharing societal power. Present, post-modeca society is inauthentic in
and institutions and inherently unstable due to blocking of recogni-
political processes

tionand treatment of social problcuis. Human beings react by alienation, or feeling

imprisoned and powerless, and by ioautbcnlidty, or feeling cheated and manipulated.
Etrioni'' eloquently proffers
a concentrated, lime limited act, a personal project that
should by symbolic and collective to provide at least a new societal insight and at
most a societal change
 ;

194 DO- B.L. ATBEYA SOUYEHIR VQLUWE

"But there ere moments, . in which eadi man sees tlie roots of his uneasiness,
.

the shadows of his captors, and the hands rf h maoipuhtors,

and he, thus,
him-
has an icreduciWe element of ftecdoiu Which he can extend by commitiog
self to a project (p. 648)".

Elaboratingon Miller's theme Hat we tan give oor science away. Smith

invokes new priorities for a Iwmanucd science that aUo may enliancc individual

freedotn. Skinnerian technology is seen as a negation of human freedom and dignity

while humanistic romanlidsro is no antidote for suategies of disciplined inquiry".

We need these human problem-solving stnite^s by applied reinrotcement principles

andwe also need the bdief in persons as tespontiWe actors in a seif-created world.
Su* union of head and heart means that a dreied sdenlific enterprise can give some-
thing away that is worthwhile.
Now to Tctucn to the credo for providing dinical psychological services, an
example that has been ^ven substance by a dheossion coiUaining the following points
of focus on the vital and awesome onioo of human nnd society

1. Learning about the self is (he source of expanding cotisdousncss.

2. Growth is i pereonal rcspoDsibility.
3. There are external signs of fnteniai self-deselopinent.
4. Freedom to grow is never absolute, but is limited by both aktenial aod
internal constraints.

5. Growth is future-orleated.
fi. Growth occurs in the present tense.
7. Growth is palaful and always involves risk, crisis, hurt, and anguish.
8. Individual growth processes interface with those of other persons
suoh
Chat mutual interdependence is the human condition.
9. Growth is atfecied by the person's phenomenal field which includes
society.
10. Societies as well as persons may be referred to as authentic, or foslering
individual growth, or ioaulhentic, when individual growth is blocked or
distorted.

U. The societal contribution to personal growth may be called the exiMfiecccti

qualityKjf-lifft
12. H[|;hq.alii,.oHirtaBonl,o, a, an infcl Individual ton, aqmnaa
of a master social plan for a particular society.
13. Master social p]ana_ depend upon consensus regarding those conditions
fostering huminizatioa and a polrtiwldimalc that values human
goals.
14. Interferences with indiridual growth as a result of societal
restriction have
been destnbed as alienation or
banthenticity.
15. Tlie recourse for the bdnridui) the face b ofaa ioaullienCic socacty is
participation in order to nurture freedom
by means of commitment.

References

1. Aisagioli, R., fsj'e/wrynriifj/iiNrwYotfc.vaangPtesx.

tSfiS,
 PERSOMAL CROWnr AND SOCIETAL rUNCTIONlNG 195

2. Cahcn, N., (Ed.) Toward a social report, Washington, D. C., Department of

Health, Education and Welfare. 1969.
3. Dana, R., Ruminations on teaching projective assessment, An ideology, specific

usages, teaching practices, /ournol of PcrsonaUly Assessment, in press.

4. Dana, R., Psychotherapist into person. Transformation, identity, and practices of
somifetWng, Journal of Indwidunl Psychotogy, W4, 30, 8,1-9 1.
5. Dana, R., A new clinical psychology, Unpublished manuscript. University of
Arkansas, 1969. ^

6. Dana, R., Anxiety and humanization, Psydiologica! Reports, 1967, 21, 1017-1024.
7. Dana, R., Psychopatholo^, A developmental interpretation. Journal of Indivi-
dual Psychology, 1965, 21, 58-65.
8. Dana, R., From therapists anonymous to therapeutic community. Journal of
Individual Psychology, 1963, 19, 185-190,
9. Erikson, E., Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 1959, 1 (1), 1-171.

10. Etzioni, A., The active society, New York, Free Press, 1968.
11. Harland, D., The measurement of how things arc, Cowod/a/i IFef/bre, 1972, 48,
9-10. (a).

12. Harland, D., Social indicators

Toward the measurement of quality of life,
:

Ottawa, Regional Economic Expansion, Canada, 1972. (b).

13. Maslow, A., The /arl/icr reaches o/ human nature, Mew York, Viking Press,
1971.
14. Maslow, A., Toward a humanistic biology, American Psychologist, 1969, 24,
724-735.
15. Matson, F., Humanistic theory, The third revolution in psychology, The
Humanist, 1971, 31 (2), 7-11,
Miller., G., Psychology as a
16. <jC ptonvsUng hman 'Wlfw, AnjerjDan
Psychologist, 1969, 24, 1063-1075.
17. Smith, M., Is psychology relevant to the new priorities ? American Psychologist
1973, 28, 463-471.
18. Thomas, D., Co//ect/;70(W, New York, New Directions, 1957.
19. TofUer, A., Future shock. New Yoric, Bantam, 1970.
20. Tunstall, D., Social indicators, Washington, D. C., V. S., Department of Com-
merce, 1973,
 25

The Concept of Error

The jiroblem of etrof has been the subject of ioleresting discussion in Indian
Philosopliy. Every School has tried to mike thh concept clear from itt own^ point
of view. Adviita thinkers esphin the appcatance of the world in the light of illusory
pereeptlon. thetefon: Uicy discuss the concept of error in grevt details. We shall try

to see some of its main points.

Sn the Sclsool of MlmdriistithcpossiWliiy of error denied aUogpthor. The
Affrnarfwukni hold that the familiar example of a snake-rope illusion Is not really
one simple kind of knowledge, hut rather it Isa mixfu of perception and memory
and non-discrimination bctw-cen Ihclrvo. 'Hie >4dro/ioob]ert]Dn against this is that
the Judgment expressing an illusory perception ihi$ is a snake shows that it i$ a
single piece of knowledge. If tbeiseinoty of the snake perceived in the past did not
combine uith the perception of the present rope to constitute one state of ctrgnition

there cannot be the judgment, 'tiiis b a snake. Ifthc percept and the memory of the
thing lay simply undisetiminaied, there would be twojudsmc.vts: T perceive this' and
T teraeraber a snake'. When we fed arsd a sniko In the cope, it shows that snakchood
is predicated of the rope present before ns as an object. It a case of posi-
is, therefore,
tive identification of the perceived and the remembered objects and not merely non-
recognition of the diffctencc between the two. If there be no ideniiRcation between
the percehed rnpe and a rcmembereil snake the reaction of fear which naturally
follow's such erroneous knowledge cannot be explained properly. The Naiyuyikas
admit rhiv hut they put forth a realisde type of explanation and tty to show lliat it is
only an extraordinary case of perception in whidi the memory idea ofa snake
perceived K
the past is so vividly aroused in the nund on aceour\t of the similarity of
a snake with the ropj that it appears as an immediate awareness. So what really
exIvieJ in the
past ii presented here to the nitnd os the object present before
us
ihroufh theImKumentatity of a vhid idea. Tlicre is no possibility of the perception
of an eictnally unreal tiling in ao Ulnskm. ThcTeforc
if there is no real world ever
petrtivtd in the past, its prRent niusoiy
perception wo cannot be expl.iined. The
 THE CONCEPT OF ERROR 197

Advaitln's is the vain efforts in proving the unrcaliog of tlie world at all times on the

analogy of the snake-rope illusion.

The position of the is however different. It rejects the view on

the ground that the perception, at present place and time, of an object which existed
at some other place and time is absurd. However vivid the memory idea may be it
will be an idea of a thing perceived there in the past and never of a thing present here
and now. The quality of the presence bclon^g to the ilh'sory object remains unexplain-
ed by the Naiyiiyikas. It is also absurd to think that a memory idea can really dislocate
a real its own time and place and transport
object from it to a different time and
place. It more consistent to hold that in illusion, on account of our ignorance of
is

the thing, present here and now wh.nl docs not really exist here and now can
appear as present. According to the Advaitiiis, then, ignorance conceals the form of
the existing object in illusion and constructs instead, the appearance of another object.
The non-perceptiori of the existing form is produced by different factors like defective
sense organs, insumciiant light, etc. The perception of similarity, and the revival of

memory idea caused by it held Ignorance to create the positive appearance of an object.
This apparent object must be admitted to be present as an appearance, it may be said
to be a temporary creation (srsiO of ignorance.
Ignorance is the ultimate term for the explanation of error in the VedSnta. It ex-
plains the ordinary illusioa and also the world. Hie world is taken to be illusorily created.
But the activity of such creation cannot take place without prior ignorance. In other
words ignorance is tlie presupposition of error. It aod beginoingless. Ignorance
ts static

is the cause of error, but we cannot go beyond ignorance to something else as its cause.
Erroris removed only when ignoranre as its cause is removed, ignorance of that reality

which makes error possible. For the removal of ignorance all we need is knowledge.
According to Advaita Vedanta we are ignorant of many things in life. But
behind all the different forms of ignorance there is one pervasive and primary ignor-
ance. It is the ignorance of Brahman. It has metaphysical significance. The
task of Philosophy as PamSriha Vidyd is to remove ignorance, much as empirical
science tries to remove ignorance about empirical matters.
The ignorance of Brahman, Advaitias hold, persists throughout our life. It
forms the general background of all other kinds of knowledge. Whatever knowledge
we have about this world cannot remove our general ignorance. Rather the world
which we empirically know is a product of our ignorance. Once this ignorance is
removed there is no world left any more. When the SruH says for Brahman that
knowing which all else is known; it means that when Brahman is known, there is
no world left to be known. We know the world directly through our perception and
believe in its reality. In order to conceal this knowledge of the world an indirect or
inferential knowledge of Brahman udll not do. What we need here is a direct, imme-
diate and noa-sensible awareness of Brahman, which is more certain than tlie per-
ceptional knowledge of the world. Therefore what vve need to remove our ignorance
for good is an absolutely intellectual intotikm esAiti'jjparoftsamibhuli.

As to the nature of ignorance, apiSaa the Advaitins hold that it is not merely

absence (abhiira) of knowledge. It is not something negative. Knowledge of the

negation of something implies knowle^oftkeri^g negated. If one has the know-
198 DR- B-1- ATBERR SOUVENIR VOLUME

kiubte. iritenjsisth
kdE= 0[ Ite E.lionot.lRME,ltokBt
OROurt bo >. of lERomio iviltounhat
,.-ttitaRS nsgRtion olknowlolEE, .
contradicts qjnfliia. IS therefore something
vtty knowltdsc of ths thing Which
porilrvc and removable by Inowiedje,
wMlive, MIvnra,.. It it (reginniitgle!!, J
manifests in all ordinary things that begin m Ume, yet it ilself has "f*
Though it itself
begmiimgless. AJnana
bcEinniiig for it is with pore mnsdousness which is
associated
positive*6fcMri3/i<J, but its fiWujtvn does not
has been described in the Vedwiia as
/ynaMas6/i<Itw;ia here isjus: to bring out
mean the opposite of oWiSro. To term
not positive like an rmlinary positive entity.lt
its difference from is

is rather caUed positive simply

becansc it is not the mere negation. It is a category
the ordinary sense nor nesattve, but a ihinl
which is believed neither to be positive in
one which is from positive as well as_ from negative The cMna is
different both
everything and as such it is dilferent from the positive
the indefinite which is veiling

and the negative.

Though ajmn is defined by the AdvaHins as the indefinite which is neither

nor negative in the ordinary sense of the term, they clnira that it is
directly
positive
experienced by us in such perceptions aa I do not know, or I do not know myself or
1 had been sleeping
anybody else, or 1 do not know what you say, or particularly
so long happily and did not know anything. Such perceptions, the Advaltins say.
point to an object which has no definite characteristics, and wliieU cannot properly be
said to be either posidvc or negative, if it is said that the perception "I do not know
is not the perception of the ajUdna, but it indicates simply the negation of knowledge,

Advaitlns reply that had it been the perception of a negation only, the negation must
have been associated with the specific object to which it applied. Asa matter of fact
negation generally appears as a substantive with the object of negation as a qualifying
charietsr specifying the nature of the negation. Itut the perception "I do not know
or I had no knowledge dees not involve the negation of any particular knowledge of
any but points to the knowledge of an indefinite objectless ignorance.
ipeclfie object,

Such an indefinite oJliSna, yeddnia holds, is positive in the sense that it is certainly
not negative, but this positive indefinite is not positive in the same sense in which
other Uefinite entities ace called positive, for it is merely the quaUlyless passive indc-
fmile showing itself in ouc experience.

Let us be clear here that according to the VedSala ignorance, like knowledge,
cannot be known through any ordinary method of knowledge. They
are both known
to tlie pure intelligence called iSkfi. An act of knowledge is not known through
another act of knowledge. It is revealed by the higher intelligence.
The same is true
of pjfTana. Wc
do not know ignorance Ihrough an net of the mind
or through the
intellcet. To know ignorance intefiecloally we must also know its objects
whkh will
diswlw the ignorance. Similarly, prior ignorance, when no act of the mind is possible
cannot be known intellectually. Tlus is also the case with the state
of ignorance in all
these cases is pure intelligence. This inldligencc knows both ignorance and know-
iedge togelhec w,lh their objects. It knows all objects, some as the objects of ignorance
and therefore as unknown, and others as objects of
knowledge and therefore as
known, ignnr.mee is therefore known as somahing positive in the sense
of indefinite
U may well be compared with darkncM. Darkness h somethin,^
tb.uj.sJj!.w.tj3n
 Tifc CONCCPT or CRRon 199

absence of liglit and is incompatible ^Wlh light. And yet It is not merely the absence

of light. Absence cannot be perceived, but v.e do perceive darkness as we perceive

light. Both aji'ana and darkness are in this sense positive.

Tile illusion, therefore, according to the Adxaita Vedanta is a temporary creation

which can neither be described as real since it is contradicated by later perception,

nor as real because appean even for a moment. Thus it is an indescribable creation,
it

onin'flc<mi>'a sTS\i, and the theory is of the appearance of the undescribablc

aiuVvaccnTja khy<iii-\<ida. The Advaitins use it in the explanation of the world-
appearance as the creation of ignorance which has the power of concealing and dis-
torting reality. The realist objection, .as to how the present world can appear unless
there were experience of a similar one in the past, is met by the Advaitins by describ-
ing the world experience as a bcgtnninglcss series of previous births. Even if this
hypothesis is not accepted, we c.in well say that in every ease of illusion the possibi-
lity of the appearance of some form of existence in place of another is clearly demon-
strated. It shows that in illusion what docs not really exist at present can appear as
such. And though the world of our waking cxpcticocc is explained in the light of
illusion and as the product of the ignorance, the Advaitins make a distinction be-
tween the two kinds of appearance. They call ignorance responsible for the waking
world as the root ignorancc-jnufdr/drd, and ignorance causing the temporary ignorance
tulavidyS. Objectivity thus is given by the Advaitins in both the eases to tbe normal
world and the illusory object. What they really assert as a distinctive point is that
"objectivity does not imply reality, nor docs unreality imply subjectivity". Every

object of the world can well be seen to have contradictory nature. Therefore it is not
real in the sense in wWch the Brahman of the Upanlfids is.
 26

Transition From Comparative Philosophy

to the World History of Philosophy

PuKSflfll Noie

Slttco 1 owe a veiy pereotial aod 1*17 profound tele of gratitodo to

Dfi B,L. Atreya Tot his genuine alttuisoi diiting my connetlion wiih B.H.U. ( 1950 -J 7),
1 feci deeply honored to
auettipl seme coiittibulioa lo thb Souvenir Volume in bonof

of Dr. Atieya-jl. Since he was a pioneee in tiridgbg continents in the field of Com-
parative Phllosaphy. nothing that comes 10 my mind could be more appropriate iban
a resume of my fiodings and thoogbl. eucli a$ are. in terms of some basic general-
hies vrluch seem to me to need re-euiminaiion, noi radical reslnicturing. indeed,
if

St was during my association with Dr- Atteyaand othetsat B.H.U. and .at Mysore Uni-
versity under the late Trofessor M. Varuonachrifyaiand 1 must novomii the name of
Swami Salyahastab Btojahashi at Dasjjwamedh Ghat in Varanasi) that some of the
seeds ot the following considofations wen; sown.
It is well known that the field of Q)inparalive Philosophy has had a rather pied
history thus tar; and sin it has (or so h nrems to a few of s in tlial field) got entan-
gled in some out-of-foeus stereotypes, it may he time to lake stock and chect our
beatings lest we sail loadveiUntly or eve>i jet impuisively
mto some dangerous lerritory.
Picst, we arc perhaps inadequately guiare the anwsliy of Comparative Philo-
sophy in the fieldof CoBiparathe Religion sfll beats
its indcirible stamp ; and often it
is diTficult to difTerentiate between these two
Second, wheteas the field of Comgtarmiyc Reilpgn
has virtually been, at least in
some quartets, superceded by the Hhtoty
ofReligions. one wonders whether a paral-
lel tmsWoft overdi*in 1hefe3aoj Comparative Philosophy.
ts rot well

Thirdly, m the popular public nriqd,

Um shadow of Hegei-indeed, one might say
hisshosl-stffl hauito w
and has ev bfiuewed systems of
classification ia our libra-
ries. The Wtion. for example that Indian and Chinese
philosophy ate at best to be
equated wi K pte.S.tic Greek pbttos^ph,.
at
pre-^entific philosophy,
stiU prevails in a way that sorely ijcsds
amectiOB-FpTfiiatmiHfy. ih# vepf ^rzs?
 Tire WORLD HISTORY or PHILOSOPHY 201

"Oriental philosophy, fllthoufeh historically it has very little meaning, has conic into
such common use that it has become a niarlretaWc item for selling popular paperback
books. In spite of the cITorts of the late Dr. Charles A. Moore to "exercise this ghost,
and to deliver us from the "myth of the mystical Orient and the materialist West tiic
ghost is still there, and the myth still conditioos subconscious attitudes far too univer-

sally. one grows weary of whipping what should have been a dead horse long
Indeed,
ago, for that myth even more than the ghost of H^el, has no historical blood or flesh
left. Most of us would like to go on from there into new conslritctivc research; but

some must carry on the work of those like Dr. BX. Alreya nnd Charles A. Moore, in
enlightenment of the public consciousness.
The obvious corrective for the first is on intensification, following the lead of such
as Joseph Needham, Rene Taton, George Saclon ct al, of research and rc-invesligation
of the world history of science and its relation to tlic world history of philosopliy.
There is also the myth (for it is no mote than that) that in Ancient Greece and there
alone "science vras horn, and that science was absent from the rest of the world
until Western Europe drained all the wcallh of the rest of the world into its coffers

and succeeded all too well in convincing the rest of the world that nothing was truly
"Bcientifio" until and unless itwas given a name with a Greek or a Latin derivation,
This myth also needs to be exposed before it works even more havoc than it already
has done.
A coiiolaiy to this conectivc, and related to the second point above, is the need

to reinvestigate the histories of the realist traditions of philosophy in India, China,

Japan, Islam, Byzantium, etc., and to put them into proper perspective along with the
histories of the idealist philosophies in those areas. As a matter of fact, it may well be

that since the history of philosophy, even in modern Western Europe, was first the
fruits of the labours of German Idealists, this correction is still incomplete even in the
history of European philosophy, which, by the way, has strangely omitted the history
of philosophy in Byzantium and Russia and the rest of Eastern Europe. Thus wo still
see most books advertised as the History of Philosophy' overtly assuming, in woeful
ignorance, that the history of "Rutatocrican philosophies is all that caa he called philo-
sophy. How utterly absurd !

On the other band, of course, there is in some quarters the danger of the opposite
extreme. One indeed welcomes, for example, the efTorts of tJie Chinese to review if not
to reconstruct the history of Chinese Thought from the standpoint of realistic social
justice by vindicating folk heroes who were not acknowledged as sucli by the Confuciaii
Literati.Uut'fl this sliould go so Tar as to Iransgicss against objective historical records,
it could be another case of where the cure became worse than the case, the remedy too
severe for the disease, and tlic patient might suffer from it as much as from the disease
itself.

Concerning the second point, namely the emphasis on history and historical deve-
lopments, we may note that, in a sense, the remedy has already begun to ferment. We
of Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Islamic
arc increasingly getting very readable historus
Thought and Philosophy, and even on some campuses the students are more aware of
these things and of their importance than their professors. This is especially true in
"third world countries, at least In those areas where engineering has not crowded
202 DR. Tl.L. ATREVA SOUVENIR. VOLCIIC

about
pliilosophy out of business. Meanwhile, word from Professor Waller Licbenthal
waning in Europe-
interest in these fields is
a year ago reported that
HosNtver, it is stcanse that in many of these countries, European philosophy has
few contrast and compa-
become the universal standard of comparison. Wc get far too
risons between Japanese, Chinese and Iranian (both
Sufi and non-Sufi) pbib-
our envn genera-
sophscs; and for that matter it is great pity and a shame that within
tion, India and China have become alienated from each other after so many thousands
Indeed, one wren query In the past China received so much
nf years of amity. :

order
from India, may be some contribution from China to India might be in
?

But the appearance of the new African countries, most of them with universities
builton the, "Euramerican'' model, is afresh challenge to all. The oral heritage ofAfri
can wisdom needs to be included, perhaps, in 'comparative" philosophy alongside the
inclusion of African Islamic thinkers in proper objective historical perspective. This oral
heritage must quickly be included lest some new myth about Afliran wisdom of the
past romantically blind us to the real problenis of today. Surely, young Africans
should he open to all philosophies and to philosophys role in the planetary Drama of
Man merely the role of the philosophies of those nations which once en-
rather than
slaved them and sold them os chattel.
But more emphalieeUy, cem^aint must be registered against the fact that the
books that ate being published everywhere in comparative plulosophy fat far as 1
know) have not yet followed the lead of Trevor Ling in liie field of the Histoiy of R>
liglons In presenting synchrowtoghed approach to sovind Lislorioal perspec-
tives. To cile just one heinous example, the Arab* pliUosophcrs are usually trtaled not
in their own but only as a prophylactic as it were, to the emergence of Inlin
tight,

Christian Scholasticism. Moreover, the term 'Arab' still survives even though scarcely
there is an educated Muslim anywhere who would call Patch Sbikoh an 'Arab'; and
even IbnSina had very little, if any, Arabian ancestry. Even the Library of Congress
elassirieaiion of books reflects this nonsense, as though there were not any Islamic

philosophy or philosophers after Ibn Rusbd (Averroes).

However the case

Is almost as had in the history
of Indian pbilosopliy and in the
Chinese The former is still woefully limited to the form given to it by
field as well.
MadhSva during apogee of the Vijayanagar Empire; and the popular notion of
lhe_
what constitutes Chinese'
phiIosoi*y, even ia philosophy departments around the
world, remains in woeful ignoiatsce of the
reportings even of Catsun Chang and of
Volume II of Fung Yu-lan 1 llisrory ofChintSi; pkUowfky.
myth stnisurviv'es. namely that Wisdom travelled from
^In other words, Hegels
tho^ I^st" (w., East Asia. Southeast Asia, South Asia
and/or Southwest Asia 2 ) to
the Vest (ic., not western USA or even wcsiern Asia, biq western Europe,
eastern
Europe being ignored ccmpleiely 1> ; and Ihst only in 'Antiquity' (whenever
that was)
did this East" have any philosophy worth
mentioning. How utterly absurd This 1

myth critically needs to be replaced with factiBl world history, including

the eonilnuous
and conirmrornry developments of philosophies of s/f kinds
in all lands.
In the history of European (dnlosophy, uc
think nothing of putting Francis
Itawn and Campinella In the wme caie^, even
though they came from different
Uagusgri and countries; and in the history of philtrsopby, even (hough regret-
 THE WORLD inSTORY OF riHLOSOPllY 203

fully thus fnr the Saiva systems Iiavc not yet been adequately integrated chronologi-

cally along with the Vaisnava systems, we think nothing of ignoring geographical
boundaries even though, for example, when Digflaga went north to Nalanda, no doubt
he had to learn a different vernacular to get along. Chaitanya and Vallabha arc some-

times mentioned virtually in the same breath, although one was a Bengali and the
other n Gujarati.
Tliere is still confusion between the North and the
SouUi in the ease of Chinese
Buddhism if not of Chinese philosophy as a whole after the Neo-Confucian renais-
sance in tlie Southern Sung Dynasty. Similar differences obtain between the Aryan
North and the Dravldian South in India, the Latin South and llic Germanie North in
Europe, and the Latin American South and the Anglo-American North in flic Wes-
tern hemisphere. But these actually make as much or as little-sense as the terms
East and "West that still are in common use, utterly confusing whether by east
is meant the Soviet Union or the mystical Orient of Antiquity. Rut whereas we

speak of Hegel as a German (not a European) philosopher, and Descartes as a French

(not a European) philosopher, we do not call Ramanuja a TamilHan but an Indian
philosopher ;
whereas Abhinava Gupta'ts called not a Koiniiri but an Indian philo-
sopher. Similarly Chu130) of Fukien Province, Yen Yuan (b. 1635) of Hopeh
hsi (b. 1

Province, Tai Chen 1122) of Anhwei Province are all known simply as Chinese'
(b.

philosophers. Or we tookGuigo the Carthusian (d. 1136), Ramanuja (d. 1142),

again, if
and Chu Hsi (d. 1200) together, we would find more in common between them than
between each and his modern 20th century fellow-countryman, while actually Guigo
was more of a mystic than either of his oriental oonlomporaries Meanwhile, where 1

does this leave the Persian Al-GhazSIi (d. 1110)? Is he Eastern or Western or
somewhere in between ? Finally, even io the 20th century, which is more Eastern J

M.N. Roy or Teilhard de Chardin ? Vladimir Soloviev or Chu Te ? Kawakami Hajirae

or Thomas Merton 7
Indeed, philosophy is still phflosophy. in all places and at n// times, consisting
essentially of the basic problems of mat, including epistemology, ethics and aesthetics
and their sub-fields and related fields. Geographical characterizations make very little

difference, it might be claimed that Time has taken its toll, perhaps equally in
although
every area. As a matter of fact, whereas Toynbee and Jaspers wrote of the 5th century
B.c. as the Axial Age research will vindicate the claim that there have been several of

such axial ages, stretching across Eurasia and thence to the America-s as well. Indeed,
until further correction
is forthcoming, I would like to suggest periodizing these axial

ages in the world history of phiJosophy as oecuningaround 50 a.d. (at'.), 3(X>C.C.

(A.D.),625 C.E., 850 C.E.. 1250 C.B., 1550 CJ!., 1750 C.E., 1900 c.e., and perhaps in an
accelerated pace, already around the mid-1960s, with the beginning of the Space Age
and the Nuclear Age.
Thus, eventually the World History of Philosophy will be simply that, ignoring
cast and west and north and south evctywhcre; and then syvchronologicolly we
shall view (and hear) each philosopher in bis actual factual historical milieu.
Nevertheless the Problem of Periodizathn remains a difficult one. There may be
not only periods* but actual in the patterns of development of types of philo-
sophies which have not been discovered or at least have not yet been adequately
204 Ds, s.i. ATRewsoincNia voi.rME

mappsd out as yel. The Cultural Anttoopology approach is yielding something; but
more is needed. Perhaps sve need some sort of nreloAr>'i)//)iefnp/ijs''M as well as
the metaphysics of history in order to provide the remedies. Indeed, just as there is a
metaphysics of history, so the metahistory of metaphysics reeds proper restructuring.
One friend, Bob Richmond, has even sugsesfed an entirely new term, which no
doubt Dr. B.L. Atrcya would warmly embrace : SOPHIOLOGy, the science of investi-
gation of systems of wisdom without te^rd to nalionslity, East" or West, North
or Soucb. Perhaps we sliould try to deteonine whether it b applicable.

PoUscript

This article assumes familiarity with iSiirKi-f)oriRi|.j'ongrt7/;a : A BibUo^rapkical Guide

to the Global History of Phihsoidip. John C. Plott and Paul D. Mays (Leiden : E.J
Brill. 1969).

Unpublished research material available upon request.

 ;

27

Patanjala Yoga and Integral Yoga

h\ the AU Scminaf ocv the Philosophy and Yoga of Stt Autobindo held in
VarS^asI in Sepiembet 1974 one of the participants raised the question os to whether
thepeculior terminology of Sri Aurobindo found its equivalent in the tedinical voca-
bulary of MlaTiiala Yoga. If so, then these classical antecedents would offer a precious
key to the interpretation of Integral Yoga. The speaker answered that Sri Aurobindo's
terminology must be entirely his own'. This would mean then that classical yoga has
hod no appreciable influence on him. integral Yoga would have been designed ab ovo.
However, creation ex nihlio does not commend itself to many.
A due was olTcicd by a fourfold division common to both. In Book Two of Tite

Life Dh'lne, chapter 26, The Ascent Towards Supermind, Aurobindo distinguishes
Sri

the four degrees of Higher Mind, Illumined Mind. and Overmind, Curiously,
Intuilioii

the Yoga-Sulras too spell out a fourfold gradation. Thus iufra I. 17 reads : The
Cognitive Trance is accompanied by the appearance of philosophical cuiiosily, medi-
tation, elation and tg,ohm''^vitarka-vicaran(md-3smU9-riipanugainSt-sarriprajn5iat}-'
Could it be that the four degrees within supramental transformation would match the
four steps within soniprajnaiafi samuJ/ii, concentration with objective content ?
This numeiical identity was tempting enough, all the more so that a similar four-
fold division recurs a Utile further in the YogaSutras. Indeed,, sdiras I. 42-44
enumerate four forms of samapalti or (hought-ttansformation, n]., savitarka, nirvitarkd,
saxicara and wirvicaru samopallif?. Unfortunately, the present fourfold distinction does
not match the earlier one. Ratlier, the first and second degree of soippraJnStaii samlidhi
splitup in pairs to yield tlie four modes of samopalli or thought-transformation. Whicli
of these two series of four corresponds to Sri Aurobindos four degrees of mind ?
tior is this all. Later commentatOTs as Vyasa and VacaspatiMisra have developed
further the gradation which the YogaSutras seemed to have left unCnished. The
1. Rcrerence to thj and comnientarics are from
Itama Prosada, Pnlaiijall's Yoga Smnu \titb /A# CoHunenlary of Vydsa tie., in 77/e Sacred Books
of jlie J/indus, vol. tv, AUababafl, 1924.
206 Da, B.L. Aiam souvram volume

eqoally split in pairs of sanandSj

remaining two degrees of samprajrieiah iommfif were
fourfold division within
niranandi and sasmitulnirasmiia sanwpattl. As one knows, the
sBrpprcjnSial^ samaJM is ruled by a fourfold giadafwn is lbs object of ineditation, nl,.

gross and subtle objects, the knovnng activity and tl knowing subject or buddhi.
The eightfold division results from the picsence, resp, absence, of vikatpa or confusion

of the object of meditation with its predicates. Not all commentators, however, accept

this eightfold division.Thus Vijfiana Bhilc?u aaxpis only six.*

Number four seemed to be a promising find. The track wc followed, however,
soon got confused ; the yogfl-SUtraa know not one. but two divisions of four ; and the
commentators multiply the one by the other so as to obtaiii eight, if not six. Are wc
then to abandon the first suggestion and admit that Sri
Aurobindos fourfold gradation
indeed 'entirely his own 7 If the ptimafade equation of four
with four has proved
is

to be hasty, a more patient a posutiari investigation may yield better results. Sound
tncfliod will require that ive first aocu/atefy analyse the foar minds* of Sri Aurobindo

and determine their respective distinctive features. A similar investigation of the

various gradations devised by the Ttosa-SSttes and iU commentators will reveal

whether they share a commoa chatacteristic with one or other of the four minds.
^Ich conclusions we dtaw from an eventual paralitfism cannot be anticipated
arc to

at this stage. Nor should be dictated by any a priori, which either refuses to accept
this

nny influtnee of PStahjala Yoga on Sci Auroblndo, or perforce wants Lim to be

Indebted to Let us then lake up the four degrees of mind in turn.
classic.al traditiott

The first grade in the Ascent Towards Supermind" is called Higher Mind.
Indeed, it surpasses ordinary mind inasmuch as it can dbpense with its laborious pro-
cedure of logical reasoning. But here in llus greater Thought there is no need of a
no logical motion step by step tmv.nrd a conclu-
seeking and sdf^ritleal ratiocination,
sion, no mechanism of ctpress or implied deductions and inferences, etc, The very
dciaiption immediately calls to mind the category of ninitiri ramCtpattl. Yet, the
confrontation of Higher Mind with ilie second degree of Illumined Mind makes us
reconsider this assumption. While Higher Mind operates as supraratlonaJ Thought,
Illumined Mind functions by an immediate vision, a Mind no longer of higher
Thought, hut of spiritual light, lintike Higlier Mind, which still needs the support of
\bal expression, or at least thalof a mental word. Illumined Mind seizes upon
the
truth nfthings apart from any such representation. "In the spiritual
light there is a
deeper ^reeptiw response from the very substance of
consnousness and a com-
prehending formulation In that substance, ... no verbal rtprescnialion
is tiecded for
the precision and completeness of this tbouglu knowledge.*
Now, the comparison between satUarki and mniiorkS smiiSpoiiI
reveals a
simUnt gradation, In the first the yop stillassociates the
object ofconcentration with
Its corresponding concept and
verbal expreswQ. In the second the object is shorn
from
these menial associations and caught in a pure intuitive
grasp. Similarly, the elimination

1. SeeO.KOELMA'N, POM/ala Yofo. Trem RtlattJ Cftl*

itbtMutrSelf Papql Alh
r^ni. IVT^ p 198. n. 5). with leferow*
; VgMaa Bhluu, rega-rOiilh. I, .
>. Tfe l>
^1 tndit Ubrarr Soewly. New Yoik. 1963;
,
p. J5, Abbreviated a, LD,
 PATAN/ALA YOGA AND INTEGRAL YOGA 207

of verba] expression secures the iransilion from Higher to Illumined Mind. Tliis, I be-
lieve, would guarantee sufficiently the McntiBcalion of
Higlicr Mind with saHlarka swiui-

patli on the one hand, and of Illumined Mind with Hinilarka samapatti on the other.
Intuition
Intuition, the liiird degree, is characlcrised ns knowledge by identity.

is a power of consciousness nearer and more intimate to the original knowledge by

idervtity ... It is when the consciousness of the subject meets with the consciousness in
the object . . . that the intuition leaps out like a spark*. Tlic vilarku icodo samiidlil

being accounted for, we are naturally led to lest the merit of the viciira mode as
possible counterpart of Sri Aurobindo's Intuition. However, the distinction between
saricHra and nirricarS samdpatli is ruled by the presence, resp. absence, of the attri-

butes of space and time in the object of medhalion. To this the description of Intuition
makes no allusion. One could perhaps argue that the "spiritual reality of things
which Intuition grasps matches the subtle isuksnia) nature of the object which is pro-
per to the vieSra mode of samSdIu. But a more convindng parallel is found in VySsas
on Yoga-Stdras, I, 44. As Intuition consists essentially in identity with the
object, so too nirvicarS sainSpalti moulds consciousness on the form of the object. As
to the cognition it is called ultra-meditative [nitTima), when it becomes the object

itself, and thus as it were, becomes void of its own nature pray/Iaca svarUpaiSnyevilr^
tliomStrS yadd bimaii*. There is some solid evidence to associate Intuition with
nirvleSrS samdpatli.
The fourth and last degree isthat of Overmind. It is marked by tbe elimination
of ego-coosciousne-ss. When (he overmind descends, the predominance of the centralis-
ing ego-sense is entirely subordinated, lost in largeness of being andfinally abolished".
Ntrasmild samdpatil is the obvious counterpart for Overmind. While sdsmfftl
samdpaui concentrates on a buddhi that is still affected by abatpkSra, nirasmitS samd-
paid eliminates this last vikalpa and contemplates a pure egoless buddhi, which reflects
the self almost to perfection.
The comparison of the four minds with the classification of the YosaSu/ras
then yields the following set of pairs : Higher Mind and iovitorlcfl lamdpaili ;

Illumined Mind and nirvitarka samdpoUi ; Intuition and nirvicaru samapalli

; Overmind

and nirasmild samapalli. SriAurobindo therefore neglects both savicara and sdsmild
samdpaiii of the eightfold division of the commentaton- More important, ho omits the
dnanda mode of samSiihi, so that the fourfold division of Yoga-SSlras,
1, 1 7, is lost in
the fourfold gradation of the Ascent Towards Supermjnd.
Our initial clue was an identical fourfold division. The presumed parallel has
stood the test of n critical analysis, bid only up to a point, Iris good to remember
at
this stage that Yoga-Siilras 1, 17, distinguishes four stages within sampraj'/idtafi
samddbi.
But this concentration with objective content' is not the hi^iest : it is crowned
by an
objectless concentration, ajafiipra/na/fl^ samadhi. White the former needs
the support
of some objective content, egoless buddhi in the ultimate stage of nlrasmita
sarndpatii,
the latter entirely prescinds from any such objective content and is absorbed in the

e, LDp.841.
7. lAirf.

8. Transition Rawt Prasada.

9. LD p. 844.
 : ;

i03 Dl. D.U ATRCYA SOUVEHIR VOUteffi

sole pure self. Curiously, as ilie four stages of objective coacentration are succeeded ty
<rf mind* are topped by Supcrmmd.
so too the faBr decrees This
objectless

indeed is the summit of the yo^ ascent as mapped out by Sri Aurobindo in the last

chapters of /Arf /./< Summing up Sri Aurobindo writes: These gradations

may be summarily described as a series of sublimations of the consciousness through
Mind and Intuition into Overmind and beyond it itliere is a
Higher Mind, Illumined
suacssion of self-transmutations allhe summit of which lies the Supermind of Divine
CDosb'.SupetmindthenwouldcorTe5pondloau2'priijni;io;i remdrfW, as the four
stages of Higher match the four grades of samprajnSia>j samadhi.
Mind etc.

Having put plaa some jMcces of this jig-saw puzzle, the rest auiomotically
in

follows. Yoga smUdhl itself is but the third degree of iatpyoma ; nl

In Patafijala
iffiflruriij, dhydna and xamSdki: iraywn-ckatra sarpyanta/i." Inevitably one is
reminded of tbe Triple Transformation in Sri AutohinJo's yogic itinerary, psj'chic,
spiritual and supramenlal. If the various phases in samudhl ate matched by the series

from Higher Mind to Supermind, then the suspicion arises that the triple sa^tyama of
the Ibgo-SilirsT may well find its rtfleciion in the Triple Transfonnation' of the Life
DMnc. We are not going to attempt, houvver, to establish a etrict pacolicl between
both triads. Clidroail is defined as sUadfastness of the mini" ilei^andhafclllosya
ilMmS dhplM as i "the coniinuation there of the mental elTDnia/ra pfary'ajviko-
lineii dhydnani^. The psychic transformation, on the other hand, consists in llie
Jnicgralien of body, life and mind around i3 psychic self. As to iplrituoJ trans-

formation, while the previous stage is one of ioleriorisation, this initiates the ascending

movement which will be parsued in the fourfold supramental iransformatlon. Tbere is

little here to suggest a parallel between the first two stages of the Triple Transformation
and of the triple sarpyame.esKpt perhaps Sri Aurobindos insistence on permanence
to petfeet spiritual iransformaiion. For the full spiritual transformation more is
necdfil. a permiflcat ascension from the lower irtlo the higher consciousness and an
elTcetualpermanent descent of the higher into the lower nature"'*. DkySna, in
like
mirmer, prolongs the conrcniralion elTected through dhSrariS chaiartard, which Rama :

Prasadj (ranslsicf a< 'cemtinuetion'.

But ihs^numerical correspondence it highly suggestive. A triple reityrrmc.
d/iSretJ. dhyina. samS^i ; and a triple laoshmaihn,
psychic, sptfttual and
supramental, SMSdhl^ ibclf can be either toipprajUBiah
or asainptajmafi- Objective
jomiidiil IS fourfold ;nVarta,Wf*(j.anjn<faojmW
samSpatn. SimiUJy, supramental
trinifofmationgj through four stages Higlier Mind,
Illumined Mind, Intuition and
:

Osttmind. I'lnally, objectless somSdhi corresponds to

Supermind. The parallel is
perfect the complicated struclure of the rogo..V0rrai
:
aly matches the no less
rniricale ilmsinn of The Life bubte.

identiry supramental transformation with the

. , r/f.
Supermind. The literary siructnre of the relerant
chapters of
Ty.ei4i>f)riiw(nool: Tww.Chs. 25nd26)cntifles us
to do so. Indeed, these ehap-
irrs art compoiej on the basis of
a gradation, the hit lemi of which unfolds into a
le. ID r US.
n. tvro'dri.tf;, 111. t.
ts. ters-irrai. in, | inj }. Tiimlsdoa
PraroJi
IJ. LOp.lM.
 ;

PaTANjau yoga and'integral yoga 209

h6w gradation, which the subsequent chapter develops. Thus, chapter

25 of Book Two
on The Triple Transformation distinguishes the psychic, spiritual and supramental
-stages, but leaves it to cliapter 26 to develop the last into
the four stages of 'The
Ascent Towards Supermind. This we already noted in our The Philosophy
of Evolution
in Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard de Chardin But neglecting
this literary indication, we
proceeded there to coordinate the three stages of the Triple Transformation
with* the
four of the Ascent towards Supennind in the wrong way. Misled by the name
of
supramental transformation, we equated this with Supermind, and
were thus com-
pelled to relegate the four minds to the stage of spiritual transformation. This
was an
error and we take this opportunity to redress it.**
To condndc ; wliidi answer can we give to our initial question ? Does
Sri Anrobindo's
terminohsy for the various degrees of consciousness reflect that of Palafijaia
Yoga 7
The answer must be in the negative. However dearly the stage of Overmind
c g which
transcends ego-consciousness, corresponds to Ihat alnirasimlii
samapimi as expsessims
they ate not reminiseent of one another. By way of contrast
: the case of Sri Anrobindos
distmetion between the realms of Knowledge end
fgnorance, which plainly translate
the pair vldyn/ovWyn, is a dear instance of Icmimological
equivalence.
But nur inquiry into a possible ideatily in tccimical
vocabulary has disclosed a
more important discovery. Whatever it be of the
eaasatmsaess which they indicate do correspond,
terms used, the stages a, degrees
^
point by point inbolhrae li*
Divine nnd the Yaga-Sitsas. In either ease
there is a
snipyomnl trip e transformation). In either ease the
JthrJld d
tonifo d gradation (thnrfold saippraJSdiat,
third stage unfolds first
1 !,^
sa7JI,l the four 'minds' from
l*nd to Overmind). And in either ease this gradation Higher
cniminntes in a supreme sm
of oonseionsness (nsnipprojMmf, satmdU, e
Supermind). The exact parallel
schemes, for all their intricacy, is loo striking bdWMn bo h
Oar condnsion is then that there must
to consider it as mere
Scmc
PStanjala Yoga on Integral Yoga, Sri
be admitted a certdn r mn,
Anrobindo himself acknowledgcsTha
does cowr the eatjre range Of higher States
Of conseiousocss. Raiavoi
MaM
the attai^ent of a// the higher slates of
consciousaess and their powers^ by
'which the

physical methods or fixed psycMc ^

be the snbstitation of a low^r 'W
credit his originality in elaborating
his Integral Yoga ' Wta"
that this undisputed originality consists d'd demonstrate is
in -I fiiH. #
true ianovatoS mns. need hav:
TbS ** fP'=rspctivc of
enhances the dimensions of Inlegral Patafijali
Yoga.
14. K.L, MuVhopaahayay. Caleutla.
197J; p. isi.

miiconsiruciion. Chapter, VI. rests on a simitar

11'
SS"! ms p. sot.
 28

The Personalistic Metaphysics

of George Howison

<Jominated Wcsletn mciaphysiK.

At the beginning afthocantury an kJealisticMoftlJm
In conttflstlolost-Kanlian Ihoughl in DritUh
ecnicnof karning, Glasgow. Edinburgh
andLondotiSrcrKr.Husley and kindred thinkers more successfully captured the
ortliodox believers of that day.
public irind with a dilTetent monism, one that alarmed
In Ameiiea John Flake populamed Evolution modifying Spenrers Unknowable
with his conciliation with Theism. But it temaintd to Borden Parker Bowno
to fotmtilalB the first IhorougU and systematic philosophy in America. Like many
British philosophers he studied in Germany drawing iiispitation from R. H. Lolze
1817-1881 wlio deserves title to fmindec of modem Fetsonalism.
Bowen (1847-1910) repceesnts the first and most important force in the fourfold
development of American idealism, a glance at which puls Howison in perspective
for us. Second in Cornell University, home of the Plulosophieal Review, James Creigh-
ton ably represented Objective Idealbm and was to a degree influenced by the British
Hunker Bernard BosatKiuef. ... At Harvard Jodah Royce (1855-1916) Absolutist Per-
sonalism with unmalclted eloquence and learning for many years expounded and def-
ended his Idealism William James and htsarcle thought was too close to Hegel.

But Royces most btilliairt ond severest critic was in the friend iic beewne associa-
-ted in lalcr years, onewHhwliomhe produced an important, unique book of studies
in Idealism, THE CONCEPTION OF GOD, Macmillan Co. I8D8 which is important
here because containing Uowisons philosoidiical credo and crilicism of La Conte's
Evolutionary Theism. Howison, g^ant critic of Royce and foe of monisms, clearly
defines a fourth type of Personal Idealisni that never won wide acaptance forjn
spite
of his utter dedication in truth he left no school of thougiit. And yet it is
par excellence
the philosophy of democracy with iu emphasis on the reality of
human frcc-agcncy in
an Eternal Moral Order, as he likes to tder to it, for it carries the "unlimited
spiritual
hope for every soul.
1834-1916 Howison has so Biicli
that is tyjAat of the American ch-iracter at its
best, 'great moral integrity withaprofouttd respectfor historical
Christianity yet that
 tHE PERSONALlsnC HETAWlYStCS OF GEoRGE HOWlSON 211

openness to truth imd new idea, that almost apostolic zeal to teach and share his
knowledge. It was fitting that he found at last liis Wstorical mission in the far West in
that newly founded university named after his precursor Bishop Berkeley. Though in
a sense a radical innovator his philosophy reaches back into the Great Tradition of
Western thought beginning with Ileraclilus and Socrates. He looks to Aristotle and
Descartes rather than Plato and Plotinus. He assimulatcd many of the permanent
elements in the thought of Berkeley and Leibniz. But it was with Kant he wrestled
for
his on whose permanent ins^hts he built his philosophy. Kants permanent
soul,
achievement to Howison lies in the revolution he effected in mens minds, in
their idea
of what reality is. But he feels Kant should be amended and recast in
taking a new
view of the Categories and dismissing the "Thing-in-itself which blocked
the path to
God, Freedom and Immortality by way of the Moral Reason. Howison holds
the Moral
Reason as realty primate making the reality of the scientific thinker as a
moral being
the supreme condition of science itself and pointing to God amid
his Realm of Eternal
Spirits. Howison adds a realm of Uncreated
Spirits, on important point for
here ho
breaks with Bownc's Personalism and traditional Christian
thought. All through Howi
sons thinking is the persistent belief that a created spirit
cannot be free Hence h*
difference with his Berkeley frieud Joseph Le Conte,
who saw in a spirituilv
Evolution tl,o pronos. of soulmkinj. Tto
and other points wore vijorohsly
anS
liantly argued m Howison s Union in one
memorable session in Berkeley 1895
rr
here Royce defended his Monism against the
Pluralism of Howison. Le Conlp
participant in a forum of minds never seen
in America before or since.
It IS intCTcsting to note Howisons
unique genius developed gradualiy
and
and curious setback^
I8M
In 1865 Sd
we find teaching logic, mathematics and
grammar in Si Loui* Wo.,

wa, already dhtingahhed bnfore arriving

aa ahl. acharoS
school administrator. Here he met the
pioneering Heeel
who founded the Journal of Speculative Philosophy
scholar William t ^
Harns
first of its kind in A
other, wdromrd the rw Eas.ararr
rhd,
sach Emerson and Broasam Alcott came
ctfcbrities as
to sprat from hn5f
ftoatirr town in midst of the rain,
of the just dosrd
A.hnns,sai.n,.sts=cdtoara,hrrfra,,,,Stoch
QvrWmT
,

who longed
teach phdosophy. But although
ning, thrre wmnot more
this
thm
was an ^ a great inWlMual .wake-
era of Inn.,-
to

German scholarship was a discipline. And

practically unsown.

ment. he mo'SrBot'n -ievdop.

a permanent position. However in
ths famous Concord Sohoo,
to the sagas of Garman
this period he wrfced 1^?

of Phtoop'S^'
,
philosophy who had bean hi. hlj
bI
to ^ ,

-for a tima fa. a.'ad -rs'L^^-

BrrorotdssojauramEuropewhiehsaemadhrhringhis
i.tagactaal powars a
2li DR. D.L. ATRRYA SOUVENIR VOLUMD

W lit kt tod at
IliouElil ftmd li ltoi
rcraarkablc lectures
M
ItodimB philoatphy m
the Concord School of PhjJo- m
asnirmc to a post in Hatvard. His
thinker. Hot unerpicted
a leading scholar and
sophy were to bring him renown as
diTappointments awaited luminspitcorilwcfrotte
of nuny friends at Harvard and
friend Williatn James wrote from
Harvard.
elsewhere. About this time his life long
now,
When 1 poor Howison, looking for employment
see the disconsolate condition of
past four
and when I recogiiiie the extraordinary devdopraent of his intellect in the

years I fell almost guilty of liaving Royce'e call hither. . , . He gave that best phi-
ur^
form and impiesavencss, I think I ever heard, the other
losophic lecture, in point of
night at the Concord School.'*
how a small incident may sometimes completely change the direction
It is curious
caw influence the cultutid history of the U. S. to some
of a mans career and in this
degree at least. A vacancy oceurred in the new University of California, then a roost

impromising prospect for a New England scholar. Philosophy was not formally recog-
Hired in "that wilderness" off io the very Pseilk: far wcsl. And yet it was here Howi-
sons genius was to Ilower and entkh the cultural life of a great and growing comnwn-
But it was nevertheless a rductant move 00 the pan of liowison whose lies were
iiy.

with New England. William James Ihouglit California a poor place" but others wrote
reassuringly. Ills friend James Angell president of Univenity of Michigan wrote en-
couragingly :

"1 think you luve decided wisely. Reids letter relieves the matcer. I hope and
believe you will find your life in many respects agreeable and rruitful out theru.
I know of no pluK (except Chicago) where a spiritual philosophy is more nretlcd.

You will find some xvondcrfuUy bright men. And as for climrite how we shall

envy you In our dreary Springs.

And Odyssey and trials bclsind him Howison though now

so in 1884, his spiritual
fifty entered on his wm.srkablycteatiw and influential career of leaching and writing,
llu Philosophical Union became the focal point in (he intellectual life of the West at-
tracting the bi tniiuls from far and near. He discovered California and Its people were
niitlong in illseoYcting liim. and valuing hit immense schol.irly worth, his moral emest-
ncst.lnhitwptkasaicacfwf manyrcUtlKysawsomeoflhezcalDran Old Testament
prophet in his keenness for truth and professional intcecily. When some one eomplimea-
terl him on the successful teiciiing of former student who had settled in the East Mowi-
ion replied : "Yet, but is he teaching the iruili T' His attitude toward the students was
pcriijpi nett unlike the Hindu sage Inward a c/icJu. Plnlosophy
was a way of life for
liim.llewasnosiiirieetufetwithalakcitorlcas-oii attitude. Like Plato he placed
the emphasis on the spoken word and 4 personal relationship with
students ; lie was a
piii Ic. n fiiend,
Howison heliesed philosopher in theasxmingty eicrnil quest
for unity more often
thin nni U\ si-hi or vsme imporiant tnilhv Even after they teach the view ih.st
moral,
ritinid l a rttsi Pri-wiple complete Personality ut
the center of things^
fir from beiiR held as jvrsm.1I. becomes the imtvtsonal Absolute Mi,j.
liiwi p,..l Ip
Ami so idcal-
,y V,ith all Its hostihiy to maScrialisUc Mo.nism as llie annulrncm of moral
s.rwjvLSrtn-u.vini,'.ytrmrm.w.Tws u imniif.sitca determinism llmugh in n
 THE PERSONAtlSnC MBTAPIIYSICS OF GEORGE HOWISON 213

the end cancels

aifferent way. For Absolute Mind as the final smd only Free Agent in
personal freedom, reducing finite mind to the status of an aspect or even an idea of

Infinite Mind. Instead of monism personal Idealism puts forward a pluralism of

many minds eternally possessing seir-direction and real free agency and yet not individ-

ualLstically lacooipaLihlc with a universe of final harmony, sustained by God as Final

Cause.
William James and Howison opposed a pluralistic Idealism to the Absolutism the
Neo-HegcUaos and th materialistic Monism resulting from an alliance of Darwinian
Evolution with French Positivism that dominated so much of the thought of their day.
And yet Howison believed Jamess idcalisUc pluralism was not thorough going enough.
Tl\is is evident in his criticism and reply to James famous Ingersoll Lcture Im-

mortality.
Howison s own incisive lecture on immortality is one of liis important writings
appearingin his volume LIMITS OF EVOLUTION published in. 1901. But let us for
a moment recall his three categories of Being or levels of Reality. First is changing
sense world in space and time, the evolving cosmos conceived as phenomena existing in
and for consciousness. Here he closely follows Kant and stresses the coDtribution of
minds to nature as dependent on mind, on its legislative, normative being. Second is
the Eternal Community of Spirits sustained by God the highest category of Being who
relates to them as ided and Ficjal Cause. An American theologian cited this as an
example of a "personal Idealism with a vanishing ibdsm. Tbo point overlooked is
that without God there can be no co-existing Spirits, no "City of God as Howison

puts it. The two forms of self-active being imply and complement each other, one eter-
nally perfect,the other holding defect io its very nature but moving toward making it-
self whole by its Inrinity that embosoms finitude and makes itself whole in the never

ending process of victory over finitude of the natural life. Sometimes "it may be by
paths never so dark and devious. But onward still the "undying free spirit goes" secure
in its own growing vision of an eternal Ideal. And yet divided from identity with God
by its own individualizing principle reaching out to establish the spiritual over the mor-
tal and natural.
Spitvl as free and eternal must be taken in the Kantian sense as logically prior to
Nature acting on the metaphysical plane as source of the space-time order of experi-
ence. Here wc arc reminded of T. H. Greens thesis that a consciousness organizing
experience on a priori principles eapnot be the product of cxp-ericncc. In reference to
evolutional Pliilosoptiy Howison writes in LIMITS OF EVOLUTION :

"Unless there is a real man tinderived from Nature, unless (here is a spiritual
or rational man independent of the natural man and legislatively sovereignover
entire Nature, then tlic Eternal is not a person, there is not God, and our faith
is vain. (Page 53 Macmillan Co. 1901)

Witli.im James in his defense of immortality argued with much pbiisibilUy tluat
mind is a function of the brain not as a product of cerebral activity but of its
"rclcas-
iRR or transmissive" activity.lt my act asa thne-mnvk iefincting'ilic one infinite
Thought from beliiod the surface-veil of phenomena. Howison regarded this ns a
214 DR. B.I. ATREVA SOUVfMR VOLUME

prowding reasonaWc hope of immottality,

an "open
merely permissive conclusion
continuous svitU a nonmcnal mother-sca
chance". To suppose our finite rnortal mind
rather than ends, 10 stage properties
of Mind Hcwisoa believed reduces us to means
of an eternal drama rather than proper peisons w ouc own sclMcfinilive right ns
him the soul far from being n result of mere aggregates of cipcri-
eternal spirits. For
that trans-
once, or a manifestation of an Oversoul gives evidence of a self-activity

cends lime itself and of every contingent event.

subsists independently

Howison agreed with James the production theory certainly leaves no hope
of im-
theory, (hough an emendation, afford
moitality but questions does Iames*s>ansmisaon
concerned with.
hope of Individual immortality ? This is the only immortality we can be
theoiy
The Absolute Mind of transcendental Wealkm lends itself to this transmission
handling of his
without really assuring a personal imowrialily. No doubt James's
ccLIicism. Further
theory was inhibited by bis failure to .nvail liimsdr of the Kantian
light on the soul as eternally lealisfoiind in Hotvison's LIMITS OF EVOLUTION
the general theory and groundworlc of whid> is so well formulated in his Preface we
quote in closing. The first statement reminds us strongly of Dctkeley with whom Howi-
son is sometimes confounded. As we read on the resemblance ends and we sec close
affinificj with Kaotiaaism and a striking nminder afLeitinia Monadology. Jn contrast
with Berkeley Howison shifts the permanent centre of Natural Order from Oed to
Eternal Spirits other than Cod, thus avoiding the merely theoceniric idealism of
Beckeley.

