Utopia; we are almost there…

WAY TO UTOPIA

Utopia is defined as a place or state of ideal perfection. In common usage this word now denotes something impossible. Is Utopia possible? We, at the Brotherhood, put this question to a linguist Supercomputer. It asked for the Scriptures. All major Scriptures were fed to it. It asked for evolutionary sciences and got it. It further demanded the Natural Sciences, Histories, Anthropologies, Psychologies and, lastly, the latest in Probability Calculus. Subject by subject, it gobbled up a whole library.

After a considerable delay for a Supercomputer, it analyzed then synthesized all the information. At last it came out with the much-awaited reply. The computer said, ”Utopia is a certainty. It is the most probable purpose behind the development of the mind. The faultless nature is so programmed that the most intelligent ones must one day evolve collectively to the state of ideal perfection”.

This objective and optimistic verdict of an intelligent machine shook up the intellectual schools. The skeptics scoffed while the believers rejoiced. Hot and acrimonious debates and discussions followed. As an exception to the general rule, there was one discussion free from heat and dust. We taped it. Five typical characters, a Revolutionary, a Padre, a Professor, an Artist and a Cynic, who acted as the devil’s advocate, quietly arrived at a technique for Utopia.

Over to the transcript:

Revolutionary, “ Kindly tell us, Professor, are we to believe that all the knowledge and know-how available today, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, is not enough to remove our ignorance-our prides and prejudices?”
Professor, “Yes and no.”
Artist, “No academic hair – splitting in the air, I suppose.”
Professor, (to Artist) “Be the judge. (to revolutionary) No, it is enough because knowledge and the capacity to comprehend it both exist. And yes, because the knowledge as well as the capacity have been in existence for ages without success.”
Padre, “The Scriptures are there. Though I confess that nobody bothers to understand them; not even the clergy. Otherwise the world would not be the dangerous place it has become today.”
Cynic, “Hasn’t God failed us, Father?”
Padre, “No, we have failed our God by refusing to use our minds–the supreme computers.”
Revolutionary, “There must be a way out of this colossal waste, Father?”
Padre, “Oh yes, my faith makes me an optimist. I do believe that nature will breed its own cure. Scientifically, aren’t we still evolving?”
Cynic, “But, Father, tomorrow never comes.”
Artist, “In that case we should do away with our watches and calendars.”
Revolutionary, “Through the succession of these routine tomorrows the time has changed greatly since the enlightenment and revelation. We are now better equipped to comprehend the wisdom of those ancient wise men.”
Professor, “Audio – visual aids, communication satellites. It is a unique situation in human history as it has never been before.”
Artist, “A prophet, today, could have converted the whole world by the image of his magnetic personality. I wish I could see the serenity of a Buddha.”
Padre, “And a prophet would not have to use metaphorical language. Instead he would only advise us to use our invaluable personal computers – our minds.”
Cynic, “Is it the essence of all Scriptures, Father?”
Padre, “Yes brother, to the best of my knowledge.”
Cynic, “Oh, but, we don’t have a prophet to tell us that.”
Revolutionary, “Life is a relay race of gene-machines. Now, the present machines, that are us, have to do the interpreting and explaining.”
Professor, “What would you say, Father, if you were to have the world for an audience?”
Padre, “Let us not under – estimate the creation; let us not under–estimate the human mind. Whatever your faith, follow it or forget it. Hypocrisy is the death of civilizations.”
Professor, “Yes, what we need is an intellectual dialysis. It has been a case of garbage in, garbage out so far. Such as, fear in; cowardice out.”
Revolutionary, “So, we agree that with the help of modern day facilities, it is possible to wage a decisive battle against intellectual darkness – the bliss called ignorance.”
Cynic, “If ignorance is bliss, why bother to remove it?”
Padre, “Because it is a fool’s bliss. And it deprives us of the real bliss – a life guided by love and logic. Fools’ paradise is delaying god’s paradise on earth. (to Revolutionary) God has promised to hurl the truth at the falsehood, (with a smile) through human agents, of course.”
Artist, “What is the hitch then?”
Cynic, “Father will be operating in a vacuum.”
Revolutionary, “Dispelling the darkness is to the advantage of all.”
Cynic, “Not when an orgy is in progress.”
(every body laughs)
Revolutionary, “Since the orgy is perpetual, any time is auspicious enough to switch on the light.”
Cynic, “How will you erect a lighting system?”
Revolutionary, “Let us look at it this way. Money has all the attraction. So, why not use money as a bait to motivate the ignorant?”
Professor, “Please elaborate it.”
Revolutionary, “Show us a ghost and win a fabulous prize for example.”
Cynic, “Who will foot the bill?”
Revolutionary, “Since there are no ghosts, the question of payments does not arise.”
Cynic, “I mean the money to buy TV time and newspaper space etc.”
Revolutionary, “Let us work under the assumption that if the idea is good it will attract many philanthropists.”
(everybody keeps quiet for some time and thinks)
Cynic, (breaking the silence) “This is not an original idea. There are a few movies on this theme.”
Revolutionary, “You are right. The idea was successful in a realistic film; it should succeed in reality as well.”
Cynic, “There you have a good point. I wonder why nobody tried it before. Still, what would it achieve?”
