TWO VIEWS ABOU EAST AND WEST

 

                TWO VIEWS ABOU EAST AND WEST

            It was Rudyard Kipling ,the English poet, journalist and novelist (1865-1936)  who wrote in his  1889 poem  ‘The Ballad of East and West’, that ----

            Oh, East is East and West is West,  and  never the twain shall meet,

             The Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;-----

           

            But there is neither East nor  West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

            When two strong men stand Face to face, though they

            Come from the ends of the Earth!”

 

            According to Kipling Eastern and Western cultures are so fundamentally different that they can never truly understand each other or come together.     

 

            Now look at the views of the Indian academic, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India.

 

            Whereas  Rudyard Kipling won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 , Dr. S, Radhakrishnan was honoured with The Bharat Ratna , the highest civilian  award  of the Republic of India in 1954.

            Disagreeing with Mr. Kipling  Dr. S. Radhakrishnan  said there was no reason to believe that there are fundamental differences between the East and the West.

            Human beings are  everywhere human and hold the same deepest values. The differences which are, no doubt, significant, are related to external, temporary social conditions and are alterable with them.

           

            East and West are relative terms. They are geographical expressions and  not cultural types. The differences among countries like China, Japan and India are quite as significant as those among European or American countries.

 

            Specific cultural patterns with distinctive beliefs and habits developed in different regions in relative isolation from one another.

            The world has now reached a stage of inter-communication. All societies are fast becoming industrialized and new sets of values are springing up. We are called upon to participate in the painful birth of new civilization. If we are to live together in peace we must develop international co-operation and understanding.

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G.R.Kanwal

9 September 2026     

 

LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

 

          LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

            Lead Kindly Light is a poem written by Cardinal John Henry Newman. He was an English poet, theologian and academic. Born on February 21, 1801. In the city of London, England ,  he died in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, on August 11, 1890.

            His poem mentioned above is a spiritual lyric. It is loved and appreciated by every reader who knows human pride which ultimately ends in humility.

            Initially, man regards himself self-reliant in the difficult journey of life. His pride enables him to lead a life of enjoyments with no thought of God. But not long after he faces difficulties. Darkness envelopes his path and he feels the need of step by step light,  which means divine help and guidance. His pride vanishes giving enough room to humility. He then bursts into a hymn addressed to God and prays : Lead Kindly Light. The word ‘Light’ symbolizes God who is kind to humans when they surrender themselves before Him.

                 The poet believes that the end of earthly life and suffering will result in meeting his loved ones who died in the past and are presently in heaven with peaceful angelic faces.

                        The full text of the poem which was written in 1833 was the result of an unfortunate event that caused fever to the poet, making him not only physically sick but also emotionally distressed.

                                    LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on;

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on.

Keep Thou my feet;

I do not ask to see the distant scene;

one step enough for me.

 

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that

Thou shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; but now

Lead Thou me on.

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will; Remember not past years.

 

So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still

Will  lead me on.

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone;

And with the morn those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

                                                *******

G. R. Kanwal

8 September 2026

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READ THIS TO BECOME WISER

 

                READ THIS TO BECOME WISER

            Wisdom is defined as the ability to make sensible decisions and give good advice because of the experience and knowledge that you have.

            Some common synonyms of wisdom are:  intelligence, knowledge, enlightenment, reason, philosophy, insight, prudence, and sagacity.

            The sources of wisdom are: observation, reflection, insight, philosophical view, moral discipline, practical experience, vast knowledge, infinite learning, failures, and successes.

            Here are some familiar quotes the mere reading of which will make you wiser.

*The best armour is to keep out of gun shot.

*Poverty wants some things , luxury many, avarice all things.

*A bachelor’s life is a splendid breakfast; a tolerably flat dinner; and a most miserable supper.

*The beauty seen, is partly in him who sees it.

*Benevolence is allied to few vices; selfishness to fewer virtues.

*Give; and it will be given unto you.

*God loveth a cheerful giver.

*Character is the result of two things; mental attitude and the way we spend our time.

*Loving kindness is greater than laws; and the charities of life are more than ceremonies.

*A man is what the winds and tides have made him.   

*The dew of compassion is a tear.

*Without consistency there is no moral strength.

* Good deeds ring clear through heaven like a bell.