"All Misience is either (1) the existence of minds, or (2) the existence
of the Items and order of Uielr experience , all the cxisteoces known as 'material
consisting in eectoin of these experiences, with an order organised by (he self*
active forms of consciousness that in their unity constitute the substantial being
of a mind, is distinction from lU phenoc.'enal life.

2> Accordingly, Time and Space and all that both 'contain', owe their entire
existence to the essential correlation and coexistence of minds. 'This coexistence is
not to be thought of as either their simultaneity or their contiguity. It is not at all
spaelxl, nor temporal, but most be regarded as mply their logical implication of
each other in the self-defing consciousness of each. And this recognition of eacii
other as all allLc self-determining renders their coexistence a moral order.
3. many minds, bng jn this mutual tecr^tuiion of their moral reality the
These
determining ground of all events and all mere things, form ilie eternal world and by ;

a mataphorc consecrated in the usage of ages, they may be said to constituted

filling

the "City of God". In this, oil the members have the cqualily
belonging to their com-
mon aim of fulfilling their one Rational Weal; and God, the fulfilled
Type of every
mind, the living Bond of llvrir onion, reigns in it, not
by authority, by the exercise of
Iwer, but solely by light not by efficient, but by final
; causation.-that is, simply by
being the impersonated Idea! of every imml.
A "Hie members of this Eternal RcpuUic have ho origin but their purely logical
oneofrererenee to each other, fncliidingtlius their
primary reference ic God. That
IS. in the liteial sense
of the woid, they have no origin at all-no
source in lime what-
mtr. There l$nolhlq^a!al^.ylUl^rlI.Ahft<.aurf^J^,,.^y
.Mr deihg arises iliey are
 THE PERS0^^AUST1C METAPlWStCS OF GEORGE IIOWISON 215

not tilings' in a chain of cassation.

5. Still, they exist in and only through their mutually thought correlation, their
eternal city and out of it would be non-cidstcDt But through their thought-recipro-

city with each other, God being included in the circle, they arc the ground of all

literally originated, all temporal and spactal cxbtenccs.

6. 7,Hence, relative to the natural world they are free, in the sense of being in cont-

rol of it : so far from being bound by it audits laws, they arc the very source of all the

law there is or can be in it. Relatively to God also, and to each other, all minds
other than God arc free, in the still higher sense (hat nothing but tlieir own light and
conviction determines their actions toward each other or toward God.
Tiiis Pluralism held in union by reason, this World of Spirits, is thus the

genuine Unmoved One that moves all things, (see Aristotle Metaphys. xi 7). Not the

solitary God, but thewhole World of Spirits including God and united througli re-
cognition of him, U the real Prime Mover of which since the culmination of Greek
philosophy tve have heard so much. Its oneness is not that of a single inflexible Unit,
leaving ao room for freedom in the many, for a many that is really many, but is the
oneness of uniting harmony, of spoolaneous co-operation, in which every member,
from inner initiative, from native contemplation of the same Ideal, joins in moving all

things changeable toward the common goal.

This movement of things changeable toward the goal of a common Weal is
S.

what we have in tliese days learned to call the proi^ss of Evolution. The World of
Spirits,ns the ground of it. can therefore ndther he the product of evolution nor in
any way subject to evolution ; except in the case of minds other than God, who have
their dilfcrcntiation from Him In a side of their being which is in one aspect contra-
dictory to their Ideal, this scnce-world of (heirs is by its very nature, in its conjunction
with their total nature, under the law of return toward the cssetrtial Ideal.

From the last sentence it is evident evil is not in God but in the pheno-
menal world of developing beings under the law of evolution, an evolution that
cannot cross the gulf between the Maiaphysical and the Phenomenal realm in space-
time. It is unfortunate Howison never completed his long intended definitive exposition
of his system, In a sense his eloquently written UMITS OF EVOLUTION remains
an unfinished symphony. And yet with its spiritual activism, its suborning Efficient
causes under Final Causality and freedom it has much of suggestive insight for the
world of Relativity and Quantum Physics. In its view of relation of creative mind to
Nature it suggests philosophical applications of Mils Bohrs Principle of Coniplcmen-
twity Mwah wvare TOwld atvi
. beaiv wtlWftn to fit! nut the scheme of Hovfi-
son.sPersonalism but his vital comprehension of our spiritual life remains a potent
Iwritago of thought and rational Faith.
 29

The Future Course of Indian Philosophy

Ths future course of Indian Phitosophy depends on its own internal poss'ibiJllies^ and
environmental Inlluenees. As to itseflent.weobservethatlndianphilosopkyjsbe-
eoming vast and limitless in loopc, and is kwing Us boundaries. This is because of

its open character which compteknds and engulfs in its otpanismwbatcver is goodr
universal and eternal. The eontemporaty Indian pliilosopiiy, which is in traasilioti,
manifests these characteristics in rudimentary form. It forms many syntheses and late*
gral systems of tlioughl by ossimitaiine the truths comiog from different sources. Hie
East and the West, Spirituality and Science, Ideology and Ethics, Mystic experience
and Reason, Art and Culture all conlribuieto the roakiog of the future course of
Indian plillosophy. If we observe the direction of Indian thought-systems of twentieth
century we come to tiic conclusion that phibsophical knowledge is increasing with the
iaveslijaUons of scieace and laws of nature. Psychology and pata-psyehology open the
potentLilities of human consciovstiess, physics ^ows the formless and indeterminate
nature of matter, biology showslhcritallire-force as conscious energy and yoga reveals
consciousness to be ubiquitous and aH-penading existence. We may outline the
wlicnt ideal fcalurci of Indian Philosophy hiiclly as follows
rirsUy, Indian thinkers realise that the Iheorics of matter, life and consciousness as

psopsuivded by the physicists, iMobgisls and pan-psydwdoghts and mystic seers have
to be inH^mlcd in a holistic philosophical system. The future of Indian philosophy
consists in assimilaling the truths of the phOosophies of metier, life consciousness
eusitnee, being and essence. What is necessary is to examine, evaluate and verify
the validity of theories and then to organise them in a philosophical system. If philoso-
phy is to be the presidiog deity over arts and science, ifli of arts and
is the art
'scwucc' of sciences St Iscssen^alforiltBbesmalV-compiebcndingknosvledge. Thiloso*
phy is the study of different theories and inilhs of natural sciences, social sciences,
htimaniiies and religious faiths. It develops a holisitc and integral philosophy uniting
the principles of dilTcient sciences. By so doing, philosophy again becomes
the presi-
ding dciiy over oihec systems of Ibouglit and disciplines of science. The area of
 THE nmmi; COURSE OF INDIAN PIIILOSOPHV 217

pliilosopliy becomes vast and all compidiensive. It is a synthesis of the truths of

intuition and natural and social sciences. It wBl tln become, we hope, once more
the presiding deity over all the arts and and branches
sciences extending to al! fields

of knowledge. It will be deep,-high and exleoshre and intuitive well as empirical in

form and content.

Indian philosophy will be open j compreheosive, and integral systems of thought.
It will break the traditional and ancient qrntheses of thoughts. The dosed, narrow,

partial and narrow syntheses will give way to the dynamic and creative systems of
thought. It is by widening the scope of philosophy, hy integrating the truths and prin-

ciples of different systems of thought, and by raising and uniting (hem with the revela-

tions of mystic experience that one can develop llie Indian Philosophy (o perfection
and fulness in the recent future.
Secondly, positive attitude towards the world and problems of life has been
the important feature of conlcmporaiy Indian thought which will continue to grasp
and condition the future philosophies of India. We observe that the rejection of
MBySvuda is the dominant note of the thinkers of modem India. The growth of
philosophical systems consists in the evolution of positive approaches to the world.
A philosophy of humanism, equality, cooperation, brotherhood, world economy,
world government and world religion is in oHing. The view that the world is an illu-
sion and that it is in nature surTul has been discarded from all quarters of Indian
thought. The phibsophy of Mahatma Gandhi advocates service to salvation, action
to mere teai^iog and righteous life to the ascetic escape from duties or refuge in
forest.

The reality of the world and the inherent unity in plurality of existence will be
the cardinal principles of
Indian Philosophy in future. Matter, Life, Mind, Soul,
Supeimind and Absolute arc the forms and contents of the Reality. Reality maniftsls
forms, principles, objects and realities. The plurality of objects ha\c
itself in different

unity and oneness in themselves, for they all emerge from tiic same Reality.
The World is, tbcicfoie, real and spiritual. What is necessary is, therefore, to
evolve a uniform and coherent system of thought in which the spiritual experience
and reason, the ideal and the actual life on earth, the ethical values and economics,
politics and domestics find unison in the Indian PhDosophy of tomorrow.

The principles for social, moral and spiritual timasEormation of mankind will,
form essential part of Indian Philosophy. Tlie amelioration of mankind and
therefore,
the perfection of humanity will be the cardinal principles
and aim of Indian thought.
Each philosophical system will have a social pMasopby and will ad\ocate a spiritual
humanism in which man finds expression and rulfilment of his spiritual and physical
aspirations. Indian humanism will not be economic r political in nature, nor, will
it be a form of naturalistic humanism hut will be one in which man as a whole
perfects and fulfils his physical vital, mental and spiritual aspirations.
Indian philosophy will combine the material life of m.in with his moral and spiri-
tual ends.U will obliterate the distinctions of the East and the West, and will evolve a
philosophy of synthesis in which the material and spiritual ends would unite in the com-
mon endeavour of man. Indian philosophical systems in future will, we hope, be no
mere mystic systems. We observe that the truths of physical science, ethical values and
21S DB. B.t, ATKEVA SOUVENIR VOLUME

spiritual experiences of seers will join togeOier in boilding up new philosophies of India.

systems and spiritual

With the comparative study of metaphysics, cthhal values, logical
new syntheses in phikaophical systems to which the Contem-
experiences will develop

porary Indian Philosophies are moving today.

Thirdly, the monism ot Spirit and Matter is the one basic principle which has

been accepted by all Contemporary Indian Philosophen. The dualism of Spirit and
Matter has been rejected. Matter is a form of Spirit Reality is Spirit in its manifest
unmanifest state. Matter is a form of Spirit. Tlic distinction
form and matter its

between the two is fast disappearing. The pliy^ist distoser that Matter is energy or
wave, or formless substance. It is a dynauuc and indeterminate reality. The universe
is not a hlockcd and static one. Naluic is a dynamic reality. It is energy and conscious-

ness. Matter is. therefore. Conscious force. It b Spirit. The substances are modes of its
exbtence in ditferent forms. Matter is Spirit or Urahman. It is all pervading, formless,

indetcrniioate, dynamic, creative, force and Consciousness.

Fourthly, a philosophy of absoluic-tbeism or the absolutism will be tlicdomi-
nant note of the future thought of India. There will be reconciliation between the
prindplos of Absolute and Gad In a Comprehenris'e system. Reality will be Conscious*
Fotcewiihsclfdirccliveenorgy. It is not mere consciousness and force but it is self.

Conselaus Reality with inner motivation and will The oresnisation in nature Is
possible heeausc of the lf*coii$eiouschanclet of the Reality, To control move, guido
and pccfect the world of man and native it is essential that the nisus in Reality is
self-Conscious. It nils the world with dynamism and moves the world to the realisa-
end Jlvinily. ft Im pcnonalily and is Cod in tvhlrh the
tion of cosmic perfeclion
pemonal and the impersonal Absolute remain in oneness. The Absoluto is Reality,
ConKiousnesS'Force, Bliss. Being and Truth In its impersonal form, and God is Its
personal aspect. It is nmnlseicnt, omnipotent, just merciful Creator, maintaincr
and destroyer of the world. God is immanent in the world and is the Supreme Person.
Though the religious gods with differenl niiributes, <iualilles, powers and forms are
losing their concreie and manifest shape, an Implicit faith in Ills Unity and
Oneness
in Reality as a self-Consdous Reality b obtaining the futate enneeption of God in
Indian Philosophy.

FiflUly, ihecoiwption of self as a dynamic entity which grosvs and develops

in power, eonreiousness, bliss, inlinity and divinity
wilt cliaraelcrise the future
thought of India. As a center and nucleus of the scIf-Conscious Reality,
tlie self has all
the cosmic powers in it. The self lias infinite
consciousness, power, bliss, truth and per-
fection when idemined with the Reality, just as
a tnalcriil element in nascent condition
has Wide and manys^ed powers. 8 sen has infinite
powers when it is idemiGed with
God. In the spiiitual life of an individual the
wul becomes more open, manifest and

yhen the individual develops the soul.penonality,

and the soul controls the
^y. We and nsmou,ncss the individual realises
a high grade of perfection in him.
Klf-rrahsation
Is achieved the process
of ipiritualiretion and divinisallon con-
1 ahd.
It comes inactive communion
and identification with God. The indivi-
dual disme u b^me, relited with
God as an aetise lover to the beloved.
Sixthly. Indian Philosephy rtd centre round
'man. However divine and
 THE rOTORE COURSE OP INDIAN PHILOSOPHY 219

blissful his transcendental for other wrldly life may be, the life in the world cannot

be sacrificed for that distant end. India look the is'orld and hujnan life as means for

the realisation of other-worldly and which resulted in the neglect of its social progress.
It is essential, therefore, to give immense importance to the life of man in this world.
If there is a life beyond mans pcrfrclion in this world will further evolve to its heights

in that world. Refirthcr tvill be the gradual process of as cent, spiritualisation

end divinisation of man. If one is fully perfect, divine, spiritual, God-Man or Jivan-
muhta there is the Certainty of h realisation of eternal perfection, divinity salvation
and Godhead after he leaves his earthly abode. Therefore, to be a Jivanmukta or
divine beiug in the world is of utmost importance to man. A Jivanmukta is bound to
realise eternal salvation and form oneness with God after he leaves his physical body.
Indian philosophy will be man-centred and not God-centred. The final aim of
man can neither be oiaterial nor transccndealal realisation. Whetlicr tlic probIcm.s are
physical or spiritual tliey invariably refer to man. Human
and the world havelife

to be uplifted and spiritualised and they cannot be taken as mere means. If a human
being fulfils hU aspiration in his economic, social, polhical, cultural, intellectual and
spiritual aspects he achieves all that be needs. The development of man in all his
aspects make him superman. But superman is neither a demoo. As Nietzsche thought
nor is a supernatural being, for both make strange beings of men. Such a being can
hardly be called superman. A superman is a totally perfect being in whom there
is the fullUraent of all human aspirations.
Indian philosophy will lay the principles of ethics, economies and politics which
will be oriented to the perfection and ascent of man. The state and society, the moral
laws and economic principles will no longer remain 'State-Centred' but will be man-
' Centred'. State and social laws ore means for an indiyiduals ascent and perfec-
tion, They arc merely means for man's evolution and transformation. Indian
philosophy will guide the principles of education which will awakeo, stimulate and
evolve all the human potentialities, enhance (he value of man, create interest in one's
life and evolve social Co-operation. The State is a means for the perfection of mao.
It cannot be an end in itself. The educational system should be such as to develop
all man. Though the pragmatists have given a shape to the
the latchct potentialities of
philosophy of education, hut they have committed mistake in confining the fruits of it
to material achievements. It would be an error to tie 'bread, house and clothes to the
neck of education. It is essential to base education on a philosophy envisaged for the
total development of man.
Seventhly, the conception of salvation is taking a dilTercnt turn. Salv.ttion is
a condition of transformation from man to superman, Man perfects himself in the
realisation of gnostic state.Wlicn man is transformed into spiritual being and becomes
Krislma, Christ or God-man he achieves perfection in mind, life and body. It is a state
of the realisation of omniscience, Omnipotence and bliss in his human existence.
The Philosophers who advocate the evolutionary nature of the Absolute will view
that thehuman evolution would lead to tlie (ransfonnation of body, life and mind in a
way that iliey become conscious, imntoitel and omniscient. Salvation h a state of divine
birth. Wc observe that new approaches to salvation are being made
by contemporary
Philosophers. Some conceive of sah-ation as a purified state of individual self in Cons-
lant Communion with God, scimc others view salvation as a state of God-rcalistbn
in
220 DR, B.t. ATREVA SOlJVDflR V01.1JXIE

tr^c
Eompleltly dedicated to rtKsffwce of hnmanity and others
still it
which mao is
take Jugher,
lobe a condition of God-man in the wotU. The perfected souls
spiiilual and divine births and seiw the wrid as its social,
moral and spiritual
leaders. It is a state of Jivanmukta in tAich the individual becomes
God-nian on earth
into gnos-
and has the divine life ever engaged in the total transformation of mankind
tic beings,

The conception of cosmic salvation in which the entire humanity is raised to

divine stale has been advocated by many contemporary Indian thinkers. The spiritual
and divine life on earth extend in the evolution of spiritual humanism. More stress
in Indian philosophy is being glvw on the human values counected with social service

brotherhood, lighleous actionand universal love.

Yogas are the scientiDc methods by Which an individual derives im-
Eighthly, the
mense consciousness and power. IndbnpWlosofdty will revive the different Yogas for
hh perfection. JHana yoga. DhaUi yoga, Karmayvso, Naifiayoga, Kn'yiiyogo,
and many other ones will help humaaily in its siritual ascent. Self-realisation and
oneness vnth the Absolute. The s^tual and conscious energy is available to an
individualwhen he achieves oneness with Cod. Human and cosmic evolution is to-
wards consciou8T\es! and the Ralisation of the supreme Reality.
Lastly, religion, spirituality and philosophy will lose all distinctions and will

mcEge in logelbwness in Indian Tl^soj^ry. Tire rituals, dogmas, iasramenta, eta.

will soon he out of vision and a cullkss scientific, sodal and spiritual form of religion

will draw to it most of the raiioaalandmystiepeopleof Indui. ThemythsuRdsupersEi-

tions will fade away and a form of spiritual philosophy and religion will be the basis of
faith In India. We thecefocs observe that the future religion will be spiritual philosophy
bereft of myths, dogmas, supentitions, beliefs and s-ictareents. Indien philosophy will
be spiritual in the true sense and will be citholie, open, free, dynamic, cultless, noa-
dogmfltie and non-ritualisttc. It will be a religion of humanity which will include the
bet of ell reli^ons. Indian philosophy will bean open religion based on the intuitive
esperienecs of God and expressed in selfless work for mankind as a whole.
The essential features of the futuio course of Indian Philosophy will comprise
(1) ihc truthsof scientific theories on matter, life and consciousness.
(2) positive
auiiiidetowards the world and union of spiritual with the material life of an iiidivi-
dual, (3) monism of spirit and mailer. (4) absolutB-lhcistic
systems. (5) self as
dynamic entity, (6) man'ccnlred philosophy. (7) salvation as a state of
livanmiikta on
Cod-jMn on earth and faiU in amic salvation. (8i Yogas for the realisation of
salvation and. f9) oneness of nligran. qriritualtty and i^ilnsophy, The philosophical
systems would serve the need of hunanHy and
wiU guide it with conviction and firmness.
Indian Philosophy will be an addition to the scries of Contemporary philosophies of
Sr, Aurebrndo, Rabindranath Tagore and Malhama Gandhi It wi!) oSkr to mankind
cosmic and supra-cosmte spirilual transformation and
divinisai^''"'^
 30

The Emperical Proof for the

Existence of God

Many attempU have been made throughout history to prove the existence of God.
Bspetialiy the schoolmen pul much effort iuto supporting their faith with such proofs.
Well-known is Argument pul fonvafd by Anselm
for instance the so-called Ontological

of Canterbury. He God as the most perfect

professed to prove from tbc dcfioilion of
being, that such a being exists, CD.
Broad haaformulaiec] this alleged proof in this
way : Anything that lacked existence would lack a positive property whl^ it might
conceivably have had. Nothing which lacked a positive property which it might con-
ceivably have had would be a most perfect being, for U is logically possible that there
should be something superior to it, viz., a being which resembled it in all other respects
but had the additional property of existence. Therefore no most perfect being would
lack existence. Therefore all most perfect beings cxLit.'
Another argument is known as the Cosmological Argument. It might loosely be
said to show that Gad exists because the universe must have a first cause. And this
is God.
cause
This proof was accepted by Thtunas Aquinas and Locke, bat iciccted by Hume
and Kant. Very few, however, would accept either tbc Ontological or Cosmological
Argument today.
There is in the main three ways to justify a belief in the existence of God. One
'tft'ifcn, Vi cfliatfhrc/frcy.^tnifjSraiict tfi'hfc'S.Wife tn \'iie'Aunn).
The second way is to prove that Cod exists by lo^cal reasoning from premisses wliich
are accepted, implicitly or explicitly, as either selT-cddent or very likely
to be true.
The third kind of proof is based on the claim that it is possible to know God directly.
Such a knowledge can Ise of two kinds. One can cither argue that the proposition "God
exists" is self-evKlcnt in the sense that most people would regard the statement "If tlie

propositions a and b arc true, then a is true" as self-evident.

The other possibility is to claim that one can know God empirically. He can

1. C.D. Sroad. Religion, Philosophy and Psydilnl Research, London 1953, p, ISO.
52l DR. D L, AtREYA SOUVEfllR V^UMH

can sec a house or a cloud.

somchaw bs perceived analogously to the vray people
In those oull'Jtes where God \is identical with for instance the sun, the moon,
then the existence of God could or
or an animal like the or ApisinancientEarpt,
course be verified empirically by
the senses,
^

perceived God as Christians or Moslems

But some have also claimed to have
many mystics. It is this alleged
understand Him. Such claims have been made by
will be discussed in this article.
empiricalproof for the existence of God wlMCh _

define the terms God" and empirical

But before doing so, it is ncccssaty to
amb^uous.
proof. Especially the term God is very
concepts of God arc usually divided into pantheistic, ricistic, and
The various

Panltarsm ii ottm rasutlj Wmod

m Ik. . IhM God d Ik nn.vtrso OJ a
whole ate identical". There are
many forms of pantheism, Pantheism is common in
of this concept arc rejected by botii Islam
Indian philosophy, but most iotexpielaiions
dislinelion between Cod and His creation.
and Christianity which emphasire tlic
world and which denies
Deism is the view that God is wholly transcendent to the
assumes that God ha* created the world, But after
His immanence. Deism generally
Shaftesbury, Voltaire, and
having done so. He takes no part in what is going on In it
Rousseau arc regarded as deists.

Sometimes deism is formulated as the view that tiiere exists something in the
world which is not existentially dependent on anything else. But the rest of the world
is dependent on this part
for its existence. This pan is then called God.
To make this last dcriiuiion.consislcnl with that just mentioned, it is necessary
to hold that the universe is
dependent on God for its existence only, but tiiat other-
wise God is not interfering in the world.
Theism maintains Uiac God is both immanent and transcendent to the world.
His immanence can, however, either be understood in the pantheistic sense, according
to which God is in everything. But it can also be understood in the sense tliat He can
be present everywhere He wants to. His presence is possible everywhere. But He needs
not necessarily be in all things at all times.
Theism generally maintains that Cod is a person in *ome sense, or at least is one
with whom personal relations arc posuhle. Tliebts usually also regard God as the
Supreme Value and the creator of all that exist
Chrisdanity is a thebtic religion, hut so ate also some non-Christian
ones. The
distinctive characteristic of Dirisiianity fa in the first place the doctrine of die
Incarnation and of llie Trinity.
i'antheism, deism, and theism render a more abstract and philosophical concept
of God Iliin the more concrete ones of many prinulivx: reUgions, where God might be
identified with some physical o^ect Common for the more philosoplueal
concepts are
also tlial they can be interpreted in a gieal variety of
ways. It would lead too far (o
diseussifallthcscdifrcrenlconccptsorGod could be empirically verified,
I'or this
reason I will confine mysdf to acone^t of God, which might be accepted by most

2. SxcEncyclorsedianfituinicj.Cbieafo t9^ onTtriim.

3. SccB/ejdpOp.rit., p' us
 TUB EMPIRICAL PROQF PoR tttE EXtStUKCE OP COD 22^

1 will therefore define God as a thcistic (1) being who is either a person or a
whole consisting of three interrelated persons as explained by the doctrine of the
Trinity, (2) He is a holy, (3) and loving, {4) being who has created the universe, (5) He
is also the supreme good, (6) and is morally perfect (7).

That God is thehtic, will imply that He b transcendent to and independent of

the human mind and brain, although He also b or can bo immanent in it. God can
for this reason not be something confined to the human brain, or a "product of it,
like hallucinations. This point will be important in the discussion further on.
To distinguish the Christian God from the God of other religions, I will further
define God as a being having been incarnated in Jesus Christ (8), and as having
addressed Himself to man through the Bible (9). The Chrbtian God is also unique

(10). Tlicro is only one God.

Theologians have often described God by what they call the via cminentiac, i.e.,

that all positive attributes ate ascribed to God, but they must be raised to the highest
possible degree. God is He b omnipotent, and He does not only
not only powerful,
know much, He is omniscient. Omnipotence (1 1) and omnipotence (12) are probably
the most important of these positive atiributes, so 1 will include them in my definition.
Christian theologians generally agree that God b basically ineffable and unfathom-
able (13), and I will also regard chb characteristic as an attribute of God.
My cooiplelc dednition of God will then be a being having the characteris-
tics (1) to (13). Most Christians will probably agree that God cannot lack any of these

characteristics if they shall regard Him as Cod. Rut some will perhaps ascri1 certain
additional attributes to Him.
1 will then define what I wii! call an empirical proof in this context.

By the cmplricfil proof for the existence of God 1 will understand the claim by
certain mystics that tliey have experienced God directly during mystical cxperier.ccs,

that they have had contact, or have been united with Him. Plotinus wrote about this
cxpeiLcnce : He who has seen it knows wlml 1 say, that the Soul then has another life,

when it comes to God and having come possesses Him, and knows, when in that state,
that it is in the presence of the dispenser of the true life, and that it needs nothing

further. On the cQcittary, it must pul off aU else, and stand in God alone (...) Then
we can see Him and ourselves."*
Meister Bekhart wrote the following about the contact between God and the
soul : By nature the core of the soul is sensitive to nothing but the divine Being,
unmediated. Here God enters the soul (. . .) through its core and nothing may touch
that core exeeqt God. hinisclC,*
Not all experiences, however, generally classified as mystical, are described as a
contact or union with
God. Also athristic mystical experiences exist, as in Hinayana
Buddhism, the followers of which do not believe in a God. Many modern western
mystics are also either athebts or describe their experiences in non-theological
language.*
For this reason I will confine myself to that subclass of mystical experiences

4. W.T. Stace, The TMChings of the Mjstk^Neiryork 1960, p. 119.

5. ftW,, p. H5
6. See Tor insiance Arthur KoestTer's description./At^, p. 232-J3S
ij4 DK. AlllEYA SOUVENIR VOLlhUJ

which represent an expetience of a

dine being with ccrtaia personal aspects, by the
must be emphaazed that it is the mystics who claim
that liis
mystics called God. It
I will later discuss whether this claim is jostified
experiences are a realisation of God.

either in the mystic's

It must be noted that this divine beit^ caa be experienced
or in Ws surcoundingK. iu nature. Some
have for this reason divided tlie
own mind
intcovertivc ex-
in two main groups, in sacalled extrovertive and
mystical experiences
outward through his senses
ceticnees.In tlie extrovertive experiences, the mystic looks
perceives a divine presence in his
antronndings. In the introvertive experiences he
and
lacks inward into the
mind and perceives the divine there.* Some mystics have had
of both the extrovcilive and introvertive kind.
^ rietvees to be examples alleged
The quotes from Plotinus and Mrisler Eckhart seem
realisation ofGod in the soul, or mind, to use a more neutral term. As an example of
cxpetience of God in nature, Jacob B&hme can be quoted who wrote about
an alleged
experiences; In this light my spirit saw through all things and into all
one of Ws
and 1 rceogtiizcd God in grass and pbnis."
creatures
XVhen discussing this alleged proof for the exislenee of Cod, one has to take
possibilities into eonsideraliotr.
both these

T II
W. R. We has in mind when he drdnej religleut mysltelrm, See
Iselestly ihts jubclrsi
Christian MysiicUm. UvIngAi: Docks, New York 1956, p, 5 ReligioiB nyitieisM :

miybedinnedasiheauunpi (omiisetbe pttseiw: of (he living Ced In (he soul and in lure. M
or.marcgenerallyiM'heetinp"erM'iw. i" (hoiigM nndfteling.iheimmsneneeofdie lem-
pe'nil in ihe etetM!
end ot (he e{emtl In (he lemporel."
Aine Maesi Is piobably site limiUog his coocepUon of a mysilcsl eiperience (o Ihe same iub>
dstsuhen he ilsdAes a mysik. See Arne Naess. FtlosoDens hliiorle, Otln IPJ; ; (a mystic Is}" a
teptcseniatlve of ihe doeifine (iai raw can attain unity with Cod by raenns of some kind of
iBirnspecilon" (My iranslaiioo).

a. A Scholar who hai used this dislinctioii, la W. T. State, who also sugiiests o dedAlliOB of
mysilealexperiencee being more mloute than most of the eiheri ia ihlilield.SeeW.T. Stace
Mystichrn and Philosophy. Losilon 196), p. DHn;
Caniinon Charaeterhiies of Coninwn CieracteriaUcaortniroverlive Myaiical
raitovcnive Mysital
tiptricntes
1. The Unifying Vision- all I. The Onitaty Conscioastiew, ihe One, the
Ihisp arc One, Void, pure consciausneis.
J. Nooapalial, non temporal.
bension of the One os an inner
tubleclivUr, or life. In oil Ihinga.
], Sense of objeclivlijr or leaiiiy. 3. Senseofobiettivily or reality,
e, lllesscdncea, peace eic, 4, Dletsednen, peace etc.
5. rcelinsoflheliolj.aKifil,

(i. ratidoileallly.
7. Alletedbynjslieatobe ineUl
 i llR EMPIRICAL PROOF TOR tHE EXISTENCE OF GOb 255

It must be however, that visions and auditions do not belong to

cinpliasizcd,
vision of Christ on his
mystical phenomena. A
vision of the Holy Virgin or St. Paul's
have the voices heard by
way to Emmaus arc thus not mj^tical experiences. Nor
with mysticism. That visions
Socrates, Mohammed, or Joan of Arc anything to do
to mystical experience, arc also gcncra!]y assumed by
and auditions do not belong
the mystics themselves. Some of them, like Teresa of Avila, Iiad themselves visions.
But she did not regard them as mystical experiences. And John of the Cross in His :
"The Ascension of Mount Carmel, tried to show at some length that visions are an
obstacle on the way to illumination.
Empirical experience is usually assumed to mean sense experience. This
is so be-

cause the overwhelming majority of empirical facts arc provided by the senses. But
mystical experiences are also empirical, because by empirical is generally understood
something that is directly experienced by a pcrcciver, as mystical experiences are.
Such an empirical fact, be it a colour-experience in sense-experience or a feeling of bliss
in mystical experience, can then be given various interpretations by tlie intellect in
order to understand it and pcrhnps maVe it fit into some theory or hypothesis. The
validity of any interpretation can always be doubted, whereas a directly given empiri-

cal fact cannot. As with sense-experience, it is also difficult to distinguish between the

content immediately given and the inlerpretations put upon it ns far as mystical
experiences are concerned. But roughly it can be done.
In this article only tbe empirical contents of mystical experiences are discussed
and not empirical sense-data. The reason is that philosophers and theologians generally
agree that God, as Christians undentand Him, cannot be experienced by (ho senses.
With other concepts of God, however, He could be experienced by the senses, as in
certain tribes where the sun was held to be God, as already mentioned.
Some may think that when the mystics claim they have had contact with God,
this is a formulation of something empirically experienced. Some people may assume

that God is experienced in tinio mystica in a similar way to how a colour is experienced
by the eyes. If this was so, then the experience of God could be proved empirically
since God then was an empirical fact, given directly to the mind.
Eut it could also he claimed that when the mystics claim to have experienced
God, this is an interpretation of the empirical content of a mystical experience, i.c.,
that they put more into their experience than what is empirically justified. If this is the
case, the experience need not be a proof for the existence of God.
I will try to show that the mystics dainung to have had contact with God and
saying that their experiences arc a proof for the existence of God, are interpreting
those experiences and drawing condoaons from them which
arc not justified. To do
so, I whether the characteristics (1) to (13) mentioned abvave, which I
will investigate
have used to define God, arc empirically given attributes of the being some mystics
experience or not. When investigating this, 1 will not try to show that the .same
mystic
mentions all these characteristics as belonging to the being perceived
in one of his
experiences. 1 will only try to find out if each of the characteristics
at least once is
arnong the empirical attributes of the being experienoed by one mystic.
If, however, it
isimpossible that one or more characteristics, for some reason or other, can be the
empirical attribute of oiiy being perceived daring a mystical experience, or if no mysti-
226 DR- n.L. XTREYA SOUVEWIR VOLUME

cal expcrisnce gives siifficicnt information so that one can decide whether one or more
characteristics belong to at least one experienced being or not, then no empirical proof
exists for the existence of God, ax defined here, based on mystical experience alone.

My intention is to and consequently that the proof is not valid.

show just this,

1 will first discuss whether any bring the mystics experience can be theistic
or

not, i.c,, if it can be beth immanent and transcendent to the world.

None of the concepts world, '^(anscendent', or immanent is particular

precise, so I will try to define them.
By 'world one can mean everything that exists. In that case everything

existing according to the definition wouldbelong to the world, and it would conse-
quently bo impossible for an existing God to be transcendent to the world, when 1

define that something is transcendent to the world by saying that it then is independent

of and does not belong to the world.

Instead one can define the world as the physical universe, or as the totality of
both the physical universe and everything mental, that which Spinoza called modi
extension^ ZTiA modi cosUandi. I will here define Che world in the latter sense, thus
getting a eoncept world" being wider titan Hut used by physics.

Ax already mentioned 1 define that soruething is transcendent to the world by

saying that it then Is independent of and does not belong to the world. Some would
perhaps define ttansecndenl as outHde or. But this would involve the concept of
spaw, and most philosephets and scientists would probably deny that anything could
exist "outside the space of the physical universe.
11131 something is immanent in the world ! will understand to mean that it

belongs to thenotid.
1 will now try to show that no experienced being can be theistie since it cannot
be proved to be ttanseondenl to the world. Then it will not be necesjary to show
whether Ic is Immanent or not.

U must be stressed, however, both .at this point and later, that all eonelusions
reached arc only valid when the coneepu involved in the reasoning are understood in
the sense 1 have defined them.
To find out whether any experienced divine being is Iransrendcnt
or not I wiU
first W.T.Slacc calls the problem of objective
consider the problem
reference Bv
this he understands the question whether mysifcsi
experiences arc objective in the

iiniuuiiu
independent of his consciousness.
S1. I, in I. f,i

i 5M.Tiir
' " ' I'" '
,

"> ""=
"iSi* f., io
What the Riyilic experiences,
eilbetinhbownmindorinmfM.... -

'*
divine. But he cannot know how ih divine
being nrimnates nnd com^T,
 THE aiPlMCAL PROOF FOR THE EXISTENCE OF COD 227

ztiVi assvmc that a subicctivc dement is projected into nature, in a way like

hallucinations.
But the experiences, both the extrovertive and introvcrlive ones, might also be
interpreted as being objective, caused by some divine being independent of tlie mystics

mind revealing its existence.

have here the same situation as often in science, namely that sonic facts and
Wo
experiences can be explained by various theories, And so long that no one can point
out a method to verify one of them and falsify the others, all theories have to be
,iccepted as possible solutions.
It is true that the mystics themselves usually describe their experiences as
objective. Some feel that this objectivity is sclf-cridcat. But such a feeling is no proof
that they really are so. Too often one philosopher has found something self-evident
which another has not. Just a subjective conviction with nothing else to support it is

no proof.
The great similarity of the descriptions of the experiences arc no proof for their

objectivity either, If it should be so tliat all mystical experiences arc basically of the
same kind, this can be explained by the theory that the processes in the brain causing
these experiences are the same for all mystics.
1 therefore conclude that there is no way to decide whether the alleged divine
being the mystics experienceis objective and independent of their mind, or subjective

and dependent, something produced by (He brain tike hallucinations and delusions.
But if it cannot be proved that any divine being experienced during unto
mystica is independent of the brain, it cannot be proved that ft is independent and
transcendent to the world cidier, since the bttun is a part of the world,
But on the other hand, it cannot be disproved that this experienced being is
independent of the brain either, so the possibility still exists that it also is independent
of and transcendent to the world. But a mystical cxpericnco in itself gives no solution
to this problem, and consequently it does not solve the problem whether any divine
being experienced by the mystics is Ihcistic or not Oiaracteristic (1) can thus not be
proved by mystical experiences 1 o belong to any being perceived during uiiio mystica.

Most mystics, who have bad

this experience of a divine being, feel that it is in
some sense personal in the same sense that the liuman mind is personal. Some mystics,
however, like Mcistcr lickhart and Shankata, claim that this experience of something
personal might develop into something impersonal Meister Eckhart claimed that what
he experienced and called God is personal. But what lie experienced and called the
Godhead is impersonal Shankara Iiad a siiiular distinction between the lower and
higher Brahman. I will here, however, only consider those experiences of something
claimed to be personal, and discuss if they reveal the existence of what might be
called a person.

As to the definition of a person, CD. Broad has probably one of the best. He
applies , the name person" to a substeuce if, and only if, it fulfils the foltowiog
conditions.

10. Objeciivity is also includ:,] in Siace's definitim.

2ia DR. n.L. meyA souvenir volomb

"(1) It must ttiink, feci, will, etc.

i.^ ^

must haw that peculiar kind of unity winch

i

(2) Its various coatemporaty states

we express hy sayine that they together make up a single total slate of

each
(3) Itssuccessive total stales must have that peculiar kind of unity with
in
Dth which we exptess by saytog ttat they ate so many different stages
the history of a single mind.
(4) ThesetWQ kinds of unity must be reoogniacd by itself, and not only by some
external observer (. .) it must not
. only be in fact a mind, but must also
know that it is a mind".*^

As regards the first oflheseconditions. it isdear that the being experienced by

many mystics has certain feelings, in the first place love. The mystic feels loved by this
being. St. Theresia wrote, for instance : the soul (. .) .is made one with God,
Who, (...) has been pleased to reveal the love that He has for us by showing to
eetlain persons the extwit oflliat love, so that wc may praise His greatness".'* This
being is also ofien cliaraclerized as having feelings like Uessedness and peace, and is

sometimes felt to have some kind of will. John of the Cross wrote And the super- :

natural union comes about when the two wiJU-tliat of the soul and that of God are
confounded in one."
It is, however, doubtful if ibis bring is thinking in the ordinary human sense.
The mystics agree that this expetkneed being is somehow beyond reason and does svot

conform to the common laws of logic and tliinking, Store for this reason mentions
paradoxicality as one of the characletistks of a mystical experience. So even if one
usumes that this being htis some kind of mental astivity, thamust beof su* a
peculiar kind tliot 1 don't think one ought to oil it thinking.

1 do net think that the conditions (2) to (4) on Broads list are fulfilled cither.
As regards (2) and (3) they asseit that there must exiy various differem states of the
eonseiousness of a being, cither contemporary or sueevssiva stales, if
it shall he justifieil
to eall this being a person.

But both the divine being experienced in the mind and in nature is uniform.
The
divine being is sn undiffwnlialcd unity"'* and emnot be divided in different stales.
That would imf^y muUiplioty. As regards the being experienced during
an introvertive
experience, it h no incaning to use concepts of time like
contemporary" and 'succes-
sive" about it since this kind of expiiictwi fe sonvehow
non-temporal. Meisier Eckharl
wrote 1 "And I icrcrore. If the soul is to know God. it must know him above time and
outside flS space .

It. Preid.e;.*!/., p. lAl,

11. Siice.pp. cll.. p.lU.
15. /4U.p,10
It. KtfiroiOCU'ecxttjvenneevpwitoee.oTOproVjl,
cal tlciBiM ui il, brins nen-setHory and nnifonn, and ih; h bcisres la the jmse wotld an
Vich of count Is ehanclnued by
mnltipUAy, fjjt vhlch is loieiprcied ss God In tf
CTttctvtnlve ttpericftco, H an aiditTctciiilaKd unhy"
15. Siire.XVTrxeWneiof iboMjtttei.Mpn YcrtV tJJ. p, m.
 THE EMPIRICAL PROOF TOR THE EXISTEKCE OF COD 229

as condition (4) in Broad's definition is concerned, no experienced being

As far

can recognise itself as having the two kinds of unity described in (2) and (3), since it

docs not have them altogether as Just shown.

If, however, one only considers the problem whether any experienced being
knows itself as a being, many mystics have believed so. Mcister Eckhart wrote ; "God
has perfect insight into himself and knows himself up and down, through
and through,
not by ideas, but of himself".
The conclusion is therefore that the divine being some mystics experience, often

has certain personal aspects, but U cannot be considered a person in the sense Broad
defines this concept.
The personal aspects of the Christian God is made somewhat complicated by the

doctrine of the Trinity, which claims that tiw Deity consists of three interrelated

persons.
Many Christian mystics do not mention the Trinity in connection with their

experiences. But Mcister Eckhart wrote : In this way the soul enters the unity of the

Holy Trinity, bat it may become even more blessed by going further, to barren
Godhead, of wliich the Trinity is a revelation.
Eckhart seems to mniniatn that the liighcst stage, where the soul is united with
what he calls the Godhead, the three persons have disappeared, only an "undifferenti-
ated unity, a "pure void is left.

Stace identifies the mystical consciousness only with tlus highest stage, the
Ondhend of Eckhart. 1 f it is accepted that the divine being of the mystics is experienced

during this highest state only (wJuch many will not), this being can never contain any-
thing about the persons of the Trinity, because an "undifferentiated unity cannot
reveal the existence of three persons. If it did so, it was no longer undifferentiated.
Another reason why the mystical consciousness cannot reveal the existence of the
persons of the Trinity is due to the fact that no being experienced during unio

mystica can be a person according to Broads definition of the term, as I have tried to
show. But for the same reasons that it cannot be a person, it cannot be a group of
interrelated persons either.
Some may of course doubt that Christian theologians would accept Broads
definition as valid also for the persons of the Trinity. But 1 think they at least impli-
citly have such a conception of these divino persons. For the Father and the Son I
tliink this is clear, although one cannot be quite sure conceroing the Holy Ghost.
But
1 think it is likely that Broads definition can be applied also in this case.
But even 'il ftie "lower stages oT^Ectharfs and other mystics experiences are
defined as mystical, it is diflinilt to understand especially how the Son in the Trinity
can reveal Himself during sucb an experiences, although Mcister Eckh.irt sometimes
wrote about some of his experiences as "the birth of Christ in the soul.
Jesus Christ is a historical person vrith a physical appe.irance. But it c.nnnot
be
his physical body which is revealed. Hiat would be a vision, which never belongs to
a mystical experience.
Then it could be arguedthat only some mental aspects of Christ are revealed.

16. Ibid., p. 146 17. /i/i. p, IJ6

230 DR. B.L, ATBm SOUVKKtR VOLUME
with Christ they must somehow refer
But to be able to identify these mental aspects
to the historical Jesus, directly or indtrectly. But
such references must at least partly
ideas do not belong to mystical ex-
be of a sensory nature, and sensory thouBhls and
give evidence of a contact with
periences. A mystical experience cannot ihercforc
Christ's mind. Just a feeling of n holy, divine, and awe-inspiring being is
not a sufficient

reason to identify this being with Christ

Ruysbroeck seems simply to ideoliryChrbtvrith that peculiar light (fotism) which
is seen during many mystical experiences, lie writes : "For in this darkness there

shines and is bnm nii incomprehcnubleli^t, which is the Son of God."'*

In another passage he jays : "And from our
proper ground, (...) there shines
forth an eternal brightness, which is the birih of ^ Son.*
U seems unjustified to identify this liglit with Qirist with nothing else to support
such an identification. These passages seem to be one of many examples about how a
mystic tends to inlerprcl what lie experiences in the terms of his own religion.

It i>, however, understandable that certain aspects of the being might be related
to the Holy Ghost, since the divine entity experienced is felt as holy and also has
certain personal and mental aspects which might be interpreted as ^longing to ft

ghost.
Hut the conclusion, as regards characteristic (2) in my rfeCnition of Cod, is that
no being experienced during unio mystka is a person. a$ defined by Broad, nr a whole
of three interrelated persons as described by the doctrine of the Trinity.
Mystics generally maintain that the being revealed to tliem is felt as holy. This
is an empirical attribute of the entity and it is also menlioncri in Si,uses definition of
amyslieal cxpetienM."' Mystics also universally agree that the being they experience
isa loving entity.* The characteristics (J> and (4} ihetcfure often belong to the being
experienced by mystics.
That God is the etcawr of the universe, can be understood in
various ways. One
might cilhec assume that God crealcd ilxe univerw long time ago. and that the universe
from then lias existed and developed according to its own laws, subicst
to more or
less interference from Ood.
Mystical experience* cannot he ken to support such
a view. That woiiklimply
his experience somehow could go boelc
that the raystre during
,n lime ceHinc informa
non a^ut the t of creation in the past Sud. ft hypothesis
seems too far-rctchcd,
But that God creates the world miehl be imerprcied
as meaning that God is

causing Its existence cvetv miHncni''. ! fin h,. .. .

exislcnw of the universe. He BConstnayui*oldins it\nd

that lie creating
om m^huhercf'^"'
/r every moment. John of
ft
oTcross h
"To understand, then, the nature of IhU union, it
f =

mus b^^ k n 11 r I* ,
is ptrscnl suhstsnllally
(p^ i cUL u, evL -^11,1 , r .
tinner. This kind of union beiwccn God ami
is in and by this union that
)Ie sustains Iheir being nndifTwcrc"T^ 'r'''!''

le. rvi.p, lO Wcniiantd in connection

with
 THE aiPIWCAL PROOF rOR THE EXISTENCt or GOD 231

As in Eckliarls writings, "creatures here stand from things as well as living

beings.
Ruysbroeck has his own understandingofGodas creator and writes : And there-
united above reason in a three-
by (during union) the created image (of Ruysbroeck) is
fold way with its Eternal Image, which is
the ori^n of its being and its life, and this

origin is preserved and possessed, essentially and eternally, through a simple seeing in

an imagelcss void.-^
In another passage he says : "And, through the Eternal Birth alt creatures have
come forth in eternity, before they were created in time. So God has seen and known
them in Himself, according to distinction, in living ideas, and in an otherness from
Himself, but not as something other in all ways, for all that is in God is God. This
eternal going out and this eternal life, which we have and are in God eternally, without
ourselves, is the cause of our created being in time. And our crc.itcd being abides in
the Eternal Essence, and is one with it in its essential existence".'*

Ruysbroeck is thus explaining God as creator in Platonic teems. All things exist
in God as Platonic ideas, and these ideas might become manifest and thus H thing is

created in the world. According to the first quote, Ruysbrocck's "created image
(during unio mystica) can perceive the idea of himself, which is the origin of his being.

Plotinusexplained how God was a creator by his socaDed emaaation-theory. He

held that God, or the One, created everything in the way that God "emanated cxis*
tence in a process that metaphorically can be compared with how the sun emanates
light, Directly emanated from God is (he spirit (tow). Below the spirit Is the soul

(psyche), and furthest away from God is the material world, being the outer limit of
Gods emanation. That part of creation which is higher than the sensory, material
world, Plotinus called the intelligible world. By a certain kind of introversion (medi-
tation) person could be able to experience tbis intelligible world, and during utiio
mystica he could experience its highest stage, which is God.
As regards both John of the Cross, Ruysbroeck, and Plotinus, they all felt that
their experiences revealed to them something about how the being they called God,
was acting as creator, although they seem to have different conceptions about how this
creation was actually done. It is, however, unclear how much of this alleged insight
was empirically given and how much speculation and interpretation.
But even if everything about the creative process
was empirically given during
mysfical union, the Arc the empirical experiences of an entity being
question arises :

the creator of everything also rme, the creative process taking place in the way
t.e., is

the experiences reveal it ? Or arc they only illusiotK produced by the mind, giving no
insight about how the world has come into existence ? I think there are no way to
know this. IC some mystic gets a revelation during mystical ecstasy about how tho
being he experiences is creating, it is tvell conceivable that this revelation is false, i.c.,

that the process of creation in the world U otherwise than how he experiences it to be.
The question, whether a being experienced in unio mystica is the CTcalor of tlio

world, is dilfcrent from the problem whethec this being is holy and loving or not. As

m,p.m a4.5ni;i.,p.
232 5.L. ATBEYA SOUVEHIR VOLOMB

is sufficient to showthat these

ch.iraclcristics are empiri-
tsgartis ihc last problem it

cally given as belonging to an entity experienced. Here one only has to find out if the
icing Usclf has certain properties, and not to get iaforntation about this being s rela-
tion to something else,
not sufficient to show that the being lias a
Hot regarding the first pirditeta, tt is

particular Ciiaracteristic, in this case to be expcrlcneal as the creator of the world. One
mast in aildilloiv show thit this experienced wialion. between the being and the world
also is true in the sense (hat the experience is a corrtet rendering of how creation
actually tabes place.
As tan sec, no myslkal expecieoce can give a proof that the being expe-
far as I

rictiwd actually is the creator of the world. Ax was the case regartling the problem of
objective reference, different souliions arc possible, and there is no way to verify or
falsify one of them. Consequently characteristic (5) expressing that the being experi-
enced in unio mystica the creator of the universe, cannot be proved by mystical
experience.
The mystics generally describe the being they experience as the supreme pood.
But in order to eal! soraelbiiiB. X, the supreme good, it is necessary to know everything
good, so that one can compare and in this way come to the conclusion that X is the
lupfeme good of (hem. But since one docs not know whether any Y exists or not, whose
goodness is greater than that ofX. it is not justified to call X the supreme good,
The only thing tlie mystic for this reason is jiistified !n saying, Is that ho lias never
experienced anything'cqual in goodness to what he knows from uiiio mystica. But
whether an even higher goodness cxlsu, he cannot know, Tlierefore charactcriilic
(.6) cannot be ascribed to any being experienced in mystical union.

Anotlwr question h if moral perfection

can be astfibed to this being. The pro-
position ; "X is morally perfect' (a), can be understood in various ways.
Qao of them
is: X is fflcfally perfect only If no attribute belungs to X
which ts morally imperreci"(i).
Most mystics would clVini that as fat as thth oxpcfSenws were
eoncemed no
attribute belonging to the being they experienced was momily imperftcL
If one further
assumes that no expccienscd being has more attributes tiian these mystics
realised the '
being they experienced would be morally perfect in sense (IX
A few mystks have, however, claimed that sAal they experienced was somehow
'*
momily indilTetenI, beyond good and evil, Themrun- j
support
the view ttvit their experienced being motafly perfeut in sen* (i).
Butcan also be interpreted in Ihb way
{fll
; "X is.nnii n.
actions performed by X
m* inMaHy perfeeT (ii) Here ilii: BrnWem ^ ^
""
prrrormed by X. in uur care the alfc^ cxneZc^
tiin mystics wnuid ssy that this briny
w Most Chris-
which ihr
., 1. .h. ,u, lit^ S'"reproach. But apart from
the uU of the mystics dweetJy raspuea bv ilu-ir
cannot tell which actions in ihe *Pfrienccs themselves
worM nn- nf.rf

wlitihtr IhU Jtvine bring nnoi for thi. reason tell

i. nurall. nerTon r
...rn,,
 THE tMPlMCAL PROOr TOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD 233

probably all Christians bcltc\-c that it, whidi they call God, docs.
The question wlicihcr any mystics experienced being has the characteristic (7).

will afterwhat has been said depend on how one understands that a being is morally
perfect. If (i) is used, most mystics
would say that the being they experienced was morally
perfect. But a minority would not do so. If (ii) is applied, one cannot
know if this being
is morally perfect or not, because
there is no way to know its actions in the world

apart from those of the mystics directly caused by their experiences.

