Monday, February 16, 2015

KNOWLEDGE & ACTION : EAST vis-a-vis WEST; INADEQUACY OF WESTERN MEANS

If  EDUCATION  is like  diving into a pool or pond and   bathing/drinking  to  get refreshed/purified  leading to  a feeling of  being re-born ( born-again, (dwija)) , how the pool of knowledge must be.? How the water in that pool must be; how the water must be collected ? (Water in the pool is compared to the  sum total of knowledge. (Baptism ?)) By which means ? Here lies the Major difference between the Indian Civilization  and the rest of the world !!!!!

A conspicuous  clue to this is there in the advice of  Gandhari  to her son  Duryodhana. She points out that a  sharp and  appropriate  intellect  is  a  product obtained by the control of the senses.  And  such an intellect can only generate , beneficent  knowledge impacting the  well-being of all beings.

“One, who aspires  to great things, must  lead  his senses  to virtue and profit (dharma and artha); by having the senses under  control, intelligence  increases  as  fire  when it has fuel added  on to it.” (Udyog-Parva Main, Bhagavat-Yana Parva Sub, Chapter 129, Sloka 26, page 344, Vol.3, English Translation M N Dutt.) The above idea of  intellect/intelligence is  entirely different from the Western idea of intelligence which is entirely organ centric. ie Brain centric.

Gandhari, who came to  present day India from the present day Afghanisthan expressed a fragment of ‘still’ / ‘eternal’ valid knowledge that was then current in ancient India whose soothing influence extended upto Saudi Arabia, Iran and Greece in the West. The same  idea in DETAIL   is clearly given in the  Yogasutras of Patanjali. Chapter 1, Samadhi-padam gives the overview of  Yoga. In it  Sutras 48 & 49 deal with Pranja (Buddhi=intellect) . Raising the intellect to the highest level possible, the intellect at that stage is called “Ritham-bhara”. It  then yields knowledge of everything that exists in the universe  directly , not  in the usual conventional way which is dependent on the senses.(therefore susceptible to wrong inference, interpretation resulting in wrong knowledge.) And Indian civilization is the product  of  knowledge resulting from “Ritham-bhara” buddhi/intellect of our seers. (Thus it becomes our paramount duty and responsibility to nurture our civilization.)

PRESENT SITUATION
Over a  period  of   four to five generations, the crystal clear water of  the Indian  pool  is being replaced by the bloodied and  murky waters of  the Western World. When  the knowledge pool itself is  corrupted/defiled/polluted, when the water(knowledge) itself has become unfit,  how can  one ever  improve the quality of education. !!???

CONCERNS ABOUT EDUCATION EXPRESSED BY ‘EMINENT’ PERSONALITIES IN THE PAST FEW DAYS !!!!!
Quote:- “Quality of law education is a matter of concern throughout the country,” the Chief Justice observed. (Feb 14.2015)

ABOUT KNOWLEDGE-LED SOCIETY – THIS CONCEPT IS DISCUSSED AT LENGTH  IN THE MAHABHARATHA. – The Gandharva  Chithraratha will challenge  the Pandavas  walking in the forest  towards  Panchala-kshithi, WITHOUT a  Brahmin leading the way.(Chaithra-ratha-parva). They were on their way to attend the  swayamvara of  Draupadi/Krishna/Panchali. Pandavas were challenged because they were walking without  being led by a  Brahmin. (knowledge). Finally the Gandharva  points out the learned and knowledgeable  BRAHMIN  Dhaumya, who will become the Purohita  of the Pandavas.

In Modern Times………
Quote:- “Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, founder and chairman of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, spoke about Mahatma Gandhi's idea of change and education. Laying emphasis on activity based education, he said, “It is simple and educative, and does not curb a questioning mind.”

Mr. Sashi Kumar, lucidly summarised the views of Prof. Swaminathan and said, “We should have a knowledge-led society. It’s difficult to achieve, but that's what we need.”” (Feb.16.2015)

Quote:- Educators need to help children understand the importance of the pluralistic nature of the country, said N. Ram, chairman, Kasturi and Sons Limited.

Quote:- “Education cannot be insulated from society,” he said, speaking at the Educators for Change conference at Don Bosco School of Excellence on Saturday. (Feb.15.2015)


ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
Quote:- “He said such incidents threatened the ideals of the Constitution. “In particular, it threatens Article 14, which guarantees equality, Article 19, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression, and Article 25 that guarantees the right to practise and profess any faith,” he said.

