Know Thyself...

Every organization needs a hierarchy to efficiently function, which could be of various modalities like administrative, functional, reporting based, etc. Though sometimes we see discriminations, unhealthy practices and other inherent drawbacks, I don't think the hierarchical model can be dispensed with. We see hierarchical formations in political governance as well social structures (like caste system) too. Even the human mind conceives the world in a hierarchical fashion, which is one of the basic factors that drives that mind towards a classifying tendency in gathering and organizing its intellectual knowledge. When the mind runs its cognitional processes it runs both ways, from the particular experiences to generalizations as well as univeral precepts bearing down on individualities. This could be an aspect that is uniquely gifted to human beings alone.

Its in the generalizing ascent of the mind that it sees a substantial unity in the universe and gradually transcends into the concept of a Godhead.

In a similar way, our identities also trace a hierarchical path. Our various names - first name, last name, family names, etc - are, but, a gradation of our identity. When we call ourselves humans, we generalize our self into a pool of humanity all over the world, suddenly our identities are diluted into the multitude, and we regain our individuality with our names. Similarly, we identify ourselves at different idealogical levels - At a national level, we belong to a country that has well-defined boundaries and a historical and political legacy of its own; At a community level, we partake in a cultural ethos and move in a shared existence of communal upheavels; At a family level, one draws an inner circle of belonging and makes it an extension of the individual self. Our mind needs these hierarchies to accordingly gradate our priorities and define the levels of our subsistence.

Now, while family, on one hand, is a building block of the entire social fabric, is it, in so far as it is  the lowermost node in our social order, also a restrictive aspect that boxes the mind and disillusions all aspects beyond it? Is the concept of family, while being unitary in its approach, also being unilateral in its effect? People focus on their families so much today that they refuse to see beyond its boundaries - the idea of belonging to a nation, or a state or even a religion or culture is only worth its weight in words. National pride, Relgious duty, Cultural practice are all subservient to Family welfare. Is there any meaning of universal brotherhood for a people drowned in familial responsibilities?

Is the idea of a Family, instead of being a stream that feeds into the universal ocean, turning on its head, and rather becoming a chain that breaks up the world into smaller worlds where human beings and their thoughts are caged? Is it actually making narrow minded beings out of us?

I recently attended a paper presentation by one Mr. Rudolf Heredia at an international conference in Bangalore, and what a mesmerizing personality he turned out to be. As per the moderator's introduction, he did his doctrate in sociology and then took on a very social role - working for recognition of marginalized groups and championing the cause for improvement in our education system. A jesuit from mumbai that calls himself a social scientist, Rudolf sir is extremely well read, and brilliant in his eloquence, while his affable personality, and humility make him very approachable. He kept us audience in rapt attention with forceful pedagogy peppered with appropriate satire.

Rudolf sir's focus was on globalization from an economical perspective, and its socio-cultural impact in skewing the developmental trajectory. He starts with the European enlightenment that initiated an era of industrialization and rapid progress, [the population boom also finds its roots in this era] stressing on how the values of the renaissance period were quickly overcome by a globalizing current which drowned the micro-identities of individual cultures and, hence, created a regressive spiral in which economical, cultural and educational institutions lost their healthy correlation. He analyzes the failures of both neo-liberal caplitalistic as well communist concepts and attempts to reach a holistic and pragmatic solution that is both integrating as well as liberating. He stresses the need for a paradign shift that foregrounds culture in the respective social aspect, contextualizes development on grounds of equity and changes education from traditional to transformative frameworks. While all speakers before him spoke about alleviating the condition of the poor, Rudolf sir stood up and asked, "Who do you call a poor man? The need is not to define poverty but to redefine prosperity". He ends his paper on an ironic, yet relevant, note that we may fight various battles and, in all unlikelihood, even win them, but we should not end up with a tragic realization that we fought the wrong war.

Fr. Rudolf is an old man yet bubbling with as much energy as an impassioned youth, especially when he takes centerstage on his favorite topics. In the brief chat I managed with him backstage, I complimented that he was like a tiger hidden under sheep's skin, for which he replied he may be a deer but never a tiger. I was very sure Rudolf sir, who calls himself an independant researcher even while being part of so many illustrious institutes, seemed no less than a tiger to me..

"In the whole world there is no study, except that of the originals, so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Oupnekhat [Latin for Upanishads].It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death!" - Arthur Schopenhauer

When a universally respected German says it out loud, it just underlines the wisdom of ancient India. We Indians have always been proud of our "culture" and "heritage". We are aware of the great past that we inherited and in a way this greatness is still very much alive, though implicitly, in our religious attitudes, and as an undercurrent, in our tolerant diversity. The real need, I solemnly feel, is to elevate this pride to a level of realization of the essence rather than just an outwardly and superficial feeling.