The two questions whether God has been incarnated in the historical person Jesus
Christ and whether He has addressed Himself to niaa through the Bible, are both
questions involving sense experience. The mystical experiences cannot for this reason
have any direct reference to Christ or the Bible, since they do not contain anything of
a sensory nature.'*
It can, however, be argued that the message of the mystical experiences, when a mys-

tic tries to put it into words, arc similar or identical with the central message of Christ
that for this reason there might be a connection between the being
and the Bible so
expcriroctdinunlomystica, by Christian mystics called God, and Jesus and the Bible.-
Some might say that love towards others is the core of Christs and the Bible's
message, and the mystical experiences arc usually felt by the mystics to give an urge in
that direction.
Butmessage that one shall love one's neighbour has also been preached by
the
many philosophers and believers in non-Christian religions, sonjc of these persons exis-
and the Bible. So that fact alone is no sufficient reason to assume
ting before both Jesus
any relationship between the historical Jesus and the Bible on the one hand and the
being experienced by the mystics on the other. TTie mere fact that Jesus and the Bible
and this being have one or more characteristics in common, do not prove the existence
of any particular relationship between them.
Jesus himself lias not said anything which could support a lljcory of any relation-
ship between him and the being experienced in unio mystica. From the available
sources there is no special reason to believe that Jesus was
a mystic, tn the Gospel of
St. John there ate certain mystical-sounding phrases, as when Jesus said "I and the ;

Father are one, and I am in the Father and the Father in me. But these
:
phrases

need not be interpreted as relating to a mystical experience. They only show that tiie
author of the fourth gospel was acqualDted with certain common phrases of the mystics
of bis time. But none of these S3;^ngs is found in the other gospels.
To sum up ; Mystical experiences do not ptove the incarnation of God in Christ
nor 'ftAl Gwli '46iwedftViDsdI to man throng the BMe
{^. This is mainly
so because a proof would require that mystical experiences contained references to
sensory data, which they cannot do, but also because there is no evidence of mystical
experiences in the writings about Jesus, perhaps not even in tlie whole Bible, although
certain passages might be interpreted as referring to mystical experiences.
Christians also maintain that their God is unique. Only one God exists. Tf

the being experienced in that dass

of Dqrstical experiences assumed to represent a know-

25. Axatready mentioned regarding

Ibe exltovertire expricnee^, the mystical element in item
whidi constitutes the mystical experience proper.
isofa non-sensory nature, and itb lft
234 DR. B.t.. ATREYA SUUVENTR VOUW

God. identical wiiti the Christian God, this being has to be the same in all
ledge of is

X reveals itself to the

mystic
the experiences in this class- It cannot
be so that the being

p and tlis king y to the mystic qwtbm the class juitwentioncd.

no way to fcnow if a being e.xperieflced by the
But my view is Ural there is

bcingy. wpericnced by (he mystic q, and that

tliercfore
mystic p, is identical with Ihc
different
one cannnt know if the mysiks experience one unique being, of a irmllitnde of
beings. Ibis is so within any eSass of mystical expericnas emt migM
choose. Ml
similarities
one can say is Ihnt (ho descriptions given by p anti q mi'glit indicate certain
basically
bcliswri X and y. The reason is that mystics agree that their experiences arc
inefl'ablc. This characteristic also included in State's and others* dciinifions
of a
is
mystical cxpeiknce. Tlicse experiences cannot be caught in the nets of words, as
Zen -Buddhists say. What h most important cannot be expressed. Anti since thercloic
v.-igiie appro.ximations ate the only sources available for Ihc student in this field, he can
nescr find out if aoy two experiences or the Iwings experienced in tliem are identical.

He can only point out certain simUatities iu the desetipUons. If there are many sintila-

rlUcsin the descriptions made by, for instance p and q, ha might suggest the hypothesis
that the beings xand y are idcnlical- But he cannot know if this hypothesis is true, and
eooseqvtntly he d<j not know if p end q have experienwd the same bcln|. But that
must be Ihc case if they both claim to have cxpcricnccil the Christian God.
Since (here is no way lo know if any two being experienced during tmio myetiea
ate mdentical, mystkat experiences of a divine being, by mystics called God, eantiol
prove that they ically ate a realisation of the one, unique, ChxUtkn God (HH-
That God is omnipotenl, one might define that He is capable of bringing about
any event In the universe. Many mystics would say that their experiences convinced
Um that the beiag they realised and called God is omnipotent In so far as the
txlilcnce uf everything is concerned- If (his being withdrew flom the world, Jt would
cease to exist, This, however, is not suWcieiiuo call u being omnipotent. It must also be

able lo make cvcfythmg happen between exisring things. Thofxct shat many nyrtiea
el.sim this being to be present in all things does not imply that it also has power to do
anything with them. And even if it had power to do everything it wanted, there would
k no way lo verify iWv fed, sintc one does not know which sciions this being
wants
fodfl. Therefore mystical experiences <fo not give any proof for the
omnipotence (11)
of ihis cipeiierccd being.
There ate variosB sspccls of'bemysfieal experiences indicating
that the being
experienced is feit as omniscient.
r.m itoc .1 Ita TOilta VII-ft-o--apfc, n,
i.,, b,
ttal He -*.1, umotk. uniting c b.
sinjt lgg. EIA. Urn, -a i , f, ,g ,

"Du sprichsi .
das Crosse kann nicht in dcro Kteinen
sein
Den Himmel schlcusst man nidil ins EidcnwpEchcn tin
Kfimm, scIiauderJunefrenKind,
So sichvi Ju In dcti wie^n.
Den Himmel und die Etd'md
llundcTtWelienliegen.*
 THC niPiiucAL psoor roR the existence of cod 235

For a non-mystic it is hard to know how this strange idea sliall be understood,

but it dearly has some relevance to the ptdhkm of omniscience.

Since the mystic and the experienced being is united during unto mystica, it
might be suggested that this divine being also is participating in this "all-in-one-

expericnce and thus is omniscient as well.

But the theory breaks down on the fact that it is impossible for the mystic to

know ir everything in the world is contained in an object, Tiiat wDuld require that he
knows everything that exists, he already was omniscient, so that he can know
i.c., that
is not omniscient, there is always llic
if everything is in the object or not. But if he

possibility that objects unknown to him are absent, and consequently he cannot know if
everything existing is in the ohjcct. And since it is fair to assume that no human being
is omniscient, this "nll-in-onc" -experience cannot bo proved to represent any
omni-
science either, and thus it cannot be the base for a theory that this experienced being

U all-knowing.
Anotbet theory providing tWs being tvitli ommscience, might be grounded on the
fact that this being during extrovcftivc experiences is experienced in all things. One
could then as.siiiT.c that it also knows all things it is in. But such a theory is based on
the aasumption that this divine being not only is, but also has cerUin perceptive abi-
lities, i. c., that it also can get knowledge about the things it is in. But I don't think it

possible to know if this is the case or not. Therefore this view cannot be more than an
unverified hypothesis.
In addition it is doubtful if the mystic from his extrovertive experiences can
infere that this divine being ts in everything that exists. He only experiences it in
everything he perceives, but whether it also is in anything outside his field of per-
ception he cannot know.
Another common view of mystics is the idea of the correspondence between
miioeosmos, or as the mystics set it, between the inner self of man and the universe.
Such views were for instance well-known in medieval alchemy.
This theory could also be the possible base for a theory of omniscience. Accord-
ing to most Hindu philosophers the self, or Atman, is identical with Brahman, the
world-soul that some call God although it to many seems to lack personal aspects.
If you thus know your self, you also know the basic, divine essence of the universe.
And since the self in unio mystica
is united with the divine being it experiences, one
might assume that this being also knows the basic structure of the universe.

Another question 35 if this bfing also would know everything jn the sense
world., the world of AfJyii in Indiatt tncmusalo^, 'Khk.b dews wst btloTij to tt* basic,
structure of the universe.
But even if this being should have some knowledge of the sense world, one docs
not know if it is omniscient and knows the whole sense world for the same reason
that the argument of omniscience fitmi the "aU-in.-oiic'-expcriencc had to be rejected.
To know if this being is omniscient, the mystic must himself be so to be able to
decide if this being is omniscient. And sin the mystics cannot be supposed to have
this ability, they cannot know if tlus being is omniscient either.
For these reasons it does not seem possible to prove that the being experienced
is omniscient and that the characteristic (12) belongs to it.
236 DR. B.L. ATRRYA SOrVEOTl VOLUME

being experienced is basically un-

Mystics agree, however, as slated, that the
tlicreforc be ascribed to this
fathomable and inexpressible. Characteristic (13) can

mystical expert-
My final conclusion based on all these discussions will be that
ences do not prove the existence of God,
when God is defined as I do here. ^

no mystical experience can prove that the being experience

As we have seen,
has rtam persona
is iheistic or that a person (as defined by Broad), although it
it is
Mystical
aspects. But these aspects cannot be
explained hy the dogma of the Trinity.
experienced being the cieator of the worl^
experiences cannot prove either that this
that it is the supreme good (although It mi^l be char^tenicd
good), tha it has
Jesus Lyrist and has spoken to man
been incarnated in the historical person
And finally the nno
through the Bible, orthat it is omniscient.
unique In the sense that it is the same for
be proved by these experiences to bo
of experiences investigated here.
mystics within that group
regardless of the fact (hat some mystics have
As 1 have tried to show, this is so
hetonged to the being they experienced.
claimed of these charaeterisiics have
tliat some
experiences which are not justified
Inmy view these claims a interpreutions of iheit
experiences.
on the basis of the empitieol content of Uic
It Is, however. Justified to describe this
being as holy, loving, basically unfsthom-

able to ordinary reason, and as possessing certain personal aspects.

If "moral perfection" is understood in the sense that X is roomily perfect only

ifno attribute belongs to X

which U morally imperfect", then this being would be
legarded as momlly perfect by most mysiks.
If, however,. "monl pctfcclion" is coneeived as i "X is morally perfect only if
all actions performed by X
are morally perfect", then mystical experiences
alone
eannnl decide wlicther any experienced being is morally perfect or not,
According to uftiomysliea could Jive an expetienee of a lioly, loving, and
this,

barieally irmiional and unfathomable being,

in some sense morally perfect and
with
rertain personal aspects. Many experiences of such a being are also
recorded. But
such on experience would in no way prove the existence of the Christian
God-as He
has been defined here. Although 1)11 the ehataclcrisiics of the being
just mentioned
also belong to the arislianCod.Ibcyaienolsuffldent
to make up the ChrisUans'
coucep of God. Pcihaps most important is the fact that
it cannot
be excluded that

But after having denied that mystfcal

experiences cive a nmnr .i
of God, the qiKslion remains i Why^Tso ma^yTS
enees .ncinally are a realisation
of their God 7
eTairne ^ "P"*

thority.
 tMMRtCAL PROOF FOR THE EXISTENCE OF COD 237

Another explanation can be understood in analogy with sense perception. When

we in the sense svorkl see a thing with certsuft characteristics, we usually instinctively
regard it as having other qualities, as well that will make it the thing we tliink it is. In
the distance we might only see a shining object mowng on the road, and all the same
feel sure it is a car since cars me the only objects moving on roads with (hat speed.
We then instinctively assume that this object also has other qualities, like being of
metal, having windows, wheels, etc.
In the same way I think it often is with non-sensory perception. The mystic
experiences something as having certsun characteristics, and might instinctively regard
it as having also other qualities that are not manifest to him at the moment, but that
it Seems likely to have.

If he then feels in contact with a being having certain qualities he ordinarily

God, he will instinctively also attribute other aspects of God to
ascribes to this being,
and when he later tries to describe his experience, he says that it was a realisation

of God.
This socalled empirical proof for (he existence of God is perhaps the one of the
many proofs, known from the history of philosophy which today seems most convin-
cing. But in my view it cannot be regard^ as valid any more than the other proofs
recorded from the centuries past. A belief in (he Christian Cod cannot rest on mysti-
cal experiences alone.
 31

The Concept of Sarvodaya

Gandhi is said to new words wliielt Indicate his whole approach.

hive given u$ two
TIBy are Sat>a5r<7/KJ and Sanadaya. The word Satyagraha* is certainly his own, coin-
ed as it was to express the nature ofhb non-violent movement in South Africa to
get some justice done to bis countrymen. It distinguished his movement from what
was termed passive resistance. But it cannot be sinelly said so of the other word
Servodaya, which means the uplift or the welfare of all. We find tho word to have
been used by the Iain teacher SamantUiadra in a somewhat identical sense centuries
ago, when he sold with such a person in mind as was above atiacliment and hatred t
fsttra tnlea atdft? trla i

{.Yflur path is the only one that can end all troubles, which is for all times and which
can lead to the uplift of all.)

When, however, Gandhi used this word to express the central ideas of Ruskins

Vnlo This iM, he did not know that the word had been used caiUcr. Ruskins book
docs not dirfcreiitiaie between the so-called, 'high' and now', and aa-ords ci^ual human
rights to alt. This impressed Gandhi so greatly that lie paraphrased it m a small
booklet under the title of Sanodaya.
But the word did not find currency during lits Id'elime except as the name of
the Hindi monthly started in 19)8 by the Gandhi Sewa Sangh as its organ under the
joint editorship of liaks Kaidknt and Dada Dharmadhikari. In its message to it,
Gandliiji spnke of the objective of Sarvodaya. Thus the word came
to denote the
ideal social order of GandW. It was, however, Vinota who gave the word its present
wide currency.
After thp death of Gandhi, his eonstniclive work followershad assembled at
Sevagram to discuss ihcit role in the new situafion after independence in Match 1948,
and they decided to havenn tHganizalion
and ideas of Gandhi. The <tuestion
>iH.< .n-
. -t-.,.
then arose
of those who subscribed
about the n
to the principles
organization.

'I. VInsis : Naga Abhtren, p. HT.

 THE CONCEPT OF SARVODAYA 239

Thecc was a difference of opinion, and ultimalcly the suggestion of Viroba, towards
whom all ejes had turned as the spiritual successor of Gandhi, prevailed and the
name of Sjrrodaya Samj was preferred to that of Satyagraha Mciiidal. Vinobas

argument was that the word Satyagraha had come to acquire a restricted meaning
in the sense of non-violent resistance and it exduded constructive work. Its adoption
under the circumstances would lead the people to expect resistance movement from
them. Later on, during his tours of 1948-49 in the various parts of the country, the
main themes of his discourses were the general aspects of Sarvodaya so that the gene-
ral public might come to understand and grasp its meamog, implications and signifi-
cance. A Hindi monthly too of that name was started in 1949 under the joint editor-
ship of Vinoba and Dada Dharmadhikari, and prior to the birth of the Hindi weekly
Bhoodan Yajiia, it was the chief vehicle of (he propagation of the post-Gandhi Sarvo-
daya thought. Thus the term came to acquire tlic currency it has today.
Sarvodaya, which stands for the good or the welfare of all, rejects the utiiitariaa
principle of the greatest good of the greatest number which was neither acceptable to
Gandhi nor is it so to Vinoba. Gandhi wrote, A votary of ahimsa cnimoi subscribe
to the utilitarian formula .... He good of all and die in the attempt
will strive for the

to realize the ideal, . . . The good of all inevitably includes the good of
greatest
the greatest number, and therefore, he and the utililarian will converge in many points
in their career but there docs come a lime when they must pari company, and even
work in opposite direction.'' Vinobas objections to it are that' it attaches importance
to quantity to the neglect of quality, and that into a society already torn into divi-

sions, it adds to more of majority and minority.*good It i$ also asserted that the
of no chimera but a practical possibility. To Vinoba, ones own good, the good of
all Is

others and the supreme good are all one. People may have varying opinions, but there
can be no conflicting interests^ This conviction is based on his view of the relationship
between the individual and society.
According to him, tiic prevailing opinions on the question fall into three groups.
One magnifies the individual, another magnifies the society and the third attempts to
strike a balance between the two. He, however, docs not agree with any of these
schools because they are based on the pcesumplion of duality between the individual
and society. He thinks it is not possible to rigidly separate the two. They together
constitute one whole and may be likened to a room which has been divided into two
compartments by means of some slender and light partition. When the wind blows one
way, one of them looks bigger, and when it blows the other way, it is otherwise. Their
rizes. ofli vAt fonri, thn-Y da?j!OT/iw.AR.dMsa.\vs,X \'?n. WAVKv?ij'(mi-i. Ijvtii'/rtnVy, vri

history the pendulum has sometimes been oscillating In favour of the individual and
at other times in favour of the society. It lias all been determined by the needs of the
lime and place.*
Both Gandhi and Vinoba emphasize the social aspect of man. The former laid

2. Cenff rente Prof(ft/lrr;;il}lilnit)

3. Nirmil Kumar Pose : Selecilartifnun Gaiidhl,pp. iS-V).
< nioAa rrorarAa'i, 7,4.3S,
J. 1959 t7"oA<r Preraeliarr, p. lOJianJ ilafijxn Sevafc of 17.4,49.
6. Tufts n 111* Gtifl.chapitr XVIJ.
 ,

140 pa. B.L. ATRtVA SOllVLNlR VOLOHE

greater ilrcss on dulies than on rights, and wrote, ( value individual freedom hut joi

mu?t not forget that man H essentially a social being. He has risen to his resent
Willing submission
status by learning to adjust his iodivklualism to social progress, . . .

to social restraint for the sake of the

wellbeing of the whole society, enriches both the
spile of the fact that the
individual and the society of whidi one b a member.' In

individual was the one supreme consideration with

him,* he, albeii indirectly, pave
individual being pure, sneri-
support to the organic view of soctefywhen he said. Tlie
village for the district, the
Sees himself for the family, the latter for the village, the
district for the province, the province for the
nation, the nation for all. In Vinoba

there is slightly greater emphasis on sodety. Reference

social organism arc difcrl

and somewhat frequent, and he explicHIjr says that a mans own good lies in sacriheirg

everything for the society. The more lie sacrifices for others, the better he serves his

own good.**'

It does not, however, mean that Vinoba fails to rcaliie the importance of the
individual. According to him, the worth of a society is judged by tlie quality of its

individuals. It is like determining the quality of the milk by its butler-coefficient."

Vtoienvei, he admits that some pan of mans life is individual and some part is social i

and while the latter part is more exlcnsWc, the fonsttr Is more intensive. The depth of
the latter can never exceed Ihu of the former. An individual can only introspeet
during his private moments, which ate of great depth, derive strength and with its

aid to serve the society.* This amounts to a plea for the sanctity of the individual
sphere.
His conception of society os an organism also does not run counter to it. He
gives U his own interpretation. !o reply to the criticism that the analogy Is fraught
with danger in that i can be used for enslaving man, ha once said, "I use this simile
In different sense. In the society of my eonwpiion, an individual will have full
a
freedom, hike the organs of a body, the functions of Individuals also vary. Only
an
eye can petform the funclion of an eye. And he ftirther added, "No physical
body
would like to blind thceyesforitwouldinjure the whole body.""
He also conceded
the right of rebellion to an individual, provided U U fell as a duty. Hius
liis roncep-
lionof society os an otgnmsmdoesnot imply any unreasoaablE
subordination of the
jndividual to society, which is not to be identified
with the state. His advDcacy of
deecnuahiaiion is another safeguard against any
tyranny of the state.
rhus there IS no fuirdamental difference between
Gandhi and Vinoba, and what-

I'T:

7, N. K. Rmc : n/i, rl> n. laQ,

8. Ktf, p-J7.

to. ya/.iJo/9,9,S5
If. Taitt cn rV(7/fO|Shjp.
XXVIl.
12, Jiuta Travaefunno 34of|f]7
" - r,
 THE CONCEPT OF SARVODAYA 241

the needs of others, the old value had not been completely eroded and the glamour of
western life had not cast that spell on s that it has today. As against if, in the post-
altered in this country
war and post-independence period of today, things have greatly
resulting in stinking corruption, nepotism and
lack of patriotism and of Swadeshi

lack of social sense born of excessive individualism which is

the bane
s^i^it. It is the

of our national life today, and it is this which Vinoba is anxious to correct.

A question that arises in connection with the concept of Saevodaya is if it can at

alt be justified when wc witness conflict all aiotind, when struggle seems to be the law
of evolution and when it appears tliat one
mans meat is another mans poison.
Vinoba does not deny the existence of conflicts. Only he says that they arc not natural
and inevitable. They are man-made. One reason for this conflict is our wrong way of

life. In his own words, it is due to Ihc absence of life lived as By this he
means that our way of life is such that we properly discharge our debts to the three
if

institutions of body, society and the rest of the creation, there would not be any
conflict at all. To put it differently, it is a problem of proper limits and right ordering
of loyalties. In support of his views he writes, Hie man whose life is lived as }'q/na
belongs to everybody. In the same way, everyone feels that such a person belongs to
him, He is dear and acceptable to the whole world. To everyotve it appears that be is

their life, their friend, their comrade. One thing highly responsible for the absence
of such a life is the mammon worship and the rat race born of il.

Another cause of conflict, according to Vinoba, is tliat we think on the mental

plane. Our mind being a product of past history and old associations, it is a bundle of
prejudices and predilections, and these prevent us from taking an objective view, from
understanding the point of view of the other side. If we were to think on the supra-
mental level', all conflicts would disappear. It may, however, bo admitted here that
the concept of Sarvodaya is certainly indefensible if we take a narrow grossly materi-
alistic view of life. we take a spiritual view of man which Sarvodaya
But it is not so if

certainly does. A of sacrifice

the very essence of it.
spirit is

A third cause of wrong values which are both a cause as well as a

is tlic existence
product of the wrong structure of society. That is why to bring about a revolution, a
revaluation of all values, Vinoba and Gandhi favour a simultaneous
attempt to bring
about change both in the individual and tlic society.
But a question may well be asked here. Is not the concept of 'alJ too elusive and
abstract 7 It is. To tide over this dilGcuity, there are two formulae which should
be
taken together. One is, in tlie language of Vinoba, service of an individual, but
tlcyolian to society', ujm! the second h tknt we sbtKild begin wiifi /Ae last nurr.
7f h
his welfare, or (he antyodaya as it has been called, that should be our first concern.

14. TaltisoniheGUa (Second Ediiion), p.2S7.

15. fJ..chap.XVnt.
16. ;wi.,p. 256,
J7. Dhoeian Valna 0(21.8.59.
3S. Vinobs'i Introduction 10 K.C,MashniwaI:Ciimffi| and Afewj/eubH-Wf/teCaiutttan
itew ai ,

19. llnoba ke Wusr. Vol. I (|9J4 edition), {i. 160.

20. Proceedingj of Ran Sarvodaya Saramelan (Hbdi).
242 DR. BX. AlRBYA SOOTEHtfe VOLUME

Theformetwouldchsckusfromtnkinganynarroworscirish view, while the latter

ptimacy. Gandhi once said in off-quoted sentences, Reca

provides iis with a test for

have sn and k
the face of the poorest and the most helpless nun whom you may
yourself, if the step you contemplate is going
to he Of any vissW him. V/iU he he able
Will restore him to a own life and destiny ?
control over his
to gain anything by it ? it ,

la other words, lead (ojnwoyorsdr-nilc for the hungry and nlso-spiritually

will it

starved ntiliions of our countrymen? Then

you will find your -doubts and yourself

melting away-^'
equality
Saevodaya, which implies equality in every sphere of life, not matliematlcal
system of education whicli. while favour-
but one based upon discernment, advocates a
able to the inugral development of an individual, would
do away with the distbetipa

of iTiish, and Tow'. Its process is such as to labouriio the intellectual ami to iatelle(>
tualize the labourer.*^
,
Theeoonomk and political deantralizathn advOfalcd by, it

would make lan individual a greater master of himailf and help in his helter. develop-
the
ment.' It, stands for a planning wWch begips ftem below, and which considers
development of life to be the end and lhal of natural resources to be only a means,'
U wants such ttansrQftnatiqn of the wial structure through non-violent methods as to
leflKt'appraprUlc valuesornSamdaya society. A non-violent process of revolution
permiM mrstfikes (obe made nvili least harm, if any, to individual and society. ,

But, as already pointed out, it b not only a change irs the social structure that

ean lead to the welfare of all. The Individual too has to be changed, and for that the
Sarvodaya thinkers emphasize tbevarious ethical principles like truth, non-violence,
non-stealing, neti.posseniott, etc. It b waoticssne.ss on the pan of the people that, can
provide the basic necessities to all so essentia] for ilicir welfare. Today in iJic wqrJd
(here is a growing realiration (hat .a high tUndard of life has a limit and beyond that
' '
It Is neither namiainAblc nor can it prove conducive to work! peace.
Hiawevcf, wUhirt the confines of the general princii^es laid down,
the Sarvodaya
thinkers adopt a pragmatic altitude. They lay down no detailed prescription for all
peoples and for all limes. To li^ly insist on the pattieuhr
application of any principle
means Intolerance and clahniog infalUWIity.The Sarvodaya thinkers are totally
opposed
ID such alliludci. Tljcirs !bc search for Cruth and not
a claim to have attained if.
Principles rigidly applied ran prove as
dchumaniring as mechaiiizalion.
Gandhi attempf-
edloTnakematiiheeenlreofhis thought ond activities, and
this explains his sor

must try
:c tlie truth on the other $Mc.*

ibtenible loliace the eriyiiul

soureeofti arion, bol
onon ofiht emrsKRorCanlMSuiudhi it ti ortm rittU and Is

2. T>

, Iiu ,M,|, -Hk. mi t.ib. 11. on,

 Max Muller : India, Europe, and
the Origin of Religion

IntroduciJon

Probably more than any other nineteenth cenfaiy European scholar interested in Indian
the Right Honourable Fri^rich Max Miiiler js weII>kno^n and wijiely
spirituality,

^mirecl in Iqdia. During 19ti3 and 1964, while I was studying in Banaras, I frequently

came across expressions of the high esteem wUti which Indian scholars have tended to
view ,
Max .
MtiUer.^ Typical swh admiration U ll\,e description
of him in the P,ubH>;
shcrs Note to The Chowkharaha Sanskrit Studies reprint of The Six Sysims of htdim
Philosophy : "the most illustrious of the Oriuotalisls from the West, Prof. Max
"
Muller. . ,

What does not seem to be as well-known in India is the Miillcr, while drawn to
the East, was a complex person who was strongly influenced by a very un-Indian
European intellectual climate. Indeed, bis explanation of the origin and nature of reli-

gion, shares much of the fundamental anti religious. antimetapliysical, positivistic cul-

tural context of nincleenlK century Europe. After a bjief dElineatton of several aspects
of Mullers relationship to Indian ^iritnality, we shall analyse tliis cultural context of

nineteealh century Europe and shall liven analyse Mullers specific explanation of the
ori^n of religion,

hiUller and India

I Max is certainly deserved if for no other reason than that

Miiller's reputation in India
e, more than any other European scholar, made Indian spirituality avadable to tlie
Vest. His Sacred Books of ihe East represents a landmark in the Western study of

1. I vronld liVe to taVe this opporraniiy to expnn my Erztitude to Dr. 11. L, Atreya. While I ntj
Mudyiog in Banatai. 1 used to Visit Dr. Atitya athtsheras in the Lanka section of Varanaii.
Alihoush IwasayoongsiudctU andacorapletesliaoesrto him,Qr. Aueya extended to me ^
MfiK or warmib and kindness and a remarkable lettuoaUy of the spirit.
 :

244 DR. Tl.I- Atam SOUVEKIR VOUJMB

The publication, in 1875, of
Iho history of icIiBions anil comparalive
religion.

of tlic great series of the Sacred Boob of the East, under the editar^h/p of Ma.s
reader;
Muller, made the Hindu scriptures available for the first time to the ordinary
is the proper place to pay homage to the great scholar
who did so
and here, perhaps,
barriers of pre
much not only to populacize Sanskrit leamiag, but to break down the
judice and misconception between East and West.*
Veda the
This renowned Sanskrit scholar Wt that he had discovered in the Jig
primordial form of religion. In hfe philolo^I analysis, Mliifer attempted to ondentard

an Indo-European form by tradng it back to its Aryan, Vedic original"

religious

manifestation. In 1891, he claimed that the most important ditoovery which has been
made during the tvincteenih century with respect to (he ancient history of mankind
. > .

was th'is ample equation : Sanskrit Dyans-pilar Greek Zens pater Latin Jupiter-
Old Horse So importaotwasthisfinding, according to Muller, ihat Andcnl
Tyr.

histflty has b^me as cotnpfctciy changed by that oue discovery as asironomy was by
the Copetnican heresy.*
Mullet repeatedly expressed hia high r^td for Indian philosophy

U I were to ask myself from what literature, we litre in Europe, we who have
been nurtured almost exoiustvely thou^ts of Creeks and Romans, and of
an the
one Semitic race, the Jewish, may draw
that corrective which is most wonted, in
order to make auc inner life more pecfect, more comprehensive, mote univet*
sal, in fuct more truly human, alife, not for this life only, but a transfigured and

eternal Ufe-agaln, I should point to India.*

He was especially fond of VedJnb, which he described as a Kystem in wliich

human speculation seems to me to have reached its very acme. MUller compared
Vedinta favoucahly with die most highly regarded Western philosophtcal systems i

U is surely astounding that such a system as the Vedinta should liave been slowly
elaborated by the indefatigable ami intrepid thinkers of India thousands of years
ego, a system that even now makes us feel ddy, as in mounting the last steps of
the swaying spire of an amaent Gothic cathedral. None of our philosophers, not
ereepting Heraclitus, Plato, Kant, or Hegal, has ventured
to erect such a spire,
never frightened by storms or lighlenings. Stone follows
on stone regular suec-

1 >(.0. Rawlinwn. India In Csreptan Ucralureandnouthi,"

Yy O.T. C.mil (London : CWoid U,y,n, P., t9S|).V
in
^
Vif Lrraev at hJla edil
H.
^ Kilnioa (London : Lonemanj and C
ltn)r'r
4. TOipvitlctwdt7 hdhiliihinB,rrto.MifoipAy. vol.t
(London ; Ceora: Allen
j' *'*^'*" Wrrrrn Thkihi [Loedsn : Oiford Univ
viy'rixn? IW) p
nOnafi, (Londoo Longman,. Orceo .nd C
;

**,*'**>' IndiS, will, all ll advanlt

MddiudtiMutt.ihaiwtb.richierctepmeBiofpkllOvjphial ihoueMi,
wteanwaieli
'Wi wVen place," A rtpiim enhUwoTthaib.
rjML,ldinViaaa,li,o1.XVIomeCbowlhamb4 Sinitr.l
Siudis,-
 Max moller : India, europ^ and tub origin of religion 245

ston after once the first step has been made, after or.ee it has been dearly seen that

in the beginning there can have been but One, as there v/il! be but One in the end,

whether we call it Atman or Brahman.*

The Cultural Seliing

Many Western scholars, who may know of Indian spiriloality, often associate Max
little

Miiller with tlic birth of the discipline of RelighnsKissemchaJt. Many believe that
the expression i?c/fjrifMi5U7sjenmr/ia// was first used fay Miiller in 1867 in his Chips
front a GerfliflH Workshop. By using the term JlMigimiswisseHseha/l. Muller wanted to
emphasize that this new discipline would be freed from tfie philosophy of religion and
from theology. This discipline would be descriptive, scientific, and objective;
especially
itwould avoid the normative and subjective nature of previous studies of religions.
The German term fieligionswissensc/m/i has not been given a generally acceptable
English ct^uivalent. Scholars in the field refer to the discipline by such titles as the
science of religions, 'the history of religions, comparative religion, the pheno-
menology (psydiology, sociology, etc.) of religion, the study of world religions.
It appears that the creation of Relsgionswcsscnicftfr/l as an autonomous discipline

was largely a product of the thougfit of the Enlightenment. Often the Enlightenment fs

characterized as rejecting in the light of scieniific and intellectual progress. Certainly

this is tho strongest ourreot in French Encyclopaedism : homo religiasus is the slave of

superstition, still iuxprisoned by the yoke of religion. One recalls Diderot's image
of tho Hydra of religion :Deism had cut off a dozen heads, but from the one head
it bad spared all the others would grow once again; all forms of religion must be com-
pletely rejected.

Ernst Cassirer has shown that this characterizatioa of the Bnlightonment is ex-
tremely misleading. It is true that the authoriiy of revelation was undermined, but most
thinkers accepted the deistic nolion of reason and proclaimed a new form of religion.
For many, "the fundamental objective is not the dissolution of religion but its trans-
cendental justification and foundation. In undermining the importance of revelation
and appealing to "the inviolable, eternal Jaws of reason, the Enligliteoment thinkers
usually emphasized the notion of religin nattiralis, a universal religious quality under-
lying all particular religious manifestations and known through reason.^
However, if the later scholars accepted this notion of religio naturaUs and the
sufTicicncy of reason in understanding icli^on, should be noted tliat it was in terms of
it

the normative judgments of reason that reli^ous forms were characteristically ascribed
to the earliest prescienlific stages of cultural denrelopment. Indeed, when phenome-

5, TIicSix Srsfemio/ImlinTiPMIorepfty.p. 1B3. Mfillcr <S)<1 not olfti such statements ax the views
ofsome deiaehed and dispassionate scholar. On page 193, lie wrlies that Schopenhauer was
the lastman to witc at mndom, or to sdlowhinisen to go into ecslasies over so-called mystic
and inarticulate thought. And I am nrilber afraid dot ashamed to say that I share his enthu-
siasm for the Vedanta, and feel indebled lo it for mucli that has been helpful to
oie in my
passage through life.
6. Ernst Cassirer, TTie Philosophy of she jif/jAfnime/i/, translated by FritzC A. Koelln and
Iitnes P. Pettesrone (Boston ; Bencoit Piess, 1961), pp. lllff.
246 DR. D.L. ATtinA SOUVtNIR VCtVKE

Rudolf Otto. G. van der Lceuw, and Mira

Eliadc, insist
noloB'sts of tcligicm, such as
religious, they aij: .reacting
vpon ithe qrnnploiity ,and Ihcunijscncracharactiroftiic
Enlightenment.
againstwhat thcy.consider a ralionaHstic Was inheiited from tlic
true that Migios>riaeascfiaft grew out of the scientific and rational atti-
If it is

tude of the Enlightenment, it is equally true that sucli a field could liave Ixgun only

after being supplied with a body of empirical data: dneutneuts were

submitted on

primitive cultures; the fietd of Oricntallsni.be^ii to flourish; Indo-European

philosophy

and comparative.linguisfics were cstabli^cd. \ . . . . ,

We can now formulate the. major problem whidi led to the birth of ifcfi'gio/ii-

ivisseiiJcfia/z.iSincc the scholar no longer had rccoum: to tiic norms of revelation and
traditinnnl religious authority, Itovr was one to understand and evaluate, this multitude

of recently accumulated,."religious, data'7 The. direction the nesy discipline took in

dealing witlr this problem .can lar^y be seen in the cultural; eoiitexi of thu period :

"it is Remarkable to note that thpbe^nning of Comparative Religions took place during
the tpid({Ic of the ninetcentir century at the very height of the materinlistio and posiiivi-
Stic propaganda."
Such a cultural eonteat can be witnessed in Auguste Comte's Coura i!c philvsvphlc
.

pojWv,in.whiehComteronnulalcdhi5lb(tyorlhekwortlic three stages, with

the theological as tlie lowest slate of dcwlopmcnf. "This Positivism treats religion
as a dated .point of view, a primitive sltuctute in the evoliilkm of
man.''* The posi-
tivist tended .to regard religion in the
modern world as "merely a survival from man's
primitive past,and .doomed to disappear in an era of scierKC and general
cnligtenm'en't."
, ThBpoRitivisiio.ond materialistic viewpoint w.is
combined with a belief in
evolutionism, In 1859 D-arom's Origin nf Sprfie)
appeared, and scholars began to Ici'oic
for ether forms of evoUrtmn.i-cluding the evolution
of religion. Characteristic of the

.u and "pro-
! K -
' r'''''e1"alpogtession from whit vv
Hi, vr . Tf heterogenenus. Significantly.
r^$.of
"cosmic evolution could be aecnun'tcd for
Sh.
W the phy,v.cisls__ laws, of
mfter and motion. His "progress by
evolution even cattic
to be viewed as soraethmg idigiousty profoond. that
hero was a new cosmic concep-
tion based upon the nperalwn of Natural
law

Uni'trsil l..brery,
1957), pp.3S4-56.
 ;

MXX MULUER : INDIA, tUROl'R, AND THE ORIGIN OF RtLIGION 247

live Myihology, which some consirfcr the first important book in Religionsvrisscnsdtafi,

was published in 1856 by Milllcr. In 1871 Tylor published his moninncnlal PrlniUiyc
Culture,.in wliidi he tried to explain (he origin and evolution of religion.

Mircca Eliadc, in concentrating on the nineteenth century obsession with dclcr-

.

mining oTigins" (of languasc, the Indo-Aryan rac, culture, art, religion, etc.) offers
an explanation for this synchtonicily between.a matecialistic and positivistic attitude
and the ^cat interest in arcliaic and Oriental religions

One could say that the anxious search for the origins of Life and Mind ; the
fascination in the "mysteries ofNaluns": tlic urge to penetrate and decipher the
inner structures of Matter all these longings and drives denote a sort of nostal-

gia for the primordial, for the original, universal matrix. Matter, Substance,
represents the nbse/ute origm, the beginning of all things : Cosmos, Life, Mind
...... Through science, man will 'come to know itiaflcr even more corfcctly and
master it ever more completely. There will be no end to this progressive perfecti-
bility. One can unrnvcf from this enthusiastic conildence fn science, sfientiiic

edu'caiion, and industry a kind of religious, mcsrianlc optimism : man, at last,

will bo happy, rich, and powerful.
free,

Optimism inatched perfectly well wjth materialism, positivbm, and the belief
in an unlimited evolution.*

this then was the cultural conlext within which the autonomous, scientific
study pf religion began and flourtshod: the positivistic' approach to the documents
of religions ;
the attempt to arrive at the origin and first forms of religion ;
the search
Tor 'the "laws of evolution' of religion ; a tremendous enthusiasm and confidence in
the unlioiited possibititics that scientific progress in this field would yield.

Muller on the Oiigin of Religion

The first significant group in the hislory of religions" was composed of pliilogists ;
through the scientific analysis of language, they believed it possible to compcchetid
the nature of religion. These phflolo^sts formulated naturistic explanations of
religion which maintained that the gods were no more than personified, such as the
sun, the moon, and the rivers.
The leading proponent of "the nature-myth school was Max MUUer, for whom
the "key" to deciphering 'the essence of rdigion was comparative mythology, aod
this in turn could only be UDdensfood ly a method of pkjJoSogka! aaolysis. More
specifically, the key for Mtillef was solar mythology. Other comparative philolo-

giits 'emphasized the storra<luds (Kuhn), the wind (Schwartz), and the sky
CPceU).3

12. Biait, pp. 4142 ,

13. For n detailed account of

the ronRUlationorMuIler's view end his eonlroversies with Andrew
Lang, see M. Richard Dorson, **The Edipse ofSolarAtythoIogy, in M}'lh:A iSjm/flj/um,
ediKd by Thninas A. StbeoV iPbtladdphia c American Folklore Society, 1955), pp. 1S-3S.
 DR. TlX-ATBEYA SOUVENIR
VOLUME
248

MUller sKtus to endorse a traditional

em^st epistemological analysis : alt

derived from sense expcncnce. Hen

human thought, language, and knowledge
intuition of the divine or
idea of Ihe Inilnile is based upon the

the religious
ealeraal natorc on the human
bemgs. More
sensations arising from the forces or
natural phenomena, such
spccillcally, Muller submitted that it -was the mtongibfe
idea of the infinite.
as the sun or the wind, which provided human bein^ with the
idea had arisen, could only be thought
His thesis was that the infinite, once the
only be taken from what seemed majes-
of in metaphor and symbol, which could
tic in the known world, such as tlie
heavenly bodies, or_ rather their uttcibuf^
achieved
But then lost their ori^nal metaphorical sense .and
these attributes
autonomy by becoming personified as cleiries in their own right.*'

Religion arose when what was oti^ally only a name_ (noinen). metaphorically
expressing the naluralislic forces, through the illusion" of myth was given the status
of a god (mmieii).
Whenever any word, that was at first used roctaphorically, is used without a
cleat conception of the steps that led from its ofi^nal to its metapliorical mean-
ing, there Is danget of mythology whenever those steps are forgotten and
:

artificial steps put in their place, we have mylhobfy, or, if I may say so,
we,havo diswsed language. . . .**

Thus the whole supernatural world arose from the limitations, ambiguity, and
'Illusion of language myth b described a.x a "palhoiogiesl condition, a "disease
of language.*'" It follows, aceoniing to Max MUlltt, ihnt the only way wo can

14. Ik E Cvant-rtUehitd, VwrUt efPrhnliht KtO$laii (OxTorO Oxterd University Press, l$60i
^^ 1 .

tS, MaxMutUf, Ltthirttan iht af Uingmta {Sceoai Scries ; New York : Scribner, Atm-
sltong, and Cn,, U7J), r>p.
Williim A, Lena nrxJ I'.vnn 7. Vo|l. h
ComfonllifKillgleniAn Anthroralatlul
Atpraezh, edluil br LoM and Vugl (New Yeik: Harper 4Row, Publishers. 1958), p. IJ.
dneribe iMi hl/ib nf trlltiott asd lit tods Iticouah ot language" ia Ihc follgwing
itreis:" ., .(lieforctsof nature were tiamfonned by nun from atalfoct forces to personal
igenw. that isspirlu. . -Natural phcoomcrei came to be compared to human aeis anil
expres-
lions otiginally uicd forhuman acts came to be ipnlied on natural obpu.
. Afier
Ibis had , .

bren done, spiral had to be Immled to aecotw for Ibe ecuetlribuirri

to Ihcm
by iheir names
anbioaroscpinlheonsorgods.. .The .el.gion lareallyu fabrK
of errors. Tbeaupernuiuroi
world waiecmposed of beings created osl of unthinc." ^
IS, ErnilCasdrerrmpliaiiKslhcpoini that laoiDage,
for Mullet !
Is "inhcrcnily melaphorical,"
and It IS Ihe inhcrefli ambigupw." multins from
its iMbilil to describe Ihinp unequlvo-
brorIgiD nf tnylb and the binh
Ih of
ot the Bodi. See iargr,af< arA
I* JIfy;/;,

ettiing to note opBosue aopiDseliM fi,.. v,

lire
....
mjihoiw. wly presents thing! hi J thing, where-
anobsiraei and
>c IS, Coisirer points oni
that In "'^!b*r*tive
itcor.lhilfc[lh(BineiecnibceniiireaJoDt^ilinL.!ir". mythology" in the
Icihalem-p.irliomen Untoisiic '''"''R' ff basing myiho.
'^{utiumi. tk%
tni'l>icotpasfetnfdioAlv,irXr*.,iiqXf&^,Vprot,j,!r''"' wibalcnnosnwriynf'
 MAX MULLER I INDIA, EUROPE, AND niE ORIGIN OF RELIGION 249

discover the moaning of the religion of early man is by philological and etymological
research, whichiestoTcs to the names of gods and the stories told about them their

original sense.*'
For example, at first it seems that the Greek myth of Daphne makes little sense:

Apollo, a solar deity, chases Daphne, who escapes his embraces when she is transfor-
med by the Earth into a laurel tree. MOllcr resorts to philological analysis and submits
that the Greek name for laurel can be traced back to the Sanskrit name for the dawn.
Now the original meaning of the myth becomes comprehensible the sun chasing :

away the dawn which finally disappears in the bosom of Mother Earth.
The above analysis suffices to reveal how strongly Max Miillcr was influenced
by the cultural and intellectual setting of nineteenth century Europe. With other post-
Enlightcnmcnt scholars, he shared a tremendous confidence in the capacity of a scien-
tific and rational approach to uncover the nature of religion and of ultimate reality.

With most other European scholars of that period, Muller displays a rationalistic
attitude, marked by a sense of personal detachment, a cxJDCcrn for scientific objecti-

vity, and a positivistic approach to the relipous facts. He assumes that a scientific
approach, involving a scientific analysis of language, will allow him to comprehend
the nature of the origin and development of rcHgion. Unlike most contemporary
scholars, who emphasize the mythic as on autonomous mode of consciousness,
Muller formulates an explanation of myth which clearly rests upon a very narrowly-
conceived rationalistic approach.
Along with Tylof and most of his other European conlemporaries, Muller's
rationalistic approach led him to a negative view of religion, Thus we observed that
myth was explained as a disease of language and the religious supernatural world
was a result of the limllatioo and "illusion'' of language.
In his approach to religious data, MiiUer shared with other post-Enlightenment
scholars an obsession for origins and primordial forms. It is interesting to note
that Muller's concern with origins was not accompanied by the common nineteenth
century formulation of a unilinear progressive cvoKilionary account of the develop-
ment of religion.
Perhaps the characteristic which Muller shared with his European colleagues
and which most distinguishes his approach from contemporary Religioiiswissenscha/i,
certainly from contemporary phenomenology of religion, is his reductionistic ex-
planation of religion. A common contemporary methodological assumption involves
the irreducibiUty" of the religious. We must recognize the unique and sm'
character of the religious. The spiritual must be understood on its own plane of refe-
rence. As Rudolf Otto, loachim Wach, G. ven der Leeuw, Mircea Eliade, and others
insist, To try to grasp the essence of such a (religious) phenomenon by means of phy-
siology, psychology, xociology, econraua, Hngubtics, art or any other study is false ;

18. Evans-Pritcliard, p. 22 .
19. In his Chips frotn(2 German IVorhskrp (New York : Senbners, 1859), vol. I, p. 4g, Max Muller
wiles that We shall leam that religioai in their most ancient from, or in the minds of their
aulhors, reeenerally free from many of the blemishei Ibas attach to them in laiertimeJ.
2S0 r>R. BX. jMREVA SOlfVEWB VOLWIE

ioh-the element of tiie Eacred.'"

it misses tlie otib unique and irrciudWc clement
rorttity esplamtions of religion
tended to Oc stro.ngiy
Almost all nlnclcenfti
or ianguac
attempt to enp^i" wUfiioa in terms of an analysis
leduciionistic. Miillers
iHustrations of such a rcductionis.m.
andliisnaiumiieexplanatio(ioriclicionaie
to deny the value of linguaiic,
economic, sociological, and other analysis
This is ncit
of religion.
of religion^ Indeed, such .explanations contriliuteniudi toour understanding
meaning of the rcligioos
What H insisted upon is that suchajialysisdoiwlexliaust the
and do not gnsp the uniquely and irtcdticiWy spiritual dimension of certain

a unique "iiitcntionalit/ which at least partially trans-

cncts. The spiritual reveals

cends aiUiaswstic. naturistK, and other such esplanarions.

Trnnsilion

How do SVC reconcile the Max Muller wlio dismisses the mytliic as a diseased language
'ilhiheMaxMnikfhot.adrDifes the 5f Veda and the Lfponirnrfi, scriptures
amonR the richest and moM jsiofound in inythje consetousnsss in the history of
humanity 2 Haw do we wcondle (he Ma* Miillcr who iasisis upon a detached, I'cien-
tide, positivistic approach to the religious facts with the Max MQllcr who spk* so

personally and passionately about Indian spirituality ^

tins contrast h oricnlaiions may be seen in Mullers naturistie" explanation

of religion and his high regard for Vcdlnta. This conuast maybe expressed In light
'of the wcll-Vinown asymmetrical relationship of onc-sidi.'d dependence formula-
^d hy the Advaita Voiinta whkh MUlUr so praised. Accoriing to Vedanta,
the wofld of-m-lyd, which includes Mlillcts sense experiences of exlefnal natute, ts

in some way an illusory appearance of the spiritual reality. Brahman is the fcfunda-
lion of tlis wotld of iiityA The world is totally dependent for Its existence on Brah*
man, I'hich'ltsefthas'inSependcni reality.

'Now MUllcf, in his explanation of religion, seems to have reversed Ihis VedSn-
lie ftsytnoieithal lelaiwftsliip. Out idea of the Infinite is in some way an illusory
appearance of the world of sense expetienre. What is pm of mlya foe the VedSsitist
now hccorac! the on'iologfcal ami cpislctnological found.ition of the world of spiritual
Cteaiiont, llie religions world
dependent for
is totally its existence on our sensations
of the world of natural phenomena, which itself lias reality independent ofltic
telip'ious world,

One would expect such mi tmpnicirt epistcmoloEliral analysis

from D.ivid
Hums, who would maintain that all knowledge u derived from sense
experience and
woiiM be Veptic.sl of all forms of Indian
spirituality. Dut how docs one reconcile
such an empiriciii account with Muller's high regard
for VedJnt.x 7
?erhsp! the best cxpbnarion simply that
is Max Mtiller xv.-is a complex person
wh/s tictd in several 'wotWV of tonflkting orientations. Little of Mullers spe-
cific explansKons are accepted today, hut we Kcognlre the lasting value of bis opening
 >5AX >JULLtR : iimiA, tuRorr, avd toe origin or religion 251

up to the West a universe of, Eastern spirituality. And it seems, to me' that one may
derive a certain hope, from the contrasting tendencies in Max MLillcr.. Here was a
scholar so situated in,,the antiroctapliysi^.and antircligious cultural context of his
Europe apdyet capable at times of transcending those limitations and reaching out
to the univepl. .
.
, ,
. i . , ^ -

I What is perjiaps most hopeful is that the contemporary, West is far less sure of
,

itself and .far moicopen to experiencing other worlds of meaning than was Muller's
post-Enlightcnmcnt Eurppc.|Thc West ij ta|:irig seriously the mythic and symbolic as
autonomous n^odes of consciousness which cannot^ be reduced to logical or conceptual
modes of cognition. Although Indians must be amused by, (he fyepuent descriptions in
the West of Sigmund Freud as the discoverer of the unconscious, it is true tliat the
contemporary West now recognizes that the rational and conceptual does not exhaust
the nature of the real. And because of the many demonic uses of reason and science
in recent history, such as the work of Nazi srientists in World War II and U. S.
scientists in Vietnam, few in the West would now sfuitc the earlier optimism that a
rational ^scientific approach will find ultimate solutions to our problems an'd uncover
.

the nature, of reality.

,

,, ,,
What we find is that the conlcmpora^ human. being in the West is gradually
becoming less provincial and ,
is twginning to identify himscir/herself, as a global
being who Is situated in a global uoivcrw of meaning. Aod in such a global orientation,
lEisteia spirituality will play a major role.
 33

Can there be Meeting of Religions?

Ian thankrul 1o the executive of the Indian

Pliilosopliical Congress for clcclEng me
asa aymposiast to spoaX roy views on the topic : Can There
Be Meeting of Rclinions 7
The reply to thK question may beeiUtcr in plain
negative or plain afilrmativo
and eadiKpIy may he decoded and established
wHh the help of sufiieicnt reasons.
But my apprehension IS that religions (how much scientific
they may be) arc full of
dogmas, rituals, local eustoms. habits, traditions, etc.,
and faults and h6<w either nep^e or aflirmative
and M
these arc based on beliefs
reply may not be defended
even and
if defended, the derenec will be rather weak and unconvincing
I itavc, therefore, taken up a via media position.
My purposehere is to show
that ns Meh religion has got some unique and distinctive
features various ralialon*

First 1 propose to discuss the view that

religions do not n^e,.'
Wc are aware that Hinduism in srcncral and TtiviiH.!..*..
r. *

that this JoniJm is full of silirtrint these

rclinions rh^ r
It, rm,I raoc from Ihl, lift .^1
to attarii loo much
o,ic,,i|,
value io the social acavitics
^ rel'etons are not

this the
and wnrfdi i / ^
Chinese religion and Japanese
reliekm do ^
look ofWc and therefore these rdigions
d^ni th.J
and in5(e.id these religions
believe in the practical
that die Chinese modified
and m-i'i "i'
It struc
lluddliismbm^ddltero was a'r
tent Bceeraing to their culiurc t* 8at ex-
and iradUion Burirfhk
the estent that
was practical and useful only to
it
their soeW '"r b
t'mioolofU.iddhUmws, ignored by
she CWn^l!,''-^''"^*-
ninese and if not
ignored then at least
it
>
Par.,. rh,loph, cuap.^
 CAN THEM BE MEtTHNO OF RELIGIONS 1 253

was harmonised with the iiiatcrialisni of Ihc Taoism. The

Christianity and Islam, the
and
two great religions of the world, do not believe in (he pessimistic outlook of life
j'fntso or liberation from this
these religions, therefore, do not accept the idea of
of Europe consider the German pessimists like Schop-
suffering world. The Christians
enhauer and Nietzsche and French Humanist Comte as atheists and perhaps even as
mad philosophers. In the eyes of a true Christian these three great thinkers are the
enemies of Christianity and indeed of any religion. Humanistic religion of Auguste
for the establishment of a social order. It is true that the
Comte is aimed merely
Zoroastrianism assimilates the various evils, hardships etc., of this world but it says

almost nothing concrete as to how men should get rid of sufferings, evils, hardships

etc., of this world. This religion therefore opposed to Hinduism and Buddhism
is also

and perhaps to Islam and Christianity too. My purpose is illustrative and not merely
exhaustive and therefore I pass on to other points of diRerence amongst the Viirious
reli^ons. However even the single point of difference amongst the religions named
above compels me to conclude that the religions cannot meet.
(2) The doctrine of rebirth strictly according to Kaniiaphala expounded in
Hinduism, Buddhism and other Indian religions is another unique feature of these
religions and not of other chief religions of the world- There arc two values of this
doctrine ;
(a) This doctrine constantly reminds us that we need not honker after sensu-
ous pleasure in this life but must hanker after blissful and everlasting happiocss. As
Mimamsa philosophers point out that the impersonal principle adt?l(i takes stock of
our actions, good and bad, and we are rewarded and punished accordingly, if not in

this life then in the next life and so on. Si.-nilar idea finds u celebrated place in Gita,
(b) This doctrine lifts men
some spiritual world. Such a world has been accepted
to
by Kant but it is unknown and unknowable. But as Kant holds that such a world
cannot be known by us. it is as good as non-entity. But mystics have vision of such a
world. The utility of doctrine of lAinh according to out Kariiiap}w}a is great, for it
provides a sort of break to our going towards immoral paths and hence this doctrine
gives a glimpse of llie spiritual world. But as tins doctrine is completely absent in
great religions, like Cliristianity or Islam or in other we cannot think of any
religions,
break to our actions and we ran freely move on immoral paths and consequently the
spiritual world is not in our sight.
From this point of view also the religions cannot meet.
(3) Moral life, moral habits and moral customs In almost all religions in gene-
ral and in Hinduism and Buddhism in particular arc considered Worthy only if they
lead us to our goal of everlasting liappitress not only in this world but in tire world
hereafter unfoTtunatcly, however, the Qjiivcse and Japanese religions do rvot accept
anyrvorld other than this world. It, thcrefare, follows that the moral and ethical
laws and habits are worthy and useful only if they are helpful itt our practical life.
Chinese religion of Confucianism was accepted by the people of Jap.in. But Chinese
and Japanese forms differ in many respects. The basis of Chinese Confucianism was
the virtue offilial piety whereas the idea of loyalily to the Emperor became the cent-

of Confucianism in Japan. From this point of view also the religions

ral principle

cannot meet.
(4) The Indian religions in general and Hinduism in particular think that a
 :

254 DR. D.t, ATRm SOUVENIR VOLUiE

man possesses infinite potentialities of the universal significance but Japanese think
about the. limited potentialities of man; man, is to Ik, viewed only in terms of, hfs
Tclatifins to a limited .human, socitty.. So map should dedicate himself only tp his
society t social good is the supremo- good, vyhkh is to bc.prpmoted by him. Good is
that which profits ollicrs in a social group. So.oiie should not be selfish. Ope slio.ultf
work disinterestedly gogd of the sodcty.&lfrsacrifice for something higher
for the
than human society is seldom foimd In the practical outlook of Japanese. But, self-
sacrifice for something higher than <hnman society is the cardinal principle of any
religion including Christianity and Islam. , , . i
j

. I
It is, thcrcrorc,, evident that there henormous difTcrcnce between the Taoism of
China, and the religions .of the other counliics apd hence the different religions cannot
be expected to meet. . ,
,
. .
'
i
.
, ^

(5) '['he D^slianity and the Indian religions dilTer on the following poinU

(a) The Christianity dots hot make any distinction between

the iranscenaefital
knowledge, and the .empirical knowledge. But the Indian .religions
do make
distinctions betwieen tlicip..

