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Saturday 28 July, 2007
By Vikas Vij 14:23 27/Jul/2007 15 Comment(s)
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Two thousand years ago Plato wrote that "Logos" is a (Greek) word that signifies the superiority of man over the feeble intelligence of lower animals. Logos stands for both, "Reason" and "Speech". It means both. Two different words, but same meaning. Why?Because "Thought" is not possible without "Words". Try to think without words, and you will know the importance of words. Words are, effectively, the only currency in which we can exchange thoughts even with ourselves. The mentally handicapped ones cannot talk coherently. While wondering about the richness of the word "Logos, I tried to think of a Sanskrit equivalent for it in Hindu philosophy. And lo and behold, the whole mystery unfolded itself before me in an instant, the moment I thought of the Hindi equivalent of "Speech". "Vani" (speech), as we know, is another name for Goddess Saraswati. ("Jaya jaya Vani Saraswati..."). This indicates that even in Hindu philosophy, "Speech" and "Saraswati" were considered identical. Brahma had created Saraswati and endowed her with the power of speech.Sometime back on the Discovery channel there was an interesting program that showed that Parrots are the second most intelligent species after human beings. The parrot comes closest to man in terms of repetition (rote). It cannot think on its own, it does not have a logical brain like humans, but at least it has a brain that can copy accurately, if it is trained properly like a baby. Even apes like to copy (ape) but they cannot process words, they can only copy gestures.
Mastering the Vedas cover to cover like a Veda Shastri, chanting complicated hymns in a rapidfire like a pandit or maulvi, and quoting fluently chapter and verse from the Gita, Quran and Bible makes you exactly that: A parrot.
Parroting another's words is a murder of one's self-respect. It is also a disrespect to the original. You are not showing respect to the Gita, Quran and Bible by parroting them in full throes of bhakti. You cannot copy an original, you can only ruin its soul. What is the value of a cheap imitation of Monalisa selling on a pavement?Speech based on someone else's thought, instead of your own, is parroting. The voice is of the caged parrot, but the thought is somebody else's.
Animals and machines are man's slaves because they are incapable of thinking for themselves.
Men too become slaves of men when they stop thinking.
Hold a coin in your fist and ask any religious guru or a spiritual thug to tell its denomination. He will not know even that much -- something just five feet from his eyes. But he knows everything about God in an infinite space, and he wants to "teach" you everything about Him.
These are the men who saw that sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so they declared the sun revolves around the earth. These are the men who saw the trees, but missed the forest.
These are the same men who made Socrates drink his cup of Hemlock when he stated matter-of-factly: "Sorry, I do not know who or what runs this Universe. All I know is that I do not know."
These are the same men who imprisoned Galileo 400 years ago just because he told them: "My divine-sightedness is at least more than yours."
And these are the same men who tell you that you are incapable of knowing God on your own. So you must choose the path of religion, i.e., a prescribed path -- which is the path of blind belief and bhakti.
Following another's prescribed path is a violation of your individuality of spirit, your eternal quest, and your self-esteem.
The Point:
Do not be a parrot. You are a human being. Only you can talk -- no other animal can.
As long as man behaves like a parrot, he will seethe in anger within. And violence will remain his ultimate destiny on this planet. Being a caged parrot is not man's first nature. Inquisitiveness is his first nature, just like a free bird soaring in an endless sky.
The path of bhakti eventually leads to violence.
Osama Bin Laden, for instance, is a truly religious man. So was Nathu Ram Godse. So is George W. Bush. These are sincere, religious men. Their path is the path of true devotion. If you are not devoted like them, you are even worse than them. You are neither here, nor there. You are a dishonest escapist. You are a nobody.
Bhakti is fearfulness -- an absolute corruption of the basic spirit of man. It is the self-defeating path of anger and violence.
Thinking, on the other hand, is the path of freedom and happiness.
Thinking is man's true destiny because he alone has the capability for it.
Guru, ladies and gentlemen, is for the unthinking masses -- the fearful nobodies who prefer to crawl than to think.
For the remaining few, the men of self-esteem, there is Khud-guru.
Saturday 28 July, 2007
By Vikas Vij 14:23 27/Jul/2007 15 Comment(s)
Add Vikas Vij as Friend Write to Vikas Vij Forward this link
Two thousand years ago Plato wrote that "Logos" is a (Greek) word that signifies the superiority of man over the feeble intelligence of lower animals. Logos stands for both, "Reason" and "Speech". It means both. Two different words, but same meaning. Why?Because "Thought" is not possible without "Words". Try to think without words, and you will know the importance of words. Words are, effectively, the only currency in which we can exchange thoughts even with ourselves. The mentally handicapped ones cannot talk coherently. While wondering about the richness of the word "Logos, I tried to think of a Sanskrit equivalent for it in Hindu philosophy. And lo and behold, the whole mystery unfolded itself before me in an instant, the moment I thought of the Hindi equivalent of "Speech". "Vani" (speech), as we know, is another name for Goddess Saraswati. ("Jaya jaya Vani Saraswati..."). This indicates that even in Hindu philosophy, "Speech" and "Saraswati" were considered identical. Brahma had created Saraswati and endowed her with the power of speech.Sometime back on the Discovery channel there was an interesting program that showed that Parrots are the second most intelligent species after human beings. The parrot comes closest to man in terms of repetition (rote). It cannot think on its own, it does not have a logical brain like humans, but at least it has a brain that can copy accurately, if it is trained properly like a baby. Even apes like to copy (ape) but they cannot process words, they can only copy gestures.