Artist, “A real encounter with truth that ghosts do not exist.”
Revolutionary, “The idea is to present truths and facts with a cash challenge to prove them wrong. Prove that racism is right and win a billion. When nobody comes forward to claim the prize, the impressionable minds draw the right conclusion that racism is wrong.”
Professor, “By all accounts it is a marvelous idea.”
Padre, “God bless us. Prove that honesty is not the best policy…”
Professor, “And the children get to know that honesty is the best policy after all.”
Cynic, “And the truth prevails?”
Artist, “Finally, everlastingly.”
Cynic, “We march into Utopia.”
Professor, “Yes, may be in the next hundred years.”
Cynic, “Is it at all possible to remove the deep-rooted, almost unconscious, prides and prejudices?”
Professor, “Well, why not? We have been considering the same problem so far.”
Cynic, “You mean to say that all the poor people will get to live with dignity and the rich and powerful persons, their cronies and middlemen, will stop their evil practices voluntarily and become saints.”
Professor, “Hoarding wealth or power is a sickness, but, I get your point. Only unpaid rewards will not do. We must have effective punishments as well.”
Revolutionary, “Very true, we learn by rewards and punishments. Our prides and prejudices are the products of our social conditioning. Corruption thrives because laxity of law is taken for granted. A Damocles’ sword hanging over the head can certainly persuade us to think otherwise.”
Cynic, “Where does one get the Damocles’ sword?”
Revolutionary, “Before I answer that please allow me to mention another allusion- Achilles’ heel. Every villain is vulnerable somewhere. We hear of the vicious circles. Isn’t a chain as strong as the weakest link? In corruption the weakest link is secrecy and in prides and prejudices their very foundation.”
Cynic, “I agree. A Damocles’ sword is necessary. How will this allusion be converted into reality?”
Revolutionary, “It is already in selective use - the Polygraph or the Lie–detector.”
Cynic, “It doesn’t detect a lie yet. A smart liar can easily fool it.”
Revolutionary, “Its technique can be perfected.”
Artist, “Necessity is our oldest mother.”
Revolutionary, “As I see it a perfect lie–detecting system is the panacea for mankind.”
Padre, “God bless you. Panacea to Utopia is a short distance. What do you say, Professor?”
Professor, Amen! (to Revolutionary) Does this claim for panacea also carry a reward?”
Revolutionary, “Sure, any objection?”
Cynic, “One too many. Supposing a perfect lie- detecting system is developed, it would still have to be operated by men. I would say that the operator is the weakest link in this grand scheme.”
Revolutionary, “The operators will be selected after the stringent lie-detection tests with the condition that they will be ready to face it whenever necessary.”
Cynic, “Who will want to take this job?”
Revolutionary, “Honest upright men and women who will be paid handsomely for it.”
Cynic, “I see. The idea is to encourage truth and honesty and to discourage falsehood and dishonesty.”
Revolutionary, “Precisely. Thank you.”
Cynic, “This scheme is just too good to be true.”
Artist, “I would say too good yet true.”
Revolutionary, “Anyway it is open to scrutiny. Unless it passes every test it can not be implemented.”
Padre, “Morally it is appropriate that men and women in public life, in public interest, should happily take this test. The rationale is quite simple – honest persons need not fear it.”
Professor, “Economically, the lie – detector will save everything; time, money and other resources. The investigation for truth will become quick and effective.”
Artist, “By God! It should stop the cacophony of loud-mouths and their long, ceremonial and empty words.”
Cynic, (to Revolutionary) “Are you prepared to face it yourself?”
Revolutionary, “With pleasure.”
Padre, “What is your religion, sister?”
Revolutionary, “Humanism.”
Cynic, “Humanism is vague.”
Artist, “As I understand it humanism is universal among the children.”
Revolutionary, “The irony of it! Every adult and older person was a child once, a messenger of humanity. The ignorant superstitious society then systematically puts them into various compartments of faith, color and class.”
Professor, “Again you are right. Psychologically everybody is a victim of society. For want of a couple of ideal parents, the ideal nation could not be founded.”
Cynic, “What is the position of god in humanism?”
Revolutionary, “The absolutely and benevolently indifferent creator. His natural laws take care of everything.”
Padre, “You couldn’t be more right. God bless you.”
Revolutionary, “Thank you, Father.”
Padre, “What is Utopia if it isn’t plenty for all? And we have resources for it. Only the greed of a few misguided souls is responsible for the tragedy we see everywhere.”
Professor, “Power and wisdom seldom mix. That is our greatest tragedy.”
Artist, “Rightly so. To cite an example, the Prime Minister of India takes on the responsibility of guiding the destinies of one billion persons- a stupendous task by any estimate. Only a fool or a mad-cap or a scoundrel will be eager to wear this crown of thorns.”
Cynic, “Still everybody wants to grab this crown at any cost.”
Artist, “The situation will improve radically if the servants of Mother India were to undergo a lie – detection test.”
Cynic, “By god, yes; they won’t have any excuse to bypass it. The merchants of falsehood will not take it lying down though. They will oppose it ruthlessly.”
Artist, “Yet nobody can criticize the scheme publicly.”
Padre, “Fools have always been meddling. They can delay the process; they can not deny it for long.”
All, “AMEN!”