(h) nie.re is rundapiental mataphyslcal dilTercnccs between the

Indian religions
and the Christianity, in ^cspect of true, pature,
of individual soul. Hence
riifjj? which ,pure consciousness
(foyrth) state In
directly
is grasped will
always remain beyond the sphere of Clirfetianiiy.'
(e) To nn Indian, the so-called spiritual values, of the west' are'aimply the
value of fnentai which is a type ofslruggle between the
life
opposile
'*'5''! ten-
dcncies of the natural mind. ,

(d) Sphhualitmhi.d 'transoeh.fcmalism e almost

absc'ntin Chrih'ianity, But
these are not only present m
Indian religtons, but tlie life of a
truly reliaious
person IS incooi^lcto without them. ^

C..IJ u, .teta, po.iU. te

Ch*,b.i,y,

Chinese modified Buddhism
in accordant, .k.-
btr.ee the modified Mlloo and
Indian Buddhism.
Indmn
..dltelutnmnrmannnd
Bnddlii.ni js gnnenillv a iiiii.dn m *^faai

i, rrL .SllS'''' atO"' Ihn p^i

thn h.r band. i.
tn,l, ,h
"IMm
pnnple nr Chinad. not TOny alul
m., dmCteSS.nL. .:?"-
remiia.y phmiomennii
'''l
of the -utM and '? ^'i-Pinion, is a
ihete u
I,
'
at' time and energy
 CAN THERE BE MLETING OF W-LlOIONS ? 2S5

to solve the problem of life after death.

The Chinese Buddhism is- different from the Indian Buddhism, because in the
Natur-
Chinese Buddhism, the.lransccndcrttal outlook of Buddhism is liarmonisctl with
alism of Taoism. Tlicrcforc the. Chinese Buddhism is different from (he Indian Bud-
dhism and each one in turn is different from, the, other rclisions of the world, say
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam etc., because the Buddhism cither Indian or Chinese is a
religion withouti God but Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, etc,, arc religions witJt full
devotion of the devotees tojvards God. , i . .

,
iTlicrcfoic, from this point of view also the teligtons cannot meet.
Cannot. thcrefoip, religipns meet ? The religions as considered .above do not
,

meet. But if they do not meet, the results will be suicidal. Why do they .exist at all ?
Perhaps they do not exist merely to solve some minor problems like rebirth, moral
disciplines, niokro, social customs of various coiintrfcs, human destiny etc. Perhaps

they also do not exist to divide one country from other cou niry or to divide one, com-
munity from the other community. Nor do they exist to safeguard their own rituals,
superfititions, etc.

If they exist, they exist as uniting bond between the people of various Nationali-
ties. Surely, therefore, religions can nicct. This, however, is a general point, and hence
thl^ may not satisfy this learned assoaation as a meeting ground of religions, i shall,

therefore, point out to some other essential points on which all religions, nreut.

. 1. Each religion points out that a man must seek real hiippine.ss and real bliss.

But can he get real happiness and real bliss iir the cnjoyincni of worldly objects 7 Per-
haps, not !,Thc worldly objects give him only unhappiness and lead him to discard and
cpn/lict, which ultimately destroy the pivotal' harmony of a human life and like n s^ar

gone astray he misses the orbit, of his life and deviates from the path of truth, har-
mony and perfection. Real happiness and real bliss" can be sought only with
happy urjion^of ,nian with God or the Life Eternal. Tjiis union of human life with
Life Eternal is the key of all religions. Man should place his whole being in (he Great
Life,should love the Great and should seek to unite with the Great. This is the key to
enter into the maze of all religions' and therefore all religions meet.

But even if we accept that all religions meet, because they all prcach the unidn
of human life with Life Eternal, the question, that has to be clarified is, how is this
union itself possible ? All religions say that this
union is possible through iiiorai and
religious practices. It is true that the moral and the religioiis practiebs of different reli-
gions differ in accordance with the diflerent Ways of thinking in different countries.
But the goal is the same i.e., union of human mind with Life Eternal or Great Life.
Tbtrtfort tVft ivStstvA HeVvgvOws TOirt.
'

' 2. All religions also meet because each one places high value on humanism i.e.,
in the feeling of brotherhood of men. As illustrations I place below the views of the
following religions

(a) Tile Vaidika religion of India, for example, believes that the individual
^
human beings arc the members of n large famSy of mankind. All arc related
by others by the bond of spontaneity and therefore all should work for
(he
good of all. The social life should be sanctified by the feeling of oneness
of
256 DR. B.L. ATRVA SOUVMR VlJL-DSlE

Enjoyment with a spirit of sacrifice is the real

form of enjoyment.
nil.'

piere 5l'onlil always be a happy union between enjoyment and renuncia-

tion cf selfish moth'es.* Tbc end to be obtained is the dos-clopmeat of

Vim'a.'?' w. (.he Catws at Mt V'*> f J'n

2I
(b) Buddhism too belie\-es in the disinterested service for the welfare of

sentient beings. The concept of a Bodhisattva the concept of a spirit soah-

is

TIic Buddhist monks,

ci in the milk of compassion for suffering humanity.
high moial ideab and ctMcaf esctdtncts. took grait pairs
upon
famodsfor
thcmsch'cs in establishing a humanistic society.
human
(c) Jainism too lays great empharis on theestablishiflcnt of monistJC
society' fhe great vows of the sxnyaris and the siuall vows of the family

min are meant to arouse purity and htiinanitarian feelings without which
man will nerer be able to attain progress, social or spiritual.
Indeed (a), (h). and (c) riiow that the systems of Indian itligio-philosophy lay
a great emphasis on (he dignity of man and on the significance and value of
mor^l tmd social life. Religious enquiry used to be undertaken io India not
only to attain liberation but also (0 bring about the good of mankind as a
uho'*'
(d) The Islamic religion loo seeks to inspire
a man to teach a state of enliglited
ir.oraijty tnereby iranslonriing'tus'behav^ur and ovflcck upon (he woflil.
CoiPmands of Prophet Mobaoimad are
Slay none, God has forbidden it except Justice requires It. Avoid
falw words. Woman and mao who st} shell leo'B their haods. InlMi-
cants are souvisown device.'*

(iil
"You should like for others
What you like for jouc self.*
(HadiS, Saylxgt 0/ Afuftommatf)

(ej E'^tt the Chinese ptacltcaJ religion, like any Indian religion, teaches that the
lelations among ramily members used to provide the human basis for the
nroral esctllences of the people. In the "Oassic of filial pity" Confucius says
Ipat *Th4 gentleman toctves filial pity in order that man may respect aB
those who are fathers in the world. He teaches broihcrliness with younger
bfothtr. m order that man may resptet all those *ho are elder brothen in
She world. Those who Jove and respea their parCntt dare not show hatred
^od wde^s w QtSaws. E*aJ.-s.v, 'tasii rA Viftoe and (ne ori^ ol
eulture-Todothefighl thing and walk
according Io the right morals thus
tsaving pood
in order to glorify one's ancestors is the
eulminaiion at filial fuety.**

Confucius uys ;

"Do not do to others what you do not want

tt
t
e*'sr>}>.ha,
hrehsatL)
l.l.
 CXM TltERE M MCCTWO or RtLIGlONS ? 257

Done lo yourself Ihis is what the world means.

{Lin yu lanSt Country & my peopk)
(f) Christianity too lays emphasis on the riclincss and morality of the
great
Hunutv mind, Christ was a man of this world and he was the repositor of
all moral values. To awaken all the moral values in life is.
therefore, the

highest spiritual and moral creed of man. The goal of man is to

unfold his

own fine and noble personality in and through his various worldly rela-

tions The V/sst believes in tlvc cnscification of the flesh. If this expression
has any moral significance, it means nothing but giving up of the selfish

pursuit of gross and individual pleasures. In the opinion of the Christian

religion, there is nothing else than perfection of humanity to wliich the
highest value can be accorded. In the whole of treation, man stands out
unique because he alone possesses the power to Jook before and after and
pine for what is not." He is conscious of Ws ideals ; he knows what he ought
to be. Ho can, by elevating his nature morally and spiritually, become the
meeting place oCthceitfliand heaven. Hence, the necessity for mans socio-
moral and spiritual progress so as to enable him lo live a full and wisedife.

If we go through religions of dilTercnt countries, ^ve shall be able to find in them

all positive altruistic view on human life. Perfect man in a perfeel society is the motto
of the religions of both the West and the East. To achieve this, it is necessary for man
to dedicate his life to the principles of selfless service based on mutual love and mutual
sympathy. "Live for others and not merely for yourself is the guiding principles of all
religions.'' A life of 'rcnuncia' ion of the selfish motive, service to others and love', is a

further life for man this is what a human life ought to be. It is only in the process of
man-making that all religions can meet. TIu$
1$ the universal force or law of operation

of all law may act difierently in different circumstances

true religions although the
producing inequality of effects in ibc forms of dogmas and religious rites. Eacii has a
particular beauty of its own to be appreciated by the people of a particular type of
mental make up; but there is really no standard by which the superiority of one reli-

gion over the other? caa be established.

DilTcrences in religions may be real : because they show, how human genius can
be roanifesteil in multicolours for us : these difietences, however, do not prevent us
from establishing a harmony of all religions in the realm of Peace and Eteroity of life.
The need of the hour is to work for the establishment of International Society
but this can be done only when various religions meet. Hence the religious reformers,
sodal worhen must sit together to work out the basic principles of International

' Sodety. Eat the International Society is not created only if the principles for its forma-
tion have been worked out. Indeed to create an International Society llie votaries of all
religions must sort out the ditforcaces and essential agreements in religions and tell the
people to give up the differences in reJigioHS for they lead to discords and conflicts, and
the people must be told to hold on the essential agreements in religions, for only on
the essential agreements in reli^ns Intematioiml Sodety could be formed or else the
International Society is only a mirage in the laud of sands.
 34

Buddhism ai the Edge of History

change in Ihe
ThMUjliam the Inng hlolojica! and cultural evolution of msn, no
chfttKlec ami quality of human life has been more rundamental and fa^raching than
change that ia not) oceantag. tot shift too
volatUe and unpredictable for any
tiia

power structure to coQtfcil or prevent, the ditwlioD of human Jiving is being shifted

flwoy from established ediore worlds wUU their distinctive linguistic and symbolic
systems, over roa process of global interaction and communtcailon that represents a
new beginning ter mankind, to this sense we are all living on the edge of history, not
knowing if the human community will be able lo struggle free from whet the past has
enshrined ia its literature and inoorperated in its institutions and traditions.
Patterns of cukuce now cracking and sinkiagtoth^ foundations are nionu*
ments to a life style that wa$ able to surave only as long as it could inttqjcct Its own
concepts arid vatvs SO slCcctWely into she espmente of the rising generation that
their lives were controlled community in which tlicy were reared.
the sociological
Under and muiuai Interdependence now
the conditions of cross<ullutalimer(daiig6
prevailing, people everyv/hete a foieed to look, beyond the walls of iheit own cul-
tural coconn in order lo interpret the meaning of the days events. They intervene
unwittingly as well as deliberately ja one another's affairs, rubbing abrasively and
throwing each other olT balance from lime to time in a process that cures everyone
of the one-siJedness in which they were reared.
More and more individuals art discovwiag daily that they can no longer acquire
Uve education and Bspctience they need from the soiaotogical oomm-Bnity of their own
time and place on the planet. Bvenis drive them to untlerslond what
no previous
people have ever understood, that they were bom with
capabilities for living a
thousand dilTerent lives and under the condition of cultural
encapsulation they are
Hidnccd and forced to live but one.
People are members of an amorphoiis global community
into which as Tavnbee
remarked a quarter century ago, the whole habitable world
has now been unified
Tne new awareness people arc now acquiring of one
another ia the commerce
 bUdCtilSM At TtlE EbGE OF HISTORY 259

nation, race, social class,

fcatricd on across hitherto almost impeoctcable barriers of
tcadilioa is depriving social inslitutions
of their major anchorage in
and ethnic
the headlines of catastrophe and conflict, this global awaken-
resisting change. Behind
in interchange with one another is them from the compulsive
freeing
ing of people
grip of the one-sided social systems
of past and present. More and more fully as the
the others, and these perspectives seep into
weeks pass, they get the perspective of all

the subliminal regions to become part of the apperceptive mass beneath conscious
awareness. The unavoidable result is the expansion of each individual consciousness
between individuals and peoples. This
and the widening and deepening of community
is the way men and women
become more fully human. It is the process that has raised
man from bestiality info civilization when it had never been done before. It is the
the valuing consciousness of each individual in
process that expands indefiniteiy
community with others.

The fturt of this ctcAS-culUiral communication and interaction is seen in the nesv
perspectives now emerging out of discussions of huager, disease, pollution, over-
papulation, and war, none of which can be solved by individual nations, or even
civilizations acting independently of all the rest. It is also seen in the revolution of
rising expectations and the growing realization that all major institutions, such as
economic, educational, political, religious and all the rest, must be reshaped to lit the
needs of the new day, providing coodittons more favorable to the creative trans*
formation of man.
This interchange is the meaning of the twentieth century. It is becoming the vital
center oftlus world* life, opening up beyond any previous limit the values men and
.s

women can experience and the power of control they can exercise together over the
conditions of their lives. It is brining to dominauce all over the earth a new interest
in learning, a new concern for experiencing the perceptions of other people, lest in
disregarding these perceptions their own lives arc brought to ruin. It is spreading
everywhere a new willingness to reconsider the assumptions and accumulated wisdom
in the narrow parameters of which everyone up to now tended to Jive out their lives.
Under the conditions presently existing and maturing everywliere on earth, the nation
)r civilization that cannot burst through its current assumptions, abstractions, sodal
.nstitutions ami norms is doomed.
The secret that has lived behind our backs, that we are the most fully sclf-
corrcctivc creatures on earth, tiioi hoino correctuj is a deeper truth than honio fober or
homo snpiens, is being lifted to dominance in a community of learning that now
envelops the globe. A new interest in militant probing of experience is forcing for-
ward the fuller potentialities of mankind. Karl Popper indicates the signilTcance of
this change in his remark that his consciously critical attitude towards his own ideas
"is the one really important difference between Ibc method of Einstein and that of the
atnoeba. Present conditions raise this diffetetvet to prominence, because individuals

I. Alfred NoriliWhilcheiJ, Seitmt anJ ikf MaJem World (New York

The Mjcinillaa Co
1J). r. 58.
1. KlR,Fo??iy,Obfftf Knowtitje An ErMailoiafx *. Appa,-fj lOxtord : Clarendon PresJ
1972>. p. :47.
260 DR. DX. ATHEYA SOUVENIR VOXUME

iko
corns of .80 tiposcd lo
the o eo tsoliiiotosios aod otter mod. <l
thrown
entire planet in their eyes. They become mote and more habituated to being
^rs-
psychologically, bioloEically. and soeiaHy off balance from time to time by nesv
cultural backgrounds radicaUydiffcrcrit from their own.
They
pettives orisiuatmg in
if their balance to be restored. In difrcring degrees, of
learn what must be learned is

because of genetic and cultural factors operating in

their dcvelopmcnx men
course,
andwoineiibecomemoteandtnotccapableorrelhinkingeverythiiig (hey have been
taught to believe, of looking unRitichingly at
the cwdcncc that shows they have bn

pcrspceiives and forms of awareness ctnertsc which prove more

adequate
wrong. New
and feel more appropriate in advandng beyond their problems.
These condilbns of cultural revolDtion and the awakening and transformation
Dfmankindarcwithoutparallelinhisiory. Because they arc felt daily and deeply by
everyone on earth to an intreaang extent, and yet have not breome an integral part of
the thinking of any discipline or naliouoc social Class, they constitute a natural emer-
gency that is dangerous beyond alt imagining. Tliey bring us lo tlw edge of history and
face us into a kaleidoscopic future for which our sorial habits and forms of under-
standing leave us alarmingly unprepared. Even to fare such a radically dilTcrent future,
much less enjoy It. we need physicists who ate
busily exploring new sources of energy
and biob^sts seeking new disclMutes deciphenng and synthesizing the genetic code,
in
but more than anything tve need philosophersacirvely elaborating new opttons to
penetrate the great cloud-bank of ancestral blindness that weighs upon us all. There
are reasons for believing, moreover, that philosophers who can rpovc freely within
Buddhist perspectives may make the greatest contribution of oil.

The New Feciis en Noieliy in the World's Life

Four million years ago, in places like Olduvai Gorge, the first
begintungs were made
in man's long and tortuous effort to survive. Ten thousand
great years ago, in the
estuaries and fhcrineTcgionseftliemajorconiinents, the creature
with the human
future in his gene pool was discovering new techniques
of agtieullure and social
organlaiionwiih which to Lift liimself from bcstialUy into
civiliMiwn This was the
first fundimcnial change after the initial evolving
of the human animal.
Ten thousand years la the greenhouses of civUnation.
fashioned after themodel
of a cultural cocoon, hare btou^ to W third great transmutation.
T].e windows
in the greenhouses are ^mg
broken. The Hngubln: and
behivioml incubators of
ihousanJs -f
lively elod cul.ure swtrlds
arc losing their insula
another as^obal changes ssveep them togetimr
of custom belvvn whx;h huTii.inhfe has
m
an inmrdepeadeat world.
been canalired are disjppcarinE
one
baXs m
side tn a global intermingling of feelmgs
nd perstKctives whirh ,^
on every ^
tX- -
.r i,. t.c. Th. ..
.., ..r
from *'^3'
UR'lcrus.fotnngusTorcshapeouraimsftomraerestahiliiv nr,
 '

DUDDUISH AT THE EDGE OF HISTORY 261

post-Einstcinian, post-Whiteheadian age, this intuition among sane and juformed

people has been generalized to the univcfse at large. As Galileo said of
the earth,
we move. We live in a universe \vc may think of as a creative advance into novelty.^'
Like the universe, we are passing beyond ourselves, overcoming the
gravitational
pull of our cultural kindergartens.

Three conditions separate our life in the world from anything tiiat has gone
before. First, there is the literally shocking acceleration of change among people who
have never learned to find their security amid dynamic process and innovation. Second
the colossal power of modern science and technology still awaits those forms of under-
standing and social control that will bring it into the service of a life
more fully and
deeply responsible and accountable for creation. TTiird,
unreconciled cultures and
ancestral traditions live in an unstable stale of inlerpcactration
and interdependence
with no 'way provided for anyone to withdraw from their
occasional terrifying
collisions.
*

The disloagomont! of miUion! of men and women from old

frames of reference
old secunly systems, "nd old palttrns of
orientation and devotion, are so varied
and
volatile that most people are kept busy
coping with the specifics, with no time
and
energy avatlable for winning an nnderslnnding
of what is going on, Intelleetiials
labor
m speeiahred areas lliat bear more titan a UlUe
lesemblance In the liny units of
and development into which American scientists
research
were divided during
the
taldtng of the first atomic bomb during
World War 11 ; in the secret
Proicct,thcpunsew., to prevent anyone from M.nhatton
orgamred and directed to do together.
knowing what they were b
Political
S
emphastredetr nations dependence upon
leaders, moreover,
to LnoTte
others for the basic neeeWties
rf hfo

people capable of going alone, dependent

.
upon no one but themselves.
an almost The resuh' is
universal failate to take into account the most fund.m.o.Tr
fondamenlal formative
features now shaping the life of man.
The esponeiUial pace at which knowledge grows out nFrimfrvnri r

Myrdnl write, "of scienliric and technologieal

kuLS^e re?"
and bending Ihc course Of history ^
in a way that is largely outsMf.
The elTccls on our soeiclies of this force
for change , , , are beyond 1?^"",
'
The seeding up of liistory is clearly "
visible evTn ifwc do not
During 11, e age of stone weapons
ierceivE r '..V
and die ivheci, man could rser is fnlute
* are,,., New YoAiManaltteieC.. tffl).

'
DSciKirrMSs (NewYorti-nie
262 B.I. AtKEYA SOUVENIR VOt-OktH

somewjw* crudely. With the superindDSttial ag^ man only Icnows that he will live

mote and more Fos^lities multiply with each new discovery,

difTerently in the faiuic.

each new social innovation and would be a gesture of primitive magic to try to fore-
it

tell just what will mahe the future different from the past. To believe that a new con-
to
cept or perspective or technological innovation can be prcdielcd i? tantamount
saying that it can be invented and imagined bdbre It has occurred to anyone. II is like

argviingthat Picasso should have beenableto predict his ttext painting and even lus
nest period, or that Gandhi at Ahmedabad could have predioied llie touch-and-go
endeavor, involving thousands of people. Id change some of India's established ways.
With all Ihe testing and falsification of theory and practice, possibililics multiply, new
perspectives emerge, and the backlog of unsolved probletns tend to increase much
faster than they can he solved. The furious pace at which the future arrives, indeed, is
whatTnfilers Fuliire Shack, a best-seller of the early seventies, is all about,* Indctec-
minale situations are forever presenting new possMitks for the adventure going on in
mankind and the of nature. The essence of life, as Whitehead contended, is to
rest

be found in the frustrations of establshcd order ... Life degenerates when enclosed
within the deadening influence of complete conformity." No social class or nation
can dominate history from this point on. We ore cought up la a global interchange
that has a momentum of its own.
Under the conditions of the closing decades of the twentieth century, which
bwmc more sharply defined with each passing year, nothing Jess than a transmutation
oftamo niluro o bkiag pliKo, .nolhw lo th wo-oU
rrot.., of ils ovoliillon.
What IS new In the Situation IS not that social groups and
nations widely separated
tom 0.. on an ncrfrallnt ,cnl=. Mankind Jid not toil
1"' ''I tornmnnitnlion. Wkat i.
Sk,'' In.T
dllml . qg.lia ,ya to, It lll nun and mmen
on no lm, toiiiinnn in ihc
mpfc.m,ndad, compnta,
..man;, kmoim.o.at,
r ,h.
to LnSn
global interchange of our unprscedeoied kind,
the r.t
Lf
..A
> n,
of Z
esperienee of all the lesL Individuals living awash with the
io the broken
and their own social organizations to themselves
' inqiriry new depfc and o*'
of affairs'- than mankind could ever
we make ourselves hermits. shall
optinns for believing multiply
; new forms of im '
* npiuious.* New
proUfcralc and the unesamined 'n society
life becomes not nni*
sible. Slowly fitted
J worth living hut impos-
in sons orhuman iWi
man-s court of judicious bomeach

6. AhlnTofOer, Fvrurf S^de rvj,., V.. fc .

 BUDDHISM AT TOE CDOfi OF HISTORY 263

creature is able to respond.

mg Without limit the range of events to which a truly live
out of circulation, leaving the culture-bound mind
Error and distortion tend to drop
standing out as tiic very citadel of unnaison. The cost of being culture-
of the past
individual identity, has become prohibitive
bound, along with its tightly ego-centcrcd
first time in history. Without
advcntuic civilization is in full decay The
for the
pure conservative is fighting against the essence of the umvcrsc.''^

Lured by the new cross-cultural interchange in the deep tacit dimensions of their

expwisnee,'- and reared from childhood in a vidcocultuce encompassing the globe,

millions of men and women multiplying out of all proportion to increase in the popu-
lation at large constitute a new human type- They constitute a new style and community
of life emerging on the edge of history. The new human type is flexible and adaptable,
capable of growing indefinitely beyond every cultural horizon. Unlike his earlier ver-
sions, he prefers the unpredictable future to the unalterable past, the innovations of
feeling and free creations of mind over the doctrinal security systems that controlled
bediavioi in the name of Truth. This new human type is now building social organi-
zations which are open, fluid, and quick to make the changes demanded imder the
transitory flow of unprecedented events. He knows in his skin and bones that tbc
ingenuity and creativity that his predecessors committed so largely to the defense of
established custom and convention, regardless of how obsolete they may have become,
can be released in the creative transformation of every social institution influendng
human affairs in a significant degree. He has sufficient confidence in creation to
attempt to breed out of his gene pool whatever limitations his psyehosomalio organism
may harbor for the global interchange to which be and his fellows must now adapt-
He has built into the interior climate of his life both the picdispositiou and the talent
for rethinking from time to time everything considered in his early roaring to be true.
And be lives tvilh a sense of gratitude for the nurturing matrix of the cosmos and the
fresh probing of the unseen members of the ir<oiTCCtive community that encompasses
his life.

All of this has been dramatized UDwiltingly in the manned space flights of Russia
and the United States. The supreme aesthetic achicvment of the twentieth century,
and the act most significant, perhaps, for its unique global fallout, may prove to be the
launching of the asltonauts into ouIct space. There they were freed from the gravita-
tional field of the earth, and they coiild see their planet floating like a beautiful agate
in a sea of darkness, its blue oceans and grey contours of Jand becoming discernible
every few hours in tlie rays of the sim. Everyone watching on television participated in
this extraterrestrial perspective on the good earth, the wonder-inspiring biosphere
of
OUT common astronomical home. Slowly flas new perspective from beyond the p,j]]
gravitational systems may wash a^inst the hard and compelling astigmatisms of the
culture-bound creature and free him for more flexible participation in the diverse
experiences and multiform culture-worlds of fclIow-OTatures on the planet.
If man's first ventures into space funi^ion eventually in this symbolic way, they

11. LucienPrice. DIaloguet of : Lillie Brown S Co., 1954), p

J63. Cf. Whitehead. (New York: TTie Macmillan Co., I93J), pp. 354,359
12. Michael Polaoyi.TAe Taelt Dfmrwrw (New York : Doubicday & Co. Inc., 1966).
264 DS. D.L. ATaEYA SOOVEMR VOLUMB

will more fully justify their tremendous cost, for the new perspective from beyond the
window of re-entry may be the experience that reassures most people regarding their
power to encompass and transform all the hitherto unreconciled ctiUiires of the past,

luring them into feeling richer for being able to move openly in the total ntmosphere
of meanings and values with which the proprietory consciousness of the past furnished
a multitude of invisible eaves.
Such arc some of the options with which the new human type faces the future.
Such are some ef the perspectives to which reason can appeal, Ten thousand years of
self-justifying, self-regarding, Ntrctsristic culture worlds are drawing to a cdose.

Interchange with Other culture worlds can no longer be conducted through sclf-
reinforcing 'olficiar channels, nw
perimeter guards have vanished. No more delegates
eanbesent to the conference table with orders never to negotiate outside the pte-
dcteniiineJ goals and purposes with whai they were charged. All positions have
become negoliahle. Men and women must now mingle their talents and capabilities
with people of radically different culture-worlds witlwuf claiming the
right to pre-
determine the DUleorae in advance. They must cure themselves of the
pugnacity and
passion with which they have sometimes propounded what they believe, Ibey must
bear cliUdfcn knowing that parents can no longer specify the attitudes and
volues tlieir
pregcnywillndopt. They must support educational institutions
which can no loeger
Inlrajcct into the young the beliefs and practices of the ancestral
tradition They must
reduce their wants to levels consistent with (he demands
of the biosphere, the resources
of the planet, and an equitable dhttibuiion of the worlds
available wealth And (bey
m,l d. nil tl,e lU.g, wlll.onl Mn, Inin dopni, ih,
pnlcmd pl.nnin, tan,, tlm ,h< fi,c to vibitl, ihcy are anpreanred
Tbev niusl
da mere ,Ilia,, im.t jMdia, m
m. vl.le... ma. p,reipi,atoVe
ad
inescapably to produce consequences contrary to
the ends foreseen
_T1ie new human type will do all ihesetlungs
because they must butirh.h-
to, of m. prere.l ,ha. to, oan do tore fti.p
Ik pciatolto of taddnare
o,,
.tob ..re oa. of ,1^ l.'LSl
npMa '
"
o'

fliicfillifjr TcnJrneiVr nf Ilia TWentlrih Ceniury

The Impact of Buddhism upon the minds

and cnioiiW i,
phies and religions of Asiin 1"'^
peppk isa rtuilcrSf^^ ,T l"
vasivc single inllucnce in
theirrecul"*.foS: t
became consciously aware of the
wonder of thp
from egCKsnlcred.cullurc-enc3psuhted
drives tl^uBli\"'dr
anilys,s.nuddhim teaches people
lo sfc tSlcurit
mcitung and value of their lives in identity, and the
these *CBn5 r
and original centers of relation.
Wherever they the
ther nch or poor, pigmented tl'ey are doing, whe-
or wfdte people
proole arc sf
an- a|,ve prmarily and ultimately in the
It- NolinPlinj Jjcebvin.
Builkhm mi
w- 'WhAwe/'.f**.*
.
Wnir.l<,Prt,,5Pj).Ch.<_ (Car^ndalc Souihem
: IIliMil
 BUDDHISM AT THE CDGE Or HISTORY 265

memories, perception and anticipations of Ihcir feelings and experience. This changing

and moving kaleidoscope of events perceived and remembered is the very world in which
flowers bloom, birds sing, and people encounter one another. The change and
novelty

arc everywhere with nothing left over. This is why Zen says that everything occurs in

a bottomless basket, or in the of bottomlcssncss. In this Buddhist view, all an-

field

thropomorphism in the sciences, philosophies, and religions of mankind is deprived of

foundation and resolutely overcome. The svorld as experienced in all its diversity is no
longer to be sliaped in the image and under the dominion of man. No basis remains

beyond experience thus felt and undergone from whicli the feelings, emotions,
memories, and anticipations can be looked upon as inner or outer, subjective or objec-
tive. For any such basis would itself consist of simUar feelings and experiences. The
world in this sense is bottomless indeed ; its enjoyment, however, presupposes a
difiicuk disdplinc of self-correction.

Buddhism takes its stand with people who must struggle against control systems
that reduce life to a narrow and distorted, self-juslilying and self-deluding angle of

awareness. It is one of the major cultural resources, therefore, now accessible to people

who must fight against all the automatic mechanisms that rule the culture-bound
creature. Until our own time. Buddhism has been more sophisticated than all other
philosophies and religions in the knowledge that the canalixfltion of human behavior
into a fully acculturntcd person is chiefly carried out through the agency of signs and
symbols, through what Wittgenstein called the bewitebment of the intellect by
language. Its distinctive perspectives and discipline of meditation bear creatively upon
the individual of our time who must become more fully aware.

More persistently than any other strand of the human past, Buddhism has
stressed the transitory character of life, the impermanence and dynamic movement of
events. The Buddha is the man who awakened to the compulsive grip of self-centered
goals and goods which dominate and control and exploit individuals to serve such
ends. His name itself comes from the Sanskrit root budh, meaning to wake up, to
become aware, and to know. The tradition that originates in this beginning twenty-
five centuries ago is a major resource in the struggle against unseen,
unconscious,
compulsive drives that have dominated human development from prehistory until now.
Buddhism is tlieteforc an integral part of the adventure in
human fulfilment which
stands precariously balanced in our own day between the forces of renewal and
destruction.

The long love affair of mankind with permanence sought in the corners
of a
changing world is now over, simply because conditions rising to
dominance every-
where no longer permit people to turn their backs upon the central fact about their
lives ; namely, that Me vivid flow offelt quality <Kross their nerve endings and
through
the sinews of their bodies is their ultimate source of security attd renewal. Conditions
no
longer support the style of iJiat lifeaway from this concreteness in favor of some
turned
unknosvn substratum assumed by almost all philosophers of Western Civilization to
bo
the ultimate receptacle in whit* everything occurs, the tran.sccndent reality
around
which everything revolves. The whole history of Buddhist philosophy, Stcherbatsky
observed, can be described as a scries of attempts to penetrate more deeply into this
166 OR, 8.l..ATREyAS0mNm VOLUME

originaUntuition of Buddha. Rha^ he

htafidrWie^ to b hU gct
writings were bang read and publislied at Cambridge iitty
The Belgian scholat whose
'According the Daddhist*. no Self, that is, no ''['fV-
years ago put it this way :

comes into the fietd of tntpiiiy. NVe know

only the
permanent feeling or thinking entity,
a number ol
body, which is visibly a composite, growing and decaying thing, and
feelings, perceptions, wishes or wills, cognitions
in philosophic language,
phenomena,
upon a
a number ofstatesof consciousness. That ihesesUlesofconsamisnessdcpcTid
surmise, since there is no
Self, arc the ptoducl of a Self or arise in a Self, is only a
perceptions, but
consciousness of a Self outside these slates of osnsciousness. There are
we do not know a percelvcr.'* There is no thinker but tJic Stream of Being
Ufe-wntinuum," which, as Shwe Zan Aung pot it, is the background
on which
thought-pictures arc drawn. It is eomiwtaWe Id the enrrent of a river when it
flows

calmly on, unhinccced by any obstacle, unruffled by any wind, unrippleii by any
wave;. . .and when that current is opposed by any obstacle of thought from the
svorld within or perturbed by tributary streams of the senses from the ivorld withont,
then thoughts arise.""
In a widely read paper given in Tokyo in 1958, Herlsliome presents 'vhat he
alls the BuddhistAVbilehcadlan doctrine" arguing that the primary units of our
luecessWe etpericnees or 'successive actualities'' are the loomtnlaty wperiences them'
selves. lljTljhofne praises Buddha for rMuroiog us to an honest empiricism in whidi
the concrete subjects ate the momentary actuolitic$.*'' Muni formulates the position
of the AbJiidhommo as follows . The Buddhist view . . . reduces ehunge lo a scries of
enllliet emerging and pcrislting ; each entity however rises and perishes in entirety ; it

does nnt become another. Movement for Oie Buddhist is not the passage of an entity
ftomowpalflt to aswlhcf lit Is the emergence, at appropriate intenals, of a series of
entities, like the individual pictures of a 'movie' show ;
it isaseriesoffulktops.'^
Buddhist meditation and analysis is o prucessefbeigliwning awareness of llie
momentafincss of events, wherein an coftdiiioos aw wmblrstd a sinrultaneous cor-
in
relation, as Gavinda puts it ;
it is precisely because of this living juxtaposition and
surtcsion or the events m iheii
momentariness that "the possibility of becoming free is
conceivable . . . . Life knows no absolulc units but only centres
of tclition, continuous
ptixesses of unificalien, because reality annot be brvkcn up info bits ; iliereforc each
of its phases IS related to the others, thus excluding the
extremes of complete identity
or non-idcniiiy."*
in-idcniily."

14. T. I. Sirhcibalikr, "The Si-ulTheoiy prtbcRuiMhisif.**

Su/hni Wef Srim,
U. S. S. R. <1919}. fn. S24-Sa,

i pp 38.39
!fme./.^(lo>Kl<iB:Uiac *Co., Lid., Itili Ti Soeiily.

l'dJhlj|.WhiKl.eadunVw Of Ihe .Stir sncUhe RdislousTradi-

acm'nm.'ZiiSS'" Wi-.Ki-w*,.
 BUDBH15M AT THE EDGE OF HiSTORV 267

Many of the dominant features of life in the emerging world under discussion in

this essayhave played a central role in Buddhist faith and practice for more than two
world
thousand years. The early Buddhist perspective becomes ever more plausible of a
created each moment by the free activity of an
unlimited number of interdependent

centers of relation {pratllya-samutpadaJpaticca-somuppSda). As Daisets Suzuki once put

it Everything exists interdependently. Reality in its highest and deepest dimensions is

world of dependent variables in a system
a process of fleeting moments (khanavada), a
preferred tiie former
of conditioned genesis or dependent origination. JayatiUcfce
translation over the latter.
The Buddhist orientation has never induced in its members even the smallest
desire for structures that would last forever, or for a substance on which men and
women might utterly rely for permaacncc in a changing world. And there is diminish-
ing room to exercise the inveterate wish of childhood to seek security in the fonn rather
than in the quality of experience, and to smolhcf all spontaneity as they mature, evea-
tually posturing as an adult 'oomplaccntly perched on cosy concqjtual superstructures
regarding the world, as a recent book out of Sri Lanka observes.*"

'Whetevet Buddhist teachings have become internalized and rendered habitual os

a controlling style of life, reality is felt in each individitals experience as a process of

events related organically in strands of interdependence, each experience synthesizing
the events of the past into the novel and transitory events which constitute the reality

in which flowers bloom and birds sing as indicated above. It is impossible to meditate
upon this creative advance into novelty, this concrete experience of immersion in what

early Buddhists called the stream of existence, without an overwhelming sense of the
limitations of any forms of understanding to comprehend this enrichment of quality
that is the meaning and end of life, and without new resolve to struggle against every
bias and limitation imposed by mental habits and cultural bias. Old bounds of
cgoccntricity are left behind in the uncomprehended depUi and richness of the continu-
ing synthesizing of new life.
The world can be handled in dilTerent ways, according to an individuals acquired
character and controlling orientation. For the first lime in history conditions now rising
to dominance appear to confirm the central cIciDcnts in the Buddhist perspective regard-
ing the enormous capacity for qualitative rapture (hat is impaired wherever intellectual
experience and its material content ore tiiken as (he guide and directive for human life.
As a Whiteheadian scholar puls it, It is quality that is the ultimate reality quality is
;

energy and energy is quality to human experience we must repudiate

; all belief and
knowledge us ultimate sources of security and\alac.*
Buddhism is primarily inquiring, probing, penetrating, attending, awakening,
becoming more and more fully sclf-corrcctivc and aware. The stream of life in the

JO. Bhlkktiu Nananamla.Canctplaal Ani/iO (Kandy : Iluddbiil Publiralion Society,

1971). p.
75. Coniidcr the rollowirg poem: Men. aunie olonB of what is told
hy nsmes /Take up
their stands on hat is expressednf llus. ihry have not
rishtly unJerslooiJ.f They eo their
nuys under the yoke of Death." /AM.
31. llrrry Nelson Wirman. The Source oflhmcn Coorf
(Chicago University of Chicago :
P;cs,s
wot. p.TflJ. and hit unpublished 'Tniellecinal Auiobiograrhy'' in Souihcn
Illinois Univer
lily Archives.
268 DB. B.U ATREYA SOUVCTIR
VOLUMR

'! i" ' T

ll 1,1 krEi
and value in the fonn, lalher than n the qualitalivc conten. ot
who seek their swurity
h the n.ost dt^endablc forms of knowledge, or
that experisDce. who seek their identity
acquired, permitting their com-
social power, for e-tampk, or in something they hove
a tianwol oSTair. tvtiv Mirvioa would
pulsive drives to smother awareness of life as
Buddhists call soniwn. This is what
turn out to be the world of tragic suITering that
phiktsophical force comparable to the
Nasaijuna taught cighteoi centuries ago with 0
ideas and
influence i,i the West. COmpuluve attadiincnls to determinate
of Plato
things prevent everyone from Bro'MTig"lhedawsor vnstlom with which to emancipate
themselves inawnrld whose qualitative mullipUdtycclAratcs the everlasting coming

of novelty into heing." as Whitehead smd again and again.

Tlie surprising congtucnce between Buddhism and Process Philosophies, surprising
because the havtentgedou.trth6inteWecttulal.uisphcreandhktoriealcon-
lalltt

ditions of the present day totally apart from any influence from Buddhist thought, is
beginring to be noticed among Manckts of Eastern Europe. In the wake of the disin-
tegration of the Juduio-Christian worid vievr and the falluic of all attempts to reinstate
it in secular form, there is growing recognition that the old dualisms have become
intellectually and socially sterile and that Process Philosophy"' is more cIToctivB in
mobilizing tlte struggle against the alienation and hopelessness of the crisis of the capi-
talist era. Not even the power ot the slate can sustain itic notion of inanimate,
immutable, imperishable reatecial substance in the matrix of a scientllk materialism
that emerged In the vety center of nineteenth ccatury bourgeois society where It fulfilled
some funetlon in the struggle against the thought forms of a pre-scieniillc nge. Fiser,
writing in Prague, argues that the model ilial fits the swiB currents of our lime Is that
of process without substratum. Becoming displaces being at the center of an evolving
wotW. The ontotogitally real wertWis not a separate unit alongside cither
transcendent
deity or matter. Reality is process delifed as the becoming of experience
identilied In
the anilysis of that experience as entities that go to make up the actual world This is
a remarkable counterpatl to Whitehead, who holds that each individual net of eonccete
seir-cnioymcni It an occasion of experience, and these art the
teelly ttnl things which
in Ihdr collective unitycompose the evolving uniwrsc. over plunging into
the creative
advice.-' In the Buddhist perspecUve this rnwria the uonbifurcated,
nonbifurcatinE
imerdependcnt world m
which nothing independent or private and everything and
everyone conslitufe the chinging world of fondiltoneil oninmUr... r i.-... - , ^

Ud.. 195. <srchjerfpf ILondon

p. 418. ; Ocorcc Allen & Unwin,
 hUODHISil AT THE EDGE OF HISTORY 2^9

eternal joy" one realizes with the extinction of compulsive clinging,^''

According to this Marxist, dialectical materialism properly understood provides

the view he has propounded without any as^anre from Buddhism, though Buddhism,
be says, comes closest in his explanation that transient ami potentially free entities
synthesize a world amid great suffering and risk There is no privileged being, Fiser
all single units have an ontological reality in equal full measure. All arc fully
wites ;

real and there is nothing real besides thcin. Many of Fiscr's viei,vs find their explicit

parallel in Whiteheads philosophy.

One may conclude from the large volume of writings usually called 'Process Philo-

sophy Bergson and Alexander in Europe, Pdrec, James, Dewey, Whitehead and
his many students in the United States that the
confluence of Buddhist and Wbite-

headiin perspectives is an entirely natural phenomenon growing amid conditions that

probably bear some resemblance to the historical situation of the Buddhas day. Failure
to take note of this confluence of such powerful strands of thought is probably best

thought of as another ilhistralion of cultural lag, as Haftshorne on many occasions has

observed. For Buddhism and Whitehead alike, the main line of reality lies in no
doctrine or concept of anything within or beyond the world, nor in any thought of
abandoning anything within or beyond the world. Tim main line is the increasing flow
of quality in the now. This is where we penetrate to what is most fimdaraental in the
universe. As Bergson had put it, It is in the depths of our experience where we fed
outsdvea most intimately and fully alive.-" U is the imlcrmite expansion of awareness
that is the obvious nature and destiny of man, liis distinguishing mark from other
fotms of life. We must learn w pass our lives in the experience of fresh disclosure,
yet not merely to pass our lives but to rejoice in the experience of fresh penetration
into the unknown, the oncxpcricnceil."*" To those philosophers of consciousness who
were ready to suspect Whitehead of irrationalism, it was shocking to hear him remark
that he looked forward to a future when what he called his first love, symbolic
logic, will become the foundation of
our deepest penetration in examining pattern
with the use of real variables. The habit of trying to incorporate tlie meaning of the
universe in linguistic systems, Whitehead thought, must be looked upon as a habit
associated with the childhood of the race. This is one of the major emphases in White-
head and Buddhism arc found together.
Purity of heart in the Buddhist perspective is a personal discipline that flushes
and purifies these compulsive attaclimcnts that hamper the deep organic rhythm found

25. Raraanan, op, 31.

26. ZbyMy.PiteT,TlifQu<}lioiisofSfingand Existaice (Prah.T : Svoboilne Sclro, 1967; TAe Con.
tolailon of Oniohgy fPraha Academic 1967); aoil Hutl-Jha (Praha : Orbis, 1968),
;

27. AtfMd Morlh Whitehead, Yar): Maemlll.in Co., 1925), p,

;

92 Cf. Religion In the Making (Ctevebnd : World Publishing Co., 1926). p. 76. and The Func-
lienof Reason (llosion Beacon Press, l95B), pp. 70-72.
:

28. Henti BetgsoR, Crm/Ar irans. by A MiKbeU (New Yorh Henry HohiCo 1911)
p. 199.
29. tHd.. r. 195.
30. Whitehead, Model ofThoughU P. 87.
21. Library of Living Philosophers. Paul A. Schilpp(ed) The Philosophy
of Alfred SorihlVhUe-
head INewYork .'Tudor IublisWnB Co., IWl. 1951), p. 224.
270 DR. Bi. ATREVA SOUVENIR VOLOMfe

KOitalJ oped 1" P'SP"1' !

to iTO tot Iht relative and ll frasmtnB I

diniriiE Miaaie Wav in all Itafciitj

an ;.I Each dtor - ' of o.t dtptti.aot It

M om
ttietience consliloBd y
atkitvlns a < italMon of Wtasaoodtatof
ilii. ftaing of atloniion to tit vi.iJ frf.S=
MtomioE. This htahltnins of avaireacsi.
dram its ttatn of poltnny a"y ptiptmal icnCTOl from the hve
at Ibt htart of cteillon
a
titoted hy If own taeoming Uis protes. is
nealoie'i cipoiience of tains
grip of the past, an advancmg into noveUits; it IS, m
lontinuiiiBlibcrdtran from lliE

Wliilclieads srords, the ultimate rhythm of the univecse.'

which meaning of the twentieth century is not the

Tlie aoss-cultural interchange is the

"perfietunl perishing of the past much as the ahsorplton of its positivx potentiali-

ties into new and unexpected conditiuos favoring the more fully human life. It is

of
enabling people of radically different ancestral backgrounds to acquire the forms
perception of other people, expanding an unpredictable way the range of events to
which they can respond. These conditions enable men and women to listen intently to

all tlie present, to live across a broader specirum of feelings ami

voiees uf the part and
ospiratioia than any epoch or century could imagine. Perspeeiivcs acquired in
earlier

the rub of umtconeiled cultures iransTorns how they explicitly feel, wliat they can see,
how large a segment they can understand, and the activities in which they wish to
become involved. Stranger, perhaps, than anything else, the apparently Insoluble
social confllcu between races, classes, ethnic and nationalIreiliiions of "the century of

tlie world wars" ate not solv^ through education, nor suppressed by coercion, so
much as left behind as part of the cultural encapsulation that Is now impossible
anywhere on earth.
Depending upon the degree of their exposure and involvement, men and women
arc stretched across a threshold of feelioEs that overpower their cognitive ability to
understand what is occurring or what will occur lamarrow. This sudden increase of
life pbcci events beyond control by anything except interchange
nottliy in the worlds
and communication too various to be harnessed and pressed into the service of con-
ventional forms of understanding. Man's capacities for enjoyment, which have barely
been explored, as Whitehead observed, are suddenly freed from these cloudbanks of
erictsvial Windneav Tor the first firoe sohistory conditions are present which encourage
men and women to free ihemrelves ftoin lingahUc. conceptual,
and institutional com-
pulsions and to establish iheir lives in or^nic bonds that no culture,
no social class,
no ifltcUcciual elite. rJ no nation ever has at its dhpoal. Men and women
can now
orercome that daily vulgarity ard moral obiuscnest in which they
seek to grasp and
possess forever a world that is aTne to its mictoscopic
depths. The consequent con-
diiKin or iheir lires is sugRCsieJ io a fur Uces
where Whitehead endeavored to capture
the J)Tiamic rulure of Peace. "U js a broadening
of feeling due to the emergence of
VWIW*. -owp vnViiiv'nysicdi 'insigm.
tnsvcrhalized and yet momentous in its
coordination
 BUDDldSM AT THE EDGE OF inSTORY 271

of values. Its first effect is the removal of the stress of acquisitive feeling arising from
the 'souls preoccupation with itself. Tims Peace carries with it a surpassing of
personality .... There is thus involved a gra^ of infinitude, an appeal beyond
boundaries. Its emotional effect is the subsidence of turbulence which inhibits. More
aaurately, it preserves the springs of energy .... Tlic experience of Peace is largely

beyond the control of purpose. It comes as a gjft . . It enlarges the

. field of atten-
.

tion. Thus Peace k self-control at its widest,

at the width where the self has been
lost, and interest has been iratisferrccl to coordinations wider than personality .... It

is the barrier against narrowness. One of its fruits is that passion whose existence
Hume denied, the love of mankind as such.
Under conditions now rising to dominance in the earth men and women increas-

ingly are freely choosing repeatable relations with people far and near in whose com-
pany their largely unexplored memories ami anticipations are encouraged to undergo
whatever transfoTmation may be Tcqnired for the continuing enrichment of their
experience. This new awakening to the novel fullness of concrete quality streaming
across their nerve endings, and their repudiation of an indefinite postponement of life,
make it possible for the first time for people to participate to the limit of their capa-
knowing that the enrichment of the qualities of the passing moment is the
city,

meaning and security of their lives. It thereby marks the turniog point where
ultimate
oncoming generations may live to enhance awareness of the and celebrate the
wonder of being alive, accepting tlic obvious fact that life is a transieot and risky
affair of free creatures shaping their lives together.
It belongs to the maturity of those who labor \c protect these new conditions of
life In the twciticih century that they will fight to safeguard the new direction human
history has now taken, with full knowledge that no cherished goal of theirs can be
imposed upon the multiplicity of events, r.or any specific outcome of their cwn devising
be foreseen. Age-old plunder of the planet, and the rule of predatory individuals, races,
and nations are swept from dominance, along with the underlying ego-centered
classes,

and culture-bound structures of the past ten thousand years.

32. Alfred Nonh VIhiithaii, Aifrenturej o/ /jfroj (New York Ttie MaCmillan Co,,
:
1933), pp.


35

77ie Law of Karma

PhiloMphy is Ihe mitror of * countrys mental and culiural progress. India has its
culture rooted deep in tbs hnary past and its philosophy has a very ancient tradilion.
Tracing its origin from Uie sparkling wisdom of the Vedic Seers ami
undergoing vari-
ous changes witii the histoiical changes of the country has
it rct.iined certain charac-
teristic features which mahe Indian Philosophy Indian. Whatever be (he age and
whaiewr l the idea, one of the imporUnt concepts of Indian Philosophy is tlie
concept of the Law of Karma,
Any deed or nny thought that causes on cfTcet is
called a Karma. The Law of
Karma Mans the law of causation. Wherever them
is a cause, there an cifcct must

** doctrines of Indian philosophy.

As a man sows, so he reaps. This is the Law of Karma. If you do an evil action,

S "" " =

You are responsible for what you suffer Yon r

e. If

I J- " yo,TOi ran,, teJ" you. you make others happy

If
through service, charily and
Lind
jnu the fruit of happineM, " v^' hke a seed and it will give
ill-lteaimeni. cruel acts,
unhappy through harsh words, insults,
oppiessbn, yon sow unhappiness like a
seed and it will
 THE LAW or KARMA 2^5

fruits of pain, suffering, misery and unhappiness. This is the immutable

give VOW the
Law of Karmo.
Man is three-fold in his nature. He consists of feeling, knowing and willing.

These three fashion his Karma. He knows objects like chairs, trees, etc. He feels joy
and sorrow. He wills to do this and not to do that Behind action there are desire

and thought. A desire for an object arises in the mind. Then you think how to get it.

Then you exert to possess it. Desire, thought and action always go together. Tliey are

the three threads as it were, that arc twisted in the cord of Karma.
You sow an and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap a character. You
action
sow a Hence destiny is your own make up. You have
character and reap your destiny.
built it. Cross the channel of Egoism. Ifstart thinking that you are all-pervading itn-
mortal Brahman and Brahman yon will become.
Thought moulds our character. If you entertain noble thoughts you will develop
I a noble character if you will entertain evil tlionghts, you will develop a base charac-
;

ter, Therefore, one should always cultivate noble thoughts.

We find differences in human beings. Some arc long-lived and some short-lived,

some and some poor, some handsome and some ugly etc. When the King Miiinda
rich
asks NSgasena as regards the differences in human beings, Nugasena replies, Jt is
through dilTcrence in their Karma that men arc not all alike. All beings have Karma
a

ns their portion, they are heirs of their Kcirnia, they have sprung from their Karma ;
Karma is tjicir kinsman
their ; iheir Karma is their refuge ; Karma allots beings to
meanness or greatness.
The doctrine of Karma merely asserts that actions are inevitably followed by
their conscqueaces. It is not the fate of the Hindus or (he Kfrrrtat of the Muslims.
The Sanskrit word for the play of cause and elTccl is customarily translated as fate.
A mans fate is simply a composite of things that happen to him. He may bo played
upon by constructive forces or dusiructive ones, Wt whatever they have done to
I
him is supposed to be his fate. Tlic sudden death ofa son in thepriine youfli, the
premature death of a husband for a wife and all such calamities destroy the mental
peace of man. Thinking thus, the Hindu says, This is the resriU of my past Kar-
inas.''The Muslim says, 'Tt is the decree of Allah. But Law of Karma is quite distinct
from and even diametrically opposed to fate. The latter is destructive of all responsibility
in man. It leaves no scope for human free will. But the doctrine of Karma leaves
tlie individual with the maximum amount of freedom ; U makes the individual and

the individual alone responsible for the whole of his career here.
Karma is of three kinds :

(0 Sanchlta (accumulated works),

(iO Prarabkdlia (fructifying works), and
(iii) Kriyamaija (current works).

Saiichiia is all the accumulated kartms of the past Prurabhada is that portion of ;

the past Karma which is responsible for the present body. That portion of
Kama which influences human life in the present incarnation is called prSrabhdha. It
is ripe for reaping. It cannot be avoided or chao^d. It is only exhausted by being ex-
perienced. Prarobhdlia Karma is that which has begun and is actually bearing fruit.
2?4 I5R.B.T,. ATBriASOMVrSWVOtmlE

aha called
Karnm whitli is now facing made Tot Ifac future. It ts
KriyammS is thal

sent
analogy. Tlie bowman has already
in Vetlaniic literature iHcre is a beauttful
hold it back. He is about to shoot another
anattow, ilhaskCthU hinds. He cannot
StiwhUa, the arrow li
arrow. The bnodJe of utrows on the. duivo oa Ids back is the
has shot is PrarabMIw and
the arrow which he is about to slioot is KriyanuVja-

The whole let of SoHcJiil Karma is destroyed by attatnins knew^Ec of RcaUiy.

ar.d by removing the idea of
A'rfyamaiiH Xurtna can he destroyed by otpatoiy riles
i

agency through ftrnw ni? and intftvira.

You have no MU taiCT but tpn Rltnr.
Lord Krishna la the Gild.
The business is with action only and never with its rririis, says
lar.d.Thcratureof soU.lhecon-
Every soul is like a husbandman who has gotaplolof
ii\Uons6?v)eithfi?4n4s.l!Qtherr#ctoiSMeallptcdeternitned. Hut theliusbandmniiisquite
the earth, manure it and get good crops or to allow it to remain asawaste
at liberty to till

pasl-
land. What you are nowatpresenl is the result of wliaf yon thought and did in the
\s*hat you shah be in rnlnievnH be the rtsnlt of what you think and do now.
Selfish feirnifl leads you to rebirth and that rebirth generates new fiama. Get rid
of

Hama if you wisli to get rid the of miseries of rebirth. Selllcss work will not bind you.
and head for tlie dcwenl of Hie divine liglit and grace.
Tliey will purify your heart
The shining Sparks of Iheconeept of law of Karim ntc found in almost all sys*
Urns of Indian Philosophy ciecpt the Oidnaka.