The vedic indians were an inspired lot - in the period between 2000 B.C to 600 B.C. (though these time periods are eternally under debate) the indian mind rose up from the annals of mediocre existence and apprehended the great truths of world and nature. The Vedic Samhitas, the oldest literary work known to man, are hymns of the personification of divinity in forces of nature. They not only symbolize a beauty of expression but also signify a transition of the human intellect - an incredible evolution of thought - that reached the pinnacle of transcendental inquiry in the Upanishads. The time of the creation of Upanishads was filled with such creative fervour that major world religions and philosophies (Greek Philosophy, Christianity, Buddhism, etc) were all born around the same time. Ancient Indian literature is a foundation to elevate the inner self and not just a ground to stand on and proclaim our greatness.

These remarkable texts of India established such irrefutable truths that its message is applicable even 2000 years hence, and they are distilled to such a subtle level that new truths will keep emerging for many more centuries to come. All works subsequent to Vedic Literature, were mere footnotes to it. Sankaracharya, Baudhayana, Madhava, Ramanuja, etc wrote commentaries on them. The epic Puranas and Itihasas are just allegorical interpretations to convey Vedic messages to the common man. Vedic Literature can be said to be the constitution for the republic of religion and life.

Its time the core concepts of our history are reborn into the Indian psyche. We are, today, a generation that knows its priorities way too well. We have the courage to flout norms and stand up for what we believe in. We are empowered enough to make smart choices. We appreciate arts, science, commerce and life in general, all in good measure. Its, now, a fertile ground for the wisdom of the ancients to awaken. There has to be a way to trigger this.. and not just in small numbers.

There has to be a way to do it! A way to percolate the philosophical messages down to the simplest mind - a way to make people stop doing ceremonies as mere rituals and look for deeper meaning. A way to convert 'religious belief' into 'critical understanding'. A way to move away from economic upheavels, communal disorders, social emergencies, towards a firm foundation of unwavering virtuous life. A way to transform our appreciation of Indian wisdom from mere solace of our lives into an immanent realization that becomes the solace of our deaths.. and many more journeys thereafter!

Epistemology is the specific branch of philosophy that studies the concept and science of knowledge as a whole. In a way, it attempts to understand the conditions and analyze the various setups under which systems of knowledge are built and hence enables validating the art of knowing itself. This post is not any epistemological theorizing, rather just a curious look at the path of the growth of knowledge.

I started looking at knowledge in a different way, when I heard the opening narrative in the movie The Gods must be Crazy. The narrator compares the lives in the bustling city of Johannesburg with a tribe in a dry desert a few hundred miles north of it. The tribals have limited knowledge and live their life in simplicity and happiness found in natural dispositions, while the city is fraught with challenges. The city life is "civilized" while the tribals are "backward", yet the civilized life has no peace that the backwards possess. The child of the tribe learns his necessary art of survival at a very young age, while city children are still learning even well past their teenage.

Knowledge, however it has grown, mainly through observation and experimentation, and also through imagination, conception, abstracting, or through gross or subtle hypothesizing, has certainly elevated us to a position much higher than we historically were. We have a better outlook (as well as insight) of things than we had decades or centuries ago, and it keeps improving every minute, even as you read this post... The progress of our civilization has piggy-backed on the growth of our knowledge. Even though, many a times, individuals have struggled in gathering complete knowledge, humanity as a whole has successfully scaled the heights of knowing.

Every generation inherits a baggage of information from its fathers and develops it further for its children. We don't just scratch the surface anymore - we have transcended boundaries and pushed the limits of our knowledge much beyond our horizons. We have shot into the far reaches of space, while also plunged into the infinite depths of molecular world. We have crossed-over into the invisible world of radio-waves and electricity.

Take this case for instance - A few centuries ago, it was just enough to know when to plant the seeds and how to harvest the crop, but today one needs to look at weather forecasts, understand seed culture, know the right pesticide and soil combination, and finally have an idea of the machinery needed for sowing, watering, protecting and harvesting the crops. In today's world, A farmer cannot just be born, he should earn his place with the right knowledge.

Human life is finite and hence every new generation should first come "up to speed" with all the knowledge that already exists before they can venture on their own. Yes! we have invented libraries to store this knowledge, but the human brain is not getting any bigger or faster. I believe we have the same intelligence today which Aristotle or Buddha possessed 2000 years ago. So, how does the brain cope up with this ever increasing volume of information? Maybe with evolution our brains will get more 'wired' but the 'growth in our knowledge' is outrunning the pace of natural evolution. We already see that our children spend more time cramming in schools than our previous generations did. In layman terms, about a century ago, a bachelor degree was considered a job well done but today nothing less than a doctrate gets respected. As knowledge keeps increasing, do we just keep interpolating our methods of learning in a linear fashion? Do we just keep loading the school-bags of our children and inventing 'intelligence and memory enhancing hormones' and keep mixing it in their milk? Will it not hit a limit someday - given our finite intelligence and finite lifetimes? Or can we relook at the whole learning process and develop a pragmatic way where the cycle of learning is effectively insulated from the growth of knowledge?