Eternal Time, limited life; no way…

HAPPY JOURNEY

Forgetting life and its tragedies for a while one is really awe-struck by the sheer magnitude of the universe. Billions of years and light-years; this cosmos is difficult to conceive and a good interpretation is still harder to come by. Nevertheless it is out there majestically spread over infinite time and space; perfect to the point of madness. But is it purposeful?

Men have expended their time and energy searching, proving and disproving the creator. Metaphorically speaking it is like looking very hard for the artist’s signature in a grand canvas without it. Yes, the Artist has left it unsigned; may be because there isn’t any corner in the cosmos; though his genius is radiating through every particle.

Today it appears so funny to inquire whether this cosmos is purposive, too. Created or evolved this perfect cosmos could not be accidental or without a grand purpose. A transient human, the stardusts, doubting a purpose behind an eternal, perfect cosmos is sheer impudence in polite language.

Actually this human doubt is caused by the vagaries of life. We find life, human life in particular, a huge imperfection. There is so much pain and suffering all around us. We are ready to concede that life is the only jarring note in this otherwise perfect symphony of matter.

Is life, human life in particular, so terrible? What stops us from getting rid of our lives? Why does nobody want to die under normal circumstances? Aren’t we, ourselves, responsible for most of the pain and misery suffered by men, animals and plants?

Poverty and hunger are man-made and so are the wars and environmental degradations. But, why an imperfect man, in the first place in the animal kingdom, in a perfect cosmos is the core of moral philosophy.

Let us consider the shortcomings of life. What we grudge most about human life is its very short tenure. A mere blink of an eye! Death terminates it suddenly. But, could there be any life without death? Certainly not! Organisms need space, air, water and minerals. The old and unproductive must die and make room for the young. This is how this earth has sustained and multiplied life for the last three billion years.

Though death is essential for life, the quality and span of life is improving over the centuries. And death, too, has been made easy. It is a fact that this imperfect and fleeting life is evolving with time. Life is neither static nor immutable. There is an infinite scope for improvement.

In our part of the universe, on this earth, life has a modest range of temperature, between 0 and 100 degree Celsius. So, life could not evolve on stars. It had to evolve on a planet with the energy supplied by the star. And the star, the Sun in our case, just couldn’t hang out in space. It had to revolve around a galaxy, the Milky Way in our case, for stability and longevity. Otherwise it would have been a sitting duck for passing stars and galaxies.

Retrospectively, material organization on such a gigantic scale created the right conditions for life to evolve on earth. It would be a cosmic blunder if this perfect organization accomplished over billions of years didn’t also have a beautiful purpose.

What is the purpose behind the cosmos and, by extension, why an imperfect man in a perfect cosmos? Let us first consider the various answers supplied by the different schools of thought. God needed worshippers. Human misery is for testing the souls. Those who pass go to the paradise or dissolve into god. Almost all the solutions are linked with god.

God is, by definition, without attributes. No shape, no size and no color; imagine him if you can! In fact all secondary characteristics attributed to god belong rightfully to the spirit of the cosmos- nature. Omnipotence, benevolence, love, truth; you name it nature has it.

There are mainly two viewpoints on life. The first is through god’s mind, and the second, the human viewpoint. We have, therefore, either a religious philosophy or downright atheism. The religious philosophies have divine communications as their foundations. These divine communications are heavily allegorical. Their true literal interpretations are not possible.

