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Context is a very slippery, weird and often convenient concept that only sometimes allows us to separate a person’s contributions from his or her actions or ideals. Immanuel Kant, for instance, is a towering figure in philosophical thought and his Critique of Pure Reasonand Critique of Practical Reason put forward a system of ethics based on the categorical imperative.
Yet, in his personal life, Kant was an anti-Semite and racist saying things like “Every coward is a liar; Jews, for example , not only in business, but also in common life.” Which brings us to George Washington who owned slaves and Abraham Lincoln who once said, “I...am in favour of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
Martin Heidegger was not only amember of the Nazi party, he also actively promoted it; Wagner was an artistic genius and visionary who paved the way for a new musical order but was also an arrogant , egomaniacal, self-aggrandising man who used friends, lovers and benefactors shamelessly, to his own ends.
Woody Allen, who continues to attract A-list talent, critical praise and audience for his films married his stepdaughter, who was 34 years younger than him; Michael Jackson has been accused of paedophilia twice.
The list is endless and, ultimately , includes — to a lesser or greater degree — people like us too who probably have not made such great contributions to society.
Music critic Dimitri Drobatschewsky wrote, “Unfortunately, there are so many unsavoury characters in the world of art, science , literature and general culture that if you boycotted their given genius, there would be precious little art left to enjoy.” But alas, we’re constantly reminded that one must keep in mind the context, the zeitgeist. That it’s one thing to judge the ideas and behaviours of people of your own culture and timeframe and quite another to
judge those who are of another culture and time. And that while persons should be remembered , their totality should not be the dominating factor in judging a person.
Thus, a case in point is Muhammad Ali Jinnah, regarded as the founder of Pakistan. We are told he ate pork, smoked, couldn’t do without his single malts and was married to a non-Muslim .
Things like these don’t matter to people who are not in the thrall of a particular religion. But guess what? Looks like it doesn’t matter to those who are either. So much for context.
Mukul Sharma
In the universe, on the one hand, planets move so beautifully in order. There are no traffic signs or sign signboards! On the other hand, there is so much of chaos if you look at all the stars and galaxies moving in their own independent paths. In the same way, in quantum physics , the smallest elements are not even particles. They are both particles and waves, and a multitude of probabilities ! But there is an order in that chaos.
If the universe is chaos without any order, it’ll head towards destruction. ‘Chaos in order’ is ‘cosmic intelligence’ . Take the planet earth. Even if a single thing is missing - temperature, water, air or fire we will not be able to live on this planet earth as we live now. So this is not just an accident. The whole chaos has some order.
The whole universe has its own intelligence. It is not just power. It is energy also. There is a difference between power and energy. Power plus intelligence is energy. Energy without intelligence is power. The cosmos is not just a force. It is ‘force plus intelligence’ . It responds to your thoughts , to your prayers, to your being , because it is intelligence. The cosmos is a living energy and it has its own intelligence. You are sitting inside a living energy.
As long as you believe that what you see as the universe is material, mechanical, without any intelligence, you will have nothing to aim for in life. ‘Might is right’ will be the ultimate law. Believing the world is just matter is the basic mistake. This belief is the root of all terrorism and violence on planet earth. As long as we believe the universe is just dead matter, it is going to create only more and more thirst for power. If we feel the whole world is chaos, then naturally we will think, ‘Let me catch hold of whatever is possible and live as much as I can.’ We will be inspired to live with the idea ‘might is right’ .
Only when we realise that the universe has its own intelligence, when we realise the universe is a spiritual being, the seed of peace is sown. Only when we understand that our thoughts are responded to, our way of life is rewarded, our prayers are answered , there is a living intelligent force and there is an order in the chaos, only then we can realise and work for peace, bliss and spirituality. Then, instead of trying to own or expand our boundaries and borders, we will try to expand our consciousness.
The moment we start believing or trusting that the universe is ‘intelligence’ , we can simply relax, trusting It. Be Blissful!
Parmahamsa Nithyananda
Zen mystics aren’t the only ones who listen to the sound of silence. Scientists do too. But their projects involve massive radio telescopes and are more complicated than listening to the sound of one hand clapping. Known as SETI (search for extra-terrestrial intelligence), one venture seeks to answer one of the biggest of the big questions of existence: namely, are we alone in the universe? This entails sweeping the skies with radio telescopes for catching likely signs or signals from alien civilisations. In the 50 years of SETI’s history there has been nothing but an eerie silence. But astronomers remain unperturbed. We simply haven’t looked long or hard enough, they maintain.