This Law of Hama, the law of the ciemal moral orderis colled J/n in Ihb Vedas.

The riiUBlism of the (llg Veda has been taken to be the prccuisorof what in later
timea developed as the Law at Karnie. The eoneepiicft of which means literally

the course or order ef things, is taken by Meedonell in his "Vedio Mytliology" to

eontnln In it the gems of the Law of Harma or Hie unalicroblc law of producing citecls.
The tViecFsy of Knrniu came to exist in an age when man bad found the disappoint*
ment rather than fruition of desires to be the order of the day and it wm then
omptoyed to explain the failinw that happened in spite of ore's strenuous efforts and ilio
due ^fotmance of wriptutal taiuncitons a.e also fur explaining the inequalities
prevailing among men. The theory of Karma jj a kind of rational explanation sou-
ght to be substitmed in place ofwhat used to be. and IS still considered by many, as
the mysttiious working of aWnd of divine dispensation, which canr.ot be peered into,
much less understood.

The Cm
gives us the message of NirUma
Katma. The Giifi does not teach us
^ent,on from neiwn. Work is incvnable
so long as wo are eiivc in the world. No
body can escape from il Here Bbstcntion
from activities means abstention from the
ouctoen, , ,k. taa. cm-, Malm, k, i, ,Wte
^*^1 V** *1'. w.t mV fa give up Ihe commun atliuilics of
e.tr.lav'rr h'l 1
faPProro. ot ,11 faffijh dfai,u,. Ttp
CM
01 pa.fi.n,
tfaee ways to the hell
and they ate to be overcome
hyvirtuousart'
!- '"^'?^*^'**"**''^8*'tiprROtmgoulorpa5sic>nsa8ksfor
nurification in'! rr
fnam .be ethics of
Mlu. (TO,
 THE LAW or KARAfA 275

According to the Jaina Philosophy the soul is inherently perfect. But there are
hindrances in its way. Just as the sun shines forth to illuminate the entire world as soon
as the atmosphere is cleared of cloudand fog, similarly, the soul attains omniscience and

other perfections inherent in it as soon os thcobstaclcs are removed. These obstacles are
matter particles according to the Jainas. Owing to Karma it is associated with matter and
thus becomes limited. The soul with its passion or Karma force is, therefore, regardedb y the

Jaina as the organizer of the body. Our past Karma determines the family in wliich we
arc born as well as the nature of the body its colour, shape longevity etc. The Jaina
enumerates different Kamas like (that determines the family), anj (that

determines the length of life), (that clouds the knowledge),

(that clouds faith), ^ (that which produces delusion). So the Karma matter is

the cause of bondage. Therefore, the Jaina says that liberation consists in the complete
expulsion of matter from the Soul. TheA'tfrmas whichareperformed without any regard to
fruits and in strict accordance with the rules of moral conduct and obedience of five great
vows(e.g.,3rr|;trr, do not produce any fresh Karma and
when all Karnm are being exhausted, the worldy existence of the soul comes to an end
and consequently the soul body and becomes one with the liberated soul.'
leaves the
According to Buddha the Law of Karma ts not imposed from outside but it is self*
imposed. Tb,e taw of Knrrnu accounts for moral justice. It explains tltc human differen*
ces. When tlic Law of Karma becomes (he Supreme Law above God and man, how can we

account for human endeavour 1 If everything is detemined beforehand, what is the

meaning of human effort 7 This problem ctealcs difficulties in the realm of philosopljy.
Let us see how Buddha reconciles freedom with the Law of Xarnia. Buddha never
takes Law o( Karma as fate. According to him, the Law of karma is not a mechanical
law but an organic Law. The past determines the present, yet but the future is in our hands
and depends upon ouc pteseal actions. Bdddba also accepts the maxim, "As you sow,
so you reap. The rotating wheel Is a symbol of life which is determined by tlie law of
Xorma. Buddha docs not believe in the existence of soul but believes in rebirth. Accord-
ing to him the soul is a continuous scries of consciousness. The last stage of life which
causes next life in a continous manner includes a!) the fruits of the actions performed
in life. Though the present life is the outcome of the previous life, yet it is new. Rebirth
is Buddlia and thus he says that he who follows the Buddhist eight-fold
painful', says
path be freed from all kinds ofiniscnes.
will

According to Nyaya Vaisefika, the law of Karma is a moral judge which accou-
nts for human differences. A
man laughs and weeps according to his actions performed
in the past. As a bodily action produces bodily <^an^s and menJaL thontfit prodiifrA
mental changes, so moral action produces results in joy and suffering. A good action
produces merit and evil demerit in the soul. The stock of merit and demerit is called
Adri}ta . The Adrista is the cause of our joy and suffering.
Now the question arises how Adrisfa causes Joy and suffering ?The principle of
Adrifla is unconscious and hence it cannot distribute fruits and therefore there must be
an intelligent being who guides and controls the /tdriffn. A human being cannot con-
trol and guide it and so there must be a supreme power which is no other than
God who controls it and dispenses fruits aocording to Adrisia. The German Philoso-
pher, Kant, also says, "it is God who combines happiness with virtue and misery with
276 Dk. D.I.. atbuya souvenir voLiaiE

so long as Aridya is r.ot overcome, there

The 3oga system of Palaiijali says thstt

will be life The law of Korma is assumed as valid and our life, its charac-
in Sanirurc.

ter and by it. Thou^ w do not remember our past lives, ve

length are all determined
can infer particulars about them from the tendendes of the present and these
tender,^cies

will cease to wist on the disappearance of thar cause, motive, substratum and object.
The root cause is Atiiiyu.
The Purva-jl/imu/jui? calls ilris law of Jrarmo ApOrva , Tlicrc is a necessary
connection between the net and its mull, itpurra is tiio metaphysical link between the
work and its result. The positive forces created by the act and leading to the attainment
of the result is ApCir\-a.

iaflkarn says that individuality is due to Karma which is tie product of Avidya.
Thekind of the world into which we are born js just the rcturnof the works to the doer.
Tlie individual ntganisrrt is the working mechanism intended to produce that requital
in the form of actions and its results of suffering and happiness. Moral life takes end-
less forms owing to the variety of demands of conditions of human life. This process

goes on for ever until perfect knowledge is g.-iiacd. which consumes the seed of Karma
awl mukes rebirth impossible. To get rid of dvldyO is to be freed from the law of
Kama. But so long ns the indnidual is finite he is subject to law of Karma.
Morality is a stepping stone and not a stopping place. All acts done in an expectation
flf reward yield their fruits in accordance with the law of A'oriiio. It does not, liowover,
follow liiat we move like niationcttes pulled by the suin^ of out past Karma. But the
fact is that the individual b responsible for his acts and God is only the assisting
mediumconsBtvingthefniltsofhbdecds. Codd(s'r.ot compel enyonetodo this or .

that, So long as his uctiviiics are determined by his impulses,

he is not free. But man is
not a mete sum total of his impulses. There is the Infinilc in him.
Cootempotary thinken like R. N. Tagore, Gandhi and
Radhakrishnan also
Mieve in the law of Karma. Our roost renowned and
favouriie poet and philosopher
Tagote says that we should divest our work of
scifishress ar.d da PrsiT r.i which is
.iirtbr ,0 ,a fel r Wd Buddfc,. H, ,,, ,|, If do J, p
a harvest of pain. Mahatma Gandhi had also
emphasized the law of Karma but his
acceptance docs not mean that man iscompiciely determined. Man has been granted
"'-dddbWl, i, dtltrmirrf b, Ihc
'" f" 0I M, own do,lii.
Stab bbL ,1 .

'a folmo. Ho
says that ihi law
dill this 1.W of
or t
harma eontmoous with the past and
b creative oftlie
^'=rPiUE Slone to
2u]fvou'l^m't^"
. ullivale tight reawning and moRd
Sv '.\,J aniviiics, your rmiitc will

Cai. drink and be mefty"Ull ''"'ding to whk-li

lS""- ''' hSSo,; o
'"v Ml,
UrnifTPT rpriwrn Jill; ,|"
 T51C LK'ft or KAHMA 277

Hc vciicmcnily attacks the Knrnm theory of Vcdanla find other orthodox systems. He
says that the scriptural verdict like ai%nrqTn*m; is a word full of fury signifying

nothing. But in rr^^cT it is advocated that, f^T ^ ^rttfa/'-TheChaTavaka

throws cold 'water upon the conceptions (hat ate used in the Vedic Scriptures and says
that they arc nothing but the means adopted the cunning Brchuiitis to fill grainaries

by befooling the ignorant and simple mass.

In conclusion, I must say that in si^tc of so many nttacks made by the heterodox
thinkers of the East and (lie West, the concepts of Indian philosophy like law of Karvw,
Tcbhih, liberation, etc,, icmain ever meaningful. In tlvc present age sve arc in a stale

of tr.ansilion where both the Indian and the Western ideals arc fighting for supremacy
and SVC do not know which to choose and where to stand. Even the best people of the
country arc being gradually intimately associated with the Western philosophy, Jitera*

tutc, thought, culture and ideals. Th^ do not know very much of their older ideals, nor
arc they in sympathy with them. If we try to hold fast to our old values and turn a
deaf car to the roaring rush of the West we arc bound to be drowned and suffocated.
We, in an age of reason, do not like to accept blindly the dogmas of Indian philosophy
like the law of Kama^ rebirth etc. But out mm should be to build an edifice of our

own, high and secure enough to withstand the ravages of all inundations. Let the
waters of the Western sea come and btc.nk themselves on the walls of our fortress with
their foaming pillows j
our only safety is thus to be witli the sea and yet above it. To
conclude, I must say that the law of ^mia is the fundamental concept of our Indian
culture and philosophy, which offers (he eternal spiritual fountain of our sublime
spiritual thoughts.
 36

Rejections on the Medicine-Wieel

1 able io conirihule this essay to a souvenir Volume

W is a wal Tlcasura o

of Dr. B. L. Atrcya. Anyone who has followed the arliclcj published In DARSHAWa
consistently
INTER'NATIONAL knows that this journal and Its General Editor have
boundaries set up between various dlipline.
encouraged the violaikm of the artifraal
and have provoked Indulry on the
very borders of onhodos philosophical canon- p
instance of the brondening of the phiiosoplucfll
'
reflections to follow will, 1 hope, be an
perspective.

Each grouping of it people that maybe said to have its own solkisrity, that is, a sense

of its own nature end destiny, has an spptaisat of its own humanity which is embodied
in a culture if this culture is reflective, or the product of reflection, then it is philoso-
phical- In non-licecate cultures, the ideals and patterns of life of a culture ore
embodied within Us myths and its rituals. The Medieinc-Whwl" Is the symbol of the
stocy of the Plains In-ian Peoples of htortU America of the Cheyanw:, the Crow and
the Sious Indians. This story involves an understanding of the universe Inpether with
ideals cencerninp a vsny of life based on Uiat knowledge.' The story to which 1 shall

refer as theMedicinc-NVhetr possesses, as w

shall see, a weD-defined regularity
and obeys the laws of n code of knmrial^asweUaanDfltion about being. In short,
the story of the Mcdkine-Wheel defines the primary projection of the universe, a
worldframe wihin which the Plains Indian Peoples may pl.icc the fumiiure of the mii-
verseandintermsof which they understand sberwelvts as a people: his an interpre-
tation of life, of the nature and meaning orhuntaoliad, and of the sigihlr-jnpg of UCe. It

. nwm^ierltth.nijforih.SMperistolicfeiindtaabooVwWwihy wWtteintoiian ftom

the or .n Ameneatt Indunand a iDerabn of (he Hains
Indian Peoples. Referenas
'tws( ufc So Ityencyotisu Stoim, Smn Arrvwi,
NeivYoik :B1lmiIne
 'RCFLtCnONS ON THE MCDlClNE-WHta 279

is in sliort what we would call a Philosophy of Life

reasons for dealing with the story of tlie Medicitic-Whccl in this essay arc
My
several. First of all,the cirganization of the story of the Mcdicinc-Whccl is indicative of
systematic rellcction and deliberation
on the part of the Plains Indian Peoples. As such
it an indigenous American* philosophy which, to my mind, is a worthy alter-
represents
native to existing 'American* philosophies. It is myopic in the worst degree for the
philosophies of the native Americans-rclegating
professional philosophers to ignore the
to the anthropologists. Ballard, in his
Philosophy at the Crossroads, has
their study
argued that philosophy in the West must explore the world of myth if it is to hnd a
.

way out of sterile analysis and once again embark on the construction of a meaningful
philosophy of life.*

The return to myth might suggest the undertaking of a rc-examination of the pre-
philosophical myths of Ancient Greece, or of the use
of mythological stories as heuris-

tics in the philosophy of Plato, say.

Yet it seems to me that the story of the Medicine-
Wheel involves as grand a vision of the universe as the myths of ancient Greece do, and
this'vision connects up, inboth form and doctrine, with aspects of Platos philosophy
and thus the story of the Mcdianc-Whccl may be considered an anologuc to what
ancient Greek thought may have been like prior to the rise of the great systems. Tlie
Medicinc-Whcol, then, is part of the literature of ancient North America with roots
beyond memory and habit for most of us, but not beyond the reach of imaginative
understanding and appreciation.
Like many and new. East and West- the Medicine-Wheel
other philosophies old
is based on a tetradic or Quaternary metaphysical principle. Such systems nre to he

found among the prc-Socratic philosophers, in Plato and in Aristotle ; in some forms of
Buddhism and in Yoga; in the /CA/ng, in Jung, Blake and others, In North American
philosophy, Robert Brumbaugh of Yale and Paul Weba are two champions of tctradic
instruments in systematic work.

In the recent philosophical literature in North America, \ve have seen the clash
between the system of Charles Hartshorne who champions a triadic metaphysical instru-
ment,* and Paul Weiss, who ebainpions a tctradic system.* I shall attempt to show in
what follows some of the reasons why this controversy is important and why it goes to
the root of our philosophical quest In the course of the analysis we shall see how the
philosophy of the Medicine- Wheel differs from some of existing academic philosophy,
and also hs sharp differences with the code of knowledge and notion of being to be
found in Western philosophy.
One final reason in support of this examination of the Medicine-Whee! is that
the philosophy itsymbolizes lepicscQtsafoire of reflection and also the achievement of
substantive conclusions which I iKhcveto be inescapiiblc in the future of philosophy.

2. Edward G. Ballard, Phllasopby or the Crvoromb.

3. Charles Hartshorne, Crcaliye Syntkesit aal FUIoso^ Melhoil, La Salle Open Court, 1570,
:

p. 100, says, There is HUlh in Peirce* contealion ihaitriads arc incomparahly

also a deep
more iidequaie itmn dyads anti in a sense than tetrads, as inlelleciiialinstrumenis."
d. Paul WeUs. Modes o/Being, Casfcnudale Southera HUtoIs Unwisiiy Press, p. J6 says;
Reine is diversely and extiausiivetjr exhibited hi four interlocked, irreducible modes.
 T
280 DR. n.L. ATRCYA SOUVENIH VOUIilE

The Medicine- Wheel is the Univetse, {p. 14). It is a mifror' in which everything
in the universe is reflected, is shtwn to have a representative place and significance

(pp. 4-5). Tlie which it portrays is not arbitrary or rclalive, but

absolute ; it represents the truth of bang beyond the power of space or time to modify
or toehanse(p. 164). At the same time, the Mediciac-Wliccl does no/ represent a static,
but a dyanamic view of the universe. One caaoot tic things down by an arrangement
for things must flow or
else die (p, 177). Things are dilTcrent from each
other, and have
their own ways of being (p. 127). The world-view of the Medicine- Wheel
individual
thus combines into one two superficially antithetical philosophical
premises one is that !

rationalistic premise to the effect that what b real

does not change, that truth is not
relative ;
while the other is the view advanced by Nietzsche, for instance, to the effect
that everything is telaUve to time, place, and eharader. The Medicine-Wheel unifies
these divergent prOTises, by postulating that wliat b absolute, what
is true, is precisely
the relativity of things. "Each iiy groin ef saml is separate frem the
alt one thing nithia the \rhlrMnd,"
' are
next, but they
(p. 21).
famine this theme by considering first the general
system of the Medicine-
Whcel^'
'to refcutbMfc he wnW,

im*...; .nJ 'f

Sok r, preset.

W,.l ..p,ni. I.lreipooion

SI..
Sh Hack ireS, m'S v"" '"w

NORTH
^Vjsdom White Riilfalo

I
EAST
illack Bear Illumination
Yellow Eagle

,
SOUTH
lnnr.a,Ml,n,s,Gcn Mouse

ta[..E..h
""'""''to
p,.reT,, .remthjro.ii,
teto
m^ "rett.n.rere ot kure.n
'''

;S!',"""r"'.''.nd.ncyre.sri,
,., m, t
"" "''"1 '
to.i.usnes, (p. 6).
r'T" "''"'-liKd by A
' tob), ..Ml. 1" " i.J, bi .ill
b,
E'-E.'.'h.re.M
A .p,,,.!
 MTLECnOUS ON THE MEDIClNe-WHECU 281

person will have the capacity to see far and bat will be incapable of golting dose
of things, of touching them. One with a Southern orientation will tend to base life on
immediate perception and touch, but wfll be incapable of giving unity to the things-
ideas, facts, and objects it collects throughout life, and will thus base life on feeling

rather than thought or distance. And finally, one whose orientation is Westward, will be

introspective and will, in most things, be so sceptical of motives as to be indecisive and

impractical (pp. 56-57).
In addition to the four great directions, there are three dimensions to the world :
the earth below, the sky above, and the realm of Spirit. Where the four great
directions might be said to represent a horizontar taxonomy of the universe, the three
dimensions represent a veiticaV orbntalion. If we multiply the dimensions by the direc-
tions, we arrive at a twelve-fold framework which represents the outer circumfrance of

the Medicine- Wheel, and is symbolic of the Iwdvc people on the earth two of which
are the Indian peoples. On the other hand, the addition of the dimenisons toThe
directions yields a sevenfold number of ways of life . people may be (or, as we shall

see, may choose to be) one of the four directions, or may choose to understand the
urviverse in terms of earth, sky or Spirit (p. 214). We may safely leave further cotiRide*

ration of this system until later. Now I wbh to examine and comment upon tlic structure

we have outlined above.

The sevenfold system outlined above is a mathematical conception based upon
human beings os the measure of things. The universe has four quarters, just as human
beings have a four-square frame of directionality : forward (future ?), backword (past ?)
left, and right. (That there is a scientific hasi^ for this conception can be seen in the fact
that we know there are four basic kinds of brain-wave palierns. At a different time I
could show how these patterns correlate with the directions). Similarly, the universe has
three dimensions, just ashuman beings have three bodily dimensions. Although each
thing in the universe has its own nature, there arc basic resemblances between tilings
such that we can, in terms of this framework, outline their basic unity and togetherness.
Each direction or direction of human beings is reduplicated in the universe. Were wc
beings with an other than upright posture, for instance, we may very well have forged a
different vision of the arrangement of the universe. But given our basic posture and
otvtntaiion, wc organize the world and experience in terms of the nictapliysical
principle of (he four directions and the three dimensions. many ways, the philo-
In
sophy of the Medicinfl-wheet, in its formal airangemcats, may be considered a
Pythagorcanism of North America.
Let us turn now to a considcralioa of the interpretation of human nature and
human life which wc find here.
One of the great teachings of the Mcdicinc-lVlieel is that all things in the uni-
vene are interdependent and uniiil-arc, in short, harmonious. Of all the things in
the universe, only human beings arc problems to themselves (shades of Max Scheler)
because they do not know of (he universal harmony but must search it out (p. 5). The
aim oriife is to learn of this universal harmony and to grow in knowledge of it to ;
achieve what the Cheyanne Indians call total ondcniianding (p. Our
7). basic aim
as human beings must be to strive for the unity and equality of things (p. 222). Life is
thus a dynamic, teleological process of growth towards unity.
 ),I.. ATKEYA SOVVrNIR VOLUME

involves a struEBle to answer the

Yet the achiev'ement of total undemanding
hssic quesiion-Who am I ? {p. 345). Each
person-or being-in the world has one
things : their inevitable alonenejs (p. 7).
bask Duality in common with other people or
discord and strife-but also of growth. For it
only as we overcoms
This is the cause of

nur aloneness that we can become total beings.

discussioii hencefortli to the being of
Each individual person (restricting our
petsons) has bis or b own medicint.ot
bcgjanmg-placc", or basic orienUtion with-
perceive nnd understand things in terns
in the four directions. Each of us will initially
of wisdom, innocence, intraspectian, or illmnination. These define four of the ways
in

which we may seek an understanding ofourscKcs and of the universe. If, however, we
are to be more than 'partial' beings, we need to understand not only our own basic

otkiUalioafor dominant state of consciousness) but also the other three orientations as
well (p. 7). That is, if one is an introspective person, one must seek to experience the
ways of wisdom, illumination and innocence, in order to become total beingsto become
foursquare persaas. Thus, for instance, a person whose orientation is toward wisdom
will tend to be cold, logiral and distant ;
become total, such a person would
in order to
have to seek out and experience the nays of introspection and dreams (displacing logical
thnu|bt by ImaBmatiow and faniasy. forinstante). espaitnesthewaysof iSluminaiion
which involves the broadest pos^le view of things, and must experience the ways of
immediacy and innooenec. For it is only in terms of the four-fold unity that we can
speak of a whole person (p. 24). Thus although one might begin life wjUi only one
power Of one stale of consciousness or another, our goal is to learn to unite the four
power* into one unirtrse (p. 12S).
The approsch to the seareh for a unification of the four directions within us may
be through physical things, through heawnly things, or through the Spirit U
(p. 214).
we approach umfieationtluough physical things (tlirough the Earth), we take anob-
jecliveiuitude seeking to discover the Tesemblattts between
our individual power.s
and the powers of things animate or inanimate. may, on We the other hard, pursue
unification through 'heavenly' thincs to sindetwand what
C. G. Jung would call the
archelyTat pstierns of our canhiy cristenct. This
h a sub}ectiye approach to unity, but
not pcrwnal and individual subieciivny, hut
coHectne. trans-personal siibiectivily. And
finally the he unity, of (he Spirit, a unity w hieh transcends
yet includes all previous unities. Ihtreafttivusws-JTO
ways oflite (p 2141 There arc
introspcaion. and innocence; and the
three additional ways of Eanh. Heaven, ami Spirit. Diagrammaiically
5uh;rfe i
.

Witdnm, Illumination i _
Introspection, Innocence 1
-'ty

Unity of Spirit
I
 ;

REFLECTIONS ON THE MEDICINE-WhEEL 283

the gcaivdest and hardest way, while the

even though the way of the Unity of Spirit is
introspection, and innocence) arc
acceptance of individual ways (wisdom, illumination,
the easiest, yet all of these seven ways arc on an
ontological parity. Each one of us has

a way appropriate to oneself (p. 126)- We cannot dictate to others what we perceive as

good, or we become bad ; and likewise, we cannot dictate to others what wc perceive
will

as bad, for Uiis shows that we are already bad (p. 126)"Finally, all things arc equal on
the Medicine-Whccl (p. 214). We tiros have no
ontological right to ascribe higher

reality to one way or another. Thus unlike

other systems whose formal arrangement is
which would erect hierarchical systems where-
similar to that of the Medicine- Wheel, but
by the seventh way (of Qie unity of Slant) is placed at the valiiarional and metaphysltal
.and in word the principle
summit of things, tlie Medicine- Wheel people uphold in spirit
parity, namely, that
of what Justus Buchler has called the doctrine of ontological it is

illegitimate to ascribe hletatcbical or cardinal characteristics to

some beingsor ways
and not to others. I shall take up this issue further iq the next section.

HI

One of the basic characteristics of Western thinking is the tcodeccy to conceive of the

relationship between people ard Ihinfs either in (erms of imbordinale-supcroidjcale

dyadic arrangements, or in terms of unifying triads which unite two conflicting terms of a
dyad into one. Both of these characteristic modes of thought are grounded in the desire
to locate a single function or principlea Jirst principle which may be said to support
the entire architecture of the universe. Thus chher one or another of the terms of a
dyad is given ontological priority over the otheras being is higher than appearance
or the unifying third is given ontological priority over tho terms unified as Hegels
Absolute takes ultimate priority over the terms it rccondles.
If one has followed the discussion so far, one will see that one of the central
doctrines of the Medicine- Wheel is that each tndiWdual being is real and has its own
way of being the objects of introspection, or illuroination are no more or less real
than the objects of sensation, for instanceand is simultaneously a part of n larger,
but no more' ontologic.'illy ukimntc, whole-one will have grasped the fact that parity
and not priority forms the metaphysical key principle in this philosophy. The result of
such a doctrine is that this philosophy combines a respect for the integrity of indivi-
duals logelhci with 3 coTrebtivity view of the relationship between these individual
things. To niy mind, this represents the summit of metaphysical wisdom.
The tendency to give priority to some modcsof being and not to others is, I believe,
a function of holding being to be dependent npon knowing. The tendency to ascribe
ontological primacy to some things but not to other results from misconceiving ones
own way of being and its corrclmive modes of knowing for the mode of knowing and
being. In the philosophy of the Mcdicinc-WhecI, the doctrine of the dependence of
knowing upon being is clearly upheld. Ones knowledge will depend on ones node
of being in the world ; given the fact that there arc many ways of beingeven if we
may categorize this multitude in terms ofafour or sevenfold system as there arc
thincs, then there is always fln other mode of being to be known, .nnd another
5. tmtin RBcWer, Miiaphytietqf IfaiUfal Cai^xet, 'NsW York : Columbia Utiiveniiy prtis
196<^ p. 15t.
 :

284 DR. D.L. ATREV-A SOUVTOia VOLUME

mode of knowing to be achieved. And if one respects the individual integrity of the
modes of being and of knowing of individual beings, the one is never tempted to give
ontological priority to some things acd it to others.
1 wish to consider this thesis in twins of two paths. First, I wish to consider the
correlation between being and knowing ^paying some attention to one of the slori'
of the Medidne-Wheel. Following that, I shaL consider the nature of being and know-
ing as evident in the life and growth of individual people.
Allhougii in several respects there are difTerecces between Platos philosophy aod
that of the Mcilicine-Wheel. 1 wish to consider ooc central allinity : the relation bet-
w'cea the mjth of the cave and tlic doctrine of the line in Phlo, and the correlative
myth and doctrine in the story below.
Central to Platos corcelatioa of the 'cave' and (he line is a basic insight Into the
^

architecture of a philosophy erf' For ctniral to any philosophy of life is a coniep-

life*.

tion of the univene-or at the very )ea.v of human IHe-as a dramatic, dynamic affair
the individua! isdynamic, not static; subjective, not obyectivc.
Hence the myth of the
cave IS cast in a personal and dynamic form. On the
other hand, it is a cenlral charaet-
emtie of many piulosophies crf life whose central aim w to furnish individuals with
'"TWROnalizc and objectify individual drama
fnin

aace^r
^ dynamw is but an ins-

TOnyw th the universe, Tlius Platos

doctriae of the line is a sialic,
representation on an impersonal
but wml.illvc
level of the dyoamics of the
cave

impersonal
because of
a.s well The story lo whkh I Ll, ^
spue limitations to reprodSt, eolire
**

l.Wto wilh commm., Mi 1.

asked a fellow mouse if he loo bad

heard the wuntT
Ao,na//irorA'oi/i,ng.;amfttfrm>ir TnH-,.,
yet another mou* about *
the sound, and thic
JPur b,ad? H'Acr sound
to foipei the whole
r 50^!!;^^^!'
matter. But one dav * determined
SM in

hr h
kept on hearing. So he e investigate
Imte mouse fjund was
left the other
in to ih^ ^
the sound he
that he had heard 'i**
ihr^*"
world or the mice, ho returned to the
cvehed at the
diwosery. Hut
nt JJ ^7^ .

instead he J hc other mice about his

Thc faei that he
 REdLnCflONS ON tHC HEDJCiNE-WHEEI. 285

other three corners of Iiis world,

The story continues as the mouse explores llw'
68-85}.
coming upon the Sacred Mountains themselves (pp-
finally

The Mouse is symbolic of the South, the direction of those who

live in terms of

and^all the capitalized terms in

immediate perception. That is where the mouse begins,

the dialogue above refer to the diaracteiislics of mke busy, searching everywhere,
regarding the unknown as nothing, leaving curiosity until Tatet' and so forth. The
little mouse is led to explore the world, and his explorations lead him to greater and
greater 'understanding of the world. In his travek he meets with the Buffalo
(Wisdom),
short, the little mouse grows
the Hear (Introspection), and the Eagle (lllaminalion). In
by risking his life. He grows beyond bis beginning place (in the South) and ended up
encompassing all four directions.
All the stories of the Medicine- Wheel arc cast in the form this story has. Each
story is but a dilTerent way of iidicaiiag how udividuals may grow, how they may
come to understand. Each story is dUTccent, but they are all the same. Being im-

personal' the stories can be interpreted by each person in terms of his or her own
dynanvlca.
Let us now cast a look at the nature of individual human life.

The Medkinc-Wheel and its accompanying stories symbolize not only daily life,
hilt as a whole. Each individual must learn it his own way to unify the four
life

directions. Croups of people are discriminable in terms of the tendency of some towards
one way or another. And life as a whole has a four-fold aspect.
The life of each individual has four basic stages : birth, youth, maturity, and old-
ngc.,I shall consider here only the stage of youth.
In infancy, children exemplify mainly the characteristics of innocence and trust
(the South). Initiation into membership into the group is preceded by what Is known
as the "Vision- Quest."

When the time for a Vbion Quest approaches, a youth will select four people as
spiritual guides who will meditate at a distance (p, 121 ) with the youth who then
goes into the wildcincss alone. Upon bis return, the youth wDl recount his experiences
wliich will fall within or be inlcrprciablc ia terms of the four directions, or combi-
nations of them to his spiritual guides wdio vwll then be also to indicate to the young
person his beginning place' or basic mode of perception. Two events result from this
interpretation of the vision quest. First, a new name is given to the youth. Let us say
that !i young person exemplifies the attributes of the mouse, os well as of introspection
(West). In that care, tlw r.cw name might be dther Black Mouse, or Green Bear. The
icennd cvnmjbtlie cmisuufXiQOATnjdjiclJiyjtbs-^'.tb'Ji.whte'. te }.\vj jihwU
main characlcrLsUcs of the person are pictured in symbolic form. Tins shield is then
c.irriedwhcrcvcrenc goes, or left always outside ones dwelling-place so that
at a
glance anyonecould krrow what that person was like (p. 9). All of ones basic
tendencies tow anls this or that fault or virtue would be discoverable at a glance.

With this making of a shield and ihe ^vtag of a new name, a person becomes
a
memberof a group. But h terms of pcisonalgrowth and foinilmcnt. the vision-quest
marks only the beginning of the quest for umGcaiion and balancing
of the four
'
dirrclions (p. 24).
 ;

m DR. B L, ATRCVA SdUVCKlR VOLUME

Inthevision-quest, we see, once again, the cmpbasis on individualily correlated

with unity.

Itmight be useful if some corrck'ion could be establhhcd between

the doctrines of the
Medicine-Wheel and those of some other, prererably modern,
thinker. C.G. Jung docs
mention the connection between his p^hokjgy and
that of tlie 'Wheel' Such a
correlation would perhaps extend the comparative
usefulness of this' study.
Very briefly. lung holds that there are four basic
fmcllons of consciousness-
thinking, feeline. sensation, and intuition. Thrse are rdaled as points on a cross

Thinicmg

Feeling

Thinking and feeling are opposhes,

as are sensation and
intuition Juna holds that

Oivm ""
lio. ihiJbii,;

,k,
at Slu
'1''
"T ''1
f
1.., . b,.!, lib, ,te
,
if"* r

WcI : No
North Wisdom
;

Jf^echarafletiiceachscciionorthecroiKi
'wuer, part or who|,. -
^J-^^^AMixiUalFircholeiy N,
phS^pSsT
** T*''
^'emncanw of tills eorcdalion
v.i.
WJ,i..4i. I68,pp,,3.
 RETLCaiONS ON TUC MnDiaNE-WilEKL 2S7

Tlius

I
Feeling

In terms of this diagram, we see that the following definitions can be arrived at :

I. NORTH Wisdom :

a. Thitiking combined with intuition, oi

b. The FORM of the WHOLE : or Formal essence

II. EAST : Illumination

a. Intuition combined with feeling, or

b. Tlw M AFTER of the WHOLE : or Material Essence

in. SOUTH : Immediacy

a. Sciisaiiun combined with feeling, or
b. The FART of MATTER : or Material existent

IV. WEST : IntrospKtion

a. Sensation combined with thinking, or

b. The FORM of the PART : or Formal existent

Here in schematic form we find the ontology and epistemology of the Medicine-
Wheel clarified by use of Jungs psychology. We could (have) made a correlation with
any number of other thinkers :(1) with Halos doctrine of the Four stages of the line;
(2) with Aristotles doctrine of the four causes ; (3) with the Scholastic doctrine of
substance, form, matter, and being ; (4) and with Paul Weiss' four modes of being
actuality, existence, ideality, and God. Such elaborations remain a desideratum, but
cannot be undertaken here. .

To bring this paper to a close, I should Ukc to comment further on the whole
idea of a four-fold arrangement in philosophy.
Wc can distinguish, inter olio, four hinds of intellectual instrunienls : monadic,
dyadic, triadic, and tetradic. C.S. Peirce argued* that of these four distinguishable
tools, only the triad is sufficient for work in philosophy. As wc have already mentio-
ned, Harlshomt follows Peirce on this claim. But James K. Feiblcman, also a student
8. C S. Pcim,77ie CoJ/etleJ irerlj. Edited fayC.HartsSiorEeand P. Weiss, Cambridee : Harvard
University Press. 1925 if. Volome 1. cf. I J92. 1 295. 1 J63.
 m. C.L. XTBEYA SOUVENIR. wAHift

of Peirce, chose to develop a dyadic system; and Paul Weiss, whom we have already
mentioned, has advanced a system in his arranged in terms of four
irreducible realities, 1 thinh Weiss is on the right track, and 1 would like to adduce
some circumstantial evidence in favour of tetrads before slating several yet to be
developed reasons why I hold teUads prefouhle to dyads or triads.
From the psychological point of ew, Jung argues that the triadic model is a
peculiarity of Christianityand particularly of a Christianity whicii is aggressive and
rationalistic in its philosophy," He suggests that Freud was dogmatic and authoritarian
both as a person and as a thinker hecanse of his use of a triadic instrument. He
argues, on the other hand, that the telredic model houses may be true only of liis
own psyche." 1 would suggest that letradk instruments, which can be shown to
involve a logic nrinclusivedisjuBetion, arc conducive to the view that one's system
may be true of the real witlioul being the whole truth.
From the sociological point of view, wc know that American culture is domina-
ted by the tlircc-numher complex, and subsidiarily influenced by the two-number
complex.*
ABd,6nall3, rrotn sodo-Wstorkal evidence
we know that the European Ihought-
patterns are dominated by the three-number pattern."
A pWlosophical defence could be given along the following
lines, tl) The tetrad
ontological priority for super-ordinate-
. ^i'
it rejects
** instruments ; (2) the letted thus
Inbihiti the tendency to reduce the modes of
Wing and of knowledge to one form (3)
;

>fni:s the static

limelwiWM of dyads and triads; (4) the tetrad
unifies and atihe same timedlscrl-

nation (atomismj (5) tetradic thinking

, .s peculiar to genuinely
plaralistic philosophies.

one. and Robert S. mstrumentS-Weiss

is
Brumtaueh h ^oLr '
Un,
imcllMualisiic. We need to find a ictradk
system
Ik at tlw same time as it B intellectualis-
reBeeiiS-a!!?^*^,
principles of such a system erticulatc the philosopliical
so (hat we imy a!!!***
vuggesting that the philosophy
ciploraunn and eiabot.xiion,
ofihe MedwMSll
wuccl b Tl
a tetradic system m
^
necil of

9. Cf.tlunlinsioaC
non, 19,p.9,
10. Juiia,0;i.C(r,,p,)li.
11. 'IH.P.H3.
 a

ROXECTIONS ON THE'MEDJCJNE-WHECL 289

If wc arc to develop a philosophy which respects the things tliat arc for what they
arc, while at the same time insisting on their incvilaWe unity with all other tilings
philosophy, that is, which establishes unily-amidst-difrerenccasafundamcntal prindplc
we could do worse than develop the philosophy of tlie Medicine- Wheel. North America
needs to discover that some of the people they conquered and have subjugated for o\'cr
four-hundred years, elaborated a philosophy which surpasses in scope and in power
many of the philosophies presented as alternatives in our own day.
 37

Is there an Alternative to War ?

Th5WateKverainon.pbyslUtaitslhatdiffeMiteMinfrotn other Boimals. Some

are ohseuc^ otlien are weU known and
undetsiood. For instana it$ axiomatic lie ;
surpasses other sprdes in tnteUigenee. leasoning
power, and curiosity, Unfortunately,
have oMy made Man predominate but not superior to his fellow
eatui superiotHy when he lays waste to lib habitat and
niaruBcally !v
!
thwateas the extinction of his own kind as well as all oiliers

,k! Jir Mtribmo .hh ,!,,( of li taslo", Iho

up the echelon of life or they evolutionary pro-

de^lopedSwr, I l
they ha expanded and develop bto
l^ehutna'^ and
his culture. political instiiuticns of

tfiaid v,c iliji onc.!^ ifs'ht *** important in Man, Im

.nil nalar. iwlf. 1, ha, f'""*

lasima ta sumlw, [o wtdue hi,
aqaippa, him wiih an
.neroics anr^^
.mmmi Mind drarei, aad iha
mrailmi rm it ha Mn Ac
m
W
On Ihe olhCT hand. dusM^a^
enmnp,,
.hn .ontonlf
raalm^^" 1"W m.kn Um ihn
bu,chcr,
kind
Ms own "i. 1 a cannihalinic

nd rimdnm pmmiw, of tmft, jn,,;.., o,n|i,y,

yn* in an unremembered
past. Their
 Is THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO WAR ? 291

functions were lo help protect and provide for the bond, anJ their incipient vestiges
remain in the social structure of other primates today. It may be as developing Man
conquered his old enemies of beast and hunger, his primitive instincts and drives
remained strong so strong that he subsliluled conflict with himself to satisfy the urge
;

of aggressiveness now fed by the thralls of greed and power. Concomitantly, Man in
his conflicts with other men began to consider his antagonists as subhuman ; so the

force that once gave impetus to practical forms of defence and survival degenerated into
the insatiable .monster of w.ar. Throngh the cons of struggle in Mans past, war has
kept pace with human progress till today it is a sophisticated leviathan that dares to
break the tethers of a weakened dvilization which tries to control it.
What are some of the reasons for modem war ? The first is a moral one. We
might say it lakes at least two nations with inflexible viewpoints to create a war.
Now,
if one of them would be more reasonable and willing to compromise, war could be
avoided. This assumption is probably correct in some cases; but, knowing human
nature as it is. it is also entirely possible that one nation is clearly an aggressor and the
bther must defend itself. Second, there arc emotional and chauvinistic reasons for war.
Many people arc patriotic, believe propaganda, and ate willing and eager to fight foe
their country, right or wrong. Third, we shall consider the political reasons for war.

The politics of war is allied with economic and geographic considerations that usually
aie not justifiable. Many times the common man understands this and suggests that the
political leaders who want war shovdd fight it out among themselves. A very good
point. Fourth, war
is profitable. It feeds tho inilitary*industrial complex while it boosts

the economy. Fifth, military leaders press for war because they have been trained for it.
A war enhances their prestige and iocreases ibe size of their establishment. Lastly,
Man's evil drives and aggressive instincts spemlize him to fight. Many men actually
enjoy war. To them it is the high point of a restricted, mundane life ; and, those that
survive combat feel individually superioi, physically and spiritually, to those who were
killed or didnt participate. Another fact wc must consider is there arc naturally cruel
and vicious people who like to kill. War legitimizes their savage lust.
Attempts have been made to discover tiic Achilles heel of the war syndrome. Its
been suggested women organized agtunst war and refuse to let their men participate. Or.
scientists and technicians must stop fabricating weapons
; and that, too, would have the

we arc dealing with the results of a violent

desired cflect. But, as the foregoing indicates,
force thatis part of our very nature and with a reality of life, intwined
with politics
and economics, that cannot easily be changed or stopped. There are more ramifications
to the problem of war than a cursory analysis would indicate or a few sage opinions
nvHi wsThii^tVwJft^iTOS&fdfflmtfiTtiOT'nave'owiiiiirventcti io prevent war
and failed ; while religion has grappled with the problem for milicnia without
success.
The auraent Chinese had a workabfc sdinne, for a while. The two armies would face
each other ready for combat then the opposing generals sat down and between
;
them
decided the contest by playmg a game of chess. Among the savages of New
Guinea,
they settle a dispute by throwing spears at one another until blood is
drawn by only
one man being killed or wounded. Interesting, but Im afraid that small
pinprick
wouldnt satiate modern, c/i'r/<rr(f man's appetite for killing.
Unfortunatety, even if war could be prevented, it would not mean the end to
 .

DO. OX, ATRCYA SOUVENIR VOLUME

violence against individuals in sodciy. Crimes and car accidents nlonc in America lake
more lives in one year than were laVen in all the years of its involvement in tlie Viet

Nam Wat. Perhaps, a more realistic approach to armed would be to control or

conflict
modify it instead of attempting an abrupt and absolute eradicalion. Man not only must
abolish war, he also nds an exattog aUctualivc to it ; a challenging adventure to take
its placeone full of competition without the threat of anniliilation and. mass destruc-
tion. Since mankind is fascinated voth the accouterments, tire machines, the tactics, aiid
the danger associated with military netbn our substitute for war must perpetuate these
;

rules to legitimize the game. The alternatives in civilian life which might suffice
(police work, fire fighting, space egplotalion, etc.) are too fragmented and dont involve
enough people to satisfy the lequiteinent as a nibslhute
for war. We need something on
a large scale involving more people, both lliosc in the
field and those back lionie.
/
Whit 1 propose is a eonfilet 0 toastruciion instead of destruction. Imagine there
has been a failure at the peace table to resolve a
dispute bclwren two countries. One of
them decides to attack the other or invade the territory in question witliout warning.
The first phase of the operation is
conducted along the lines of standard warfare using
eonventionnl armaments. Tlica allows the opposing
forces and the people of tlic
Munlries involved to disripate their initial
inflated hate, anger, and frustration, which
^ MMaincd at this point anyway. After the
cailiarsb of aulual battle, the
ww Ih. tehitoj CO bo choonoltd InB

SSd 'vlo'',- ' ton.noiiic.tton i.

8 aiv

Iheh breath Qore the nesr^g^^t'.'"*

Now wc move on to phase two
Aee.Hi
must withdraw combat troons * Pte-war consensus, both sides
from th, rr.T^
lien battalions aumcrici
I
tion will be made
undL the
arrived at the ^ umpires that have, by then,
sne of coaftict. Tlie fiEhtine
that
new
would indicate the limit
situation, Uwn, is
of the wa^
r.*".!""'
**
to a line

Ihe
a contained Ihtcatir nr departure,
separated from each otliet
by o lesneciaMp a- .
combatants are
create a psychological
.rime three begins
buffer belS^ new 'heir own unarmed men

eanl.juously sUualed.
with the unar Ju
with their
No one ,s allowed to carry
weapon* but
S, combat zone.
'

S;
me or clearing land
ns the
- aadBener^iui

^ the rear os If thi. *upplied with materi^ and

AUUiki. w
c ni Sr? K"*-
 '

IS THHIE AV ALTERNATIVE TO WAR ? 293

negotiations between high ranking officials must be carried out

right on the centreline,

wliile the troops on the defence Vines are progTKsively

disarmed and moved further

back until only a nominal force is left.

To recapitulate: The rationale of the overall plan is to prevent a resumption of

the original conflict by separating, dlsacming and locping troops constructively busy ;

getting more people involved, especially outsiders ; and putting important negotiators
Oncluding political leaders) on the "firing fine. In reality, this scheme is not a true
alternative to war but is an optional method of warfare agreed to beforehand by the
key potentials. There is nothing in il (hat would force the combatants to follow
through. It does, however, importantly a//ow' a change of tniiid or an excuse to p//
back, and ztill commitmenL It then prevents further action by sub-
save face, after

limating martial violence to amore positive level of construction. Also, Olympic type
competition and contests of methods and machines between tiienow subdued opponents
could be introduced at the end of phase three to slimulate war activities and help release
tensions.
- This discussion has not included air and sea war or all out nuclear war because

the fvrst two arc considered a subsidiary part of land warfare, cither arising from it or,
conversely, loading to it. The other, nuclear war, is in a class by ilsdf but is still based
on the success or failure to control conventional war or to resolve conflicts by other
means. '
,
I doubt if Man
wants to stop war. If he did, (he resources are already
truly
available through the U.N., which, from lack of practice, sports a poor record of con-
flict control. There is no scr.se even tliinking of using its full potential. That is, simply

annihilating the attacking force or all forces involved in the fighting. This, I am sure,
would bo a strong intimidating factor to divert, not placate, Man's aggressive urge and
press him to seek solutions other than war. Eatlier, I used the term game'* as
a
synonym for war. I didnt mean it facetiously at all. Sb many times the altercations
between nations, lead by their mcgalomaniacal heads of state, remind one of testy
children squabbling over toys in a sandbox.
la answer to (he question "Is there an alternative to war I think the answer is
yes ! It is (as this essay indicates) {x^ce, not the "practical devices" of men, but peace
that begins in the hearts of individual men working together. Only this aggressive
mobilization of peace, combined with good will and guided by restraint, will bring
about defeat for the batllefieid.
 ,

38

Catholicism in the U.S-A.

ialiuSSSi [i" S "" O" ""'5' =>ipie> >'

may imwtrt,, tlds

aid la answering llus ,Sn "'
*^"'8'' 'no up wilh seme results that
irvey was eoluluMM !n M ._ .

ber of college sTudcntJwboS *' '^^8* num-

ta Sc
jeels, tui we shall limit the
discussion iofindlrI^
otlhodoxy, and Doettinal Et^ca
orthodosy. Wc sh l
seniore attendins SU. a PP3'ioalo Catholic
CaihotkUnLfjUrand cSv."
public Utuwrsity. wniors attending the UW, a
By cultic behaviour Is meant acts
in (he .
The items selected to * ' '**^''*1 practice
measure culifc behiviour'^A of religion.

Ethical oTtliodoxv refer.

r^t,

mo an pM, M Winp,

mmmm
l
t, ,

think that a P'''* no matter hnL,' ^ agreement with

Caihalir .1

"spread of birth
control infonnation or
 CATHOLICISM IN THE U.S.A. 295

artificial devices :(4) Ttwrong for an engaged couple to have sexual intercourse
is really

if they plan to marry and (5) 1 would be entirely willing to use contraceptive methods
:

other then rhythm and abstinence after I have had as many children as I can afford to
raise.

Doctrinal orthodoxy is the stand and teachings of the Church in matters of faith-

Doclrinal orthodoxy was measured by the extent of agreement with the following four
statements Gods existence can be proven, (2) God really doesnt care how He is
:
(1)
worshipped as long as He is worshipped, (3) God will punish the unrepentant mort-
al sinner through all eternity, and (4) Jesus directly handed over the leadership of His

Church to Peter and the Popes.

The Statements measuring doctrinal orthodoxy were split into two levels, Level A
and Level B. It is important in interpreting the results to understand the levels. Level A
consists of statements that arc either classical and remembered from catachisra, Or
vague but none the less classical in that they are in the form most frequently repeated
by people. Of the above questions those numbered 1 and 4 are catagorized in Level A.

Level B restates the same truths in words that are not classical, or in words that are not

vagus. Of the listed statements those numbered 2 and 3 are Level B. It is important to
know these levels because the person surveyed is more likely to agree with a level. A
question because of the familiarity of the classical form.

CuIUc behaviour

Cultic behaviour dealt with the measurement of religiosity of students by means of

observing the external practice of religion. Three questions were asked r

(0 How often do you attend mass? (2) How often do you receive Communion ?
(3) and, How often do you go to confession ? The responses were broken
down into two caiegorits : legulatly or infrequently. The breakdtnvn was as
follow.

TABLE 1

Pegularity of Ciillic Bebavloar

rcgiila/// infreqtienlly

UIP
Mass 78% 22%
Communion 65% 33%
Confession 81% 19%
su
Mass 85% 15%
Communion 70% 30%
Confession 84% 16%

sOTE ; The term regularly for Mass means weekly or oflencr ; for Communion regularity
means n few times a month or oftener ; and for confession it means a few times a year
 : ;

296 DR. B.1,. ATOEYA SOUVENIR VOWJUt

or oitencr. . t. ju n
Tlie results or the cullic behaviour section showed strong indication that (he teit-

majoiWes of college sludeilts is sUU. shall w-c say.

gjous practice of ceremonies in large
If students are being accused of irreligion it can not be drawn from these
going strong,
results.

Elhhai Orthodoxy

Oiutdi heard about almost everywhere there is a

Elluca! orthodoxy of the Catholic is

disEussionon wntempotary cKiurs of the nation or the world, Tlie main topics argued
over in mformal of formal discussions were worded into questions for this Project
Catholic" survey. The topics cover the areas i God pfovWiog for children j
whether

Catholics should maro' only other Catliolic pensons ; the morality of birth control me-

thods financed by government spending : if cnenged penons are morally right in having
Mxual imertourse befme mattiage; and if Uts right to use conUaceptiwmeasufes other
than rhythm patterns or abstinence after one has had aspiauycliildren as he can afford.
Today irt our world birth control, population explosion, maximum family number,
and 'free love' arc among the most frequently discussed questions from politicians W
'Coektall Patty Senators', Everybody talks about the new moroliiy nod the ones sus-
pected of condoning it the most strongly are college student; or those of college age.
.'The questions of thb survey covering this aic.a nay answer a few of our questions as to
how people fed towards this new morality.
Ethical orthodoxy wu measured by Ute extent of agreement with the following
live statements

(1) God wilt provide no matter how many dtildren 1 have ;

.

Ill Uhinl: that Cmbolks should natty only aooiber Catbolle;

j
(3) I tliiak it is morally permissible to spend tax money in support of the spread^
of hittU control jnformtww or uilCvcal devices fatguirtrit with tlua statement
is defined as heterodoxy)

(^) II is really wrong from on engaged couple to have sexual Ititercoursc

tf they
plan lo get married

and abstinence after 1 have had aamany

(agreement with iWs statement is defined as
children as I can
m
afTnrvl

heterodoxy)

neforegiving the results ofthe investigation into

ethical
"^tloxy there must b
an etphnatian of the breakdown of the tomputeddaia
Tii
w^t.tattgormdlnto Hi the questions
ir, b
lih the stand of the Catholfc cJnirdi.Lo answer which agreed
istobe ini
which ii contrary to the slacd as meaning an answer
oftbe Churdiott

ahigh proportion of
 : ;

CATHOLICISM IN THE U.S.A. 297

tlhkallv heterodox resf oases. The breakdown was as follows

TABLE II

Etbicat'Ordiodoxj

UW settlors SU settio

1. hi H% 12%
lo 86% 88%
2. hi 8% 20%
lo 92% 80%
3. hi 8% 22%
lo 92% 78%
A. hi 57%
lo 67% 43%
5. hi 8% 31%
lo 92% 69%

The average response for (he Catholic senior, from the Catholic University, as
opposed to the Catholic senior, from the secular university, was ; SU seniors 28% hi
and 72% lo ;
UW seniors 14% hiand 86% lo. As is noiiced, the Catholic University
rate of hi rated response is double that of the secular univershy.

Dccirina! Orthodoxy

Uoctrinal orthodoxy U the stand of the Churdi in matters of faith. It was measured by
the extent of agreement with the following four statements

(!) God's existence can be proven.

(2) God really doesnt care how He is worshipped as long as He is worshipped.
God -ftih punish the unrepentant mortal sinner throughout all clcrnily, and,
(4) Jesus directly handed over the leadership of His Church to Peter and the
Popes.

These questions have been subsqnently divided into two icsels. The first level,
called Level A. consists of sialcmcnts that arc dther classical amJ rcroerabered from
calechisro. or vague but nonetheless classical in that they are in the form most frequen-
repeated by people. Icsxl, Iwl B, restates the same questions either in
The second
'
tly

words that .arc not classical, or in words that arc not vague. Questions
I) and 4) were
in Level A ; and 3) were on Level B.
questions 2)
TIk breakdown of the results was iato two categories, hi and lo. Hi was, as in
cthkal orthodoxy, an answer which agited with the stand of the Church, and lo btinj;
an anwcf which wax conlrnry to the stand of the Church.
 VOI-UHE
198 DR. D-t. ATRCYA SOlTrtSlR

^le'breaMo^vn wia coirip'itti ss

TkBtria

Doclnna^ Onliofloxy

6379
1. hi 31%
377
lo 697,

2. hi 20% n%
lo 807,
72%
527.
3. W 347
lo 663i. 48"/a

4. hi 42% 67%
b 58% 33%
^

Dtseuislon

pattkulir ot ihc survey show that jcnierj in colics*.

TVa ftMHman tmlts on lliii seci'ion

on (the
v.htihcr Onholic or sKubr, have lihcr.iliicd tlwir Ihoujlit dcctrinnl otlhetloxy

secvlar Muilenls ici-tl lo be mote liberslired M a rate of 257* hi response to SV/e hrt.
situalw''
VJby ivluv become so UbetaUicd in ttvese Uudenti ? tbo Vcy to tl'o
all
may tic in quesiicm (3) Ood will punhh the tintepentant mofial tinner throughout
that wiH
ewrnily. In thit liesthe foundation for fear, the feat of pain or punishment
is
never cnil. No person wishes to he punished thtoughoul etesnity so u rntionoliraiioci
fotmed w feel wfe from this. A person becomes afraid of never weinj God or 'forever

burning in the ficn of hell'. Of course, as disagreement grows in this teaching disagree-
menl grows in other leachiogs, this dbagrocment with other teachifigsis used as n
tationaliritii'n for disajeecntcnt Uh the (Itvi leaching. much sounder founJalion is A
1 u<l ti' ditagree with one leaching if a pcDon disagrees with more tlian one.