Indian philosophy or Darsana to be precise has gone deeper into the problem. It says that each soul is a divine spark and strives for union with Brahman, which it attains after realizing the self. Here the emphasis is on knowing the true nature of one’s self or soul.

All these solutions have two elements in common. First, life is full of suffering so detach yourself as much as possible and prepare for the next life. Second, we are, at least we humans are, accountable for our actions.

All these solutions were arrived at in the geocentric age and perspective. Atheism is a product of modern heliocentric perspective. It threw out the baby with the bath water- god, soul, purpose and all such lunatic notions.

The need of the hour is an enlightened human viewpoint; enlightened about the beauty and sanctity of life. A positive outlook on life is a precondition for a meaningful inquiry into the mysteries of life.
OK, life is precious and sacred. So what?

Life differs with matter in many ways. What concerns us most is consciousness. There was a grand cosmos but no consciousness or awareness about it until life evolved with it. Metaphorically, the canvas created the admirers, too. Human art howsoever perfect can never duplicate this feat.

A nagging doubt about life still persists. If nature is so impartially merciful why is it so selective about the quality and duration of life? Why is it that some souls should die in infancy while some live to a ripe old age? Nature is whimsical if there is only one life for each soul. There is another doubt about accountability.

Indian Darsana reconciles both these doubts in the transmigration of souls through rebirth. The perishable body is the abode of an immortal soul. Enjoyment and suffering are experienced by the soul. It goes on reaping what it sows till it realizes the true nature and bearing of the soul.
It also says that souls come from and go back to god, which does not say much about the origin and destination of souls.

Since we are not interested in yet another theory linked with god, we can only say that ‘the from and to’ of souls is a mystery.

The immortal soul comes from some unknown world, unites with a body, gains experience then gets released to a more exciting world. In other words earth is a natural spaceship where souls develop consciousness slowly and painfully. Life as we know it is merely a vehicle for the developments of consciousness.

In one masterstroke every doubt and dilemma- accountability, inequality, pain and purpose- falls into a grand scheme. Moreover, nature turns out to be more generous and loving. May be nature is creating super conscious souls to reveal its hidden beauty and mystery. Dear life, you are full of surprises everyday.

The existence of the soul cannot be proved or disproved by arguments although people in love experience it everywhere everyday. Those unfortunate persons who did not experience love for another living being would not buy soul easily. They will dismiss it as man’s wishful thinking for immortality.

If nature took so much trouble to evolve consciousness, would it let it perish with body? Where ordinary matter is preserved so religiously, would consciousness go waste with the expiry of our Sun or extinction of life? Knowing the magnanimity of nature, the answer to these queries cannot be yes.


We are familiar with three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time. The souls may belong to the unidirectional fourth dimension. Coupled with time, the souls must move only in the forward direction, from lesser consciousness to higher consciousness. One is tempted to suggest that there must be an infinite series of worlds the soul must travel infinitely. In other words the soul is on an eternal adventure in the cosmos. Bon voyage! HAPPY JOURNEY!!

Where lies the truth….?


AN UPDATE ON INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

Human history can be divided into two distinct ages - the geocentric and the heliocentric. In the former age the earth was a flat, static center of the Universe in popular perception. And man was god’s deputy on it. In the latter, the sun is the center of our solar system. In this age science developed at a breakneck speed so much so that within a span of only four centuries the earth is further reduced to a global village; man is found to be a descendant of Homo erectus, the apes that began to walk erect on their hind legs. It freed their forelegs to be used as hands. Literally by standing up we have progressed so much, so fast.

Human knowledge, too, can be divided into two distinct fields–the moral and the material handled by social science (philosophy/ religion) and science respectively. All philosophers, except the materialists who deny mind, agree that art, intuition and moral/religious experiences are beyond the scope of reasoning and science. Unfortunately all established religions are still carrying the geo-centric deadwood such as appeasement of god and various myths and allegories about our origin and destination.

Looking closely at this fascinating concept of god we find that philosophy introduced this term as the first cause of the universe for the sake of convenience, to avoid infinite regress. Religions adopted it as a symbol for contemplation and meditation. Its deification as a personal boon – granting god was a later dilution. Yet, in spite of their shortcomings, all religions agree on two vital points. First, god or Brahman is unknown and unknowable; second, humans are accountable for their actions. In other words a moral law pervades life. How, when and where we get our reward and punishment is the essential difference among various religions apart from language and rituals. These differences are quite natural as each religion has its origin in a man’s moral experience. How he interprets this personal experience is limited by his personality and period. Moreover these interpretations are heavily allegorical and mythological. God is great, too, is an allegory that defies literal interpretation.

