We all are aware of the remarks by Tamil actor Rajinikanth that have been circulating the airwaves this week. I don't have to repeat the remarks as I don't intend to write about the remarks nor I want to get into a discussion about the life of EVR Ramasamy who has been hailed as a South Indian Socrate-like reformist as well as described as having led a controversial life that bordered on racial ideology.
I will only end this chain of thought by saying that relooking at the past requires an open mind that should have the courage to acknowledge all aspects of history as a student. It's far too easy to kowtow to one side of the event by letting the prejudice overcome your mind leading to selective deafness. Rationality is an aspect of mind that is far too often succumbing to fear-mongering and stupidity.
I only intend to talk about openness of mind. I've observed that it's quite easy to say "I was never religious" or "I'm spiritual" or "I'm atheist" or "I'm agnostic" etc. without really a rational argument that goes above superficial prejudice and lack of research. I have heard these words far too often from the mouth of fellow human beings, which makes me wonder if it is a growing fashion to shut the mind to explore the philosophical aspects of life any further. To think of it even Periyar held a strong affinity towards socialism; "In the socialist country, there is no God, no religion, or no belief in Shastras. No human being considered high or low,” he wrote in an essay." It was a philosophy or an -ism he was inspired by and explored it without any prejudice for 'his side'. (And likely high prejudice for the 'other side' due to circumstances, tendencies, etc. which the individuals can judge on their own.)
Religion is just one aspect of spiritualism; its sole purpose is to provide a conduit for the mind to explore deeper enigmatic questions; such as - Who am I? Who is mine? What is my purpose? These are some of the basic questions that every open mind yearns for at some point in his or her life. And these are the questions that philosophers of ancient India like Kanada, Vidyaranya, Ramanujacharya, Siddhartha Gautama, Jaimini and many more in the modern world like Chaitnya Mahaprabhu, Chanakya, Swami Vivekananda & others have examined within.
And philosophical texts by these philosophers breaks down this world into components that are either physical or abstract in their constitution. The ancient Indian philosophy "divides" itself into six major schools - Nyaya, Vaisheshik, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimansa and Vedanta. All these seem to be looking at the same enigma albeit from six different viewpoints. Some of these viewpoints even talk of an abstract concept of God which borders on atheism sometimes. So, no 'path' is abruptly locked down without having the open-mindedness and courage to tread on it to explore where it takes.
And for those who read this as the propagation of Hinduism, I can but only repeat the words of Swami Vivekananda he said in Chicago, "The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth."
Don't let the political ideologies of anti-"something", or your own personal aversion towards an "-ism" deter you from exploring philosophy (note, I said philosophy, whichever one you want to pick first; from east or west or north or south). It's far too easy to parrot dirt with 140 characters as opposed to opening your mind for an hour to explore the philosophy of life that breaks down the 'self' into its various characteristics.
So my request is to be students again; someone who was open to the idea of gravity or atom or even sub-atomic particles and walked the path without letting initial bias or aversion preventing you from taking initial steps towards higher education.
And philosophical texts by these philosophers breaks down this world into components that are either physical or abstract in their constitution. The ancient Indian philosophy "divides" itself into six major schools - Nyaya, Vaisheshik, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimansa and Vedanta. All these seem to be looking at the same enigma albeit from six different viewpoints. Some of these viewpoints even talk of an abstract concept of God which borders on atheism sometimes. So, no 'path' is abruptly locked down without having the open-mindedness and courage to tread on it to explore where it takes.
And for those who read this as the propagation of Hinduism, I can but only repeat the words of Swami Vivekananda he said in Chicago, "The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth."
Don't let the political ideologies of anti-"something", or your own personal aversion towards an "-ism" deter you from exploring philosophy (note, I said philosophy, whichever one you want to pick first; from east or west or north or south). It's far too easy to parrot dirt with 140 characters as opposed to opening your mind for an hour to explore the philosophy of life that breaks down the 'self' into its various characteristics.
So my request is to be students again; someone who was open to the idea of gravity or atom or even sub-atomic particles and walked the path without letting initial bias or aversion preventing you from taking initial steps towards higher education.
 |
| (Ref: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/15/b4/1e/15b41e668db7cf739b8ad5fe407ae65c.jpg) |
Why am I using the commemorative stamp on Panini as a face for this post, well let's just say he was a student of Sanskrit grammar and spent his time codifying rules that are finding ever-increasing relevance in the modern concepts of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Comments
Post a Comment