Today csptcially man 15 afraid of pain. InthK country iiioilerti aJiancts in the

medical hast Vfpt pain at a snmimvirv-

field A person in vh>.v loutney today, with aUthe
ciinvcnhrnco and mJitrul ndl bring; bai a difTiciift time facing, a problem that would
punish liirn tliruu(;h.vm cieinily. Tlic easiest way around ihh would be Id deny there is

lu.h thing. And the easiest way lo lafiimaluedivagreemtni With this twching would
be to sisvtjiee with most ot the teachings.
Also asstience grows and more things are made known, ipitiiujl things become
nofe vaaue and more atn'rart from the normal way of thinking. In this country the
siia seems to he sl.eit is a soVaSton to every problem ; if there is
no solution in absolute
rsitfeisl rwans then there tends to be a denial that
the ptohleiti really does exist. In the
tollert Qunt for kr)cdif the iputtua] knowledge of Reveblion has
Divine
srfT,4tailo.spovitet tiyht , oeiySlimg n
matetial. Csetybody terds to wact to
sy-vii^ire in a f,r|j wh-jc mairrul wtattliean
lu-.iaailfc.
TaVEn frnn * rthpom p..:nt of vkss. lationahMiion Can be formed on the key
 CATHOLICISM IN THE U.S.A. 299

doctrinal point that God unrepentant mortal sinner for all eternity.
will punish-the

There can be found a seeming eontiadictioiv in Ac teachings of the Church, on this par-
question. The Church teaches God is all powerful, all
good, and all merciful.
ticular
The abstraction can be centered around the phrase, God is all merciful. The meaning
of the words all merciful, might mean that God would forgive everybody no matter
'
what they did. This is the universal here^ so common among the students studied

here.
Also involved is the Lutheran dictum that, faith alone shall provide salvation.

This idea has been taken from Paul. (The Epistle of James, which teaches that faidi
is dead, was cailcd by Luthcrii straw epistle.) But,
fn Matthew, Chap-
without works
ter verse
7, Christ says, It is not everyone who keeps saying to me Lord, Lord,
21,
who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the man who actually does my Heavenly
Fathers will." Thus the Catholic Univcrsalist, then, implicitly denies the infallibility
of the New Testament.
Perhaps then it is better to say that most rationalisations and disagreements have
been drawn on the basis of fear of external punishment, rather than on (he basis of a
well thought-out pcutlon.
Conclusively the results of tlicscctiooon doctrinal orthodoxy have shown disagree-
ment with the Churchs teachiags in matters of faith.

What are some other factors which may account for the heterodoxy here encoun-
tered 7 One may be in liiat technological advances hove made world problems close
to the individual thousands of miles away from the nclual place where the problem is
taking place.Not so many years ago only politicians or sociologists were involved In the
problems of birth control. Today, through insianlanioos communications, most every-
body is involved in the basis of birth control.
. To mention only instant communications would be to mention only a "needle in
a hay^k". Among other is tekvision. Television, in its own tight, has revolutionized
society. Throu^
television we receive enjoyment and, perhaps more important, we
witness the world and her problems before our eyes. Wc can see over-population and
starvation as it happens ; it is no longer miles away, but in our own homes.
Technological advances, of many sorts, have shortened our work week which
means more leisure time. What do wc do wtUi this new leisure time ? Often, we spent
it in the pursuit of pleasure. Tliat may lead to disagreement with the Church. A person
who has so much time to spare lias lo choose things attractive but forbidden activities
to fill this time. Sexual irrcgularhics may be one of his choices. He may then change
his faith lo fit his behaviour.

TcchnokgicaJ advsuisxmeals irtaykatv esused n'kh ihc ChtiKlt. At

least from these results we can draw the conclusion that college students are irreligious
in terms of ethical orthodoxy.
Why is it that these students, who nfused to accept the ethical and doctrinal
orthodoxy of the Church ; were very regular in their practice of religious ceremony ?
Througtioui the ccnluncs man has had ceremony. Man lias a ceremony for mar-
mjs. birth, death graduation, New Years, inaugurating leaders to positions, birthday
commemorations, receiving ptivileges, and religious events in sliort, 'man seems
; to
need ceremonies. One of tlie reasons for the strong practice of
the attendcncc to and
300 Da. B.U ATREYA SOUVCWR VOLUME

in religious ceremony among those surveyed ts (his ^leed for ceremony.

Another important factor in the stndcnu regolirity in cultic behaviour may be
the

for status. Status in this sense is not used to mean the stains
acquired with a
search
new car or an important job, stains here means tie feeting of otiwes lowatd you. Many
people attend Church because they do not went people to start talking about them.
Many people are acquainted with the type of person who makes a big scene about
giving money to the Church (Christ mentions such people in His pambics) when the
rest of the week he is out swindling anybody and everybody.
Behaviour patterns long since ingrained in the mind^ the person is possibly annlhcr
reason for continuance in the practice of cnilic behaviour. This can be understood in
that people who have always gone to Mass, Communion and Confession regularly in

early life, either through their own initiative or outside pressure are more likely to

continue in later life do decide to discontinue

to attend these tegularly. If these people
the practice of eullic beliaviour it would most piobably be a gradual change and not a
radical turn of events, This behaviour can also bechssiliedas habit. Anyone of us
knosvs how hard it is to break a habit.
Most people find MdsSi Communion and Confessiofl an uplifting experience. By
uplifting ts meant a relief of Inner tension-and strife. Oim who has expericiiccil going
to cotiTessuin knows how an iodividoa] can gel a feeling of innocence and happiacst
because he feelshe is no longer c.'iri^ng the weight of hU wrong doings. A modem
phrase that b most suited for the definition of this feeling one gets from practising
cultic behaviour 1$ : getting it off my chest.
Ono of the most probihte eaosee tor the coniinuei praetke of cuUk behaviour is
social pressure. The iodividual is under consiaoi fire
from peers to conform to tlic
groupbahaviour patterns. One of the bchaviout paiterns of roost groups is a religion
and religious eecemony. One can easily see that one of the reasons for the continuanw
of tellgloiispCiKlkc, going to Mass. Osmmunion and Confession, in this ease,' may be
due to social pressure.
Atioiher reason 8 guilt feeling or guilt oompdex. An
Is
individual who has been
through the socialiMtion process will find it hard to rebel against these
habits wiiiioul
a feeling of goin. Related to guilt 1$ sUamc. You may have often
heard someone say
If my parents knew what 1 was doing now
they'd die. Of course, one may
also truly
Wievc he IS domg somelhing wrong by not going to Mass.

^ people do not necessari^pw with cveiytbmg

Wide range of doctrinal and ethical

Communion Or Confession
,he Church says but they

belief.
feel

These a some of the reasons the cultic

h*aiourTHerns are still beina uracticed
even,hough oaehcamonenOiat^Godbdcad
or therehnoneedforreli^^^^

Finn) Concluslnn

In review : Catholic college stiidoms at both

a leading Catholic anri n i,..,r i
Uruvcrsiiy
still practice euWo
behaviout ot take peiTs^^ 011^01
ChuhbutlheydisasreewiththeChDrdi!n^ r
. f
WchavespS^itedrwh;,h?J;|?* doctrinal orthodoxy.
 CATHOLICISM IN THE U.S.A. 301

Possibly the Church is facing a crisis, possibly it is not. Possibly the college stu-
dent is irreligious, possibly he is very leli^ous, but in a different way than the Church
thinks he should be.
The concluaon which is drawn in tlus article is not that tlie college student is
irreligious but rather he is heterodox. Cathblvdsm is possibly about to capitulate to the

New Liberalism.
 39

Dr. B.L Atreya : Philosopher and Friend

is live years younger than I, which, adJed to our personal interests and
Dr. B.L,
tchtlonshifrs, maVes me feel like hh Met brother. He. no doubt, was the more learned
and wiser, but 1 m Wm in Hawaii in 1941 on his 6tM venWte beyond the borders of

Indie, and had the pleasant opportunity with my wife. Dorothy, of helping hint learn

to walk h another culturil mitieu.

Dr, Atreya had llown from Varanasi to Hawaii, which. I believe, only a short Step
tn Hong Kong. He was to deliver lectures at the University of Hawaii. Dot and I, too,

lud teeantiycome from the mainland Slates. (Hawaii was not yet a state, but a
Governor appointed by tlic freddent of the U.S.A., and an elected
territory" with a
representative in Congcessl.
1 been invited to the Univetshy of Hawaii for a year as
avisllinspraftsiotnfpWiosepbytotwehtVictoumsorCtotVtsA. Moore, who was
spending a sabbatical year in India.
The University was overflowing with students but lacking in teachers and space.
Honolulu was sliort of living quarters, except for abandoned military barracks. They
were sucplu-s because of the endiog of World War tt or, as is said in Hawaii, the War
was pnu. Several of these bairaOks liad been moved to a field near the University
campus, and Dr. Atreya find we had been lodged in two orthese.
We called on him and learned that one of his problems was the s-itisfaction of
his vegfitaciimsnv, iodeed, die finding of aivy food at all in early morning. Dot invited
him tn have breakfast in our apartment, and soon other meab as well. We enjoyed and
profited by our conversation around the table.
Out mutual ftiendlmca was fadlitftted because we had earlier contacts with
persons ftom India, most extensively with Dr. B.P. Hivjdi who had been my classmate
at Harvard, where we iatenvorked together for our doctrates in philosophy. For years
atierWs telutnhoracwc inairtlained correspondence.
Dr. Atreya and we seemed to have from the start a mutual trust and ease in
wnvcrsalion. While we were teaching him our wayx
of eating, ho was attempting to
iosiruci us in Sanskrit, I can still recall his enthusiasm for what he termed a most
 Oft. BX. ATREYA. : tHlLOSOPHEfi. AND FRIEND 303

logical and at once highly rational yet poetic language.

We were both impressed by the keeaaess of his observation, his quick mind,
ready wit, and ingenuity. One day on a swim at a remote beach, our astute scholar
adapted AT.d'we.vwiea.WAS'M
my too-Wge swim shorts by a t'mst rf bis sucitd tViTtad.
occasionally by his comments on the social patterns he noted in this new world. Visiting
a student party, for instance, he commented on the meager exercise evident in American
dance forms.

The evening came when Dr. Atreya was to deliver a general lecture in the Univer-
sity'slargest hall. It was crowded wth students and teachers. Dr. Atreya began
speaking at eight. By nine he was looking occasionally at his watch. Soon questions
began coming from the floor, and Dr. Atreya continued to talk, with watch in hand.
About ten-thirty he suddenly stopped, studied his time-piece, then remarked that his
watch had stopped !

Although no person there had ever sat that long listening to a lturer, no one
had left the room. They were onthralled by the manner and content of Dr.
Atreyas

words, especially by the novelty (to them) and seeming supcrnaturalism of much they
were hearing. They continued discussing and arguing as they left the hall ; indeed, for
days jind months. Perhaps many will have passed on to iheir children their interest in

this introduction to Indian religionand philosophy. Such ideas and accounts as

levitation "he floated the window out. as Dr. Atreya put it; self-control, even of
bodily functions such as breathing and heartbeat ; burial alive for long periods. Yoga,
intense concentration, mysticism, asceticism, Hindu philosophies all this was so foreign
to the experience, thinking, life of American youth that it so captured their conscious-
ness as to make them oblivious to the passage of time, even to the hardness of their
chairs.

Near the time when Dr, Atreya was to fly on to the mainland U.S.A. he was
invited by the Rotary Club of Waikiki to speak at a noon luncheon. He did well ; the
Rotarians liked him. One of them, a prominent businessman who owned the largest
cleaning and laundcying company in Hawaii, asked where Dr. Atreya was going after
leaving HonolulUj and when I told him
California and across the States, lie asked
whether Dr. Atreya would like to have his clothes deaned and pressed before leaving.
1 assured him he would. So we came back
to the University campus, got all the clothes
he had used on his trip and took them to the laundry. The next day tliesc were
returned nicely cleaned and pressed and exchanged for the remainder of his travel
wardrobe. Dr. Atreya was amazed that all was done so nicely, quickly, and ns a
gesture cf friendship by a money-grabbing American businessman."

My wife and I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Atreya for helping to prepare us
for later extensive visits throughout India. From 1954 for some four years wc were
most of the lime living and working in a dozen Asian countries forming local
units of
the Wbtld Brotherhood programme founded in 1950 at an
international conference in
UNESCO House. Paris. Of some 60 chapters 26 were in India from Mysore
to
Kashmir, tnchidinp. of course, Varanasi (formerly known here
.ns Benares), Unfortunately
Dr. Atrcy.-! was away at the lime of our visits, but
wc learned much about him throunh
imilual mends and professioila! associates.
304 DK. BX. ATREfA SOUVENOl VOICMB

These World Broiherhood (iD SOB* countiics Ftatemit Mondial) units wcrecoji-
posed of such prominenl persons as tducaton, lel^us and political leaders, and other
Opir.ioti ntaUrs".Deagned to improve intergroup relations, they sought repre-
stnuihcs, both men and women, of the varioosBlhnic, caste, occupational, and other
ekniems of the communities, a number of whom w
were introduced to through the
good offices of oor phiJosopher-associafe of earlier times. Eventually tve had the

cooperation of Mr. Nehru and hB two sisters. Dr. Sarvepalli Badhakrishnan was a
chief adttsci ; Professor Jal Danivalla of Bombay succeeded us as Director for the
Asia-Pacillc area
;
and in Madras Proressor Mahadevan, another noted philosopher,
was among out organiiing group. At Varanasi, although Dr. Alrcyasvas elsewhere at
a conference of philosophers, he had ananged fur Swami Apehananda to advise us
during our Grst visit.

These years in Asia, including several months in India, also inspired Dorothy to
writeand edit three volumes contribnling to the burgeoning interest throughout Uie
world in things Asian The Afenror Book of Modern Asian Lileralure, Voices of Modern
Asia, and a biography of Indias awaid-winiung novelist, Biiahent Bhatlaeharya.
We ore grattful for this opportunity to share lathe Souvenir Volume JniernaiienaJ
In honour oFDt. Atreya, who hosconlribined so mueb to our pctwnal lives and to
iacreating understanding among peoples of many euliurts.
 /

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s.iriipunj 'uoaq c oiiii payaAuoo XjicnUjA sum ii sacpiqs ojcnpEiS-isod Jiaqi joj

X' idosoL'qd paido aio oq][oi|A\ osoiiijoj qiainjis An sc* ssaupuiq s.ifjTpuKj
OAtiajdsjod J3p[* c ui svpnis ano Sonisjiid joj wuupina asuauiuji paApaaj
p'jc 1C pajaaC Su]aq jo jcaj jscaj aip jnoqiiAs saiipuijijp ijijai uiiq paqacojddc a^v

amioA aquAnos VAasiV -ra 'aa sof

 iijfl)Utd 9 JO ssi[i puB Hijcaw o^q
BjnsBsuiiuf oip ISB8J }c sjdaicxa jcuosjod siq ijSnojuj moiis oi bj)[ Xddcij puc Suoj %
[IJM ifjipuBj ssajq porj XBJY 'Xjunjnuj paiiiBHu scq jt su ajBuiuinsnos pmj siiouof
joui puB 3J0C1I sinoaaq suq jj }! jo lUSUtpoqiUB sqj i^piSA si ^jijcuosjad aitju;

fH '.ojjufqint;, pjOAi aqj asn sn oAiq p]noM isSSapiSH uj ssuss sq} ui ojo;

qi 03 oijusqinc puc snig upoq pri| p:niOAV puc oiojm !r3!puBj i[3j\[ftv q;iM luids oq
Bqi sr piBS ^[Sjiugnp oq uts) jcq^^ 1)? pqoiS sqj no oqBUt pinoo ji jocdiui jcnjai

qi Xq ucqi jaipcj 31 puitpsq psjfJOM ipiqM liiids oq] Xq paSncS oq 03 soAJosop qio/
,!r3iputrj 'sooutqsuiniin osoqi Jopo/l o* snoi/uodmi oiuoooq 03 sucom puc sXe/
unoj scq ]i Xqdosopqd iuuiKiptr jo pBOjsuj i!qiq3Biut?^ jibbavs jo souip oq] odui

oSoBqo qonm mj sssioqiJOMu 'ppon oqj, 'sjq Jo uopcitdsB paoj sjq] ig[nj oj qoni
[TOp scq aq scaaos 31 jcioqos ejjiq puE jaqitt iC3 iqdoso|H]d v sy 'optM puc jt
jdosopqd B3Ut?p,i/^ oq; i>3cScdoid 01 oqq pjnoAV puc cpucucqoAf;^ lUiBAvg puc cqij
:aiG^ luicMg sc tpns ssucuofssfui UBipaj 3caiS aqi JO sdoisiooj aq; UI a\o(|OJ oj oq
mm Xjoa pjooAV aq 3cqj psAJSsqo Xipmsca ifiipucj qpji jno jo asjnoo ui aauQ
nuoip qSnojqi auo3 pcq j icq; an
E'.u oq [pan sjooid [cuij aqj oAOJddc joasu p[noAV oi[ poauiAUoa X|t]3noJoij3 sc

ic MionxvMVMr v sv iriiaMv.!
 JANblTji AS A jnaKayogin 307

Was thoroughly convinced, he would never approve the final proofs until he made
sure that I had gone through them.
Once in course of our talk Pandttji casually observed that he would very much
like to follow in the footsteps of the gnat Indian missionaries such as Swarai Rama*
tirtlia and Swami Vivekananda and would like to propagate the Vedanta Philosophy
far and wide. As a philosophical writer and Btcla scholar, it seems he has done
much to fulfil this fond aspiration ofhis. The world, nevertheless, has much changed
Swami Ramatirtha. Instead of adraking philosophy, it has found
since the times of
ways and means to become impervious to it. Under these circumstances, Panditjis
work deserves to be gauged by the spirit which worked behind it rather than by the
actual impact it could make on the global mind. What can be definitely said is that
the spirit with which Panditii wrote and worked had been true and authentic to the
core in the sense in which Heidegger would have us use the word authentic. His
entire personality is verily the enibodimenl of it It has become more and more

glorious and consummate as It has attained maturity. May God bless Panditji with
a long and happy life to show through his personal example at least the immeasura-
ble wealth and bliss of spiritual life.


41

The Rational and the Non-Rational

The problem of rational and non-ralional has at

times been confused with that of the
relation between philnsophy and religion.
In such contexts the tetm philosophy' U
used for some kind of rational inquiry into
a particular branch of study. Thus, when
we use espressions like philosophy of sdenoe,
philosophy of history, philosophy of art
objective .md analytical study of the
respect vedisclphnas. Religion,
on tlie other hand, U taken to be superhuman, stipra-
infra-rational. and divine, which have very little to do with

Indit Je t n
8'*l>fo"s coold be more uc in the Western context. In

ourpursuitwiieasttielalU;clakBihc<iam.>fti..u.*'^
lakes the Brahnm or the
be thc^ndr i?'
pursuit. The Western
and
tradition has hied m times
f
between philosophy
"ii6'anhutthesyntltesBhasneverbeensjir.rf,'iL
satisfactory because of
or the theological overplus. either the rational

may be called an essai^pMtos^[!?rr rational and non-ratmnal

"^l
to the phrase
phiinsophy
study of religion in JS*ihk
* laT**
***^
the philosoDlnr Hmu,. dimension to the
Rucntly. a rational > Conse-
m due course. Tn the nresent JL ,
popular '* ken up severally and became
approhcdbytworepre,eniaM^2'^^'*'f of religion as
has been studied
ordertoclarir^.'^ ^''^^"'^*^''lR'do'fOtto-
in
andthenon-rational.Tlielwoihik.JL i.e.. the rational
wtnkereselecW herein
represent polar approaches to
 :

THE RATIOMM- Km THE NON-RATIONAL 309

the problem, the one emphasizing the

ratbnal and the other the non-rational,

Before we land directly in the philosophical geography of

Germany, it would be

more appropriate to have a look on the situation in our own surroundings. Here, in

India, the debate between the two positions takes the form of the controversy betsveen
tarka (reason) and Mili (revelation or scripture). Revelation is supposed to be of
superhuman origin. In other worldly matters the verdict of the scripture is final
(atindriya visayc^u sabdameva pramSpam). Here reason plays only a secondary role. It

is used like a duster to clean the ground, but never to destroy the ground. When it
comes to secular tcafon, iV is reason that, reigns supreme. Samknea has very em-
phatically told that even if hundred scriptures declare with one voice that the lire is
cool and without-light we cant accept the verdict (nahi Silog/iiraprakuso

Yeti bntvaiprSmSnyamupailiti see his Gita-Bitfdya, XVIII. 66 ;

also Brhadciranyaka-

Bhasya, II, 1.20).

The role of reason in a system or sumgrurfaya (tradition) may said to be three-

fold.The first task of reason cotild be explanatory. If we lake up ^aifikara, for exam-
ple, he takes up the help of reason to present an agreeable solution of certain
problems. His commentary on the first aphorism of the Brahma-SCitraS is revealing in
this respect. Reason could also be of the form of internal criticism. The second task of
reason would be the defensive one. To take up Advaitic school again, if the Buddhist
loglciaos attack the tenets uf the system, the Advaitin will have to make use of the
sharper tools of reason. Sometimes the methodology (war-teebniques, in a sense) of
the opponent is adopted (or ones defence. Once the defensive function is over, reason

isemployed to take the offensive as well. The enemy cotild be the internal one or an
external system. Sathkara had to use his logical tools against the Vedic SMkhyas (who
were treated as pradhdna luallaf) as well as the non-Vcdic Buddhists and established
the philosophy of Advaita firm in the soil of India. But Saihkara would all the time be
conscious of the limits of lo^ ot tea-son. For. according to him, nothing could be
finally decided by reason, as there will always he the possibility of some stronger
reason being evolved and consequently controverting tlw earlier stand, as is found in
the case of scientific discoveries {tarkapraiisthSnSl, Bridima-sutra-biw.tya, II. i. 1 1). In
the end Sarhkara would like to say good-bye to the too's of reason and retire with his
Bhilja-Gorlndam.
Buddha, on the other band, being a critic of the tradiljonallcarning, would not
give much importance to words or revelation, though his followers, on their part, liave
. accorded almost the same sanctity to Biiddha-racami. But the Buddha himself did not
like that his words be accepted without rational anylysis. He has boldly told the monks
not to accept the words of the Master because of sheer regard for liim ; they should
rather examine them before acceptance, as gold is taken to be pure only after being
put to fire, cut into pieces and tried on a touch-stone

tripSccliedacca iiika^iil s\n'arnamim pandiialfi,

pariksyabkiksaro grrifiyam madraeo na ta genravSt.

K. 3588
Like Buddhism, Jainism too gives pTominent place to reason. The Vnaradhyayana
(27)
recommends that dhama should be reviewed by the intellect and the reality
should fce
310 DR. B.L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOUJMB

analysed by it (ponnSye samikkhie dimvium lalla taila vigicchlnm). When we come t >
Ny 3 ya system, we find here that reason has been eiven maximum importance, although
the loyalty towards scripture has noihwn withdrawn. The Vedic philosophers found
Nyiya to be extremely useful for the defense of
their system, therefore they developed
the logie ofNynya philosophy much better. The Nyaya-svslem
and olher schools,
particularly the Advaita Vedanta,
fiMtiontOBelhcrIikebu$h-and-Iion(vOTo-jim/ia-
nydya); reason defends the scripture and other
orthodox doctrines as the bush pro-
tects the Hon from external danger*.
On the other hand, the bush provides help to the
hon to make the offensive as well. Simibtly. the
orttodox sehools use NySya-Iocic to
attack the opponents.
^ ^

liS oJLTh"
Umjled one. Theologians r
make T their best cITons to
1 "S' r lb. M -.i-.-
or msop
j ^
i,

<om tolpsicl punsijp, ir ,h tonapt ol^

I, .1! J
tbwlogian or or a non-theologian. ImiPill'ie of Ibat of a

ooneoSV^to ?raoa\L'to rawfrem '

"PP'"'b lo Ibe eelljloui

npproaeh, With ih the empirieislic line of

denial of causality are demni- I...J
.l ll'=ibjl, Mo
and 21^0=0*7, '"l>-lailne oonotpB of
Kan, ib<d ,bo limb. r ;
oarconoopioM ihSi .. K' >>a=l

rtb^Uimind wa, funbor

o and bai
intimidaiod. OfcooT. 7 I'fl'l foi Mnennil
k hnaolf ha J fomd
"* X"
oi j way

55 sr:7' f

Oionm. nnd n.ibin. oU. .Lf (Hlffl QW n 7

regard human knowWae?!?^ .
V"* re nrc thinfcrr,
K'O. ,b. inl.iiioni,,,
Lj " Tr."' inadonoMo n,on,
" or'ln^w^"Ho
n".'
Abiac.
""oaot.bonartawnoan ! lnlEo ],

""I "Volalto,,,
holn,
 niERATIONAt. AND THE NON-RATIONAL 3II

in God, is beyond rational approach. Against the first contention John Caifd maintains

that to hold that human knowledge is relative and yet to claim to know the existence of

God are irreconcilable. Logically, the relativity of human knowledge must imply the
unkaowability, therefore non-existence, of the Absolute. Moreover, we cannot worship
the unknowable. We adore the known or the knowable, but not the unknowable.
To
say that there is some higher reason within us that comprehends the Absolute would
not help us to get out of the riddle. In Che very fir/Jt round of argumentation, one

would say that we cannot make a distinction between the higher and the lower reason
in one and the same person adequately. But, next, even if >vc believe in some kind of
would say that it is reason nonetheless. As regards the second
higher reason, Caitd
objxtion against the objective study of religion Caird would say that religious
knowledge cannot remain purely ienmediate and intuitive forever, though this funda-
mental characteristic of religion cannot be denied. He admits that there are certain
moments of trance or divine w>mmunication, but after few moments of such states one
comes back to ordinary level of consciousness and resumes his/her normal behaviour.
That experience too does not remain purely personal and private. It comes out in the
formof spoken or written language or music or ail tie. And at this stage the rob of
reason is important. The certitute required for religious experience, as different from
non-religious experiences, is provided by reason. Reason also clears off superstitions and
dogmas from the body of intuition so that the religious structure based on such
intuitions may be accepted in the cultured society. As regards the tbiid objection, Caird
maintains that reason is not opposed to revelation. In fact the authoritative character
of revelation is determined by reason itself. When tiicrc Is some doubt as regards the
revelatory or the secular chirsictcr of any text the final verdict is given by reason.
Reason also acts as an umpire to decide the Issues between reason and faith or between
one religious text and another. To say that revelation is above reason would simply
mean that the contents of religion are amenable to a higher reason ; but this would
lead to the difTicullies noted earlier. Thus Caird answers all the three objections and
and concludes that there is absolutely nothing that cannot be scrutinised by reason.
Faith as well as revelation arc implicitly rational for him.

After considering these ob^ions Caird now proceeds to justify the supremacy
of thought and we may here note that all the justifications arc purely Hegelian. Since,
according to Caird, thought itself is infinite and absolute, and there cannot be two
absolutes, thought and leality are identical. The infinite character of thought
proved is
r.tthcr negatively, viz., the fmitude implies the infinite. The moment we think of (he
boundaries of the finite, thought goes beyond itself. Thought, tlius, is ever self trans-
cending. The finite strives to become the infinite because it is infinite. If the end of
religion is to know and realise the Real, it is thought that would help it in this
pursuit.
In religion, thus, we go deeper and deeper into the nature of Reality in a cyclical
manner where.is in morality and other sodal sdcnccs the progress is linear. To restate
the same in the words of ^airtkara, even though the Brahman and the jTfman arc
essentially identical, and our study into the nature of this reality is not going to
m-tke
any ontological difference, the enquiry into the natucs of flra/uitan does make at
least
epistemological difference, namely, it removes our misunderstanding regarding
the
nature of the Real. Hence the desirability and the necessity of such analysis.
 . ^

312 DR. D.L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VIH.1IME

The approach of Rudolf Otio to the problems Of religion may be regarded as

fundamentally opposed to the idealistic and rationalistic ones. In
his The Idea of llie
Holy {Das flclllse, IDl?) Otto tries to compensate one-sided approach religious to
problems. He wants to do justice to the non-rational aspect of religion. In his attempt
to do justice to the non-rational he sometimes goes to the eslent where he is charged
for doing injustice to the rational. No doubt there is an overtone of the non-rational
in him but he has not ovetloobed the rational, as the very sub-title of liis book slates
that the work is 'an inquiry into the nOQ'Cional factor in the idea of the divine and
Its relation to the rational, Accordiug to the author, (he rational and the non-rational
are blended together like warp and woof of the fabric. Olio notes that in the Christian
idea of the Cross the rational is enfolded with tlie non-rational, the revealed com-
mmg led with the unrevealed. But if wc ask him widch of the two threads of the fabric
IS more jm[rtant. Olio wouM onhesiialingly siaie that
it is the non-rational that

"f the infra-rational, though

he somJcir

belmlour. Uut Rudolf Otto andahnMisr i

*"*,'****" ^'* ts ordinary level of

it .ppli.d, bccp, d.r.pt, .

'
""wtalostal
or the happy suicide epr/tpjv niuiosS seha
of thought). Otto would fii .ti ilatc
would cal! It the state of the non-rational. .^futikara
rJit<ia>inA;u!,T^nd
wjwrience. Otto claims it tn be the 'senlient-
that evetvbodv ha.
boldly forbidden those
persons to read futthef esperieoce and Las
ences: "WhoeYet
cannot do this,
whoever know.**^ **P*'''
^ucsied to read no further '"
"'"wts
Imi, to
. A in his experience.
a sphere that cannot
that c^b, immediately
be conpSiS K P non-ratianal
experieneed
Though the author of the
^ '

/li- r .
the inseparabJUly
he \vould subscribe to * ft of the
the Vaiiesika tl'sHnguish between
the fwn rrhit.

"" ".
i.rorm^j,l,l,,jl^
r n, onal,
Otio distinguishes
several
 ;

THE RATIONAL AND THE NON-RATJONAL 3]3

ebments in the numinous as wfcll, aUhough he has taken it to be difTerent from reason.
The Kantian spirit in Otto forces him to categorise the numinous, so to say. On the
subjective side of the numinous experience Otto finds a creature-feeling as against the

Hiysteriuni freme(K/r, on tlic objective side. When the human individual comes face to

face with the divine (theHoly or God), he feels himself to be insignificant and hum-
bled. The person becomes conscious of his crcaturchood, as in the case of Abraham
who felt himself to be dust and ashes in the presence of the divine {Gen. xviii, 27). The
eleventh chapter of the BhagaradgitB also depicts a similar situation which is of great
religious import. Here Arjuna becomes aware of his crcaturchood in the presence of
the Lord (Krishna) in his universal form {VIsra-rfipa). This feeling makes us conscious
of the difTcrence between the Creator and the creature which is important for theistic
religions. The feeling preserves as well as elevates the sanctity 'of the distinction bet-

ween the two. We may note here that in such feeling the epistemological distinction
between the knower, (lie known Tnd the knowled;^ remains traceable and the highest
level under such experience would be (hat type of relation which is found in T-tliou
relation. But the idealistic systems, when talking about non-rational expericneo or the
}ilrvlkalpaka anubhuti, would not allow such distinctions. For them the immediate ex-

perierxe would be the state of tripufi laya where all the distinctjons between the

knowcT, known and knowledge are dissolved.

Coming again to the numinous, which has been elaborated by Otto by using tko
words mysterUm tremendum, we find about five elements that have been treated by
him as ideograms and not ideas. To take up (he adjective first, we find that the term
'Irenmdiim' comes from tremor (fear) reflecting the terrible or the dreadful nature of
the deity (which is abundant in Jewish religion). Yahwch is terrible like Rudra of the
Vcdic age or DurgS of the Sakta theism. The tremendtim, according to Otto, has three
constituents, (i) aivcfulness (dicorya), (ii) overpoweringness {majesias), and (iii) energy
(or urgency). The substantive mys(erium. for Otto, is more universal and is universally
found in all the mystic experiences. It isone of the most common properties of the
great religions of the world. The analysis of niysteriwn, on its part, reveals that it con-
sists of two elements. The first clement is the Wholly Other {an)adeyd) where the
subject feels that the divine has very little in common with the human (but not com-
pletely wholly-other, for, in that case it would not be possible to talk about the divine).
In India the dualistic Vedarita of Sri Maddhva comes close to this distinction. The
other clement in the mysteriiim iifajcmaas (fascination). The subject here is charmed
by the beauty and grace of the divine. God is not merely dreadful (Rudra ) He is also
fasrina^ng (Sivam and Sundararo), wnlike demons who are never attractive. Otto finds
the Mother Goddess (Durga) in Bengal to be the ideal combination of the dreadful and
the fascimating.
What is uniquely distinct in Otto on the non-rational while using
is his imphasis
the instrument of reason in appropriate manner. The Kant in him categorises the
numinous. But the moments of the numinous arc not concepts ; as mentioned earlier
they are ideograms. Like the myths of Plato the ideograms are illustrative and symbolic
substitutes for concepts. Otto would talk of the non-rational in rational manners, iliiis
maintaining the spirit of philosophy of reli^on. Otto firmly believes that in the
Holy
there is a healthy combination of (he rational and the non-rational. According to him
3U DR. B.t. mSYA SOUVENIR VOURfB

icligion shovild be judged to be supttiot or inferior by tbt dtfiTte io vfhich it combines

the two. Thus he provides a criletioa forjudgiiic the relativepositions ofdifTcrcnt
religions of (he world. As in the case of mathemalics, where real numbers combine (he

rationataswetl as tbt iirationat, for ttJigion both these aspEClsare teat constituents.
Thus we find (wo different kinds of overloties in the approaclics of two represen*
(alive thinkers of philosophy of rdigion. John Caifd retains his Hcgelcan ilavour when
he hotis that religious constiousntssb dominantly rational, attliouBh the intuitive or
the nnn-rational is never negated in his philosophy. Rudolf Otto, on the other hand,
^ves primacy to the non-rational. Tn him the Kantian spirit is conscious all the time
and tries to categorise the numiamis, but the numinous itstlC, as the basic noniational
core of the Holy, is Otto's own forinulation.This formulation of Otto has given a new
dlffleosion to the study of philosophy of religion, whkh was earlier neglected because
of the rise of ritionalism in Europe.
But the very fact that (he two thinkers, noted above, give almost exclusive
importance to one or the other aspects, i.e., the ratlanal and the non-rational, it is

circularly proved that both the aspecu ate impoctani and necessary. Mone Of the two
aspects can be ignored by a student of philosophy of They
religion, arc like ferin and
content and supplement each other.
 42

Future of Man

The fu\\STe of Man is looted in the conscious utUizatiou of his self-knowledge

and self-expeiicnce which h iovariably rooted in Luman aspiration for personal
peifcetion. Future is in essence a sort of heightening or enlivening of the force of
consciousness in the individual the nanifest being. The future of man and his select

species on this basis Is not only hopeful but meaningful and purposeful and the future
clvUiaation isncvertlieless a collective aspiration for total realisation, perfection and
fulfilment. There arc two significant theories indicated in order to explain the
authentic diaracter of man. That man as a hoinosapien is viewed os the ruler of his
species. He is the finished product in the Jong chair* of evolutionary liislory. He is also

interpreted as the last link of his organic process. Secondly, man is a conscious mecl-
iiim, an evolutionary ideal and an integral whole, etc., are some of the most important
explanations and interpretations. From the point of view of the first theory the future
of man is limited, confined and well-defined. But from the point of view of the other
interpretation, has an endless destiny. He b a blend of humanity and divinity and
man
above all his future is bright. There is no surprise, if we say that one day he may be
the model of perfection and his future is a relentless and an endless process of being
and becoming.
Whether the future of Man is related lo his past or to his present or to both Ids
past and present is a matter of consideration for us at the moment. When we say Past
it means the origin of Man. his evolution and making, disposition and when we say
present it signifies the meaning of man, his essence, structure and organisation, quality
and character. The Future of Man is however governed by his necessity and destiny.
When we say necessity we mean his natural impulses, unconscious motivations and
conscious aspiration and so on. WTicn we speak of his destiny we keep
in our mind
many things as his moral ideal, his spiritual faith union with God etc. Apart
and his
from these considerations, human limitations and conditions shape the Future of Man
as much as his effort and organisation whkh lend to condition his being during
the
Csiurse of his existence. Tliese conditions and limitations are natural imperfections
316 DR. B.l. ATOEVA SOUVENIR VOLUME

past Inlhe tradilionai Sankhya,

nature at itetcwMoU of his
hold
thty are called as kama-pu<lgala.
These partides of matter are so st.cky that they
material or the eaitHy good. But the earthly ood is Tio
the soul-substance fast to the
aim is soeKtWng mote than this, bteedora from all
the aim of Man any way. Hit
human
and wocdly good is. ia fact, the necessity involved
in all ,

earthly achievcmetils
governed by two things . one
processes and progress. In this way, the Future of Man is
is tigciified by the elitainatioa or cessation of all earUfly Vimitations and conditions Md
consaously. The
the otbtc is the natural effotl of Man to ovcccome them steaddy and
most important problem wliidi faces us as Kgaids the Fulure of Man is
whether there

is any co-relation between human aspiialion and the

eternal becoming ? Whether the

of Man is one with Ins final purpose? Whether the human

uWmale aim ideal is lit

bonds of likeness with the ultimate destiny of Man or not, etc., are some of the basic
problems which bother us much on and often when we begin lo reflect upon the Future
of Man. If there is acompleteharmcmy between the human Meal and the final pur-
pose, then again arisa a eonUadietion in the whole process of thinking. Can the
material or the mental be one with the mcaningfut or the purposeful? If not. there must
be an eternal eontradiellon between the Individual and the Universal. The process of
beeomlAg involves a direction which leads us to the real Being whUh it the source of all
becoming. Thus both things are needed: one the push and the ether Lhe pull, In fact
there Is not much UilTercnce between the two for the being and the becoming are one
acid lbs ttic aspccU of one Reality. The Future of Maw is thus governed by Ws
(JllTerenlJatioft as much * by h'n litnitniion. Man is manifesting the new levels of
Consciousness in the natural pfocessofhisbscommg is not only a fact but n reality
well-kwiwn w both the sewnlivts and the philosophers, h this becoming of man final
or only a mMni to attain the ht|her fnanifestniion ? ett, requires a careful analyits
is It

at the moment. We hive seen aUtiough that the organic evolution which is based upon
eoecev or fatceUaMces^ty ; Rmnothawevet beasuffieiem eaplanation or an answer
for the basic human aspirstioti which is ewr trying
to nii and inicgtate iuelf with the
hijherandeserii'tfhercalesoriesofEvoluiion- nay be material or
non-maierial organic
otnon.O!6inK,nialocspitiJual. lutWsway.thefoiureof man is lareely governed
by his diffcreniialien. This dHTeieotiaiiOn involves a prognss
ovw the past. Destiny as
the future neassity mjnifetlmg
is itself through Man b no doubt a hard fad Man
the hon.o.pn-thc king of creation, isimpeHed by Destiny
us much as and even

SU'?
evoUmg ;
r.fw phases
ach rn&ito! i,
of Consciousness which dirwiv , .

amJqualiiyof his conscious aspintkm

Forihtsteason each

rUn of Nature. All human t(fm K

the irclisidual aspiration ar.d hWwwo
the woriir or w .
^
"o"
'ell ivimlrf out that human AuroWndo tas
aspi^inn

SL"
t separate entities i

Die rorere Bf Min h Ks Destiny. The Dtiov f .

necessity, as lli- divine
as a predetermined
 TilE FUtURE OF MAN Si?

course of events, etc., are some of the comoioa basic approaches discussed in the acade-

mic philosophy of the East and the West. Platos Cosmology explained reality as

purposeful and well-ordered. It is a teleological world-view. The whole world is

directed towards an ethical goal. The final causes are the real, the material or the
physical causes arc mere co-dpeiativt. Maos purpose and ideals arc not however rooted
iij the mechanical Universe. Man is not a mere mirror of facts in Lotze. His ethical
and religious interests are not however rooted in the material Universe. Mans purpose
and ideals are far beyond the boundaries of the physical world. The self-determinitig

principle of Unity in Man is no other than his soul. The Unity of Consciousness is the
sole quality in Man. Man can comprehend the Reality in one sweep of his vision whicit

is however rooted in his wisdom. Man cannot he a itiere mchanical robot.

It is his act oi

faith which makes him confident about his future. In this sense, Lotze's Logic and meta-
physics are rooted in his Ethics. Tht source of Mcchanifs lies in Metaphysics was the
main theme of the Lcibnizean system'. There is no physical kingdom witliout the spiri-

tualkingdom ; there is no human reason without the Divine Reason and there is no
hotnan sc>vi\ without the Sowt ot Spint of God. Tho ypMTposfc of mft is tlve pwrpow o?
God. Therefore, to be one with Him Is the destiny of man. The absolute Idealism of
Josiah Royce which presents a dynamic conception of the human mind and the abso-
lute being ^ves a new turn to the optimistic view of Man and his future destiny. Pain
and sufTering dc exist in Sri Aucobindo but they are far outweighed by the inner peace
and tranquillity. For this reason, (here is the delight of selC-oxiatencc or Ananda in
every form of being. Man is no exception to this general rule of human evolution.
Henri Bergson finds Mechanism and Finolisni as untenable theories to explain the
toallly of the Universe. Cteatton cannot be
an originadon out of the total void. There
must be some inner force to guide Creation towards some end or direction which is

not known fo Man ordinarily.

The future , of Civilisation lies in the future of Man. Ordinarily, the future of
Man not the immortal man but the siddhapurusha- Immortality is the deathless
is

stale of being, whereas the siddbapunuha is the abiding character of Man. The ever-
lasting status of liis being i.c., iiddhapurusba establishes a kinship with all ar.d realises
their oneness i.c., sarvatmabhara. The cultivation
of inner life is directly related to the
revelation of the eternal in us. For this reason, roan has to undergo an inner discipline
in life which is no other than the doctrine of human destiny. In this way, the Future of
Man and the destiny of bis race depend on the direction of Ufc. Self-conscious
aspiration i.e., ahhi-anubhuti constitutes llw perfection of Man and the sole supreme
ideal before Mnn is the spiritual ideal. M.in is meant to shape his Future fur the
higher and ever higher goals. The uniqueness of Man is girted with a moral fcmiament.
On the basis of this moral fermtunent lus aspiration is growing from time to time,
nay
from occasion to ocrasion. Moksha is not a mere liberation. In fact it implies
the
destiny of human soul and the Future of Man. Gttana is the spiritual destiny of
Man
as much as molrsfta. Cnana includes makdta
in Indian philosophy.
Tlie pniblem of human destiny is as old as the hymns of the Rj'g-VeJa. the
pliilosopiiy of the Upar.ishads and the religion of the Epics. The Vedic Aryans loved
Life so much that they showed no great interest in the Future of the Soul. The joys of
 DR. B.L. ATREVA SOUVENIR YOLW^E

Heaven to them otre the joys of the Earth, perfected and heightened. They believed in

the spiritual form of (he soul which ascends to live in the abode of Gods. For them
Death was gateway to new Life. The Vedic Aryans thus lived a life of the Spirit
tlie

which covered both the earthly and the heavenly aspects ofexistenre. The Brahmanas
of the Upanishads distinguished the path of the pUr feum the path of the Dam.
Rebirth
tebirth is v.oljara-marana, death and d^air,
dmair. but a fresh blessing
blessinc to be welcomed and
not escaped. According to them, a pious man is born in the next world with his entire
tody i.e.p 5arvfl-/flni(/i. In the Vcdic Hymns, the sinner is reduced to nothingness, while
the pious man attains immortality. In the texts of the Upanishads,, we discover that
both the sinner and the pious are born again to reap the
results of thek past actions.
Rewards or punishrtients are however ascribed to tlte
actions in Future life. Thither
gifts do not lesch the farther shores. Thus,
the doctrirus of the last or the Snal things
seems to be more clear in the Upanishadk accounts
than in the Hymns of the Rig-
Veda. In the SatapMha-nrahmaaa, we
find the eariiest conception of birth. In the
later Upanishads also wc diseover certain
conceptions of Iuture life which are the real
advances owr the Vedic and the
Brahmankal theories. Thojc who aspire for real

Tilt theism of the

Dhagvat^le^aSs^ 1 f* ^ p!t=ltopliy of Mahabhaiatha.
lend to revolutionise'
the whofc philosophy
* karana. cesta. (faliya, and
aJMshlana. characterise
the five asnecu nr m
goal. DaWya i, falT
popular concqnion '"^'^-Ihrough Nature. Fate is a
foie that rocks
both in the East and ih w
the cmdTe of hand of
-olutlonue the whole so generic that lends to
rhllosoSIfliSir'r^^^^ it
'i*. .
wctit, a seat
.la i,
of human effort and *
S lJLftir. is considered as the nucleus of
nr.,dA..

in life. In order to fulfi! them he r, *"11 ambitions

'ifo't. His inuaediaie goal, af ways, putting itt extra

'^*f'^''ophiesDfthei:aM3ndtliew'*^*^'^''***'^'''*''^'''> discussed
hn reached so far. **
>^1
cauv.tn and
Ue conclusbn has not
emphasise mote li Principle
nre upon the causalny
of objects and events
 THE FirrURE OF iUH ^19

whereas Ihe EnsJcms ovcr-emphasisc the ends or purposes. Primary causes and final
ends or purposes arc rot at att incompatiUes in the theism of the Bhagvad-Gcela.
There no dualism between them. For this reason, our ancicnls have pointed out that
is

the path of Gods i.c., the dcvayaiia is not diffiercot from (he path of fathers i.c., llic
pilrayaiia.In this way, an infinite destiny of Man was projected as a supreme ideal by
our ancients. The supreme goal or ideal was called ParcnigartVt which is beyond all
forms of niyatma-kantia. *1110 supreme goal before man, according to the Brahmanas
of the Upanishads, is braliniahka. Brahmaloka is symbolic of the infinite destiny in
which Man seeks or we make a careful study of out
aspires for the life of Spirit. If

ancient literatures wcan optimistic view of human destiny which inspires

discover

Man to evolve ever-new levels of human consciousness. The Vedic Aryans considered
death as the gateway to new life. The cycle of birth and rebirth has been interpreted
in a new way so as to evolve a hopeful view of Man's future. The Brahmanas of tlie
Upanishads cxcliimed and said that pious alone attain immortality. This emphasis on
piety and purity led to human reform in (he age of the Upanishads. The Vedic thinkers
'considered gnarw or the perfect knowledge as the supreme end of life. Gnana is absolute
and alhinclusive reality in the Vedas. The (hcistic Geeta co-relates Atmari with
faramatman and lends former with llie latter. Awon is viewed as the
to integrate the
protliftnhait or roQectionof Pcranintman. Tliis conception gave a new turn for Man's
Future which is not only higher and nobler but divine. Thus the highest goal of Man
in the Geeta is no other than God. Apart from these, the Epic philosophy of Maha-
bharatha has advanced a new theory of Man's Future. The supreme goal before man
is Man himself. To know Man is to know everything around him. Apart from (his,
tile Mahabharatha gave a new meaning lo the supreme goal of Man through its
generic ideal param-gaHti. The
traditional Sankhya blends both the Past and the
Future of Man in its Ideal of human
perfection and destiny. The Future of Man is
governed by Man himself. The emphasis
on (he individual perfection and God-re?aIi-
sation has been equally realised by the
Sankhya thinkers. Sirfd/iapiirusAa is the ideal of
human perfection in the Saiikhya Yoga. The iodividuaJ realisation is not however iso-
latedfrom the realisation of other objects. The alma-niti or life-view is well harmonised
and blended with the lokadrhii or worid-view.
The problem of human a persistent problem of philosophy. Human
destiny is
destiny can be interpreted or objective and as unreal or subjective. The objective
as real
considerations about the Future of Man are always hopeful and imperative. They do
not vary. On the other hand, ihc subjective factors which
condition the outlook of Man
do vary from lime to time and nay even from occasion to occasion. The Future of
Man seems lo be hopeful sometimes and hopeless at some other times. This Future
appears at limes as glorious, expectant, smooth and happy but on some other occasions,
the same future may appear as inglorious, dlRidcnt, dark and deadly. Optimism
is a
philosophy of life which is full of hope and confidence. Man sees his future bright
and
he feels that success is sure for him. Pessimism, on the other hand, is a philosophy
of
life wWch is filled with despair. A
pessiinisdc man feels that his future destiny is at
once dark and bleak. All these attitudes to life arc born out of one's own
understand-
ing about the future prospects whicb are necessarily based
upon onesown intrinsic
cap.acities or potentialities. !n order to avoid such contradictions in one's own life some
i2Q DX. B.U. ATREYA SODVENtR VOLUltfi

philosophers of human destiny have prescribed a middle path of knowine the fuluK.
This is popularly called as meliorism in plulosophy. Thus there are, in alk three ap-

The optimistic view of one

proaches to understand the nature of human destiny.
life is

view-
extreme afTirmation and the pessinjisticviCTroflifeindicatcs the other extreme
approxi-
point of nejalion. Tlie Philosophers of modecation have always been trying to
mate the above two contradictory approaches by pleating a third view of life 11/111011 is
agreeable to one and all. This view is meliorisin. The Meliorism works out a new
theory to understand human life and its destiny. Mdiorism infuses a new confidence in

the alTairs of men.

Our survey of the anclcnl philosophies of India will however give us a due to
understand the real significaiice of the Future of Man. Mans goal is far beyond the
world in Itihasas and Puranas, Mans Future evet recedes from him to remain in the
transcendental w&on. Man is not sausllcd with the richness and the vaslncss of this
world. These are not viewed as ends in themselves. In fact
all these are the means to

some other ends which art beyond the oidinaty limitations of the earthly existence.
According to the Itihasas and Puranas, Mans goal is not mmaslka, it is daivika in its
rcopc, In the Epics, Man's goal is far beyond the worldly existence, j.e xyaralrarika-

Ordinary earthly existence w'lll not alttacl or absorb the real atteotien of Man. Man
. has bn which-is not found m this world. The Mahakavyas also
treking for an ideal
insist upon the worthlessness of the worldly life. They
envisage a higher life of morality
and_ spiiiiualiiy. Meksha or liberation formed the sumumbonum of Man* life.
Kalidaia. the classical poet of the ancient India has given
a new turn to the Idea of
human destiny in his interprefalbn
of the Cosmic Beauty, Snngnra formed the main
basis of human aspiration in
Kalidasa. Beauty was the main ideal
before all great
poets of the world throughout.Mauu-dhatmashasua stressed more upon vljnaita. It
believed In the wisdom of Gods mote than the
wisdom of Man. The Oreia projected a
new dntiny of Man. Tyaga is Mans Yagna
k the Oecta. A life of devotion and
ikdlcauoa formed (he sole reality with the teachings
of the Qcetha, The ideal of Man
lies in his final aloofoeMw.. kolrolyo
in the Sankhya, Cessation of all pain and
suffenng is a nwss.tiy pre-i^uisite for all
pervading cansciousness, says the Sankhya-
Mum, Kapila.The ideal of boiiwn destiny is beyond all mental modifications in Yoga.
This i, popularly lulerprrtM as the

Tliv real ideal of Man is beyond pain

orMan hrgoa W^TveS
the Vaiieskh nhitvinr^Sv i
'
TOnscinusness i.c.. dahyanMwIi in

round the Vedie Comm^andme"teU*'lhB*Trwivi'^"l

Sankara, the Future or Man

vtM-flrnAuievnr. All these

tudSe7h gradual evolution
i-^entity i-e.,
talents in Man. of the teleological

playinahapingtlie effretive roles to

FuiuVoTMilTTVn'^'^L^^''*'''
emphasiiev upon the Hvolution of Charles Darwin
Evolution of
are selected 10 survisc
8neraiion after generation they
and sepfodnee
iCBfodtM*.#!.
the ,no useful characters,
This Ts an optimistic
 TJlE rUTURC OF MAN 32l

(aith m human Survival projected by almost all the later descendants of Charles

Darwins Organic theory. This however created a new faith and confidence in the

Future of Man. The Cosmic theory of evolution of Herbert Spencer, which emphasised
upon a theory that the species diiTcrentiate themselves from homogenious forms furtlier
gave a new iiopc for Man in the Organic world. The Emergent theory ofEvolution is
however an improved form of explanation about the nature of Evolution and progress
of Man. The traditional theory of Emergent Evolution believed in the gradual evolution
ofmind and consciousness out of the less complex forms or organisations. The more
improved forms arise out of the less improved species and the complexity of organisation
give rise to the more specialised category of consciousness, etc., forms the basis of the
theory. This theory has added a new dimension to the general view of liuman destiny.

The Integral theory of Emergent evolution slightly dilTer^ from the Traditional theory in
that the former emphasises upon the inward processes of transformation rather than
improving upon the outward habits or characters of the species. The theory of Creative
Evolution emphasises upon the basic concept of elan vital- The Elan vital is a connecting
link between the variQu.>! generations of the species of Creation, says Henri Bergson, the
author of the Creative Evolution. Bergson however contributed a novel idea to the
Theory of Evolution by cor.ceWing the imiUilinear series in the process. This rendered
a new optimism to the life of Man on Earth. Hegels Metaphysical theory of evolution
says that the same Absolute Spirit manifests through every object of Creation. All
species are but the products of the divine Spirit This turn in the general or historical
theory of evolution has however caused a lag in the usual organic concepts and the
linear progress ofManldnd. The Sankhya theory advances a mechanical interpretation
of evolution. The Purusha and the Prakrit actively join logcllier and evolve the world
of objects which invariably include the species of Man. The ideal of Human Destiny
remains static in the Sankhya in a way that it gave no scope to teleology in its theory.
On the other hand, the Advaita Vedanta of Sankara, which injects the generic ideal of
teleology in conscious guidance has indeed revolutionised the course of evolution of
its

Man to a greater degree of perfection. AW these philosophies of evolution, the organic

and the inorganic, the creative and (he non-creativc, the mechanical and the non-
mechanical, have thus contributed largely to tlic general theory of Human Dettiny. Tlie
Evolution and Human Destiny arc two sides of the same coin in the Space-Time Reality.
The Span of Consciousness Theory as enunciated earlier indicates that pressure of Spirt
on Matter and the influence of Conscious forocs upon the unconscious have largely
contributed to the Blorification of body from ngc to age ar.d even from generation to
generation. On
this basis, the ardent exponents of the theory believe in the divinisation
of Man. Tha subtle foKcs upiJn. ttta psswe mutfes is a Vaag-dsavin cor.tl'iision
of
the Sankhya and the Vedanta. Day by day Man is evolving new levels of his Cojis-
ciousness and making new .additions to his physicality by way of perfection has been
proved not only by the philosophers of Destiny hut also by the scientists of this
century who have made great contributions to the ideal of human perfection in their
specific attempts or researches. The contributions of the scientists to the welfare of
Man arc in from the point of view of Evolution and Progress be-
fact imperceptible
cause their contributions arc only constitutive elements to this
main line of Thought.
All contributory factors arc necessarily the pre-requisite
trutlis. They cannot however
 ^

%li liR. B.L. ATRCVA SOUVCmH V(S.tliiiC

be Ireatcd as the secondary or tertiary characteristics or attributes. liie nature of

Future Man is both glorious and ridi. Gbrious in the sense that it is an improvemer.t
over his Past from all angles of cvulultonary index. It
rich in the sense that the is
'

deeper potentialities hitherto undiscovered in the nature of

Man will be brought to
the surface level of Consciousness tqr a new process of enlightenment realisation. and
New avenues of thinking, r*Bw ways ofliving will be discovered
on the basis of his
future needs. Apart from this, the new ideals to suit these new aspirations will be pro-
jected Man of Destiny. The negath-e or the destructive role of Science
by the Future
and Technology soon be replaced by the positive or the constructive role of
will
Religion and Philosophy. Man is bound
to follow the memorable lesson of human
lusloiy that the future of Man ties in bis race
itself. He need not search foi new values
and ideals outside the realm ofhis bring.
Man is the minialun: cosmos. He is bound
todtttroy himself as hcKbaundloaeatehimself. The fall of man is due to the fall
' ^ceenetaiioB of his race, culriire of
civilisation. Man
is
IS man mnH and not God-made
min-made in this sense.