*A life spent worthily should be measured by deeds, not years.

*A noble deed is a step toward God.

*Doubt is brother devil to despair.

*There is a long and wearisome step between admiration and imitation.

*Nothing is so infectious as example.

*None but cowards lie.

*A mask of gold hides all deformities.

*All history is a lie.

*The men who make history , have not time to write it.

*Much of the wisdom of one age, is the folly of the next.

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

7 September 2026

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DR. SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN

 

                DR. SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN

          Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, an Indian academic, philosopher and statesman was born at Tiruttani(Madras Presidency, now Tamil Nadu) on 5 September 1888 and he passed away on 17 April 1975, in Chennai.

            His birthday is celebrated as Teachers Day in India.

            He served as the Vice President of India from 1952 to 1962, and President of India from 1962 to 1967.

            His main interest was in religions. However, his learning was very vast and covered many philosophical, literary, and scientific domains.

            He was a prolific writer with deep thoughts and personal interpretations.

            Some of his  books are known as:

             Indian Philosophy. The Philosophy of Upanishads, An Idealist View of Life, Eastern Religions and Western Thought, East and West : Some Reflections, The Hindu View of Life, The Bhagavadgita, Philosophy of  Rabindranath Tagore, Living With A Purpose, The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought, Religion in a Changing World, etc.

             Given below are some extracts from his writings:

*The dogmatic religions and the totalitarian schemes foster the mind and develop the closed mechanistic society.

*Philosophy is a wide term including logic, ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy and metaphysics. The last is concerned with the ultimate nature of things.

*Confucius writes:

            The great mountain must crumble.

            The strong beam must break.

            And the wise man wither away like a plant.

           

            *Lead me from the unreal to the real

Lead me from darkness to light

Lead me from death to eternal life.---(Words from the Upanishad).

 

*Recent developments have given rise to the erroneous impression that while the West is scientific in outlook, the East is spiritually minded. The one is rational while the other is religious. The one is dynamic and perpetually changing while the other is static and unchanging.

 

            If we take a long view we will find that China and India made fundamental contributions to science and technology till three and four hundred years ago that there have been illustrious examples of religious idealism and sanctity in the west. The more we understand each other the more we feel we are like one another. East and West do not represent two different types of consciousness or modes of thought.

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

5^th September 2026    

 

 

LORD KRISHNA’S TWO IMPORTANT TEACHINGS

 

 

                                LORD KRISHNA’S TWO IMPORTANT TEACHINGS     

            Lord Krishna’s birthday is called Janmashtami. It is being celebrated today in India as well as in some other parts of the world as piously as possible.

            In the literary and religious history, Lord Krishna  is famous as the author of Bhagavad Gita ---The Song of God  which  is divided into eighteen chapters titled as :

            The Sorrow of Arjuna, The Yoga of Knowledge, Karma Yoga, Renunciation Through Knowledge, The Yoga of Renunciation, The Yoga of Meditation, Knowledge And Experience, The Way To Eternal Brahman, The Yoga of Mysticism, Divine Glory, The Vision of God In His Universal Form, The Yoga of Devotion, The Field And Its Knower, The Three Gunas,  Devotion To The Supreme Spirit, Divine And Demonic Tendencies, Three Kinds of Faith, and The Yoga of Renunciation.

            This write-up is concerned with only two most important chapters --- The Yoga of Knowledge and The Yoga of Renunciation.

            In The Yoga of Knowledge Lord Krishna acts as a teacher , the remover of ignorance,  because Arjuna who was to fight against his rivals firmly refuses to perform this duty since  who will die in the war were either his relatives or superior elderly persons.

            According to Lord Krishna Arjuna is ignorant about the reality of death, He regards the death of the body as the total death of an individual who is composed of not only of the body also of the soul.

            The body, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna , is perishable , but not the soul. The soul is birthless, deathless, endless, changeless, etc. It does not die but assumes a new form. The body when it becomes old is like a worn-out garment,  thrown away to don a new one. Thus whom Arjuna will be killing will not die; they will be reborn in a different form. So fighting is not really murderous. This enlightenment by Lord Krishna is eternally inspirational for all humans.