Indian philosophy gets the credit for discovering the fact that there cannot be a moral law without rebirths or the immortality of soul; and realizing the importance of experience over speculation. The western philosophies and religions fail to explain the great disparities among men. Then the Indian philosophy, or Darsana to be precise, is neither a speculative philosophy nor a religion based on individual moral experience. But, much like other great religions, it is in deep freeze since long before the advent of the heliocentric age. It needs updating in the light of Darwinism and new cosmology to provide a comprehensive moral philosophy for this age. Let us attempt it, trusting the dictum that novices sometimes succeed where experts fail.

According to science, space is infinite in extension meaning its center is everywhere and its circumference nowhere. It houses about ten billion galaxies by present estimate rushing away from each other, continuously expanding it. Scientists guess that all this expansion must have begun as Stephen Hawking said in A Brief History of Time about ten or twenty billion years ago at the big bang singularity. We are further informed that scientific theories fail at a singularity which is an event involving infinite mass, density, pressure and temperature. The Black Hole is another example of a singularity where everything (matter, light and time) is trapped till eternity. At the microcosm level, too, science, by its own admission, can either measure the position of a particle or its velocity with accuracy. Accuracy in both, position and velocity, taken together is not possible.

Science cannot invoke god, a non-material entity, but helps itself generously with non-material constants to suit its hypotheses and leads us to a plethora of dimensions over and above the four dimensions of space-time we are vaguely familiar with.

In the heliocentric perspective, our dear earth is a mere speck in this expanding infinite space where a very tenacious life came into existence in its oceans about two and half billion years ago in a unicellular body – the Amoebae. Thereafter millions of organisms arose gradually and perished giving way to more and more complex species. Life forms further diversified on land acquiring better skills for survival and reproduction. About a million years ago something very dramatic happened. Some apes started walking on their hind legs, employing their forelimbs as hands for holding and shaping tools. Their descendants, the Homo sapiens or us humans, started wearing clothes, making better pots and tools, lording over other animals and writing poetry and hymns.

The evolution of life has thrown up a great number of skills in the organisms and a number of pairs of emotions such as love-hate, pleasure-pain etc. It’s most remarkable achievement is the development of the mind which explores and appreciates now the beauty and intricacy of the cosmos. Yet it is very doubtful that our mind is the only mind in the universe. Considering the fact that given sufficient time and appropriate conditions the earth produced butterflies from the ball of fire it had been for two billion years, the universe must be teeming with life, intelligence and mind. In summary, the earth is a natural spaceship where evolution of life and mind is in progress. To what purpose, science cannot tell.

Western philosophy deals with this subject as constructive metaphysics, which is, by definition, the study of reality in contra-distinction to the common-sense world of appearance. This distinction between appearance and reality is the central theme of all religions and every philosophy. All agree that the common-sense world of appearance hides some deeper reality conforming to the majesty of the universe. It is a logically valid and empirically sound conclusion as our senses and mind are nowhere near perfect. We are still living on the ocean-floor of the biosphere.

If reality is so elusive that nobody has been able to grasp it fully, why should one bother about it? At least two good reasons can be advanced to support the inquiry into reality. Man’s innate curiosity is the first, and the influence of our knowledge on our conduct is the second.

According to Prof. A.N.Whitehead, the eminent mathematician and philosopher of the twentieth century, western philosophy after Plato is merely a footnote to Plato. This greatest of great philosophers believed in reincarnation of human souls and an aim guiding the behavior of living and nonliving things. Prof. Whitehead concurs with Plato and adds that the universe is an organic flux where everything feels everything else in the universe and an event is the sum total of all these feelings at a particular place in space at a particular point in time. But, in spite of their good intentions, these followers of Plato do not arrive at definite conclusions.

Before we enter Indian philosophy proper, let us acquaint ourselves with revelation and enlightenment. Revelation is intuitive knowledge and wisdom about some aspect of nature through divine inspiration. It is a poetic expression signifying nature revealing some secret to an inquirer without his conscious effort. Enlightenment is sudden intuitive insight into a problem. It also denotes a moral experience where the inquirer makes a brief contact with reality or the hidden aspect of nature, destroying all doubts about it.

Indian Philosophy is an elaborate ancient science for the personal enlightenment of an inquirer through Yoga, study, contemplation and meditation. While speculative metaphysics leads one into an intellectual maze, enlightenment or the personal experience of reality also frees one from the cycle of births and unites the atman ( soul ) with the Brahman ( or the form of the good for Plato ).