Human Destiny are Upanisliadic in their

s'w of the
aS in^ div ""
>>6 self and the world melting

3n ef triire^
initially
in the ultimate
appears to be bleaV
Man becomes optimist
everything of this world
about fH the siLl Z
^ n- 'u
and sustains the VI nf In . .

things. Thou art nouriihingVSo^^^^^

into fruitfulness-. The ^'Penitg flowers
petfeetion of Man
Tagore. Tlie infinitude
of the passage of Time is
of Man's Perfection.
The cenitSllorveach .^nitude
says the poet. Such centuries
o.hS ^'''"'"8
wlSlfe !!'
flower,
ate numberl^sTh* t-
man of this world must scramble '* * qu^ulous
passa^ of Time. It
for his Sances J'T
},
hightimeiospTndSuves '
v
suns. Aceoftlmg to Tagore, unfruitful pur-
each man is cndoJlIi
himself in a variety of
ways. The all-mticiful
** PPrtunities to improve
mercy and compassion to
and the ^
flow in tbcannah ts His
Cod^meicy must al be ulernal
and endless 'At ihZ ernal, so
lt Tby gate be shut 'he day
; but 1 Rnd that
I hasten in fear
q,
poisibilny of Man improving his deslirw ,1^.- thw is every
aw to age. Cod sn compassionate himself from
change of sorrow, Whep
loVnls Man IK r u' '

1 bring it
-
hy grra . Thus God's
infinite Mcrcy.HU endless me with
uneon^tionally favour Man in sbapbg?^ Craee. dc..
The course of Evoluikm
in

-"d He
aS; r 'i"
"'I
"f >' !.i.llral

is more on ''ie.ispraphy,:eo,o[,,^
ii.'

^
^^ih
^Hseaieaioj o. ''Piymcal emaniei-
He emphasis ssf Evolulion
h Knoaaluy.
seooodi,. Ho Evotaiion
 THE rimjRC OF MAN 323

of Man has made rapid strides m the passage of time when

lls long course through
compared As a result, the human species could trans-
to the other species of Creadon.
cend its much less than its time-limit. Subsequently,
boundaries of physical integrity in
the Creative ideals of Human Unity, Self-fulfilment and Community co-operation
became one with the conscious existence of Man. This is all due to his character
differentiation and linear evolution. There has been a rapid shift from body to mind
from sensual to non-sensual as if there is a new turn in the life-process itself. In poets

own words, when the course of Evolution advanced to the stage of Man its character
changed, il sViiited Us emphasis from Vht fiody to the Mind'

Tagore visualises an emergence of the supreme man whose major qualities are
yet to be unravelled by die process of Human Understanding. This is marvellously
expressed by the poet through the well-knotvn example of the marriage party. The
marriage party is continually gathering, its members are waiting for ages, in the
distance ; one hears the music of the bridegrooms march. The coming of the supreme
man is partly due to his ineffable spirit of perfection and partly due to the descent of
the gnostic consciousness in the being of Man. So, man is doubly rewarded. He need
not be friglitcncd by the deep waters of the unintelligible. So he is neither confined by
conditions nor limited by restrictions. He is, in fact, a free being who lives in his own
glory,

Tagore Is hopeful of a new turn in the domain of maos life. The one-sided
emphasis of Natural Selection on the special funciionsofthe species was highly deplored
by Tagore. On the other hand, the spirit of life in Man is fast trying to disengage itself
from the professionalism of spedalisation in its pursuit of the wholeness of perfection.
Thb perfection implies the strength of the surplus in Man which tends to transcend

thephysicallimits. The evolution of Man is not however different from the evolution
of Consciousness which dissolves all bonds of individual sepafatedness. The relationship
of Man to wholeness or entireness is not the relationship of a part to its whole. The
wholeness and the realizedness go hand-in-hand in Human EvoJulion. Thus, the
realizedncss and tlie relatedness are the main attributes of tlie entireness or wholeness.
According to Radhakrishnan the ideal of man is to make himself profoundly
human. The perfection of man is based upon self-conscious aspiration i.e., abhi-
anuWwtl. The supreme ideal before man is the spiritual ideal and the sole object of
man is to become a whole man. This whole man is interpreted and discussed differently
at dlfftient places. For instance, the txpressitms tike complete roan, the ideal man
and the divine man signify the same meaning. Radhakrishnan most emphatically ex-
claims and says that self-discovery, self-knowledge and self-fulfilment is man's destiny,
Man is meant to shape his destiny for higher and higher goals. The uniqueness of man
is that, he is gifted with a moral ferment. On the basis of this moral ferment, his
aspiTation is growing from time to time, and nay from occasion to OKasion. Dhorma
isagain a goal of man, a sole principle of Iiumaa perfection and a whole reality.
Dharmo thus assumes a new status ii Radhakrishnan. There are many common ele-
ments in Tagore ami Radhakrishna. Firstly, the highe.'it ideal of man is the spiritual
ideal which is to be obtained through cultivation of inner life ; secondly, the negation
of the Tcairiy of the world and the total renunciation of iu cares is untenable
to a man
of the spiritual religion and lastly, an attitude of human sympathy towards
all sentient
 !

jy DR. B.I_ ATREYA SOUVENIR VOLUtU

biiigs is common to both Tagore and Radhaltrisluiu).

Wc have seen that dlwrma is interlinked mth moksa in Radhakrishnans ilarsarfl.

Mnksa is not mere liberation but it implies tbe destiny of the human soul. The soul of

Man finds its rulfilment through Self-knonledgeand through the Nature of Society. Self-
realisation, self-discovery and sdr-transfonnatiott are tiic three important processes in
the life of the individual which help lum in carving his destiny. The destiny of the
humansoulis to realise its oneness with the Supremo. The conscious union of Man
with God lies in the aeative volantary identification. Tfie siminwn-boiiimi or the ulti-
mate destiny lies in the realisation of the four-ends of humaa life The pursuit of
wealth and happinc.ss is not an illegitimate human aspiration provided they are gained

through the ways of righteousness. The spitituai freedom of man i e., moksa is mainly
based upon dliama. Each of the states of PurunzrJ/ia requires an clhical discipline. The
purpose oflife is to emerge from limhaiion and imperfection of ignoranre to fullness
and wisdom of knowledge. Radhakrishnan stresses that the Liberation or Spiritcal
realisation cannot be achieved by an eUileal actioiL This is because moksa or liberation
belongs to a higher order of Puiusanhos
; il Is altogether a new dimension of reality
and cxpcrionee. Guana is the sjwritual destiny
of Man. Aowio cannot lead to jnokM.
A seeker of the Spirit is no doubt the seeker of self or soul may not realise
the Infinite beyond _tho_ moral life. The moralistic individualism
is based tipoit
impcrfret, outlook whieli k iho scat of oil ego. says the author of the optimistic destiny
of man. As rules of murter, theft and the like do not worry the
civilized man, so iho
spiritual man w not conarned with the conventional rules of morolily.
Tlie destiny of

rL,
imolir a
I

soiiil
. 2 ,
St Po'Mon. Tl.c moml itol
boll.

O.CI-H11 perfoclion ftf iliiion

'* in

oiijInotMononJlliomconloeorM >">i '-'"I-- Hi'

' "Th tarn .1,0 roiu.0 of
.TOinc

i.
:l> ihis the pKt. (he
present and the fiiturc.
Pimsc uoa
new nation, tl is ihc Idea __ transcends il for pur-
of Hvolulion of Creation
wh'irti'it tte
k
Ihil
For'ihrr,"*
11 k 'soutet of mechanics tics esclaimcd and said
that he
mcunhvsin'
,s governed by the law*
of causation
" P^''='fn'incd in the sense
arnln only disappear on and **
On the other hand, Man is agaSis i .h ^nd

bn future,
also
ni, fc,
a rnSn^cT ^ I*.m,si:c view of human destiny,
i, 3 Earth. He knows not
momem.tn.SBnewman. Purpose. At each
of the New Heisbieat^^he
Kate, TelfoW isa^nJ ^''"rofCodasa member

. or AeschaelDlogy.
Universe is
 THE FUTunn or man 325

the expression of (lie Divine, so it is llic Progression in consciousness which auto-

matically implies the progression in the workings of the Divine or Cosmic conscious-
ness. Thus, the problem of Human Destiny and (he Individual is the problem of the
cosmic Destiny and the World.
Tlic reality of the Universe is neither governed by Mechanism nor Finalism,
Teleology or Acscliactology. Universe is the c.tprcssion of the Divine; so, it is not
predestined. Progression in consciousness nutomatically implies the progression in the
working of the Divine or Cosmic consciousness. Thus, the problem of Human Destiny
and the Individual is the problem of the cosmic Destiny and the World. Neither the
past tendencies nor the cver-new forms of expression arc correct. The one theory is put
forth by the physicist and the other theory is advanced by a tcicologist like Leibnitz.
The creative impulse that is striving to express itself along the divergent paths for (he

purposes of inner harmony and iranquillily in Prof. S. Radhakrislinan is nearer to

Bergson in the sense that tiic latter believes in (he creative clan in Man which tends to
cxprc.ss the Reality in Jiim in Jl.s .advance to the cver-higber forms or levels of Creation.
As B:rgson contends that the Creation cannot be an origination based on the total
void so also Radhakrislinan believes in the basic reality of man and says that there is

the divine in man which impels him to move towards tlic cver-new forms. The world-
view which is projected by (he Existentialists (ends to take an inner existential leap to
tiitlv in Us intense feeling of the inner despair and helplessness. A belief dial the

Infinite will help to quench the love of the Infinite ingrained in Man is widely pre-
valent among the Existentialists. This kind of faith which born out of despair be-
is

comes a necessity with man. Htc postulation of God as born out of the frustrations of
Man and the real faith Is the faith born out of despair. Thus, there is a co-relation
between the ethical tensions and the human destiny. On the other hand, there is no -

such element of despair in Radhakrislinan. A voluntary elTort based on sclf-expresslun,

of the spirit in man through nitl
the realisation of the Infinite in finite, the fulfilment
and niyam, etc., form the main contents of Radhakrishnans idealistic hypothesis. The
individual effort and struggle on one hand and the element of gift or grace on the
other through both aspiration and realisation form the mo.st fundamental idealistic
doctrines of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. The destiny of man is thus governed by his
will and impelled by the universal spirit, which is ever-guiding him iti ftis aspirations

from above. All through, we have seen that the goal of Man is no other than the ideal
of Human Perfection. The greatness of Man is indicated through his manifold self-
consciousness, which is the secret of Evolution. *Tlie greatest fact in the story of Man
on Earth is not his material achievements, (he Empires he has built and broken hut
the growth of his soul from age to age in its search for truth and goodness, says
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
According to the GTta, Man grows into the diidne life. He undergoes a process
called self-enlargement through bis relentless aspiration. Radhakrishnan believes with
the Gita that the Divine dwells in the inmost being of Man. Mans light is inextin-
guishable as long as he
is required to choose the good and realise it by his
conscious
The whole theme of the Gita runs along the idea that Man, (he subject, should
effort.

^in mastery over Man, the object. Subject symbolises the aspiration while
tlie object
indicates determinism from without, To over-come all such limitation and determini-
326 DU. B.t. ATREYA SOUVENIR VQLUMB

ation the Gill gives us human discipline, yoga-sashira along wiih a higher metaphysics,
Bral\ma-ndya. The Real Destiny of Man Iks in the unity of the This
life of spirit.
unityis the unity of wisdom, love and
action. The slddhapuriisha is one who always
brec^ firn/uHai/mm. Liberation is not the freedom
the body but it is the transfiguration
of the from the bondage of M
of Ihewholcman.Onsimilarlines.Radha-
hrishnan proceeds towards the optimisric
human goals and reconciles the Sankhya
theory with the Yogic practices.
He pomu out towards the growing level of Human
polulion hkc all other great thinkeis of the
world. He proclaims along the others that
huranily call nso above Its present
limi|atioiis.Tlic tide of Evolution
is pushing for-

ontti rT
saysthephilofopherofthc

SrsoS m ^

r"n
^ problem in

SSc dc^nv
^
r k liis

^bc
ultimate destiny. This ulti-

SviS V differentiation of the

a n, U <lcstiny. Man is born into
Destiny
this world with
never deter-
is

r.., tl,,

present aspiration
,1
Is
1;."^'! '
a labulo rasa So it is
7 '>= teliny. F., Il,i,
devoid of his

^ future and cot

vice^wersa.The one interpretation is
thatli is til r
higher lel or degree of
eonsciousnesTand neifeSrTi
l! the evolving
conseiousness in a way
which
'^at it
11,0.1?^??
otherwise tvould hive been
sjcfibss
remained^
rewards and punishments
L?
unkiwwn'tnrf "S'crMtis- "-i?
The ethical theory
lo persons
Mlions in life. Such of
those who
rwp good results in their
perfomS
Unr!.
fuintc life 10
'
T good and hud
bound to
are convincingly belief. But such of those who
and consciously wedded
hound to reap its benefits
m
in ihi, very bis world are
lifcSelf bllS.I'"'
the lniccral_ philosophy, 'b in
ft fa ,
fact th^ the light of
shores in this particular
conieni. Present the farther
life fa
vma. Immonahiy i, ixrrtion in hfe '''b "'I not vice-
imriwilS .

nny With
Cod and yoga is
 THE FUTURE OF MAN 327

sclf-pcrfcction. This union of atniau with Paramaiman is expressed in a variety of

ways Brahmisihlll, naisitkormya, nistrainuiiya, brahiw-blma, kairalya and iiuikti,
etc., arc most commonly discussed in the Gita. Thus the state of perfection is beyond

at] fruits of righteousness. The sidhi or para-siddbi arc identical with param-gathln
or the supreme goal. The Gita however believes in the infinite destiny of Man which
isbeyond niyatam-kama. It calls for a fuller flowering of the divine in human nature.
For action is only a condition and not a destiny. Tlic theism of the Citn, discusses
the five principles of human destiny as stated earlier : kartr, karanat ecsta, daiva and
adhhthana. The last two need some explanation ;
dai\a or fate is a cosmic principle
working in and through nature and adhishtma is the nucleus of work, a seat of human
effort. All these indicate that mere work is not a swITicicnl cause to explain the
future life of Man. Equally imporlaiit which invariably includes
is his cscliactology
a teleological principle which is working from above. Thus, brahma-vidya and yoga-
saslra are equally stressed in the theism of the Bhagavad-Oita, The Advaita Vndanta
of Sankara discusses that each individual is a potential seeker of knowledge i. e.,

Ganannjokri*. Even after the destruction of physical bodies there remains someUiing
in us which not only survives death but dctctmincs our future. The accumulation of
the past is an indication of the Future In Sankaras Advaita religion. The pious man
always marks a rise to heaven whereas an impious man sinks into the darkness of igno*
ranee. That the moral quality of Mans past life shapes his future destiny is not only true
of the Vedanta but also of the Gita. TIjc devayana and the pUrayann arc the two paths
which aic commonly discussed in the Cliandogya Upanishad. The one leads to the wis*
dom of the brahmaioka and the other to the actions of the The soul is
altogether dilTerent from the body which always seeks or aspires for the life of the
Spirit. This Is the optimistic view of Human Destiny wherein freedom is guaranteed
to the soul of the individual If we study the eschactology or the doctrine of Human
Destiny of Radhakrishnnn against this background of Indian thouglu, we tend to
realise the greatness of his synthetic thought which unites all trends and fuses
all ideologies relating to the doctrine of final things and tlie life after death. He
agrees with all great thinkers of the world who proclaimed a new lease of life to
Man. Yagnavalkya and Gargeyi, Samkara and Ramanuja, Madfiava and Valla-
bha, etc., are all equally important to our tradition as Kant and Hegel, Bergson and
Bradley, Goethe and Nietzsche, etc., arc significaiit to the West. Prof. Radhakrishnan
combines in himself all trends of the optimistic human destiny in some or other way.
He one with the Vedic Aryans when he says that death is the gateway to new life.
is

He is cf the early Upanishads when he says that the pious

nearer to the Bcahmartas
STOWiWt'iAitv hft is owe -uMh the teles Ihinms in Virs
emphasis on gnana. Radhakrishnan believes in tyaga and tapasya whicli are the com-
mon thcistic beliefs of the Gita. His faith in Man's highest goal however brings him
nearer to the epic philosophy of the Mahabharata. That the past of Man hns its own
role in shaping the future man is common to both Sankara and Radhakrishnan.
Prof. Radhakrishnans optimism, activism and purposivism can be interpreted
well in
terms of meliorism. His belief in the qaritual meditation I. e., dhyana, is based
upon
iksann i. e., direct apprehension. His idea of the intuitional consciousness
i. e.
(miid/iarnisdifrerent from arfhynJa or practical experience. Thus Prof. Radlukrishnari
328 DR, D.L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOL13ME

visualises an optimistic view of life based oa the futare necessity which is tlie real
outcome of the actuality in man. He
Human destiny is not a mere divine foreordain-
ment, not is it based upon an unalterable course of events. On the
other hand, the
future of Man is inevitably governed by Man
himelf. ft is his intuitional consciousness
-e., anubhavo, which works through the world
of objects and ends in the idea! of human
pcrfectioa. This does not
however mean that Sarvepalli is unmindful
of the divine grace
otflaiigralia
His Plulnsnphy of the spirit is a golden
mean between anubhura and
enusraba H.s conception of smuipun.sha
b not final because the aspiration of Man is
never ending. It ever evolves nevr levels of
ConsciouMiess and ever issues new ideals
.J El, hith lb. Mi,b or IL,od,,t=s

"
will, r.,w hop. aodr.Ilt,.

""
S I'US. *' ^

tionised " j**'* **^***

lias indeed revolu-
llie"uMoIonh7ft/!^**"
harMit butcS r^l^.r,
of whole man

I, ..iw raimL.,,
this rtasnn, destiny is
t
defined as a naiurai n
'"Pfei'en'cnt of his destiny. For
vtry or ..fs 0*. pai..,Mi,i, n, b.,|
pWtaplim. Ihs diw
and giving direciion lo On.-, owncn.rgiM
innw^iw
nndo! n.w ti.d.Mnndiog of
rot tl '-i' > 1>> 0
advancement of Ideals and
fLcKn f**
beliefs h h mn' fiain a mechanical
of Man. The growth of the inner
of consciousness aiwiT^t^'i .* states
progress of Humanity. S'lf'hood
This Progress of characlcrifc the
IJesImy. Thus Destiny
H
implies iMKitiv,l^a he Evolution of

Man
>! ''"B'", nin.
tow:Ti.Li "'< "'nd=n-
Til. t|.\v| Undmiandiog
1^0^^ k
^ Und.inianding of

.rrm aoa^" r*"' l=l on inlomi.

E'd. social prrfretkir, h^ive all

and
c'kI I ' common
new tnowljdge and natisatioii Ths
th-
"P'd "Ponw ttib in Z'";
 THE FUTURE OF MAN 329

iransfcrmcd. On ihc other hand, Ihc real Destiny of Man is with Man liimsclf. The
ever-changing demands, the ever-evolving aspirations and the ever-new goals and
ideals condition the course ofHvolution to such an extent that in the creative process
of development Man 'is bound to change the normal path of his natural becoming
both on the organic and the inorganic levels. This is called as the new turn in the
course of Evolution and a new phase in the idea! of Human Perfection.
The conception of Evolution from the unilateral dimension to the multi-linear
creative process has caused a new change in the Concept of Man and also in the

basic ideals of Ids Perfection and ultimate Destiny. The human nature whicii is
evolving ever-new levels of Consciousicss from time to time is fast contributing to Ihc
general progress of Mankind. Man is thus, out-growing his natural limitations every
time. This intcriorisalioi of human psyche is directly related to tl>c involution of the
Psycliological apparatus in view of the Organic theory of Evolution. Even the so-
called physical or the physiological apparatus is always seen in a process of becoming.
From the extremely simpi: mechanism, it b growing endlessly into the extremely
complex organism. This is the prime characterisation of Man. The evolutionary be-
coming in Man is as much poxverful and sometimes it is apparently more powerful
than its cpun^c^pa^l at the other level, i.e.. theanvolotionary being. The process of
individuation is equally significant as the process of p5ychieis.ntion, particularly in
human species of Creation. For this reason alone that Man is endowed
the case of
with the individual and ihc collective roles or thresholds of selection, rejection and
'reflection*. There is an inborn tendeniqr in him to grow in to the higher and liigher
levels of conscious life. This b commonly called as the ascent of psyche. The ascension
of human psyche into the higher levels of supm-human existence is a natural process
of becoming which cannot however be overlooked at any cost. Tf this intrinsic quality
of Man is properly understood in the coniexl of the East-West objectives, much of
the misunderstandings betwen (he Races and Nations may be wiped off or subor-
dinated to the greater ideals of Human Unity.
The Future of Man is interpreted differently by different philosophers. The
Finalists and the Purposivists have more faith in the Future of Man in terms of their
teleological considerations. That mans goals and ideals arc far beyond tliis world and
that his life is filled with some purpose which b not a more mechanical design but it is
based upon the creative will of the divine Architect. Who out of His own Tree Will
and Pleasure, has created this world etc., arc some of the basic doctrines commonly
advocated by the Finalists and the Puiposivisis. Man Ls thus created for a set purpose
in this world. This purpose is both immediate and tlie ultimate. The immediate purpose
of Afsft K fo atf(-grow fits rnatcriaf ffrnffarrons born oerf of Aw prfnret'af ignorance
and his ultimate purpose tends to Signify hLs infinite potentialities, which integrate
his finite being with the final Reality. The Detetminist or the Mechanist will adopt.!
different attitude towards the Future of Man and
Problem of Homan Destiny,
the
The Mechanist affirming his full faith in the Mechanical Laws of Evolution rejects the
finality of Man on the ground that Mans becoming is only physical or mcchanic.nl.
If Mans becoming was not mechanical (here would have
been an unnatural deviation
between him and the Cosmos. Those rules and laws which govern the Cosmic
Evolu.
tion must necessarily govern the Evolution of Man. But
the mechanical laws are not
330 DR. B.L. ATREYA SOOVtUm VOLUME

final. They have their well defined imperfections. Mechanical laws contribute to the
ptneral orderliness of tlie universe. But they cannot generate the natural harmony which
IS need^ for grovvlh and perfcctiOT. On the other hand, the laws of teleology, cxiology,
humanity and spiniualiiy are infinite in their action ami
application. Man is partly go-
verned by the mechanistic perfections
but mostly he is inspired by the ever-evolving and
evc^emanalmg aspirations. An nsiaration is an
endless proees of being and becoming.
for Wmsclf-and-by himself.
It is on this basis, the
evaluated, visualised,
Sr th.
^
and planned. Tiie extent of
with the future
know-

evStLnnrm '"rf r

ana oncmaiions. It s solely rooted m the conscious and the supcr<onscious nerfedions

i. ...B,
.in k.f,i .'SIC";;;.

REUTED REFERENCE
Arthur Schopenhauer
: 77ie WerU as Will A Id,-. Book tv c

Ctioh rromn ; Man Jar UiJalf, ReJlZi

OM.n, Thd, n, a!d

"E C. 0.
, aJ, I 4 mT"'-
Mim Hu.I.y
: MaJara Man I, Smah JS^
jjaa'a JJarr Vision
:

W l'l '^61.
John C.i,d ; Th, mil la
o/ltimsrlf
Halim ^ Vol. I, N. 1 .

Pohlicalions 1961
Sr?''h''

Symposium ; r/,e F,, Poodieherry,

Wolstenholme, Cordon
(E^) =

futuff,
London, 1953
,
 43

Revelation in Religion

Preliminary

Most critics of religion seem to maintain that there is a logical absurdity in the claim
made by believers lo ibeii experience or knowledge of God through personal inter-
course with Him. But such a denial of the reality of the knowledge of God is not
merely underrating our own capacity; it is, io fact, also taking a very degrading view
of the object of our reverence. It is to deny the power of self-revelation to God and
with it the power of influence whidi the self-revealing character of God brings. No
knowledge can be claimed to be complete. Howsoever much a man is convinced that
he knows God, the true nature of God b not completely revealed to him. The infinite
must for ever remain incothprchcnsible to the finite J but this is not because it is in
itself unintelligible ; it is because of the limitation of ouf power to understand.^ It b,
iincncompossable mystery of Gods nature that one finds a great source
in fact, in the
of one's reverence for Him. The instirctive longing for God io our heart is itself a
pointer to its satisfaction and a proof of the reality of tlie knowledge of God. The

instinctwould have hardly ever survived had it not been in close toucli with reality.
Religion is basically the knowledge of God. As for science the basic assumption

is the possibility of knowledge of the physical world, so also for religion the basic

assumption is the possibility of the knowledge of God and both may be admitted as
perfectly justified by the fruitfulness of the results obtained, though their is every
possibility that Qur knowledge which, apparently seems to be real may not be actually
so. for it b relative to the knower srtio claims it But if it is possible to reject scepf-
cism in the sphere of science, there is no reason why we ought not also reject it in
Jhe
sphere ofrelipon. A multitude of the sanest and the best of mankind have
claimed to

1 William Temple, Naturt, Man and God, p. 304,

 ^ '

332 DR. D.t. ATTIEYA SOUVEtOll TOLOtlE

know Gnd and they have ascribed to this kiioivkdse all that is best and most valuable
the knowfedge of God
in their lives, If, therefore, is increasingly fruitful in power
^

and joy and goodness, we need r other proof of its reality.'

^/fanfng and DfJlnltioii of Retclafion

It will not be out of place to mention here at the very

outset, that revelation, the con-
cept to which religion appeals, is a not so
simple as it seems. Therefore, no account
of It, howsoever critical and peneualing
U may b<^ can be regarded as satisfactory
wiiliout understanding its real
meaiung. Men are widely divided over what is revealed
and mer what form the revehlioii of it takes.
On the lint question there is a group
of Wicvers who have held that revelation
is of propositions
while others maintained
dial revelation of God himself.
Similarly, on the second question
there seems to be
a sharp division ofopinions among
believers who have held
that revelation is in the

nXhl V"*
''*
Christ end the history of Israel
a^-'horitatire prenounee-
menrFnSr men i.
**^1?" "** Of "ol revelation ases at
sorao niTlieulartimo in

nTeiS ^ L ""t 'I'* varying

dflfmillonnfit,
^ '"a tea! meaning and vmdicale a proper

on the activity
owe^"*'-
will orGod. "Thou hast created Mistence, to the
all thincs ala
they were criated."* But of llie will they were, and
God tnouldsaMguid^ti^^^^^^
His niiure In different P"*
forms. God's action
is not constant
in A mechanical
adjustability
ni RatherS*.""=*''1'
to present eondiitons due to His infinite
anion not deed action of
whS me.tL
is
an immanimi d's action. Divine
Person. Divine action produces ^ transcendent
unirormiiiesfn fh"'
apparent uniformities that
appear in the w-orl.t
designed b.abn
of infinhe adju,i*
at
~
the world is the

.
direct revelation

lonis giren through

of GnA r

events lonundsralifh*
^ subjcciivdy
the uniform process of
'
conditioned.
..

Keve-
ihcmfore. should be
used with a The term revelation,
in the "=*i'>'- There is event and
'''^*'0" onisls, William Temple
PfWws
**' -
He
the Pr^sand themin.l,
*hK eui \
hc inleraction of
Cod* *rul
5 f. lliir.
i,w,
aesivay is not ^2 ^ H"*
he intelligence hut in
 kEVElATlON m RELIGION 5^3

power active for siidi purposes. When power and mercy are combined, there is God
manifest, svhcrc righteousness or love in God's character is revealed, where tliere is

great success or victory we see God in action, we acknowledge God signally self-
revealed.

The essence of revelation, therefore, is the intercourse of mind and event and
not surely the communication of any doctrine distilled from that intercourse. Revela-
tion suggests the full aclu,ility of the rebtioosbip between soul and God, It can briclly

be defined as consisting in the presupposition of both the existence of a living and

loving God able and willing for self-disclosure and of an intelligent and alert mind
capable to receive and to make use of it.

Ill

iJevc/alJon and AtilJwrily

Revelation and authority arc both parts of the process whereby one claims one comes
into contact with God and enjoys communion with Him, If God is personal and His

relation withman is of a kind akin to that which holds between tsvo individuals or
persons then God also may be supposed to reveal Himself to man in the same fashion.
Religious experience bears testimony to this disclosure on the part of God to man.
Those who seek God and suffer from an acute yearning for their communion with
Ood receive His grace in revelation. Gods self-disclosure is designated as revelation.
Revelation is something which the individual encounters as a result of the grace of
Cod conferred on him. Revelation Is, tlicrefore, a personal experience of God but
authority is no less important than revelation. Ones knowledge of God at least in the
beginning of religious expirisnee cannot be immediate and direct. One has to full

back upon the testimony of the exparience of others following the same track of reli-

gious experience. One has, Chcrcrorc, to be (rained and disciplined in a particular way
dictatedby the nature of the object of knowledge one seeks by the testimony of those
who have undergone similar experiences. This is what we call authority. The individual
depends upon the authority of others wliicli leads him to strive after ones personal
experience. But personal experience is something individual and before it is authenti-
cated and declared true and valid it has to learn a great deal from tlie experience of
the collective life of the community. This is authority. Hence, it Follo^vs, that God
reveals Himself to man both through authority and through revelation. The former is
the revelation to the individual, the latter is the means of the knowledge of Him
through the race. Both partake of and testify to the same experience. In botli God
ts'eals Himself. Hence, there is no radical contrast between them.
Xbf.s? .V iTo scojic- iCti* cOrnSRca* iwCwcwr reviftkiSWir Ai\i saiixviJy
oiry
bccau.se they refer only to the processes which are called in for the knowledge of God.
Authority and experience seem to be radically opposite to each other because whereas
in the individual
the former plays its role prior to the latter, in the community, group
or the race experience commands the supreme importance. It is antecedent to autho-
rity. Thus, it is
manifest that whether one gets into contact with God through reve-
lation orthrough authority God is personal, because we can think of self-disclosure on
the part of God
and not on the part of the Absolute. But many philosophers look at
experience by taking it as an intellectual puzzle. There arc
many dimensions of human
 ^
334 DR. n.l. ATREYA WUVENik vdtAife

personality and of the spiritual life of man whidunere iniellectiial analysis and tindef-
standing of the prahlems of the ultimate reality is unable to unfold. That is why a
philosophical understanding which must be all-comprehcnsivE cannot endorse any
conception of ultimate reality other than
that orPecsonal God. Lord Balfour tells us,.
"\Vhe.T I spe.ik of God, I mean something
other than an Identity wherein all dilTef-
cnces vanish, or
a Unity which indudes but does transcend
the differences which it
somehow holds in solution. 1 mean a God whom men tan
love, a God to whom men
can pray, who who has purposes and preferences, whose attributes, how-
takes sides,
twt conceived, leave unimpaired the possil^ity
of a personal relation between Himself
and those whom He has created.**

do justice (0 the uniqueness of the personal

"<! man who
h rr, ,L does acknowledge
^
r **'
The dMhshre i,' tli.

crucial
imnonance in ih" 1

"y >w<
'hporlant and sigcincunt of which is
Gods holiness II must be l" /I
Sio "h i Sti?. a
" Of "
as holy Ood Himclr Is, of "L*'
rather
*** T'"as
Perfect, your heavenly
Is perfwt.***

o..'=r"r
'
VCrX JW/
conequ of "I'eMioii in dealing wilh the
Mjcsedlhesrawpartor
tfuUvsiaiemem. According
Chrisllau hSy ItarsifflT'
clear cut
(o Carmn I .
gaveeanrisicd in eel. l^np*ledge which Revelation
clear<ot truth itatr m ,, .a
of Scriptures had actual revelation
very MlJani anyihtnif
ann
wmething of a scandal, character was for Itadilion
dHTiCLlly to be exnl
i. The sandal
b^oma ^ does not
uiicmpi to irandaic
the knowledge be
ufon his rapt and had
'*''** Gods immediate aelion
expectant soul *-
rular revelation of Thm in rn
God i, to be sought r*i-
.TZ
^d T
ob^- them wiihoui
ciunibn. But hen: one
sacred
asked to aept
^Voned as revelation or
a rceorl^ ^ D'ble itself is to

"
asour
I2S.7L*""" ''Si
definiiioft
suggeits tsnn <

hetweei the soul and
P j,
 REVELAlioN iN RELIGION 335

God then all other revelations apart from what God has revealed, is subordinate to
this and to a great extent included within it. The precise divine utterances of Isaiah
or Jeremiah are not in themselves reflation for others. The essence of revelation does
not consist in promulgation of some moral code to be accepted and obeyed without
understanding their real significance. Rather, it consists in the participation of the
seeker in the spiritual reality. It is touching and tasting of the object of our reverence.
William Temple very rightly observes that, What is offered to man's apprehension in
any specific Revelation is not truth concerning God but the living God Himself.
What is actually revealed is God Himself and the purpose for which He woiks. When
St. Paul taught that the promise was primary and the law secondary he was perfect-
ly right in the light of the teaching of the Old Tesiameni he rqiresented the deepest
truth which has hardly any parallel.
Gods reality and character are made known through His special activity in the
universe setting aside the normal course of the world process. In the third chapter of
the book of Exodus we read how Moses had the living relationship with God. The
hard revealed himself through a flame that rose up from the midst of a bush it seemed :

that the bush was a light, yet did not bum. Here is a great sight", said Moses, I must
go up and see more of it, a bush that docs not waste by burning. But now, as he saw
him comiag up to look closer, the Lord called to him from the midst of ihc bush,
Moses Moses ;
and when he answered, 1 am here at thy command, be was told, Do not
como nearer ; rather take the shoes from thy feet, thou art standing on holy ground."
Mosess communion with God reminds of the riirarOpa of Lord Krstja in the
ShagavadgKa. In the Sfiager^'adgUa Lord Krsaa appears to bo Brahman in personal
form, in the beginning as the charioteer to the warrior Arjuna and by answering his
questions resolves his doubts by revealing to him (he way of devotion. But the GUa
goes beyondand we read that Krsua reveals himself tu Arjuna in a mulii-fotm trans-
and the astonished and frightened Aijuna declares [he supreme mystery that
figuration
Lord Krsna is the true God.

V
Types oj Revelation

Since religious movement advances at a very unequal rate and never affects every class
of society equally
wc arc met with two types of revelation a general revelation and a
apccial revelation
as has always been distinguished by traditional theologians. In the
former sense the order of Nature is a revelation. Starting from the given nature of the
Universe we can rise to the idea of God for it unfolds a meaning which has its ultimate
source in God. Special revelation, on the other hand, is regarded as consisting in the
living any sympathetic relationship with God. Just as wc cannot know a person with-
out a direct communion of sympathetic intercourse with him.
so also, in the absence
of direct communion
with God, revelation in the spcdal sense of the term is not possi-
ole. In a special
sense revelation is a more direct working of God for the apprehension
8. William Tfmpie, oy. cU.
p. 322.
.. iii, is-it.
336 DR. D.U ATRCYA SOUVENIR VOLtME

of irutli. But here one confronted wth a difficult;

is as to Jww one can tllslingulsh
between an act of specific revelation on the part of God from that of general revela-
tion. Special revelation has an authoritative character, God's self-disclosure claims
authority. But what is its test 7 Modem mind is not in the least prepared to accept a
doctrine as revealed simply because it is taught by Citurch or is contained in religious
literoturcs.According to older thcolo^l notions
the doctrines were communicated to
prophets and high ranking individuals. But
such an idea can no longer be defended in
our y since it is an offspring of an era when the human
mind was hardly penetrable
and the movement of reli^ous thought
was Kttfc iindentood. Galloway is right when
heiellsusthat Direct revelation
can only be asserted of a religious experience; the
^ efivative, and sometimes an imperfect, statement
of what the experience
means"'^*
Thus the distinguishing mark of
special revelation is certainly a personal and
experience. And to the question as to how one can decide such spin*
** elatk>n which is more than a private feeling, wc can
haw hfii*
iri
y "f the result obtained.

?

r'^
^Pr^ensbns of
Cod lo f divine truth
on the part of man, If one
h fiJlfilment of ones spiritual
uiiny,

' P*rtcnee
few peS whTarfouJhS ra"''! in
: rather, it is an experience of a

the media of divine induenoo. lust as a

mountain peak fitai^e'itch
*^'h f^'^fisun so also prophets and high-
ranking individuals fim rrr k'*'*
' ood d ihm ,h Tdto.
iiSru, ? ir; 'T"" to ic

natingeTpcrienccs ofjrcat applied to those illuol-

S'VhVE?"*'^ "'an thesetise atidmcauinsor
iruB teliplon,

Rticlallan and

since no human creature

was m *" Ihe act of revelation
God." But
and Ihing
if rcvtlaliDn,
rcl.iiionship
as we have ailm-|tiH k"*^ ^ of boasting, in the presence of
consists in the loving
between snui rr- V."* i

soul and
complrtcd
God
.act
ispsssiWe in
of revelation a.
1 f "'""i"iotion between
man's place in the
we
li>truechatirreve!aii!,Z 'Snored.
of God. 1, belongs to
wiihCT.
"S. ZeTiTa^' P- h
flic
elects a 'o o* '^hen and how He
natiot) or
meal llimxlf more
a
a race or a particular
fully iha
ht,, individual to

Z ""
" no
10 Lord's
wise to construe
 REVElAnON IN RELIGION 337

Tliougli, it is for God to reveal the light yet there must be some one to open
his eyes to recognise it. Unless there is some one to recognise and accept which is revea-
led, as revealed, revelation has no meaning whatsoever. Thus, it is true, that
in all revelations God takes the inillaliw but (his also is true that the fullness of
revelation cannot be admitted as depending upon the will of God alone. Though tlic
giving is important but no less significant act of receiving John Baillic has very
is (lie
rightly observed : To take the human analogy, do all my ciTorts to make myself
plain amount to a real self-disclosure, if none succeeds in grasping what is in my
mind ? Surely not,- we must therefore say that the receiving is as necessary to a
completed act of revelation as (he giving. It is only so far as the action of Cod in
history is understood as God means it to be understood thal-rcvclation has place at
all. Thus for the cfTectivcness and full actuality of revelation man also has his part
to play "in seeking after it, in preparing himself for it, In welcoming it, in yielding
himself to it.^*

must always be borne in mind tliat every revelation of character necessarily

It
demands a special training and discipline of mind on the part of those to whom
revelation is given. It was certainly not for lack of efforts but for lack of that requisite
training and discipline of the mind that When God shewed us His wisdom, the
world, with wisdom, could not find its way to God. Nor was a reward of
all its
some spiritual elTort on the part of Israel llwt the Lord specially revealed Himself to
It. The Lord
has spoken to our fathers in many ways and by many means gj
tSiought proper but also as they could listen to easily.'* Once when some of the

disciples of Christ came to him and asked. Why does though speak to them in para-
bles he answered resolving all their doubts that, it is granted to you to understand
the secret of Gods kingdom but not to these olliers.** So, "if I talk to them in para-
bles, it is because though they have eyes, they cannot see, and tliougli tlicy have ears
they cannot hear or understand.^* Tlie history of Israel records a.s to how much at
one time in the days of Amos the people of Israel were in need of divine justice and
on another occasion in the days of Ilosca they needed divine love and the Lord besto-
wed each revelation at its appri^riatc time. But here it must not be forgotten that
what was revealed to Amos, Hosca was not able to grasp and similarly what was
revealed to Hosea, Amos could not understand.
Thus, there is strong reason in logic to believe that though revelation primarily
depends upon the will of God, yet its foil actuality cannot be properly conceived with-
out taking into account the ciTorts and appreciation on the part of man. Howsoever
much One may argue, the fact remains that revelation is an interplay between God
and man.

14 John Uaillle, The Idea of Jleretafion in Rrtent Umight, p. 64.

Encyelopaedia of Rtlitton and Ethiei, vol. k. p. 747.
16 r Cortnihians
i. 21.
338 DR. B.L. ATRCYA SOUVEKIR VOLUME

Has Revehiion Ceased nilh Jesus of History 7

It has commonly been held by all sections of Qtristiaiuty that man cannot apprehend

God mediated thtongh the historic figure of Jesus. Nobody has

directly since all is

ever seen or can see the iarmiie God, but Heb

revealed to man in the son. Hence
cevelaiion, argued, ceased with Jesus of history.
it is
Eniili Brunner tells us that, The
unique and unrepeatable ehacatler of revelation constitute the essence of Christianity.
A final event can only happen once.- And similarly Karl Barth remarks : God has
tcvcakd himscir to man in Jesus OirisL What do we know from anyother source of
God . . . Absolutely nothing.' ^ Thus, by attaching revelation exclusively to the per-
son of Jesus, men have often deniedall otherchannebof revclailon. But such a con-
lenlion is open to the charge of involving a static conception of revelation and is
therefore untenable.

b.l
Christunity,
lk,to it Is

b,
true. Joses
,.W o.t to,
iu
,l
vitality if the

.t
Person of
I,

"h'Wictsu^brteosB.ilbodon.
its founder is forgoUen
cod.

away with. God s sclHlIscIosure cannot be i; *. j . . , /-.-j

OosM .. rt.J toOod

UbSblww L ot, ;

b.nnl,.Hcl,.l.o
In ,h, pm nni Hi,
S """I" f
il ii mivu, toi o,
moth one m argot, to te 1*"="" f
llowiotvtr
7
affirms that even ccnlurics before oHiislory. St. Paul
Jesu^sbinhCbJ.*
wanderings in Sinai andwehavcSi. Israelitles during their
Aucusiinf .a
arlstian religion existed amoi^ the which today is called
Ancients and
human unlihhe time when
race
Christ him ir
from the origin of
aniiy the true religion which already began to call Christi-
csi ird i
ntil mean to "know Christ accordin'- p "^hiis to know God does
lo^ihc a.
has manirested itself
in all thims
Spiioa for Gods wisdom
*anH
God
has spoken to our
If
Hewdl not speak to us tod.iy.
failw, old b davf li"
God-, premise stilUnM'

j
'
The promiv; has been pnjelaimed ^ Pfphet declares ;

to u< i,.
tobeafraidof thu we must not rJii- .
to ihctn."-* Bui what ssc haie
falhnto unbelief Cod. Actions, hovssoever
S.CniinrorrifT.TTif.V/.'.-.WH. TT ....
J3, Ksrt Hmt,. 77,, Kral,).j,, * -
 RBTLATION IN RaiGION 339

auiist they may be, become fruitless and unprofitaWc to us without faith inHim, God
cannot make his presence known lo a lifeless observer. Thus deep rooted faith and
unshakable belief in God arc the prerequisites for the attainment of communion
with God. Jesuss personal experience of God and the dignity of high priesthood
arc certainly rewards of his deep-rooted faith in God. We are, therefore, asked to
cultivate faith in infinite God for it is only then that the birth of God in the soul is
and for this there is no need of the mediator'.
.possible

Moreover, if there exists no contrast, as there can be none, between God's will
and wisdom, then there is more ground in reason than not to believe, that what God
has done in the past He still must do. Hence the Jesus of history cannot be regarded
as God's last word to us.

VIII

Concluding Heniarks

It might have been apparent by this lime that the sense of a divine presence irradiating
the soul of the seeker after truth is
one of the most otwious tilings of experience, the
truth ofwhich docs not stand in na-d of any proof. And, if even now the critics of
religiondemand logical proof to support the contention that we make, they surely foil,
and for me, they do fail to recognise that the heart has its own reason of which the
head knows nothing and, coisequently, fall into the error of supposing that proof U
the only criterion of truth-claim. Howsoever much one may argue 'isith the ^tics of
religion that there is a logical absurdity in the claim made by the believers the experi-
enced of God, the fact remains that reli^on is of value only because of the felt reality
of the presence of God and if it fiK survived the deacJliest missiles of destructive
criticism, it is only because the soul to wliom God has bestowed His all cries with
a loiid voice, saying, This whole world is full of God,^* Let therefuro, proof be the
idol for men of reason alone before whom (hey may torture themselves as much as
they like ; it has no relevance, whatever, for men of faith. Are we not unoAenly warn-

ed in religious literatures against the undue pride of the intellect ? I think, readers will
agree, that a.sthc self-exhibiting character of Nature or Nature as we know tempts
the mind to exclude from its universe the super-sensuous Being of God, so the self-
revealing character of God tempts the soul to exclude from its universe the inferior
being of Nature. No one, says, Dante.
Who looks upon that light can turn
To other object, willingly, his Tnew.

B. Angsts of Fotigno,
77ie Book of DIviae Cbasolallon, II. G. Steecmann* trans.
jy. rarodiir,
XXXIU, pp. 303-lW (trans.Tempte Classics}.
 44

7 antra Sadhana

lo eJ"> Iht munUanc ajhiaacr He world l< r Ta T ' """ '"

lead aa ascetia life. A maa who k la (hr wide ^ealt. A laaa is required la
a> Taalra Sadhana late
He *''
Sedhaaa Ir a
world id'be Ih^l^J'''*
"
e.hi,,, i "aJX "
award lo He Sadliaka
(alirejora) hut also
ran rnetel. liboraiioo^h
*
T ?('Jyenl).
aojoymenl. nol merely heaulitade
It promto 10
progress {adiyudayo).

realised in
Sadhana is based
Tiiflira

and through the human

on ihrenniiihHi .
'
- ''

o **
body. Man". an^ir* *rI
real distmciion between
man and God. Every or iliccosmos. There is no
r.vciy roan U 4 dormant
divine. Human tnacrucosm.
^myc^ Is n manireslation in hodv is ih
'r Parm S!.v of vvhieh the
spac^
a.v.mty (Kundalini)
the truth that
with the eJe
conv^ior^af1^^" dormant
pen ades rraliscd within,
the whole rm^.^ is

hewfiv J 'r
So and^* "*'^^""'>yJ'i'"lfnorSakiIby

'ersion, their
KaWrie rises to Sh^T ih'

i jnieni. For aperson having

 TANTRA SADirANA 341

Strong desires for physical enjoyment Tantra prescribes the Sndhann of crude Ms as
It does not encourage suppression and repression of unfulfilled desires. Normally,
man is dominated by animal desires of hunger (Aliara), sleep (Nidrii), fcar(Bhaya^

and sex (Maithuna). The dominance

of suchcrude desires of material enjoyment differs
from man to man. Wlicu such desires arc dominant, man runs after sensuous enjoy-
ments.

on the part of such pcBons is an uphill task. Spiritual Sadhitna and

Resistance
higher valuesdo not attract the parch^ up soul. An elevated soul can abstain from
material enjoyment and lead spiritual
life. However, Tantra docs not abhor material
enjoyment. Suppression and repression of unfullillcd desires lead to immorality and
degeneration.

Paiicaraakara Sadhanu is directed to get control over the material desires. The
use of the caide Paficamakura according to prescribed esoteric disciplines, leads to
detachment and inner purification. This
wll give the SadliSna inner strength of moral
control over his
baser instincts. In Paheamakara Sadhiina wine is used for the release
the senses from their engrossment in their outer objects. The surface consciousness of
mind which is exposed to the sitocks and attachments, is temporarily suspeded and the
dseper, the expansive
and tiie subliminal spheres of consciousness are opened. It enables
theSadhana to get control over the inner recesses and work for the sublimation and puri*
iication of being.
In Tantra Sadhana wine is used for the puiificaljon of mind (citta),*
Wine
^ is not to be
drunk in the manner of animal drinking. It leads to degradation*
Supreme Lord is invoked, worshipped and the dedication is sanctified by the pres-
ciibed esoteric
mantra. Sadhana identihes his whole being and consciousness with the
Dsities and mantra in course of SOva Sadh-lna before the use of wne. One who docs
fwt know the science of Tantra Sadhana, has no right to perform this Sadhana.
To hell he goes who dares to infringe tlicse conditions and seeks to enjoy wine
and women.* He is sinner and iiberatine. Drinking of wine tliat is not sanctified is as
reprehensible as rape.
The realmeaning of wine in Tantra is not liquor. In mystic sense the word
Madya (wine) means the hormones secreted from the pineal gland. This Pineal nector
vitalises the differentglands and gives divine bliss. Tire pineal gland ftoni which nectar
flows, is tiiousand-petalled. When
the kundalini is awakened and made conscious, she
rises upwards and drinks the pineal
necter. The nccter which flows from the lotus in
the supreme ether alone is the real wine. What is
drunk otherwise is only liquor.
According to Agama Sastra wine is the somadhara or lunar ambrosia which drops
from the Sahasrara.
Afnmja Sadhana does not mean, the earing df meah. Thn wal xDejimn.% 'Aa

I
: sfRm; i

rTrarmr ?rnnj^ nv^n

Kularitava Tantra p. 191.
2. Ibid,, p. 196.

3 f<T|ffST

^ jTnf
Ibid,, p. 197.
342 DR. D.U ATRCYA SOUVEWR VOLOMB

Mama Sadhaiia is to overcome the dnalbm of T

and Thou by yoga, It means lo
rid ccmsciousncss from the fetters of Maya wlh the help of divine knowledge. Cons-

ciousness so freed is merged with the supreme godhead. This is the esoteric meaning
of Manisa Sadhana' The xvord A/a mcaas tongue. The Mamsa Sadhana means control
over spcjdi. It "also means the dedication of all actions to Lord 'A/nm'.

hfatsya Sadhana mrms the coalfol of breath through Pranayama, The eating of
fish means the controlling of breath. The other meaning of the Matsya Sadhana is the
controlling of the senses. With the help of Pranayama the senses arc brought under the
ciintrol oftills mind and yoked lo the stOf.'lhis is tlie meaning
of Matsya Siidhaiia.'
MudrS docs not mcin prached rice. Miidra Sadhana means detachment from
the cs'ils that keep the soul in bondage. To cut off all connections with evil called
is
Mudra Sadhana.
Maithunaof Paucamakar Sadluna has been greatly scand.altscd and grossly
misundcT.itood. Tantra is based on scientific principles.
It does not ignore the biological
and piyclinlogical aspxis of the human personality.
However, crude Mailhuna Sadha-
na (copulation with women) allowed in Taiiiru
for conquering the ses-inslinct. One
can ennquer set with gradual practice of
restrain and sublimation. But the real mcan-
iig of Madhuiia Sadhan-a Is the
copulation of Siva with Sakli. The woman to be
waited upon is none other than the
inner divine power which is lying asleep in the
ordinary anime -man and is awake in the
Kaul. This Knndaiini Sakti is to be awake-
ned, served and attended to.

MviuSlcrl ,h ,
'
I"
i.dlhoS.pjm.S.ir

SI J f
"'' w>.'

mriiur. Ifcrmitk .kick on. co ,Lin aS. ^ T

.a .omc. ,hc
''I tr Blik. lo Ike

psycho-spiniual process
to transform the raciil.al
 :

TANTRA SADHANA 343

being into a di\'inc being. and mystic tiic Sadliana of

It is scientific, positive, esoteric
inner progression. The wlioic principle of the Pancamakara depends upon idealism
and intuition. A wife is kissed with one feeling, a daughter's face witli another. Tan-
tra does not sanction immoral satisfaction of sc.suni desires in the way it does normal
eating and drinking and so forth demands that man should iinile with Siva-Sakti
; it

in worldly enjoyment as a step towards the supreme enjoyment. In doing so he must

follow the DJiarma prescribed by Siva.
The bondage of the self is due to Samskara. It has got five-fold manifestations
Avidya (ignorance), Asinita (egoism) Raga (atlwclion), Dvesa (repulsion) and Abhini-
vesa (willingness to live). AH actions result from Samskara, It is the root cause of all
nwdilications of Cil/a.Mental modifications cease with the cessation of Samskara.
file self
becomes liberated and remains ever in its divine purity and eternal freedom.
Reason cannot establisli its supremacy over will and volition. According to Tantnj
conscious life of reason and volition is only the surface level of a wider and more

expansive psychic life of man. The subconscious and the causal mind are not infra-
eonscious at all but arc rather an expansion of cosmic consciousness and roolcd to
whole consciousness. Hum.m consciou-sness is undivided, unlimited and whole. The
I'Eai life
of reason and wili is rooted to wliolc consciousness. Cosmic consciousness is

the source, substratum

and goal of all mental processes.

PafriicSra Sadliana

The Pasvacara Sadhana is meant for ihc regulation of moral conduct and
mental concentration. It is a psycho-pbysical processor inner development. Pasvacara
Sadhana addresses Siva as Pasupati. Pasupati stands for the supreme godhead wJiicli
liberates man
from the bondage of animality.