            In The Yoga of Renunciation, the great Lord asserts that our actions should not be motivated by desire. They should be done with non-attachment i.e. without expectation of their fruits.  However, this teaching of the great Lord should not lead to inaction. Humans are selfish. They are desirous for an attractive fruit for their actions. They work for some return, not fruitlessness. That is why they are advised to adopt the sacred attitude of renunciation. Act you must but without love for its reward. Thus, you have mandatory right to work but not for its reward.

                        The ultimate moral of the Bhagavad-Gita is dedication of all actions to God with no ego, no attachment, no desire for reward, and no claim for self-advancement.

            True renunciation is the soul of The Song of God.

                                                *****

G.R.Kanwal

4^th September 2026           

             

RABINDRANATH TAGORE SAID

 

          RABINDRANATH TAGORE SAID

            Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, author, playwright, musician, composer, philosopher, social reformer, painter, a great figure in the emergence Bengal Renaissance. He was born on 7 May 1861 in Kolkata and passed away 7 August 1941 in the same city. He wrote many books and won in 1913 the Nobel Prize in literature for his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse. His most famous book of poems is Gitanjali (Song-offering) published in 1913.

            What follows is two extracts from his important writings:

            *Spiritual life is the emancipation of consciousness. Through it we find immediate response of soul everywhere. Before we attain this life, we see men through the medium of self-interest, prejudice or classification, because of the perpetual remoteness around us which we cannot cross over. When the veil is removed, we not only see the fleeting forms of the world, but come close to its eternal being which is ineffable beauty.

            Some seek for the evidence of spiritual truth in the outside world. In this quest one may stumble upon ghosts or some super-sensual phenomenon of Nature, but these do not lead us to spiritual truth, as new words in a dictionary do not give us literature.

                                                                        ----

            **We light the lamp in our room which creates a seeming opposition  between it and the great outside world. Our life on the earth is like that small room in which our consciousness has been concentrated. And we imagine that outside it lies death which opposes it. But the one indivisible truth of existence which is  for us must not be doubted because our life obscures it for a moment.

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

3^rd September 2026

                                               

 

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

 

          LEARNING FROM OTHERS

            Great men express the gist of their practical experience or deep thinking in short sayings which others may read to enrich their knowledge, enhance their wisdom, and amplify their vision about life.

            Here are several examples of such expressions.

1.     Not failure, but low aim, is crime.---J. R. Lowell, American poet 1819-91

2.     It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.----Bruyere, Jean de la, French essayist (1645-96).

3.     He best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.----Francis Bacon, English essayist and philosopher (1561-1626).

4.     Brevity is the soul of wit.----William Shakespeare , English poet-playwright (1564-1616).

5.     The one prudence of life is concentration.—Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet (1803-1882).

6.      Life often presents us with a choice of evils rather than of good.---Colton Caleb C, English clergy (1780-1832).

7.     A man of integrity will never listen to any reason against conscience. ---Henry Home, Scottish judge (1696-1782).  

8.     Without consistency there is no moral strength.----John Jason Owen, American clergy (1803-69).

9.     The over curious are not over wise.----Philip Massinger, English poet-dramatist (1583-1640)

10.                        Delicacy is to the mind what fragrance is to the fruit. A. Poincilot, French author and philosopher (---1850).

11.                         The early morning has gold in its mouth.----Benjamin Franklin, American author and statesman (1706-90).

12.                         One should eat to live, not live to eat.---Benjamin Franklin.

13.                         The education of the human mind commences in the cradle.----T. Cogan, English physician (1736-1818)

14.                         The wisest man may always learn something from the humblest peasant.----J. P. Senn, Swiss writer (1792-1870).

15.                         No crime is so great to envy as daring to excel.----Winston Churchill, Statesman and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1874-1965).

16.                           Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ----Confucius, Chinese philosopher (Died 479 BC).

17.                         Men of cold passions have quick eyes.----Hawthorne, American author (1804-64).   

18.                          Even the best things are not equal to their fame.---Henry David  Thoreau , American naturalist and essayist (1817-62).

19.                         Man is a poetical enemy and delights in fiction.---William Hazlitt, English essayist (1778-1830).

20.                         The future is always a fairy land to the young.----English journalist George Augustus Sala (1828-95).

21.                         A mask of gold hides all deformities.-------Thomas Dekker, English dramatist  (1572-1632).  

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G. R. Kanwal

2^nd September 2026