Although we share many instincts and bodily functions with animals, our ancient sages and philosophers just could not comprehend the source of the great gap between human and animal minds. There is yet another difficulty with animals. They are amoral whereas we have a choice to be moral or immoral. So we put ourselves on a pedestal in the animal kingdom. Once our divine origin was fixed, human miseries were explained as the punishment for some original sin committed by our first ancestors. Religions adopted this line. Other systems are not very clear as to why the immortal soul should begin to dwell in the perishable body.

Indian philosophy describes the soul in greater detail. “That Atman is universal, all pervading reality is seen from the fact that it pervades as a whole; therefore is infinite in scope, without parts, un-produced, incapable of destruction and, therefore, eternal. The consciousness inheres in atman. The principle of atman reconciles the dogma that every man will reap according to what he sows, even beyond the grave”

The Indian philosophy, much before Plato, accepted the evolution of the soul to be the purpose behind the life and universe. It makes sense if we include all lives and every soul, differing by the level of consciousness alone. And contact with reality enables a soul to enter a higher level of consciousness without body or mate. This world of super conscious souls may be the reality alluded to by philosophers and mystics.

The twenty-first century science is now capable of shedding some light on the operation of a moral law through rebirths. The soul is supposed to animate the body while modern biology is in the dark about how cell-differentiation takes place. Could it be the handiwork of the soul? Science can now search for the genetic signature of the soul and herald the era of moral science.

Many myths, one reality…

Myth, Reality and Moral Science

The paradox, which every religion has been grappling with unsuccessfully, is this. On the one hand it demands blind faith to accept its tenets and on the other it tries to make those tenets look scientific and rational. It refuses to see the obvious that a rational idea does not require blind faith. Rationality has been the casualty in this undesirable struggle. As a consequence established religions had to resist science.

Though very late in coming, the acceptance of Copernican cosmology (earth going round the sun) and the biological evolution of life by the Catholic Church is a welcome step in the right direction. Other religions must follow suit.

One may wonder how various religions could suppress free inquiry when the founder of every religion had been an inquirer. This difficult task was accomplished by a simple linguistic trick of literally interpreting the myths and allegories. Now we know that earth at the center of the universe was a myth and so was the immutability of species. There is yet another myth still dear to the believers that human soul has come from god. And a myth in vogue among the materialists is that there are no souls. I personally hold a myth that all souls have as humble an origin as our body.

In this great confusion of myths and allegories, we have only one dependable tool to get at the reality. As science has exploded many myths in the past, it is sure to continue the good work in future also. Rationality and spirituality can only be reconciled in moral science. It reminds one of the most important myths affecting us – we are accountable for our actions or a moral law pervades life. Only science can shed some positive light on this contentious issue. That morals are non-material may be another objection. But, psychology as a behavioral science is already dealing with non-material emotions and moods. Biology and psychology have been able to explode the myth about racial superiority of any race.

Any creed opposing a free inquiry is anything but a religion. Yet this inquiry into morals by science is sure to be vehemently opposed by the so called religions. The last Pope had already drawn the line. He had advised the scientists to leave the soul alone as it is directly created by god. It appears that the Pope, at the threshold of the third millennium, had conceded the modern cosmology but retained the moment of Creation; likewise he had conceded the biologically evolved body to the scientists but retained the soul.

Though it may go against the gospel truth of many religions, many lives or rebirths add to the glory of god and the majesty of nature. Simply put, a god granting millions of lives to each soul is any day more benevolent and merciful than a niggardly god granting a single life. Science can make a beginning by studying the effects of virtues on the psycho-physiology of the person as it now better equipped to measure and analyze the brain activity and behavior. Yoga is a good example. It is found to reduce inner conflict and impart health and cheerfulness. Practicing yoga is, then, a desirable virtue. In the same manner the effects of honesty, truthfulness and compassion may easily be studied. The idea is to find out the relevance of virtues for this life, here and now. Its relevance for society is self-evident. A society made up of honest and truthful members is the avowed social goal of every moral philosophy and creed. And there are small pockets of such societies scattered in the world.

Research in moral science is sure to throw up morally appropriate technology to eradicate moral aberration in the individual as well as the society. For example every body is fed up with corruption and violence these days. We feel so helpless against this system of demonic proportions. If only we could empower ourselves with a polygraph, this system would vanish into thin air and the little demons will vanish behinds bars.

Summing up, myth is ignorance while true insight into reality is knowledge. There are myths galore in this modern civilization at the beginning of the third millennium after Christ, the pride of place goes to the myth about god communicating with man in human language. It blocked every inquiry as useless since God could always choose a new spokesman whenever He felt the need to correct us. How elegantly simple! The reality, too, is simple thanks to biology and psychology. My talking to god is prayer; God talking to me is schizophrenia- a mental disorder.