^iTucura Sadhana

Vitacara Sadhana is a psycho-spiritual process of inner transformation. It is an

Aggressive form of spirituality. This cult has been so named because Hie Sadhakas of
115 School perform
Sadhana with a dead human body in the posture of Virasama to
overcome the Eight Fetters (Pasas) and SLx Enemies (Ripus). The Viracara Sadhaka
2d<lresscs Siva
as Viresvara. This Sadhana is done for the unification of the Kundaliiii
With Parama
Siva. Detailed esoteric disdptines and rituals have been laid down for this
adhana. The Sadhaka has to obscure the esoteric principles
both in letter and spirit.
ArtYmr Avalon s.ays, "By iVie-Tinion
of Tarrtiic rnystaasm.
Viraand Sakfi, whoa form (alara) of the Devi, direct union is had ivjth the
is
Alter who being all that is desired of Her. Then is thus whnt is tecliiii-
pleased grants
y called Pratayaksa of Devata whereas in Kumaripuja and in Sava-Sadhana the
evi speaks
through the mouth of a ^igin or the corpse respectively. Viras communi-
Avadhtitaloka.* During Sava Sadhana the incantation
0 m"'***^
Mantra infuses life-forcc in the corpse as a result of which it seemingly becomes

t*.
p.6:3.
344 DR. D.L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOLUME

alive but is actually the life-force of the Sadhata himself. On seeing this if the Sadhako
becomes nervous and falls wiihitilhe Coibtr.he meets with his own death and if he falls
outside the Cakra he becomes permanently mal But if he holds his own and succeeds
in this Sadliana, he attains salvation. "

D/ryufuro

Divyacaia IS a purely spiritual process. It is subtle, sublime and the iiighest form
of mysticism. The
realization of the htenlily of self
and God which is known as Sivad-
\aita IS the purpose behind Divyaenra.
The body is the temple of God, Jiva is

'l'"
is the otrerine which is thrown away and
rned. a e with the idealism "I
am Ht. The idealism of I am He is not a mental con-
tcmplation or discursive reasoning.
The incantation of mantra is associated with other
by the force of mediiatian so becomes man

w L I-
Sm I , ^
Hie rtofc is,, r Ti s.dh.. is
rii si<h Siv. cisis ss undtr lit ity

sir, IteZs, 2 'Vto.ma.,nalnsIW.SBl.of

Pranayama. '"cntil concentration and

There arc
several states of hi>mo ti.....
in On or. iDEi. Divysent. i, tfce
lit. "J, oro>ni"iis
sps.mesl.B ot cooi,.
t," jS
ilh Psinm Si.n Is ntuln.d
mes Ool He eIwije remains In eh.
I,
spo.ionto.sb

ST SlddHa, Me been-
ennseinnmee. He beeamee loi.1 l,

nin.|dd2'Tn ^
nil'' "l
our, Such a soul Is beyond moral thoughts and behavi-
"1 ' "s " '5-
.1..,, mertej in
Tanlra Ssdhana
Si.aB.nBreS,
is a veiy
1 al'y inactive.
1'= 1=

difficult
Mlvation; a mistake misfortune ^''**** Tantra Sadhana brings
MadhnsuA if
thorns, Good and evil run ys. "But no rose is without
side bv sMe
unmised evil in it, The rosy has uniriwed good or
path ,r
1 $ Ihctsfore the foremost
duty of rhe thorns hero and there, H
Sadhsir .
rosy path, but if he fall,
into the ira r ""S 'I dhere to the
cause mi iicr, put obstacle,
| hk w^y ,5 "fx*' ^y trying to
7 !'"' desired objee,, 1, ,,
Biard lie progB,.
i fte aiSin.
 ,

TANTRA SADflANA 345

razor's edge, whicli, when sharpened, is difllcult to tread on.^ The Infinite in man is

like (he oil

in the river-bed. or fire in the two pieces of wood.^'* To get oil from Sesa-
muni seeds we have to crush them , chum the curds before we can have butter, dig the
ground for water and rub the slicks hard for fire. This is Sadhana. Till man attains
Samadhi, he has risks and dangers on the path.
Tantra Sadhana goes into every detail of fife. It weaves yoga into the day-to-day
life. It gives meaning and mystic interpretation to a mans activities by making them
2ll means for the cifcctuation and transformation of the inner consciousness of
progression from the human into the divine.

vmr?T Hpar
JlTfa tIKT ftfsT^
^

^tiUhaiora Upanl/ad.
i-IS,
 45

Saivism in Assam

A restwspeellve analysu of ihe cultural hkloty

of Assam enables us to fathom
the antiquities of its religious philosophy.
Monistic Saivism, as a branch of
thought
religious ME
claim its origin in Assam. In fact,
the Kashmiri Saivism has its
^renUl home in KSmatOpa. The ancient literature
including that of Tatitra and otJier
^cuments of AMamese literature have proved the
antiquity and the authenticity of

LI T 'J' to" frm .h. followi.t quo!.-

5
eras the great sage,
I*'
Miaa alias Macchanda Vibhu
(*"> ""I "> IK

"BtiairmyB BheirayHt pripiam yognni

vydpya laiati priye
Taiaakamiui siddhena Mhikhyfno
wanSnt
KSmarCpa mah3pUht Maerhamkna
MahSimanS.'-

T. A. Comm, /, 24

or the Itt Almiko oP the rimW. i. J ?
'gPta . An Hutorlai! and
By K. C. Pandey, p. $2.)
/Ai/oso/ifiicaf Siridy

prevalent in Assam frpm a ''ion has

people (A Cultural lllsiory '*"* '**' =risinal5 and the Aryanised
of Aam v 1 1
stated in the rma t5Xn!2i: P- ')
in Assam h greater than the ^ with Siva worship
places
of Vra.,.
Siva wonhip are fifteen in
number wbereasT^r P'^'
fcspectively.
Rai Bahadur - e five and four
Assam, 1900) observes Buranji' (the History of
that the Siva mkI,;..
up was"i"*
lira iniroduecd
by Jalpcswara, a
 SAmSM IK ASSAM 347

king of Jalpaiguri which was fonncriy a part of Kamarupa. (pp. 39, 45, 46). The
'KSlika Purona' further claims ibat prior lo the aniva! of king Naraka, who probably
introduced the cult of the mother goddess in Kamarupa, Siva was accepted as the
supreme deity of tfee State. (8 a. Chap, xxxviii, v. 96). Dr. B. K. Kakali opines that
Saivism some CTude form was the popular creed of the aboriginal Kiratas. The
in
Grant of Vanamala (v. 5), the Kamauli Grant (v. 20), also bear witnesses of the anti-
quity of the '
Assamese Saivism.
Saivism of Kamarupa had a scries of sob-cults. The Prasastis on Siva have
hiade it clear that Siva was invoked by various names, "^e Siva was invoked as
Paramesvara, I^vara, Maheiwara, Mahavaniha. Adldcva, Sambbu, lathknra, Praja-
dhinatba, Rudra, Halakasulin. Hara, Kameswara, Kitava, Ardha-Yuvastisvara, Pasu-
pati, Gauripati, and Somanatba. Siva was conceived as the prime deity (Adideva)

and the supreme god (Parama Maheswara) whose feet were worshipped even by other
deities. In the Prasasti of the Bargaon Grant, Siva is described as the supreme

self who "becomes many through hb multifarious attributes due to omnipresence, and
thus shines in the world. (Grant of Vanamala. v. I).

Siva was also invoked in the /ingo form. Images of Siva arc found in Assam
and Arunachal in various forms. The most common form of liiC images is lingam.
The Yogini Tantra asserts that the lingam of Siva in Kimraupa exceeds even a
million (Chap. xi. v. 36).

The philosophical si gniftcance of Ktiniarflpa Saivism is that it is monistic and has

a very close affinity with Tantra thought. Siva is admitted as the sole reality, as
die one without a second. He is absolute consciousness and is also svatantrtya. Siva
is omniscient,
the one embracer of the universe, lie is all-pervading. Knowledge is
possible only for his existence. It is his will force. His own inherent power known as

Shakti is responsible for the creation of the whole world. He is the subject. He is
also the object, for the world which is apparently distinct from Siva, is not actually

in real state. The world is an external representation of the same reality. The world
with soul and object is an appearance of the ultimate reality, of the supreme self
its

known as 'Parama Siva'. Sftakli is self- consciousness. By Siiafcfi Siva manifesis him-
self asmany. Thus Siv.i and Shakti arc inseparable. Siv.i is both immanent and tran-
scendent. Shakti is his immanent aspect. TransccnderiUally he is the background,
the
substratum of 'the whole univeree. TJjc individual self is not Jimltatlon absolute
consciousness. It is pure consciousness and is identical with Siva. It is in fact the
supreme reality in the garb of selflimitation. So empirically, thougti there arc many
selves, transcendentaUy there is only one and tlrat is Siv.n. It is a mode of the Divine
inanircslalbn of Siva. Siva is thcDMncencrgyn its static aspect. Sli.nkli preserves
and
sustains the universe. Kilmarnpi Saivism admits creation ns n conditional re.illty. Siva
also Rudra. He stands for the ultimate dissolution ofllic universe. At tlic time of
disjclurion, Shakti nbsorbs the whole wotU into herself and merges herself into the
ininilc Siva.

On its ethical grounds, Siva h cognised ns the emblem of all virtues. He is hc-
mpn. .nusphlntis nnd easily projdilatcd. He foigivcs nl) iraiisgrcssJons oflhe
He b the rnosl dciiirwr.Mic ikliy among, nil the Hindu deities.
1 lv.sve stated nbose tliiil Stv- vorship
'
h popnl.ir among both the ArjMns nnd
\
34B DR, B.I. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOLVME

the ahariginab. Hence the remarks

(t) "In the fastness of hills and mountains, in dense forests, we still come across
wild savap in India, the primitive childten
of the soil, who were driven
from their hemes Iqr the onnish of the Aryan conquerors. Among these
wld tribes tip till now no endaice of the worship of Siva or Kali lias been
found. They still adhere to their primitive religious faith
of Animism and
worship stocks and stones.
(2)
OnemaysarchfromthefootoftheHiraalayasuptotheCope Comorin
*sli8hlest trace of any Tantric form of worship, or
peoplc-of D. N. Bose and
H Ha^tbrTantrmT^'*'*^'*'**'^^

H-lal Haidar, pp. 76, 77). are

in So words of Dr,
SeswarNcotLm'.r
ho h ZS'to HiL
8<=' an account of the worship of Siva.

riles to the deity as propitiatory

are prescribed

ol worship. The king thereunan ^ ** Irihal mode

mni.
by his Knchari soldiers on the ^ of such rites
hanks of the rtver.
By Dr. M, Nwg, Sonkos, [SoMeva end his tlma :
p, 80),

ll-ithau Siv-rar. In r "

Siva ns the Supreme
deity.
Jainliyas and also by the
Aryan
cJtS
devotees
X
po'uK*of'j?
"v worUiip
observed by the Bodos,

the Dhlmal. i, an early stage

ill in Mech, like tliat of

^S
of
Jaihe themselves as Hindus of i'><iisni. They
the
Batho his consort Kali Siva under the
ns Bali KhunerL" name of
 .

46

The Death of God

When wc analyse Ihc concept of death we find that the word death is meaningful in
the contest of with
respect to the material or physical entities. In no case is the word
death can be meaningful as regards spirittjal entity. The concept of God almost in all
ages and in all religions is conceived as spiritual entity, nicrefore, the assertion ; God
s dead is not worth considering at least in the sense in which God Is considered to
;

he a spiritual entity.
The primitive people have presented the anthropomorphic conception of God in
tvhichGod ujgji to participate in Ihc daily afiairs of man. Cod is made in the
image and likeness of man. Thus,
Cod, in primitive religion, was materially conceived.
Xenophanes 600 years before Qirist, men imagined Gods be born, and
^
have raiment and
says,

voice and body, like themselves .... Even so the gods of the
to to

Ethiopians are swarthy

and flat-nosed, and the gods of the Thracious are fair-haired
nd bhie-eycd , .
Even so Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods all that Is a
.

^lamc and reproach among mcn-theft, adultery, decciund other lawless nets
Now, if this is the
conception of God, God can be considered as dead or God can be
Hied because
primitive people conceive Cod as a means to fulfil their ends. But this
concept of God
disappears in Ihc history of religion particularly after the development
Eristic,
Dcislic or, Panthcblic religion.
God is immune from both birth and death both by birth and death. A spiritual
od cannot be corrupted, since Heposscsses'no matter. He cannot be disintegrated, since
e has no substantial parts. He cannot losehisindividual unity. since He issclf-subsist-
^*^Hnot lose His internal energy, since Ilccontains within Himself all llie sources
?. energies. Tliis means that God cannot die. Once he exists, he cannot disappear,
enec. He
will necessarily exist for ever and He will endure without end. Ilhagavadgita
so supports
this contention. This shows that one who tikes birth, faces death. Here
.
^ necessary consequence of birth. But God is cternani and so the question of
wt 1 of God is superlltious
and unwarranted.
77i# p. 379.
350 DR, D.l.. ATRCYA SOUVENIR VOLUME

na jayate mriyate va kadacin'

na'yam bhulva bhavitS va na bhfiya^
ajo nityat) Saivato yam purano
na hanyatc hanpamane krire II, 20

nainaift chindanti iiastrfini*

nainaifi daliati piivakal)

na cainarii klcdayanty apo

na ksayati marutab 23
Grid II

la Christianity, the concept of death is

often equated with the idea orrcsarrection
as mlliduism with the idea of rebirth. This means
iliai if one dies, he lesiirrecls into
annl er lireor taVes rebirth. Thus,
the Qiristian religion leveals tliat the news of this
ca is the crpectatianof new
birth. Ihecoming into being of a humanity whose nature

CI.,is.ianiplillno. Ih.l
Christ IS nat desd but that ho is alive. He will appear on the scene very soon. In Hindu

S sTw 7
Sto, la
1 f Utii means tbal when we say that
Ihopliyieal body oS Cbtlsl
Is dead and pot Chrisl as Ood

S r 'I 7 m'lOon saeh lypas of raisuadarslandlag

do ool JJaio- oceur The

'^f*wit clothes und takes other new ones.

Similarly (here is n iiiriio.. k
Christian these day*
of Chrkt In the mint! of every
Thut^he^n
uMliInlable. immauble. ""7 ** *''!
''
elerna'i a on,nS?KM'S
p esent. insmovablc, constant and everlastinga*

vSslrtisl JlrqSni
yalha sdhSya
navani grhij.til naro pajApi
Ulha iariraql vihSya jlfpJny
anyani saihyflti navSni dchl'
II, 22

of God
not an event for
is t''
God.lt
an erperienra. As for also. Death is not
csamnle I rii. .
owndcalh.Nnw.if I am ^ experience my
unable to
tie .lead, eP
all arperieaves and
Gd. ya,, a.ain
one cinnoi a.-
^ "*
> * e.petience
is the end of
=nii.neint Rxl ,b|, d of espnriDneei. But mnn i. .till
"'"Oodunoidrad- '"">1 or a Chrisih,,, T|,is dearly

rerwnni God "ms of a

alsS. The t^d *31^ personal God and an rm-
i tn ease of a
personal Cad. i.e
- urdr.ay4f,_ll_ j5
S-
23]
* P)WfjTai//tVo. It, 22.
 TiiE DEAtH OF GOD 35i

Christ, But in tlic ease of impersonal God, it is useless or

Molianiniad, Kisna, etc..

meaningless to express ones whim that God is dead. According to Samkaratlic,

Absolute or Brahman is indescribable. If the Absolute or Brahman is indescribable,

how can it be said that an impersonal God is dead ? This is so because to say that an

impersonal God or Brahman to describe in words. Likewise, Bradley says

is dead is
that every analysis leads to falsification. This means that Reality cannot be analysed or

described in words. The absolute Reality or Brahman is a whole. The Whole cannot be
divided into parts, But if we assume that the Absolute or Brahman is dead, it is possible
only when It can be described. Bui Samkara and Bradley have already discarded this
said tc be
possibility, hence the Absolute or Brahman or an impersonal God cannot be
a dead entity. /

But when we describe God can be regardad as dead. Only

as a personal being, it

in this sense do Christians believe that God has died in Jesus Christ and that this
death

of God is both a historical and a cosmic event which cannot be reversed by a subse-
quent religious or cosmic movement. Nietzsche says, We have killed him, you

all of us, arc his murderers...God is dead ! God remains

dead And we have kill^ !

hini ! Now, when Christians say that God has

died in Christ or when Nictache
says that 'wo have killed God, this means that man wants to become like God,
;

Again, he wants to be free, responsible and creative without the weakening elfects
of

Built, and remorse. Nietzsche also means by saying that when we have
killed God, we

can hope for the coming up of a new humanity free from fear and diappointment.
as God is ^ad. e
But of Nietzsche never proves that Christ
this contention
substance of Christ has
physical dead or in other words, the material
body of Christ is
ahve for ever.
disappeared God or the spirituality in Christ remains
but Christ as
Thus, in proclaiming the death of God, Nietzsche was merely pointing to a cultural
and historical fact. So, God is not dead also because in the Christian world, values arc
grounded in the Christian understanding of human life aod these values are always
found in relation to God. God, being the author of human life and of the cosmos, is the
aue of all valuations of mans existence on earth. But if God is not alive or God is
in the liearts and minds of men, then llieir value commitments remain meaning-
loss of
less and
as such Frazier says, The realisation of the
no longer any foundation.
the dicty
means madness, an existence shattering anxiety, but also, perhaps, the
possibility of a fresh beynning.*
new innocence, a -j h
This shows that whether Cod is personal or impersonal, it cannot be said that
God is dead. God as a person connotes some qualifies wliich are inherent in Him. And
when we say that means that there are some inherent
Christ or K.wra is God, it
Christ or Kr?''a is im more
qualities in Christ
or Krjna. Now, the physical body of
J>ut their inherent qualities such as incarnation of God in Christ or Avatara of
God as
Krkna never die. These inherent qualities arc immortal.
Thus, it becomes clear from
the above deliberation that Christ as God will remain alive for ever.
Commenting on Nietzsches idea that the new race of Superman would lake over

the mastery prophetic zeal almost

of the world, Heidegger says that Nietzsche in his

S- Llrei taten p. 40.

from Paul Roubiezek. EilsunSialim, for aidjgalnsr,
Mile M. Frazier,
hsurs In RtHgioa, p. 3.
352 DR. B.L. ATftEVA SOUVENIR VOLUkte

siJctrads and dodges a ver^ imporUntand centra] issue namely, lli.it of llic ontology of
hcing. He never tries to face tlic question os to Iiow man, or for that nutter llic Super-
man. would replace God. Therefore, Heideg^says that
the centre of man's vision must
not bo the Sjpermin as the new rufcrofthe worid, but
being as such, If Nietzsches,
solsilioii is accepted, God will not
actually be displaced. Cod will assume merely a new
name and become the supreme custodian of new
values. Tlieferorc. Hci<lcEgcr says that
God must not he thought of as being. It is
wrongto develop the ontology of God.
Man lias created the concept of God. therefore,
he could any day kill God.
assenron of Heidi^r regarding
wilt
the concept of God, we
S
firrf
1
" rf >" diminaiss God a. loih. His assttlion-
n
rta
'll m"" t=n lill uny d"J

Here.
nun completely subordinate to Him.
I hive to say'^at HeMtcMh li'*''?
which i, pre.
cept of God but in cxolainmi. ii..'...- 'J" the traditional con-
choosini-centre. This aspect "''"B-centre or a
of God Is acc^S'nM(,^"'^*
But the feelitig-cemre is also trW-
Qs a result of this God
the enjoiine Th^'" cenJ
also js eroKiiJ^^Thiis.
c?/srln/fes Cod, and
This aspect of God is the
to see that Cod is not only
the Creator of the A ^
Tlds shows that if Cod its wnjtanr Cooipot/m.
is conceived in
mate man completely subordinate Cod
will never die,

to Him
""" reveals that such
that
a growing Cod

lit relisiom lltoaon,

Gill Ij
Jty t^l to bra 0J. Thy, 1". t by Iht Utorisa,
*by
. kto o.rkl.to,i,,
toaTi
P'"ta to this y 1 KOitoi.-'
;
Now, Ous Kstrifon of
when Sarirc says
that God
<t

b mtoHliC"' ""s*: boi'rilll! >" r K"

 T1)T: DEMTl OF GOD 353

niind. But, in iliat case, man becomes fully ddcrminctf. Sartre, on the oilier hand, is

not prepared to accept that man is fully determined. In fact, Sartre says that mans
freedom b basic and it permeates mans cxbtcnce Frcnlom, in Sartres opinion means
freedom of choice, freedom to lake decision in complete au'arcncss of one's responsibi-
lides. That shows that in vicsv of thb basic freedom of man atheism has to be accepted
as a natural corollary.
Now, Sartres position can be clarified in this way by saying that there is a sharp
difference between the assertion of God's ron-cxbtcncc and the assertion of tiie death of
God. Thb means that Sartre, being an atheist, can s.ny only this that God does not exist.

But the moment he says that God is dead, his assertion leads to contradiction. Sartre
has said somewhere that we have killed God, hence God is dead. But it can be said
here that he is not ready to accept the existence of God, how can he believe in the
death of God? For the concept of God is related to some existential objects and in no
case with non-existential objects.

Again, there is a scope for the existence of God, This can be established by ana-
notion of freedom itself. Sance asserts that man is basically free. By
lysing Sartres
thb he means that the ultimate choice of every action or decision lies on man himself.
Sartre has also emphasised the importance of mans subjectivity. It is said that man, in
hb subjectivity, weighs the alternatives and finally decides on his projects. If this is so,
U means that there is no limitation set around the free choice of human subjectivity. It
IS quite possible, therefore, for a particular individual, to develop the religious sense
and faith in God. To begin with, he may not have any awareness cf God but it is a
matter of hb free choice to let his subjectivity grow in a manner in which he wants it
to grow. It is quite possible that a particular individual may come to develop
a religion
of hb own and thereby a coocepliou of Cod. Sartre cannot deny thb because such a
denial would amount to an infrigc*nt on the freedom of an individual. Thus in
spite of Sartre's atheistic attitude God somehow comes to stay.
 47

The Concept of Spirituality

la paper, I shall engage myself to eumine the concept Spirituality*. The few

ths quetcics thaUome up are : what do we mean wlicn wo talk of 'spirilualiiy' ^ 01

what It is constituted 7 And what kind of goah ate aimed nl by it 7
To be precise, the diteaioa of search here is ti with the ontologioai status as to
the funetionai process tliat lakes place within man whieh L weighed against the concept
of spitllualiiy'. To quote Prof. Marneffe, true 'spirituality is the property of an action
or its cause, when the aaion is csereised or the cause subsists, without intrinsic depenJ-
civco on matter."'

The Term Spiriiiialiiy

It is referred to in many senses. Thus ;

(a). Many take it to be a continuous devodonto

impersonal, lofty and higher
uleals or wme may identify
it with reli^ous
life, with many nltiludes and
opmions. Contrasts and comtadhaions
arc natural here
'
^ by its very nature, n reference to spirilua-
Jiv? '* ^Barded
as taboo. Or at Ute most
it is understood merely
1as an
ai emotioaal or aesthetK
desdopmenL
'
comes closer when it sug-

'
MamelTe miosophicot Quoru.ly Orr.
 .

THE CONCEPT OF SPnaTOAUTY 355

jiunian' experience, "only H docs not look beyond itsdf for meaning or
validity.- To Prof. Datta,* "it is the inner dialectic which makes one const-
antly strive for fuller and purer vicw, of truth, corrects the sources of
self-deception. It is the inner evolution.

Three things can be clarified from the above process.

(1) Spirituality is non-cmpirical and autonomous in nature, No particular

'
empirical phenomenon entails it as a logical necessity. It docs not stand
or fall witli the empirical phenomenon that cwdettces it.

(2) In spite of it^ empirical contexts, it is somehow discovered a priori. It is

not revealed in its entirely tdl at once. U lives and grows in time.
The method of discov'cring -the a-priori in the empirical is referred to as
(3)
intuition. No doubt, privacy is as much a problem in the knowledge of

spiritual transcendence as it is with regards to the data of sense perception.

fts Nnfurc

looking further, it is admitted that qualitative analysis is one of tl aspects of human

experience. A mere quantitative measurement does not and cannot exhaust man's
experience comprehensively. Again the quantification by itself has no personal relation.
This knowledge of spirituality is discovered in the qualitative sphere of man, the basic
plan which grows from within the man.
Thus Yiijhavalkya* was right when he said that everything is dear for the sake
of one's own self.' makes for valuation in one's life. Its
If is this nature which
avowed aim is human life. Thus in spite of mans
the eahaacetnent and enrichment of
possessing physical, mental and moral riches, he has a constant sense of inadequacy.
Now if this is not mechanical and does not origiDatc from material life, then it must
be sought for in the depth of the human personality.**

It is only as a pittioular human being (hat one is individual ; but so far as the
call of spirituality in man is concerned, one strives for participation in this universal
process. A rurther understanding of human nature in this regard is worthwhile. -

flttjuau Nature

Wliile discussing this, it is indisputablo to state that so far as his psycho-physical

instincts arc coacetaed, man is oB a par with other acatures of the universe. He seeks
security and survival, sustenance and growth with anequatcraving. Butstili heinvariabiy
differs From the animal in the fact that all his above activity is subordinated to a higher
end' viz., to continuously satisfy the epistemologicaMnadequacy of his ontological
being. There is a native urge in him to give nieaniog and value to his fleeting and
discrete experiences of life. Dr. P.T. Raja rightly says that change below man is non-
puTposive , purposive change which is a tesalt of rational leflcMon, is peculiar to man.*

2, An Idcatisi viewer life-Radhakrivtinan p. 72. Bombay* 71

3, Fhi}osophkalli-r3peerhri-'ylteltfioitnftteft''D.M Dalla-p. 74-7i.
4, DrilaJaranye^a Plalogue (11. IV 1-14).
5, 'frnffJl'tf>j/ej/oraCrrt'Wi''if-?i>f/rt>-SttainiRao|>aijallianand. Bhariiya Vidya Bhavan p. 541.
fi. Tht Conctpi of Man p. T. Raju-Georee Allen ft Uowin, 1960 p. 336.
3i6 Cr. bx. atSeva souvcnIr VOLoilE

This Tiilcs out ihe mere mechanical inteiptctalion of human iiature. Ilh!
niRcr

not only decries and rejects conventions by other conventions, rules

and ideals,
call

but it also
means to live beyond their guidance, control or aspimlbn. The Upatriiadic
statement substantiates this very much virhen it says liiat "true knowledge makes one

Thus to be informed of the details of knowled^ is not enough, ore also has
free.'

to be continuously transformed into its higher foioi.

arc
In other words, amidst the chan^ng processcss of life, unity and sfahilily

also to be found. Man pursues in his best the valuescf Truth, Goodness and Beauty,

and it is this alone that ^ves significance to the haman life. Of course, these ends arc

sought under conditions of time and m the changing events of the world an so its final

point of complete attainment cannot he deciphered at a given time. It is a continous

process.
To be short,- spirituality is of sclf-conqucsX Here the
elevaiion in Uic sense
struggles and conflicts are inevutaUe phenomena. The lower (animal) drives of man,
strong asthey are may lead him asti^. But this clearly cannot be the end of mans life-

Thus no Immanent factor can exhaust man's self-transcendent nature. Meta-

phorically Sttrikatas negative approach viz.. NelJ, Nell can be very well cited here.

Tlds is no way moans to reject mans mateiial existence. It is very much there with
him but only as a means to an end. He cannot be reduced to that level; be is
mperior to the fleeting physical world. It is this that
tesiifies a higher' sphere of reality
without which most of the facts of human life would remain unexplained,
SpMlualliy Dlfferenilatcri fieih MorolUy

.,1 cotisideralion is
whMher spultuaV
ity at all dilTecs from moral system ! If morality also means siriving for
an tdcBl then ot identical wtth spirituality
is I i
? But the fact is that the moral system Is
ehacaeietired by human Utmtatlon. The eoasthution
of man as Unite is taken for gran-
""y- he pursuit of Kpiritttality is opposite.
It 15 an attempt to eiccumvem or tmoimiro
the limitation of what underlies
the elTorls
ol man.

^
tlv: ethical standard wnuld be jiBt a toJeramsdf.ntawt%o"^

has much to contribute spiritual process

toe Th!^
iiliimately, this stale of bcins is to
'' ^ with Ihcindivid-ial
indication of
Mlf-ttansccndeL by snirto^v
provided one continuously
attempts to tran5i*ldoT^M

>. SiV,<IyaYaVinku.Ar.o..dBi,J,.
^ ** Psibility.
Narrower, purely biological and

S. TV
61-p 157, ^ P.HosonV es

10. Control (i/s/a, .

^ Wmnt. Hlinons p. 302,
 TUAUTY

inB CONCEPT OF sPIRirOAUTY 357

momentary self, spatially, tcmperally, cnviornmcnlally, circumstantially, yet even here-

ditary.^^ To put in other way it is 'To look deeper then this conventionalism, the spiritu*

ality in man demands self-surrender and non<goity.-

To analyse furihcr, this scIf-transccndent character of spirituality points to go
above the frontiers of morality. It is a drive torvards minimizing the limitations of fact

and value. As referred to above, this is a qualitative experience, of whicii wo cannot

have an exact quantitative verification. Thus, though roan is engaged in a moral struggle
constantly, the basis of it in fact, is the urge- of self-transccndcncc that sets one in
action. Man continues to struggle to realize ethical values, The realized ethical values

become spiritual fact due to self transcendent nature of Man.

Is Spirituality Supernatural ?

Is the concept of Spirituality to be understood as something supernatural ? Even if oue

thinks so, the very fact of the embodiment of man with down to earth dements requires

it to be natural. If spirituality is cannot be embodied, But with the

supernatural, it

relative significance of the degrees of hierarchy, it can be shown to be connected in

relation of mailer, life and mind. As life Uanstends matter ; siMrituality transcends mind
too.
Is it because we cannot explain the spiritual process in physical terms, it is to
bo termed supernatural? But that way wc cannot do so clearly in the case of Ofe and
mind too. So there in no ju$tific.ntion in calling spirituality supernatural. A help of
certain method does not make one wholly capable to d^inguish the natural from tho
supernatural
Thus because one comes across ideal experience in ones life, if need not neces-
sarily be justified by a supernaturar standard. To Agree with Prof. Rnju, "to be
an not necessarily to be unattainable and unreal or non-natural. Only we have
ideal is

to broaden oui concept of the natural* No doubt one has to struggle hard and his
inwardness htis to be pushed to its deepest limits.

11

Now the second qucrcy is ; What are the constituent factors to be fourvd ir\ human
nature that go to make the process of spirituality as it is ? Before an attempt at analy-
sis is made, has to be admitted that this process, being too personal and subjective,
it

a strict scientific study of objective hind is not possible. A

philosophical inferprefation
will best suit the method.
There are two which the
levels at spiritual process is found to be operating in
man. It can be pointed as below :

(a) Outer Level : Here it is reflected in the activities of will and the intellect,
emotions and imaginations of man. Its range, to be short, is equal to the
calegorics of mind.
(b) Inner Level : The ceaseless intuitive dissatisfaction with logical categories
suggests to greater limitless ground witliin man. The goai ofthis sponta-
11. A. It. Wadia - Tssayttn Wi'toop/o-Bangtore IWt p. 280.
12. C<jnpr - P. T. Itaju p. 367.
13. Canfepfo/Afon-I'.T.Rajuri.TJo.
358 DR- D-L. ATREVA M^nslR
K( VI

suggests to shake off Uicnanow individuality and lo merge

nwu5 activity

with whole Reality as such.

In short, the factors of spiritual proctss to be accounted here must take note of

the spiritual activity of min within.

(a) spatio-tempcral ntuation, and

(b) above it too.

In the light of the above, the factors of the concept sjMtituality can be accounted
as below

1. It is not a static eoncrpi

Thus stagnancy is a denial of the nature of man. Of course, as other creatures,

he needs moments of peace, rest and lecieaiion. But unlike them, this Is only a refur-

bushing period for further spiritual'proccss of sclf-ttanscendcnce.

4.

2. Change' is an inseperoble pkenotnemm

It is a universal fact and so it is with spirituality too. To acsount for chanse all

round us, change has to be presupposed.

3. It It both dynamic anrf Inldligtni

Mete change is not sclf-suflicing and self-eiplanaiory. It is only the blind power
of nature. Creatltdly Is a fact with man and is a progressive approjumalien to
greater goals.

It
6. has 0 free causality

Th= .tirii ta being,

tel, oririnnltd
tal,n,,bn.nr. !nf,Bih. bniic fteinn, of i| ^it.
Tbt r, ptKS of
Wir-ttaniwndence implie. that it ii unrestrklcd and anhindcrad by all not stlf forcea

Sr'* a .""ate toa^

S. It points to JO h{>tmd o/tongc

'lfi.aiSrbS rra r. '

thalncss; nothinj can be fi,ed of ii in
."Ehi- H s supersensuous and does not
thouphi ^i?^'
belong to Nature
in,..;., fan.
whkhisin
or ioihei-nn
a"''.".- fi. in. d.a,
.f .j. M a ''a

/r fr a Cf/ifinaouj oci/r/jjp

onuoj be concentrated into one

*^'*'*
miL if

Thus jmsi^d so
sr'r.lL.H process
help, to bring
far. let usS T"*
*^ ture of the end ih.it the
about.^
 THE CONCEPT OF 'sPIRJTUALlTy 359

UI

It is noted above that man is unique in his seir-tmnsccnding spiritual nature. To res-

pond to this essential assertion means to be firm against all degenerative and negative
worldly and non-spiritual influences.
This is no way msans to imply to devalue the relation between man and matter
and man and sociSty. They ara very much teal and conliibutc much to the welfare of
man. Still these are relative and subservient to man. Being so, they have to be tuned
to the self-transcending nature of man. In fact, the true worth of spirituality in its
purest and fullest form is achieved in this inner life of man which are rcllcctcd in nil
external relations.
To substantiate this, we see that at the raacrocosmic level the unity of matter
life, mind, reason and spirit is not given as a fact, but it is a fact at the microcosmic
level of men. a quest for unity. At the lower level it may be an
Human life is

adaptation to -physical environment, but at the higher level lie has an appeal to the
demands of spiritual unity.
Tb.v!.s,wh,eawe talk, of the ^alor end of spirituality, what we mean by this goal 1

To be true to the fact, the spirilual process itself is the goal of all other goals. Man
with his physical, mental and cultural equipments is conslantly in quest of Ultimate
Reality. It is a case with man individually as well as socially. Thus one typo of goal
refers to, by the activities of cognition, conation and orrectiontowards External
things. As notedinsection 11, here thestatusof spirituality rests totally on the status

of the mind. This context can be very well compared to the \vestern approach of spiri-
tuality. What is sought is the perfection in the fields mentioned above. Man's limita-

tions in these spheres can be overcome through advancement in science and in related
secular fields.
Whereas the above western approach (o the concept of spirituality may not
dissolve the particular, the other method of the eastern approach is to eliminate each
The indication is that the greater demand in man is that of the Uncondi-
distinction.
tionedand this Infinite. It is freedom which is beyond the limitations of body, life and
mind and surpasses ail relativity und Goiteness.
'
It is already clarified in section I, that the spiritual process is not tO be weighed
in relation with secular and non-secular distinctions. The sphere of secular values and
moral life involve as much struggle of opposite and the dialectical tendencies of the
mind as in the noQ-secular sphere. And the self-transcending nature of man is helpful
in both,
no chasm or hiatus in the continuous spiritual activity of man.
In fact, there is

71k scenJar as^ non-sccuiarspttcrcs are^r/^ed<Mly<Mt t>K surface; ia sxibstaace they

are msep.irablc.

Access lo Greater Reality

No doubt this is a hypothetical position to go forward but its acceptabitiiy is warranted
only in such a system wherein factsaie coordinated. The higher demand visualised has to
bc'materialiscd, asithasacosmicsignilicanoe. Here again, thcHindu concept ofDharina,"
to_ think and act that way whitdt sustains from the absolute stand point would well
14. Dhamit Dhirmi Ityabij Dhaemo Dhdrrayate Piraja-Karniapirve-Ntahabljarat.
360

end of live concept of

sptritualiiy. Tliis is to admit that due to spatio-temporal
Tv tlic

cultural relativity,
the end of mans sjmtiial process h conditioned by the prevail-
and
presuppositions of man and the universe ol a given time. To help solve
ing philosophic
coiitinous and constructive critidsni upuld go a long way in ex-
this ptediciiivenl a
pediting the working of
the spiritual process in man. To quote Prof. Ramanathan.^* It ii

to meet the demands of

reason and vindicate the validity of the higher values of life by

showing that these are significant from the cosmic standpoint.

The fact iulialtlicEpirUualpTocKSM much appiiM to the cad as le the process
,

fee the rmliiclioo of U,e end. There map be i period of Iooe dissalisfaclion,
before the
1I traascenJins toedom dawo, in oan. Till thal Bore there is
a ceaseless refotmaUoa,
reconstruction aud revaluation 8irhualily is an
open activity.
 Sin and Avidya in Christianity and Vedanta

The concepts of Sin and Ar!d}-a arc not only fundamental to Christianity and Ved3nta
but are also considered to constitute the line of dejnfircation between them to an
extent and in a manner that any possibility of rapprochement betwcco (hem is ruled
out at the very start. The doctrine of Original Sin and the inherent purity and perfec-

tion of the human soul which are taken to be the disUnclive features of Christianity
and VedSnta, have doubtless been expressed in a language that is the source of confu-
sion and a good de&l of analysis has to be made tu clear up misunderstandings and
errors of judgment that have arisen from our failure to reflect upon the principal
ideas embedded In them. It is useful for the sake of cluTity htst to stale the common
notion about Sin and Avidya that still prevails in theological thinking.
commonly held that man in Christianity is inherently a sinner, that sin
It is still

is inextricably bound up with human nature, and that consequently, not by one's own

exercise of free will but instead by grace or by tlie aid of an external mediator like
Jesus can one hope to be delivered from its weight. The hereditary character of sin
is an additional point to be taken into consideration. Sin is not so much a matter

of the individual's own act as something he inlicrils from his ancestors its roots being
traced back to the first man, Adam,''who incuired sin by an act of the disobedience
of God's commands and from whom it passed on to all subsequent generations of
mankind. It is common thus to Jay stress on its theological rallicr than on its psycho-
logical dimension, Sin is understandable only in rclalion to God as it is taken to stem
from the defiance of Gods will. The inherent corrtiplion of human n.iture is only

the direct result of such a notion of sin characteristic of Christianily. Calvin and
Luther have made much of the doctrine of Original Sin and of the inherent
comiption of huTtian nature beraose of which a pessimistic interpretation is pul on
Chf isiiantty. Tlie doctrine of Original sin, further, lias contributed to social deierminism
in as much as it is impossible to escape from the effects the social cnvironmtni crer-
rises on the indmdoal who fs ordinarily subject to the social influences which express
themselves in misdlrccling human impulses and passions. U is just here that the ques-
 361 DR. D.U ATRBYA SOUVENIR VOLUME

tion of held iastinct and the social instinct and of (he group mind conies up for
'
critical consideration as regards their bearii^ on ibc delcrmitiistic and pessimistic
character of the Christian doctrine of Sin.
It is perhaps needless to lay stress on the point that even though the sense of
sin and guilt in the members of a conunnnity is an index of their high moral standard,
obsession with it engenders a morbid and pessimistic mentality and defeats its very
purpose. Christianity has developed throogh centuries and it is a matter of established
truth that its obsession willi sin and guilt became part of the normal Christian belief
only after St. Augustine. Tlw doctrine of Original Sin is lakta to be so intrinsic
to
Christianity that almost every sentence that is uttered
in the Christian Irayer, contains
the word smVl believe in God who forgives sins
thtou^t Jesus Christ, is the text
ohen on the hps of the ClrrisUan devotee whose obscsston with sin can by no means be
doubted. The above text may thns be taken to be a concise
summary of the Christian

On the other hand AviJyii or

congnilive confusion is the key concept of Vedanta
The orientation to moral and spiriluid
problems is from (he self of man
whose know-
Wgc alone ensures perfect peace,
integrity and freedom. A^idyS is lack of
discrimina-
of the difleren* of tl
nt of the subject from the object
not-seir,
self iom tlus
and consequently of thing* t,
Instrumental and perishable value from ^ i

the self ofminn^rJJfl*. n ^

upon suptome and absolute values. The
as
expounded and related to all human nroblcms
context in which a /
interpreted and
k ik.^Kai^-
In Chiislian orthodoxy, the meaning
J!f sin is suped
theologieal framework for u consists "
exeliisivcly personal context
in ihedcfia^w of
in which sin h undelrrocd
w ^ Ths
i[
iheHindii conwpi of avldy/l
which is primaiily a DivehowS.1 u
eaneept. It sliuuld not, however, theological
be understood
.1.C ^
.l,V
.J..
Ihouglii ell ,n wiiich sin Is
uken lo be ihe rt.B, . tl
in Hindu
best ln,e, in ,||nd.
ItaitC
urn, ns mum in jnd iis in,epnbie
t
s
Sel; !
bu
"f
its
S i!!!
Uclisosiiiestions,
theilieolDEicaIandibcpi,-cIinloBin.i PsJbhoIoEical.
dete Cods ill, | nton,d.o.nl^^**"^"'PnroteJ. ir
ohel,
dnnuon of
end .01
IS m consnnence win, Hi, nsm.e.
in God
i,,, t.

o, |, ci,nin
The f

^ '"'tofn
""
tmm wHeb
"f randuel

>"'1
s tans, Jem, tel Wbat. e.saej
f-TOosl
i..,,
b''lPttdi,ll.nin,obeZ|
Knl "pan himself and makes ,rrl ',''' "''=aWel. onn t
ii Mr, 'iow not take ca to
from the not-sclf and
that is wtiy he Pvictiem that he is dilTen-nf
fall* a
tally an >-l'=rsonnl r.np,
id=niiCcs.,i t spring

from cognitive
confusion

^"vi arc t=
coneomijantsofr Iorn of
Wcogmtirc confusion or rtrWj-j
or
 SIN AND AVTOYA IN CHRISTIANITY AND VEDANTA 363

nescience. Just because one does not koow how the self is distinct from the not-self,

one falls a victim to sin which results from desire and anger, ^r<7;?io and krodlia. The
implication is that the source of sin Is more fundamental and ultimate than a mere
defiance of the command of God as in Christianity. Why docs the self, tlic ;7vfl defy
the will of God? The reply is that if the self docs not possess discriminative wisdom
and fails to know its true nature as distinct from the not-self, it inevitably dis*-

obeys Gods will. Aridyi may thus be taken to be a concept wider in connotation and
meaning than Siii. It is impersonal-personal whereas Sin is personal only. Avidya is

primarily a psychological concept while Sin is a theological concept.

Closer reflection reveals that the two concepts are not as radically different as
they arc commonly taken to be. Avid)-&, nescience in Hinduism is not intrinsic to the

self. The myth of the fall tells us clearly that man is not inherently infected with Sin.
The narrative in the Bible depicting the original purity and perfection of the soul does

not radically differ from the Veddnik account of llie self telling us that ft is ever free
and ever liberated. Sin enters into the self from outside and is therefore extrinsic to it
as avidya is in respect of the Simaa. Sin cannot also be said to be instrinsic to the self
in the sense that it is essential to it. To speak in terms of Vedinta, it docs not consti-
tute its nature or svariipa. One cannot hold in the same breath both tliat a property
or an attribute constitutes the essence or nature of something and also that the object
can exist even though its nature has been dissipated or obliterated. Nor is there any
need felt to eliminate it from the object. Viewed in this perspective both avidyS and

sindo not appear intrinsic to the self or the d/mon and it is conceivable that prior to
affection by them the self or the /Cw/ian is pure. If sin can be overcome and the self
rendered immune from it and there is always the awareness that it is something one
has to be delivered from, then, it is not intrinsic to it in the sense that it enters into
the very constitution of it. The VedSntic and the Christian views need not therefore he

placed in w.Ttertight compartments as ha.s,hccn the fashion .so far. Original Sin is origi-
nal in the sense that avidyd is beginningicss or aiSdi. Neither in Vedanta nor in Chris-

tianity can aridyd or Sin be looked upon as congenital.

TheChristians start with sin but only to dciDonsIrate that sin is not intrinsic to
the self. I do not think it is a correct understanding of Christianity to impute to it tlie
view that while it starts with the original sin it can think of a sinles.s slate in tlie end.
What after all is the meaning of the Christian doctrine of the creation of man in the
image of God ^ That man is essentially sinless and divine but that because of Ids free-
dom and wrong choice in exercising it he commits sin is the most commonplace Chris-

tian view. Christians first emphasize the grandeur and dignity and purity of the self
and then the misery and sin attending his disobedience of Cod. The dtlference between
nnni'-s un^rai Voftt uitfi 'Hntfi Vnqipt.'ind ifitcr fiMis a ^u^r^nnt]^race "ilncnie in CntiSiian
theology and it was not earlier (lian St. Augustine that this distinction was interpreted
to mean tltat man is inherently a sinner and that original sin constitutes tlie very
essence of man. To say, again, that man is fallen is to presuppose a state of original
purity from which he has fallen and this the Christian no less than the Hindu is inter-

ested to bring to the .central focus of theological discussion. and First, the dignity
grandeur and then the misery and dcpranly of man. Rrst the order, then the disorder.
There c.in be no disorder if there is not already the order. Sin, avldy^l is not the ulicr
364 DR. B.L. ATRBYA SOUVrtflR VOLUME

atsence of. the good but the corruption oflhegood.

The very term sin designates a priorstalcof
the soul, defection fromivhich
results in what wc call sin, The Helew word for sin
valen is hma which means *io miss die mark. It
is kel, haitat wliose
means thus the
Greeb equi-
failure to ahain
a goal or end and this is <1ue obviously to (he fact that the self has
fallen from its ori-

making use of the phrase ^

itself which is misleading indeed
The doclnnc of the fall of man
and ororirinal sin ic rW.m.A t.
Chri,ti|m writers to he only psynhnloEkally true
in which ease it
.h,chnot,h>,plyaifIc, fran, the VwlLue conwv" ""'"S
be se,ed is n hodiy will ,h .e.et
and know that God
assented Jo *'i. hUt.T.f
Mderstanding to sec
dwelletli in out souL anH c. j
that our soul, which is made, '

S
dsvellcth inGods slbsianw
like the unmade blissful TrirJty, and in the in.V!, Waity.
P'"
fullsweet and mirvellou, TJiis
to
Gerald Vann says that although
tl.e narraiiwofthe P- >^3)
riycAfl/flff<faWytruB...to regard
it as literal hktnZ!--
the Cemis is
note that the thlftcsnth<cntufy ^ 'nteresting to
ween
theologian Si TIio^Am
thirds pemu
and naiun- and Uught i^liociion bet-
S"'!f^''"hemin(heitnkralhhtory
the thirletnlh century
theologian St. TboLs
S^ '*
afreets all

^""Sting to note (hat

men
words Perm,, and erre *
nud tough, JmTS ofisin 1
defect in them in their
ctiaracier as PfS ba ? V k
** not a

.rensietien,
Antwed^^'T ',yr'';vvT
'
I/on Vnnerte, p init "fien quoted in p t . .
f ' e

fteedon. nnd seltaLio.s i >h= neiLt^"'n

!>= b bed. i,
paradoiiral character
S, .ti"' though actually
''

4iWra
?
of man h- a ^
"*h if it is no, S dleS
y"i"f
'siniheo ."""dinblrn. Sin is

"'r'""ls.E,tSi.Anns.
 SIH AND AVIDYA IK CHRISTIANITY AND VEDANTA 365

tine said that Sin is so much voluntary evil that it is not sin at all unless it is volun-

tary." {Quoted Dr. Frederic Greeves, TAe A/enhrnf o/Sw, p. 32, Epworth Press,
in

1556, Also, LeslieD. Weatherhead, The Christian Agncslic, p., 185). But if there is r.o
such thing as unconscious sin, if that is to say, all sins arc voluntary and arise from the
consciousness of the antitliesis of both the good and the bad, the right and the wrong,
the innate divinity and sinltssncss of the Human soul cannot be disputed. William
Temple said We agree that there is no guilt attaching to the individual in respect of
:

original sin. . .In our view the doctrine of a universal tendency to evil in man is not
bound up with the historical truth of any story of fall." {Doctrine in the Church of
England, pp. 64, 69, S. P. C. K., London, 1938, Leslie D. Weatherhead, The Christian
Agnostic, p. 187).

II. OrigiiiaJ Sill not the doctrine of Early Church

When we look at the doctrine of Original Sin in an liislorical perspective, we

find that the early Qiristian Church had no clcar-cul, well-defined, sysleraalic doctrine
of Original Sin which must be another sttong ground for the conclusion that it did not
form part of the essential Christian teaching*. Jesus himself rarely talks about sia. In
the opinion of Dr. Greeves, As far as Synoptic gospels Inform us, our Lord used the
noun only on six occasions and the verb on three occasions, allowing for parallel
accounts, St. Paul used the words for sin ninety-one times." {The Meaning of Sin,

p, 102,quoted in The Christian Agnostic, p. 196). St. Pauls obsession with sin which is
obvious from his using the word ninety-one tiroes b doubtless a matter of later itmo-
vationon Jesus original teachings. We have also to take ioto consideration tho times
inwhich Paul lived and lectured to the people of Rome which must have impressed
him with the magoitude and hideousness of the brutality and wickedness and the moral
bankruptcy of the people. The old Testament does not seem to have a well-defined,
clear, unambiguous, cast-iron forinulaliua of Che doctrine of original sin. It is no doubt

true that the third chapter of Genesis infonns us that all men sinned in Adam which
later gave the impression that sin passed from Adaro to his generation and that Adam
was the original sinner. But this does not, in fact. lend any support to Original Sin.
Tlic word 'Adam' is the symbol of unrcgcncratc humanity. Sin passed from Adam not
by way of heredity but by setting a bod example. In St. Pauls Fpistles even though
we meet with his doctrine of the subjection of the whole human race to sin, Adam is
never held responsible for it It is nowhere suggested that men inevitably sin because
Adam sinned in the very bc^nning from whom all men have inherited a deprived
nature. It is to the social dimension of sin, of bad examples spreading the contagion
that St. Paul calls attention. AvidyS too huSvthis social dimensiaru Sin, before its
articulation and transformation into the doctrine of Original Sin was taken by the early
Church to be mwe of the nature of imvation than of deprivation, a fall from the super-
natural status, divinity and sinlessness and light There is always strong emphasis laid
on free will and moral responsibility. It was since the time of Augustine that we have .

any record and evidence of the fonnulatum of tlie doctrine of Original Sin in contrast
to that ofPelagius who insisted on the freedom and uncorrupted nature of man. For St.
Paul sin is only of the nature of a spiritual disease which can be overcome by the right
use of freedom. St. Augustine overiMks this side of St. Pauls teachings and enlarges
366 DR. B,L. ATREYA SOUVENIR VOLlWt

historical
upon ibo presence of the impulse to sin. Without entering into a detailed
account of the fortunes and vicissitudes of the doctrine of original sin as doctored by
St.

Augustine in later Church history, w

may say that it provolted much opposition and
protest both in the Eastern and the Western Chutdtes which goes to prove that
it

cannot be regarded as having been endorsed by Christianity. And from iliis the canlu-

sion to which we seem inescapably driven is that the doctrine of the sinless divinity
remBiiis unaffected in Christianity and the contrast of the VedSntic doctrine of the
innate divinity and splendour of the Atman is not as sharp as it is so common among
the Hindu thinkers to emphasize.

///. Furidamenial Points oj Contact between ChtUtlaaitj and Vedanta

'
It is our main object 10 moderate and mitigate the tension between Christianity and
Vedinla so far as the doetrinesof Sin and ytvirfyuate conarned. From the brief treatment
of the problem of sin and of the meaning aod content of it the following concjusions

regarding their mutual relations Inevitably follow on closer reflection on both concepts.
Tn the first place, it has to be taken inlo consideration that Vedinta and Christianity
start wilh the assumption that man is inherently
divine and sinless which is obvious
from the Christian thesis that man was created in Uk the
image of God. On the
oilwt liand, all schools of VedJnta categorically approve
of the purity and perfection of
the /frmiw. A
careful study of the Christian doctrine
of this issue Id an historical
perspective does not seem to countenance the
doctrine of original sin wliicli seeped

into the Christian faith not earlier than St.

Augustine.
araaiy m ih. i, i. hdM md dtosad lo V.ddnite lilcMute
o.d ,), .Kd .dd fo,ml.t.d i, Adrtu, il i,

- o' ^ Votarf. Ev, UiddEti on otenninns, S.dknrn

S
r
W
IVil
'll
otll. mind.
nli i,
nin,,..

coidl
1. 1 nTd
dnnb. ,.
r '> "
, 1,.. on.

rt,.n; oTOOMca ih, t.a irmnin, i|| i,-,,

arc not quiie unknown to man It calU wrraptmg poner and function
ter of man, of human nature, ***
of knowledM lai
the failure on the pan of man for
the
is not simply an
intellectual concept
confusion. It is more
than knowledge or cognilivc
in the eomplcv concept '**^ **Rn essential constituent
of niiJra Fvf e
error of juOgmenl.
The
leads us to infer that of judgment and this
there is between the
not be bridged.
Indeed, it is at ihesamr
determination to live "f judgment and also the
in aceardanc^irf.^^",!"'
unregceiaie Ifc. onelf to what we call the
^ ,
noimen:Morj.nowledge;iUsinaddition,lhewill to
 slN And AViDYA in cimisTiANiTy and vi;danta 3fi7

elect a course of action contrary to Hunt which is known to be good. One knows wliat

is good and what is bad and yet there is (he vicious tendency to do what is forbidden
as being harmful. The first man had the knowledge of botli the good and the evil and
yet he gave way to the latter hy rejecting the former. The idea embedded in this doc-
trine of Sin is not quite alien to the advaita concept of avSdya. Extremely impene-
trable, elusive, inscrutable indeed is thisMaya, so that all men even though reminded
that they are in Supreme Reality do not apprehend them to be such and
truth lire

take even the aggregate of the body and (he senses which arc preccived like the jars
and so on to be not self, to be the self and to be the sons of another even though not
said not to he such"^. "(Kalhn Vpanitad 111. 12. Sankara's bbSsya) \vhich certainly
echoes Gods commands issued to Adam asking him not to cat of the forbidden fruit.

Sin and avidyii agree in telling us that man is a victim to perverted vision because of
his inability to see anything in clear light. Sin need not therefore be taken to be
exclusively a moral concept devoid of cognitive confusion. Such errors exercise their
power only on the minds of such thinkers as lake a truncated and compartmentalised
view of minds functions. Fourthly, both Vedinta and Christianity are cqu-illy em-
phatic that there is no wrong thinking that is not accompanied by wrong living and
that all our actual thinking has become pervert as Sankara in the very beginning of
his adliydsa-bM^ya makes dear. The sodal dimension of Sin and avidya in the sense
that almost all men arc affected by them is common to both Christianity and
'Vedanta. There aTc_s{anzas in the GUa also which bring into clear relief this nature
of avidyii. In both Christianity and Vediinta sin and avldyd have been looked upon
as insurmountable hindrances to the proper understanding of man which results in
the alienation of man from himself,from the Cosmic Mind and from the community.
Sin and Avidya ihus, result in what is now-a-days known to be alienation and it should
thus be regarded as a moral rather than as a social or political or economic concept.
Inner division, disintegration, the impotence of will, identification of the soul with
tlie flesh, putting one's self above everything are too well-known matufestattoiis of Siti

and to mislead us into thinking that they are radically different from each
other in their connotation and meaning. Extracts from the writings of Sankara
can be endlessly multiplied in order to tell us after the Christian fashion that
the delusion and and the physical suffering in which the whole human race
distress
has. inextricably plunged
itself, as if embarking in the shoreless ocean of the world
with leaky ships is the outcome of all ones divine powers and potentialities having
. been wrecked, crippled and impaired by the sway of av/rfi'd. Nor can the Vedfmtin
in subscribing to the reality of avidya by which all mankind has been affected claim
that he keeps his doctrine of the absolute divinity of self antiseptically immune from
any attack on it so that we may soy the Vedantic and the Christian views of man are
utterly distinct from each other. To sayas the Christian says that man is a sinner Is not
to make an assertion uncoinpromirin^y different from the parallel Vcdflntic conten-

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368 DR- B.l_ ATREYA SOUVENIR VoUme

S, iS u Sitfara r,anU, admils. Uolh ,i M

uanity IS. m Itself an Clement of imperfection and docs .ndaJdb,Ch,i,-
digmty and splendour antl glory
and siatoson man which is tilr S St
not seem to confer that statelv

* liJgual and
doctrine of the creatinn r.r ih ^ t.
true sense of the term. The
of the

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