THE ACHIEVEMENT OF CHARACTER -----AND THE PURPOSE OF LIFE
The achievement of character and the purpose of life is a
most significant subject and concerns everybody in this world. What follows gist
of a psycho-philosophical treatise written by Prof. J. Herman Randall more than
a century ago.
Mr. Randall was a professor of philosophy in Columbia
University. He was born in 1899 and passed away in 1980. The title of his
treatise, a sort of booklet, was “Man’s Undeveloped Powers – The Achievement of
Character. “
This
treatise begins with these words: “Work out your own salvation, ‘physically,
mentally, morally and spiritually. The ultimate victory is found in the truth,
“For it is God who worketh in you.”
In all reverence, God cannot accomplish man’s salvation
alone; man can not accomplish his salvation apart from God.
The great goal toward which humanity has been tending from
the beginning, man’s complete, all-round salvation, in all parts of his complex
nature, is to be as accomplished only through the co-operation of God and man;
or better still God in man.
Professor Randall’s belief about
salvation is by and large Christian but
not so different from the belief presented in the holy books of other
religions.
Dealing with man’s achievement
character, Prof. Randall refers to three rules.
The first is a clear conception of
what you want to accomplish in life. Do not be afraid to face frankly your
weaknesses just as they exist. Be honest with yourself and with God, whether
you are with your fellow man or not.
And when you have faced fearlessly your own faults and
weaknesses, get clearly in mind the image of the opposite of the things you
have found to be hurtful in your life.
If it is a tendency to hasty speech, hold the ideal of
self-control and kindness in speech, and think that ideal intensely until it
lodges itself deep in your sub-conscious self.
If it is a tendency towards insincerity or exaggeration, or
perhaps dishonesty in some of its many forms, then hold the opposite ideal. Say
to yourself, “I realize the need of speaking the truth always and everywhere. I
will be strictly accurate in my speech; I will not exaggerate. I will be
absolutely honest with myself and others.
If it be the tendency to any of the
grosser sins of the passions or appetites, let the method be exactly the same.
Say to yourself, “I will conquer, and the appetite or passion that may be
strong within can never control me, for I am the master of my fate. “Carry that
thought with you day and night.
Then by a series of suggestions adapted
to the desired end, by the regular and persistent following of these suggestions,
not all at once, but gradually ------- you will develop the new brain centres
out of which these noble activities proceed.
What has been said heretofore
relates to chievement of character. Now a few words about one’s purpose of life.
As mentioned in the very beginning
of this write up , Prof. Randall believes that it is God working in us, as we
work out, in obedience to His great Laws.
What we have to remember is that we are not in this earthly
life, primarily to gain riches; we are not here first of all to be happy; we
are not here to seek pleasure only; we are not here to attain the applause of
the world; if we can get these things legitimately , let us get them by all
means, but let us never forget that they are always the incidentals of our life
here, never the end of life.
Prof. Randall’s final words are: “The
great end and purpose of our being here at all, is that we shall grow a soul,
that we shall build a character, that we shall fashion, under God, the manhood
and womanhood that shall outlast all influences of Time. “
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20th
August 2020 G.R.KANWAL
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