If we could blend the religions...




Scriptures, religions and synthesis

Q: What is the origin of the Scriptures?
A: The Scriptures as well as religions have their origin in men’s moral experiences. The prophets and the sages spoke in the name of god. The rationale was to come by faith; profit by deeds.

Q: Why are the Scriptures so full of allegories?
A: The people were illiterate, simple and superstitious. Abstract thinking was a rare quality. So, those ancient wise men who could not share all of their wisdom with the people of their times tried to communicate with posterity through holy books. And their recitation and other rituals were mandated for the preservation of these books. These books survived through oral transmission before printing was invented. The fables and allegories were the only forms available for oral transmission.

Q: Are the Scriptures still relevant?
A: Oh yes. Whatever the condition of one’s faith, good deeds are essential for a peaceful individual and a noble society. And the Scriptures inspire the noble and the good in us.

Q: Does God need our prayers?
A: No, all Scriptures are very emphatic on this point. We need the prayers to purify our souls.

Q: What is common among all the religions?
A: A benevolent God; an inherent moral law guiding the phenomenon of life; humans occupying the top position in the Universe.

Q: What is the basic difference among various religions?
A: The basic differences lie in the dogmas about our origin before and the destination after this present life. Methods of worship (language, direction and implements etc.) are different too.

Q: What is the main weakness of these religions?
A: Almost all the religions take a negative view of life; therefore the misplaced emphasis on renunciation which goes against the mindset of the people.





Q: Why did the ancient wise men take a negative view of life?
A: Human life was full of misery. Man was at the mercy of the elements. Human failings, too, were numerous - jealousy, greed and lies. Mere survival was an ordeal. The earth was, then, a prison for Adam & sons.

Indian philosophy, although it recognized the transmigration of souls, failed to see the inherent scheme of evolution. As it was yet another period of Kaliyuga, the society had to decline and destroy.

Since both these eastern and western schools of thought had established relationship with god through enlightenment and revelation, they just could not turn about to contemplate our origin in animals. They were ignorant about the biological evolution of life. Therefore they had a narrow, painful view of life without much hope or scope for improvement.

Q: How can a synthesis be attempted?
A: By replacing god by nature in our imagination and perception. All the attributes of an abstract god fit concrete nature. Nature is omnipotent, benevolent and whatnot.
On the concrete plane imaginations do not run wild; dogmas (incarnation, realization of god etc.) do not survive. Differences among various faiths disappear in the true perspective.
When revelations neither tally with each other nor correspond with scientific evidence, it is only natural that one must go beyond the words of god into the work of god - the silent nature. Even the prophets and sages acquired their knowledge and wisdom by studying it.

Q: How does this synthesis explain the origin and destination of the soul and its accountability?
A: Origin - No descent from heaven, rather ascent through evolution.
Destination - Transmigration of souls then promotion to a higher world, inhabited by the wizened souls, without body or mate, traveling, may be, with the speed of imagination. In simpler terms the adventure of souls appears to be a continuous process in the universe. Otherwise there wasn’t any need for eternal time and limitless space.
Accountability - There is a unique arrangement for accountability in nature. Good persons are punished soon, rewarded late. On the other hand bad persons are rewarded soon, punished late. What comes late comes in full.


Q: What does this synthesis propose to change?
A: Our perspective that we are our own masters.

Q: What is the purpose of life?
A: In the long shot, each human being is a link in the grand relay race of life. In close up, we find that each one of us is born with a few things very personal such as the thumbprint, the personal dream and one special talent. So, we ought to dream, work hard on our talent and enjoy the fulfillment of our dream. The purpose is self-actualization, before salvation.

Q: Why did the Scriptures fail to transform their followers?
A: The Scriptures were prescriptions for orderly, harmonious societies. But, after the initial fervor, mere recitation became more important than the actual practice of the precepts (the name alone is enough in Kaliyuga).

Q: Is this synthesis the final interpretation?
A: Knowledge, analysis and synthesis are continuous processes. The synthesis of different viewpoints, in the larger interest of mankind has been the job of mysticism through great individuals. Whatever they said or did; their motive was not suspect. Even the concept of a last prophet and final interpretation was a ploy to safeguard the new faith from imitators and imposters. Still, it was un-natural, hence, it didn’t work advantageously for the faith. It bred fundamentalism and obscurantism.

Limitations of the Scriptures…….