Mastering the Vedas cover to cover like a Veda Shastri, chanting complicated hymns in a rapidfire like a pandit or maulvi, and quoting fluently chapter and verse from the Gita, Quran and Bible makes you exactly that: A parrot.
Parroting another's words is a murder of one's self-respect. It is also a disrespect to the original. You are not showing respect to the Gita, Quran and Bible by parroting them in full throes of bhakti. You cannot copy an original, you can only ruin its soul. What is the value of a cheap imitation of Monalisa selling on a pavement?Speech based on someone else's thought, instead of your own, is parroting. The voice is of the caged parrot, but the thought is somebody else's.
Animals and machines are man's slaves because they are incapable of thinking for themselves.
Men too become slaves of men when they stop thinking.
Hold a coin in your fist and ask any religious guru or a spiritual thug to tell its denomination. He will not know even that much -- something just five feet from his eyes. But he knows everything about God in an infinite space, and he wants to "teach" you everything about Him.
These are the men who saw that sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so they declared the sun revolves around the earth. These are the men who saw the trees, but missed the forest.
These are the same men who made Socrates drink his cup of Hemlock when he stated matter-of-factly: "Sorry, I do not know who or what runs this Universe. All I know is that I do not know."
These are the same men who imprisoned Galileo 400 years ago just because he told them: "My divine-sightedness is at least more than yours."
And these are the same men who tell you that you are incapable of knowing God on your own. So you must choose the path of religion, i.e., a prescribed path -- which is the path of blind belief and bhakti.
Following another's prescribed path is a violation of your individuality of spirit, your eternal quest, and your self-esteem.
The Point:
Do not be a parrot. You are a human being. Only you can talk -- no other animal can.
As long as man behaves like a parrot, he will seethe in anger within. And violence will remain his ultimate destiny on this planet. Being a caged parrot is not man's first nature. Inquisitiveness is his first nature, just like a free bird soaring in an endless sky.
The path of bhakti eventually leads to violence.
Osama Bin Laden, for instance, is a truly religious man. So was Nathu Ram Godse. So is George W. Bush. These are sincere, religious men. Their path is the path of true devotion. If you are not devoted like them, you are even worse than them. You are neither here, nor there. You are a dishonest escapist. You are a nobody.
Bhakti is fearfulness -- an absolute corruption of the basic spirit of man. It is the self-defeating path of anger and violence.
Thinking, on the other hand, is the path of freedom and happiness.
Thinking is man's true destiny because he alone has the capability for it.
Guru, ladies and gentlemen, is for the unthinking masses -- the fearful nobodies who prefer to crawl than to think.
For the remaining few, the men of self-esteem, there is Khud-guru.
Venu Gopal said...
2:20 PM 28/Jul/07
Your post is a splendid putting into words of the idea that no one can live our lives for us; we have to do it for ourselves. But help we would need and it is our freedom to avail it as and when necessary. Fortunately, there are titans in the world of thought and expression and experience and spiritual attainments who leave us their best works to guide us by. Parrot-wise rote would land us exactly where you said. We have to internalize the teachings and live it anew. Hinduism, I might add, are teachings which lead us to God-realization or the realization of our deepest truth. The Semitic religions stop at just believing and hoping that the loyalty expressed thereby would ‘save’ us.
Citizen Cane said...
9:08 AM 28/Jul/07
Vikas, you say that ''thinking, on the other hand, is the path of freedom and happiness''. If that were true then all the thinking that humankind has indulged in, specially in the West, since the so-called Renaissance in Europe should have brought immense happiness by now. Instead, we have the World Wars in Europe, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the spectre of nuclear conflict, etc. as legacies from the 20th century and Global Warming and Iraq right at the beginning of the 21st. Literary figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Koestler and others have taken their own lives after, presumably, a whole lifetime of ''thinking''. Thinking, by itself, does not bring wisdom nor happiness.
Citizen Cane said...
8:56 AM 28/Jul/07
Vikas, I agree with Naina that it does seem to be a bit of a rant rather than a well-informed post. Bandying about recognisable names such as Socrates, Aristotle, Voltaire, Einstein, etc. might get you comments such as ''gr8 post'', etc. from the not-so-well-informed bloggers but a discerning reader will see through your ill-constructed arguments. Would attributing this or that to these historical figures not lead a person to presume that they have been adopted by you as ''gurus'', that your thinking is not entirely original. It is said that only BUDDHAS develop their mental faculties while they are bodhisattvas in countless previous lives to be able to figure out everything by themselves on the basis of direct experience, not merely by intellectual speculation, which is what the philosophers do. The rest have to refer to some teacher or the other or his teachings to figure things out . It depends on the seeker''s ability which teacher/teaching he lands up with - as says Tammanna.
