13 Contemporary Thought

154 13 Contemporary Thought In this chapter, we will give a brief survey of some of the 19th and 20th century Indian philosophers and their contributions to contemporary thought. We will examine six personalities: Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Tagore, Gandhi, Krishnamurti and Radhakrishnan. This study will give us a wide spectrum of philosophical thought, ranging from the metaphysical and mystical philosophy of Sri Aurobindo to the social and political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. All of these people were born when India was still under British colonial rule. Consequently, some of their writings are tinged with nationalism or nationalistic fervour. Still, we can extract from their writings, a universal philosophy that applies to all people in all times. In our list of six, three personalities can be described as coming from the scholastic tradition and with the express goal of interpreting and re-interpreting the ancient philosophies of India in the modern context. These three are Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan. By explaining the Sanskrit texts in the English language, they fulfilled the academic role and enabled these ideas to have a wider circulation. At the same time, they re-interpreted them in the modern context. With Gandhi, we see the development of a political philosophy based on the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita. In Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo, we find the same philosophy find new expressions in art, poetry, literature and even music. In Krishnamurti, we find a total break from the past and an exhortation to think for oneself, relying only on oneself for the great journey. With Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, we find a combination of all these viewpoints. We will examine each of these personalities and their contributions to contemporary Indian philosophy. Clearly, a short chapter such as this cannot do justice to the grandeur of the task. Yet, it is hoped that this introduction will allow the student to undertake an expanded study. 13.1 Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda’s lectures and writings were certainly influenced by the traditional Vedanta philosophy. At the same time, he reinterpreted this message in the modern context. Perhaps it is in this sense the term “neo-vedanta” is often used to describe his contribution to Indian philosophy. However, upon a closer examination of his writings, we see that he had a larger view of things. First and foremost, he saw the success of the scientific revolution and its insistence of 155 reason as the prime tool in its investigations. He saw its universal appeal and universal acceptance and its power to unite the human race. His view of Vedanta was similar. Just as science studies external nature and has given rise to the manifold sub-disciplines like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and so on, Vedanta, which studies the internal nature of man, has given rise to the multitude of religious and philosophical traditions on this planet. In his view, there was nothing “Indian” about Vedanta, if the latter word is understood in the sense that it is a method of understanding the internal world, just as “science” is understoond as a method to understand the external world, and we don’t ascribe the scientific tradition to any particular race or culture. Indeed, modern historical researches have revealed that the scientific tradition can be traced back to all ancient civilizations in one form or another. Similarly, the Vedanta tradition can be traced back to all of the ancient civilizations. Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Dutta on January 12, 1863 in Kolkata, India. He had a traditional upbringing obtaining a degree in Law from Calcutta University. He was well-versed in Western philosophical thought and had studied the major works in their original. However, he had shown signs of a spiritual quest from the time of his youth. He was dubious of orthodox religions and advocated reason as the foundation for any lifestyle. In 19th century India, British colonial rule had undermined any faith, particularly religious, that the educated elite may have had regarding their own history and tradition. Young Narendranath was not immune to this and so he joined the Brahmo Samaj, an organization aimed at reforming Indian traditions both in religion and customs. It was in this context that he came to meet Sri Ramakrishna, then living in the nearby town of Dakshineswar. Narendranath was eighteen years old at the time. Sri Ramakrishna came from a rustic background, but since childhood had a mystical temperament. Imbued with a fiery zeal for spiritual enlightenment, he practiced yoga and meditation. During this period of religious thirst, many teachers of various spiritual traditions came to teach him, not academically, but practically, so that he may experience personally the claims and realizations of each of the traditions. For instance, following the tradition of Patanjali’s yoga, he came to realize the state of