There is also the possibility that we are using the wrong means. What if aliens are using something other than radio waves for their signals? The cartoonist Bill Watterson jocularly says the surest sign of intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us! In any case, as former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in the context of the so-called weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, “absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.”
On his part, noted cosmologist Paul Davies presents to the question what he calls the three-hat answer in his latest book The eerie silence: Are we alone in the universe? It marks SETI’s 50th anniversary. As a scientist his mind is not yet made up, says Davies, winner of the Templeton Prize, the world’s largest annual award for intellectual endeavour. But the first-hat answer also makes him uneasy as a philosopher. “I wonder what all that stuff out there is for, when only lowly Homo sapiens get to see it,” he writes wearing his second hat.
Of course his hard-headed colleagues assure Davies that the stuff out there is not for anything. It’s just there. The idea that the universe has a purpose is li ke saying the mountains have a purpose of letting mountaineers climb on them, a hangover from religion.
The third and final perspective offered by Davies is that of the human being. “I would very much like to believe that the universe is intrinsically friendly to life and to intelligence,” he concludes. “It suits my temperament to suppose that our humble efforts on Earth, the daily round that consumes all our time and energy, are part of something grander and more meaningful.” Kudos to that cosmic connection.
Vithal C Nadkarni
Findings published in the latest issue of Neurone indicate that damage to the back part of the brain induces people to become more aware of themselves and boosts their spiritual thinking. Researchers from the University of Udine in Italy interviewed 88 people with brain tumours of various severities before and after their surgeries and later mapped the exact area of the brain that was operated on.
They found that those who had operations performed on the left and right posterior parietal regions of the brain were significantly more likely to be rated as having a“stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness” after their surgery than those whose operations were performed on other areas of the brain.
Aside from the induced spirituality , the team’s study also noticed differences in the way the patients dealt with their illnesses following their surgeries. Those who had lost posterior parietal tissue, for example, were now less troubled by their cancers and their own mortality while those who had had their anterior portion removed tended to react more bitterly and were less able to accept their condition.
Does this mean those who develop a sense of oneness with the universe and exhibit heightened self awareness are in some way brain damaged? Could it also be true that that mysticism and madness are somehow related — a skewed view that a lot of people from various cultures have long held?
After all, the study’s lead researcher did not suggest that this was a great way for inducing a spiritual dimension in people; rather , he was of the opinion that further research along such lines could one day lead to new strategies for treating at least some forms of mental illness.
Another way of looking at it, however , is to think of spirituality as an emergent phenomenon arising from latent tendencies lying dormant in us which can sometimes accidentally or artificially be triggered by tumours.
This would mean those who consciously or unconsciously make an effort to be connected to nature, lost in the moment, detached from time or just feel like everything in existence is one single organism are also somehow altering their brains in the process. And altering it in ways that evolution never intended or could without the occasional pathology of cancer . It’s hardly insane thinking; if anything, it’s a divine madness.
Mukul Sharma
Even after truly beginning to stabilise on one’s ‘truest interest’ , certain destabilising factors could still creep in. Particular simple, yet vital issues would go to ensure that enduring fulfilment would adorn the stability, obtained through assiduous efforts.
In the prayer evolved for himself , Benjamin Franklin, referring to that “wisdom which discovers my truest interest” , also beseeches , “strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates . Accept my kind offices to thy other children ...”
An analytical reading of this would reveal that the process of obtaining the needed wisdom and strengthening of resolutions should also go with doing only “what that wisdom dictates” and not anything else, which could retard progress in one’s chosen field.
Indeed, it is possible that during this progress , other manifestations of human excellence (“ thy other children” ) would also beckon the aspirant’s creative fire within. He could, then, unwittingly change tracks. This would be akin to changing horses in midstream . He would thus be left high and dry, with all efforts put in being rendered abortive.
In this regard Franklin’s guideline , on focusing only on one’s chosen objective, is of immense relevance. Indeed, as pointed out by Arthur Conan Doyle, the human brain is like an attic, which can store only limited furniture. When one chooses to put more pieces inside, the really useful ones could get elbowed out!
Verily, this also is the crux of all lessons on true focus — desisting from forays into fields, which may be sublime in themselves, but which could merely serve to dilute the needed single minded approach . Another issue for insuring against distractions is on obtaining the needed financial security and facilities — the Indian concept of artha, supporting one’s dharma, kamaand moksha.