Scriptures and Science

The great scientist Galileo Galilei is the perfect example of creative coexistence between science and religion. A devout Catholic and a fearless scientist, he is rightly regarded as the father of modern experimental science. In 1616 the Church put him on trial for supporting the view that the earth went round the Sun. He made a very important observation in his defense. He said that the Bible was not intended to tell us anything about scientific theories. Where the Bible came into conflict with common sense it was being allegorical.

Now, allegory is a statement which carries a meaning different from the literal one such as the creation of the Universe in six days. All revealed Scriptures have this trait in common that they are heavily allegorical. It is our mistake that we take them to be literally true. Charles Darwin, too, suffered a great deal on this account. He firmly believed in the origin of life in paradise, but mounting evidence for the evolution of life on earth made him accept the truth. Galileo’s stand was vindicated in 1981 when the Vatican invited astronomers and physicists to advise the Church on cosmology.

It is relevant here to mention that Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the most prominent Indian Philosopher in the twentieth century, echoes the same sentiment about the Upanisads. In the preface to his opus ‘The Principal Upanisads’ he cautions the reader to make a distinction between the message of Upanisads and their mythology which is liable to correction by advances in science. Among the so called revealed Scriptures, the Quran categorically affirms it (Al-Imran) and declares that only Allah knows the true interpretation of the allegorical verses.

This last point needs a little elaboration to emphasize its great importance in our understanding of the Scriptures in general and the Quran in particular. Verses 5-7 of Al-Imran say, “It is He who has revealed to you the Book. Some of its verses are precise in meaning- they are the foundation of the Book- and others allegorical. Those whose hearts are infected with disbelief follow the allegorical parts so as to create dissension and to interpret it. But no one knows its interpretation except Allah. Those who are well-grounded in knowledge say: We believe in it: it is all from our Lord. But only the wise take heed.”

Three conclusions follow from these precise verses.
1. Allegorical verses are beyond human interpretation (of course there may be a personal one that need not be true).
2. Only the precise verses are to be followed in letter and spirit.
3. The reader of the Quran should be able to distinguish between these two types of verses.

It is difficult to miss the conclusion that free literal interpretation of the Scriptures is the root cause of fundamentalism and obscurantism in every religious community. And a debate on this issue is long overdue.

misinterpretation is injurious to intellect........

Fundamentalism the oldest folly

Dictionaries define a fundamentalist as ‘one who believes in the literal interpretation and the infallibility of the Bible’ as if fundamentalism were unique to Christianity alone. This definition may be modified some day, but the problem of fundamentalism will continue to torment us. Even the rationalists and the atheists are not free from its evil influence. The literal interpretation of the purpose of life as suggested by the religious books (pleasing god and striving for heaven etc.) does not appeal to them so they deny any purpose whatsoever.

Before we embark upon the purpose of life, it would be prudent to resolve the old dispute about god’s existence. Believers say that god created the universe whereas the atheists say that it has come up by chance. Although logically, devoid of emotion, god and chance convey the same human ignorance about how this beautiful cosmos came about. But, what distinguishes the two, in practice, is the element of purpose. When an atheist discovers a deep purpose in life his chance becomes god. God or chance is, therefore, our choice depending upon our own mental states. We generally oscillate between them before maturity.

Now, for the sake of simplicity and immediacy, let us restrict our discussion to the purpose of human life. And even among us, it would be helpful to bear in mind, the purpose, as a member of species is different from the purpose as an individual. Since each human being is as unique as his/her genes and environment, it is reasonable to accept that his/her purpose as an individual, too, is unique. After these elementary reservations, self-actualization stands out as the general purpose for human life. Even the realization of self or enlightenment is merely the process of self-actualization for some of us.

Coming back to fundamentalism, after the hasty retreat of rationalists from the domain of religion, the priests of every shade were free to misinterpret the purpose of human life to the extent that it became one for all - a blind adherence to a particular creed. This period when religion was a fig leaf for moral fascism is known in history as the Dark Age.

If fundamentalism has been bread and butter for the clergy, it served as a shield against ignominy for the hypocrites who are generally rich and powerful through unfair means. Where religion is only ritual deep, they easily pass off as religious and attain respectability by erecting a place of worship. The simple minded believers have been the victims who, besides being exploited in numerous ways, fought wars against each other, in the name of god and religion, of course.

Thus we see that, due to fundamentalism or literal interpretation of our scriptures, we either deny any purpose to human life or we learn it by rote or we only pretend to know it. All these attitudes are harmful for the moral well being of a society. Present moral stupor in the world may be directly attributed to the cumulative effect of unbridled fundamentalism down the ages. Industrialization has only exposed our incapacity to cope with technological and material progress.