Samadhi. After practicing various Indian religious traditions, he came to the realization that each tradition is valid in that if it is faithfully practiced, leads one to the highest realization. He then explored the traditions of Islam and Christianity and again, reached the same realization, not as an intellectual understanding, but as a matter of experience. Thus, Sri Ramakrishna was in many ways the antithesis of Vivekananda in that he had no 156 formal academic training, but rather the practical method of learning through one’s own experience as insisted by the ancient tradition. At first, the meeting of Sri Ramakrishna was very puzzling to Vivekananda. Yet, he was convinced that whatever Sri Ramakrishna would say to him as a matter of teaching, it was not an academic opinion, but a matter of experience. Here was a master that matched the Upanishadic ideal of a spiritual teacher. From Sri Ramakrishna, he learned the important fact that all spiritual traditions, if faithfully followed, lead one to higher realizations. This resonated with the teachings of the Vedanta philosophy. In this way, he imbibed the wisdom and subtle understanding from the great master. After the passing away of his spiritual teacher in 1886, Vivekananda took up the monk’s garb and wandered through India, teaching what he head learned and intensifying his meditation to increase his own understanding about spirituality. As he wandered through the dusty, rustic paths of rural India, he saw the plight of the multitude steeped in poverty. The problem at the forefront of his mind was how to regenerate the nation, how to revive its people. At the same time, he met wealthy landlords, and the maharajahs and exhorted them that they were only custodians of power and wealth, and that their power and wealth were to be used for the welfare of the masses. One such maharaja that became his disciple was the Maharaja of Khetri. Vivekananda heard from the Maharaja about a conference of world’s religions being organized for the World’s Fair in Chicago, scheduled for September 1893. The Maharaja suggested that Vivekananda, with his vast erudition and spiritual knowledge, would be an excellent representative of the Indian spiritual traditions. Thus encouraged and supported by the Maharaja, Swami Vivekananda sailed to America. There, he presented the universal view of Vedanta, not as a particular system of Indian philosophy, but rather as an all-encompassing outlook on all of the religious and spiritual traditions of the world. He stayed on in America for four more years to teach the numerous students who were interested in Indian thought. At that time, he wrote his celebrated books on the four yogas. In this way, Vivekananda gave wider circulation to Indian philosophical thought, mainly in the Vedanta tradition. But at the same time, he was giving a new expression and new formulations for its practice. He returned to India in 1897, and by this time, had enough support for his idea to establish the Ramakrishna Mission of social service. His idea was that all of the 157 four yogas can be combined for the betterment of oneself and the betterment of society. His message was to combine meditation with action, knowledge with devotion. Today, this mission has become international in its scope with an exemplary reputation for social work and education. Swami Vivekananda passed away in 1902, at the young age of 39. However, he left a great legacy in his voluminous writings encompassing nine printed volumes. His masterly synthesis of the four yogas must be considered his masterpiece of philosophical work. If one surveys the history of India upto the 19th century, it is clear that there was a schism between secular pursuits and spiritual pursuits. Through his extensive travels, Vivekananda was keenly aware of this division. Even though the ancient epics and philosophical treatises spoke of purusārtha, the four goals of life, the nation had forgotten it. In fact, Vivekananda traced India’s degeneration and consequent vulnerability to foreign rule to the loss of this ideal of purusārtha. A concise translation of the word is “that which is the purpose of human life” and this purpose has four pillars: dharma (social justice), artha (wealth), kāma (pleasure) and moksha (liberation). These four are not mutually exclusive but rather interdependent and must be taken together. Social justice in the form of a peaceable society is the foundation. The pursuit of wealth must be in the context of dharma, and the same with kāma and moksha. Wealth does not mean only monetary wealth, but also the wealth of knowledge and wisdom. Pleasure does not mean only sensual pleasure but also artistic, intellectual and spiritual pleasure. This four-fold purpose of life is shared by all individuals and all nations. Many times in his lectures, he said that “it is an insult to a starving man to teach him metaphysics.”144 By creating the Ramakrishna Mission of service, he was able to attract strong individuals to dedicate their life for the welfare of the many and thereby fulfil their four-fold aim of life.

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