Speaking on economic unity, R. Vaidyanathan, professor of finance and control, Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, said the Indian aspect of saving money and entrepreneurial spirit would guarantee the growth of the country. 

“There is disproportionate emphasis on FDI while savings from households have majorly contributed to the country’s economic growth. In reality, it is the housewives who have driven economic growth. The government must leave the entrepreneurs alone,” he jokingly remarked.

 Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must speak up against the ‘virus’ of ‘Ghar Vapsi’ and express his disagreement with it clearly. “The deafening silence of religious majorities, who have nothing but the goodwill of minorities at heart, increases uncertainty and insecurity,” he said.

Economist S. Gurumurthy was the last speaker of the evening. He said a topic like religious unity cannot be broached without talking about ‘doctrinal tolerance’ of religions born in India and ‘doctrinal intolerance’ of other religions.

“Hinduism is a religion that accepts all other religions. Religious tolerance would mean acceptance of religious leaders, ideas and figures of other religions as well,” he said.

When asked what he thought about some Sangh Parivar leaders raking up the issue of making India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, he called for a debate. “The doctrines call for acceptance of all religions. Can the same be said of other religions?” he said.” (Feb. 17, 2015)

MODERN  MURDERING  THE PRE-MODERN
http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/his-last-moments/article6842828.ece?ref=slideshow#im-image-0 (Feb 1, 2015) – Just  AFTER the last living moments of Gandhiji. (Photos)

ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Quote:- “The Constitution is merely a guideline for the state. Not for the people of the state. The notion of what seems right to the people of a country comes from the prevalent cultural and social norm, not the Constitution. We need to debate if adding a certain word or group of words in the Constitution has any material impact (positive or negative) on the lives of the people,” says Daithankar.

In order for such debates around secularism and socialism to be more nuanced, the country needs to focus on education, says Jain. “Our country needs a thorough overhauling of our education system. We need students to start thinking critically of their environment from an early age.” (Feb.15 2015)

BRAHMIN (knowledge) LEADING THE WAY IN  SOUTH-EAST ASIA
Quote:- “The Sanskrit inscriptions indicate that local rulers in Southeast Asia employed South Indian Brahmins as advisors and counsellors. The Brahmins were the mechanisms through which the inscriptions and objects of Vedic ritual landed up in these improbable, remote places. There was clearly an Indian presence in Southeast Asia, not just of ideas and religion but of people as well.” (Feb 15 2015)

Covering letter for the above article :- 
Dear Sir and other friends,
The last mail  I had sent you concerned mainly with the Constitution of  India. I had written it ahead of  a  Sunday Magazine  article  about  the same in the Hindu, about which I did not have any prior information. 

Quotes from  that article and  from other ones which will be  of definite interest to  ‘concerned’ and ‘sensitive’ individuals ,and  which are presently exercising the minds of prominent personalities  of our society,  I am providing in the attached document with  links. The quotes I  feel are sufficient to know the crux of the problems faced by our  modern society. But to know it fully in context, one may  pursue the links.

One personality  opined that our  society must be knowledge-led.  Sir, you are the  founder of  a NGO. And  that  NGO must be active.  On what basis such an  NGO is  animated. On what knowledge foundation the NGO rests on and the basis of its actions.

I am presenting herewith a  graph  from the works of ‘modern’ scholars.  One can find out the economic pre-eminence of  India more than 2000 years  ago from that graph.  Other sources like travellers to India from China etc  during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya also  corroborates this graphical  interpolation. (See Michael Wood’s BBC documentary, The Story of India Part 1, which is available now in Amazon.). Modern economy which is just 250 to 300 yrs old is not able to hold on its own. It is having chronic illness.

If  EDUCATION  is like  diving into a pool/ pond and   bathing/drinking  to  get refreshed/purified,  leading to  a feeling of  being re-born ( born-again, (dwija)) , how the pool of knowledge must be.? How the water in that pool must be; how the water must be collected ? (Water in the pool is compared to the  sum total of knowledge.) By which means ? Here lies the Major difference between the Indian Civilization  and the rest of the world !!!!! (Western civilization has namesake baptism !!!?) – Read further in the attached document…


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