The most basic requirement of all, however, is evolving healthful habits and lifestyle for good physical health too — the yoga ideology and also Kalidasa’s concept , shareeramaadyam khalu dharmasadhanam (Kumarasambhavam — V, 33). All clarity and intensity in approach would become worthwhile only with acquisition of all-round health.
True fulfilment in pursuit of one’s ‘truest interest’ thus involves a comprehensive and integrated approach — a systems approach. This alone brings a feeling of completion to any quest — that poornatvam , as in Indian parlance.
K Vijayaraghavan
On Valentine’s day you are expected to wear your heart on the sleeve . The day you reach out to someone special, with card or candy . For some, it also happens to be the day to attack those bewitched by the power of St Valentine’s brand, or is it card? But that is a matter of politics and ideology and not of physiology! For as the goons go after the saps the heart continues to have reasons that reason knows nothing about; and Cupid flits between our clouds of unknowing.
This may explain why Indians made their version of the Love God invisible or Ananga. According to the myth it was Shiva’s yogic fire that incinerated Kamdev . And he was burnt to ashes for daring to demonstrate that nobody, including the great Lord of the Gods (Mahadev), was immune to the arrows of love.
That’s also the real redemptive bottomline of St Valentine’s Day — that love conquers all. So what if you need to resort to some bribery and blandishment? They do add up to a big fat packet employing zillions of people around the planet. To be fair to the cherubic god who carries a quiver full of irresistible darts on his back, it’s not all about couriering your coo-chi-coos on this day; it’s vitally important to receive and acknowledge them too: The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
We tend to overlook the second part in our frenzy to catch the express service. This involves your self and not the other! It also entails making peace with what you already have within yourself . That’s the key to canceling out your pangs of suffering and sorrow. The Bhagavad Gita calls it manah-prasada , the manna or the gift of the mind, brought on by quiet (soumya) contemplation (tapa ); that’s the true source of the abundance of the mind that self-help gurus also talk about, for in its fertile quietude rests all the potential , power, and promise, which can subsume within itself the essence of the entire universe.
Moreover, as James Cameron has shown so spectacularly on 3-D screens, love has so many flavours and avatars . Only one of them is patronised by Aphrodite and her son Eros. This is not the avatar that St Valentine promoted from his Roman prison cell. According to legend, the object of his affection was the jailor’s daughter . Another version, more in accordance with Christian charity and love, says it was the jailor himself or Emperor Claudius. What would be your choice?
Vithal C Nadkarni
Since the second half of the 20th century — beginning in the ’50s with the beat generation and the hippies of the ’60s — we’ve seen the rise of a form of spirituality which is more independent and self-defining than traditional streams. The main difference is that, unlike Sufism, Baul or Zen for instance , it did not arise out of any existing religion and, thus, had no carryover baggage.
At the same time it would be wrong to say it’s a new religion because there’s generally no subscription to a First Cause as something separate from the self. Rather, the idea of divinity is diffused into environmental concerns, individual development, transpersonal psychology and complementary & alternative medicine ( CAM).
CAMs are of special interest as they’ve adopted a similar language and spiritual life of their own alongside conventional medicine from which of course none of them spring. These include herbalism , acupuncture, Ayurveda , biofeedback, meditation, yoga and diet-based therapies.
In developing countries various forms have always been practised but the trend now shows that it’s spreading to developed countries as well. A 2002 survey of US adults 18 years and older, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated that nearly 55% used CAM in conjunction with conventional medicine. Not only that, a 2008 survey by the American Hospital Association found that more than 37% of responding hospitals said they offer one or more alternative medicine therapies.
Even the Harvard Medical School says that a variety of CAMs are being seriously studied in its institutions these days. “Conventional medicine ,” it comments , “has been too slow to study alternative medicine treatments, some of which have won the confidence of healers and patients for thousands of years.” Also, a rising number of medical colleges there have started offering pre- and post-graduate semesters in what they call integrative studies.
Once again, CAM is not a new medical system. It too does not subscribe to an empirically rigorous evidence-based system. Instead , it considers the body to be a diffuse entity which is greater than the sum of its organs, tissues and cells and involves the active participation of at least a mind, if not a psyche or spirit. Its inclusion in mainstream medicine can only indicate, hopefully, a more spiritually healthy paradigm shift.
MUKUL SHARMA
