WHAT IS RIGHT?

 

WHAT IS RIGHT?

The word ‘right’ in the sense of just, fair, correct, legal, lawful, impartial, valid, etc., is a relative term. The logic of the saying “Nothing is good or bad , but thinking makes it so” can also be applied  to ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. What is right in the eyes of one man, may be wrong in the eyes of another. Moreover, what may be legally right today may become legally wrong tomorrow by any amendment in the law of an orgaisation. So, there can be no changeless view about what is right.

The definition of right also changes from one country to another. Dictatorship may be right in one country but may be wrong in another democratic country. The proverb “ Tenets differ but all is well and wisely put” is universally valid.

Look at this proverb: ”Might is right”. This may be valid in authoritarianism but not in a democracy or a religious setup where morality is the chief basis of rightness’.

Here is another proverb: Two wrongs do not make one right.

To conclude,  a different quote by the English divine August W. Hare (1792-1834) which says “ Right is might, and ever was, and ever shall be so. Holiness, meekness, patience, humility, self-denial, and self-sacrifice, faith, love, ----each is might, and every gift of the spirit is might.”

                                    ******

G.R.Kanwal

30 April 2024   

 

    

ANXIETY

 

                ANXIETY

Anxiety is defined as fear, worry, stress, uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension, concern, etc.

There was a time when the number of anxious people in any part of the world was limited.  Today it is very large. In fact we are living in the age of anxiety.

Its major symbol is loneliness due to disappearance of joint families and the emergence of nuclear families. Children after they become adults and self-dependent move out of their paternal homes. In the past, we had tribes, now we have very  small families. The result is lack of connectivity with one’s kith and kin.

Even active neighbourhood is missing.  Don’d feel shocked if you are told that  even husband and wife live like strangers under the same roof.

 Loyal friends can share each other’s anxieties. But in this age of extreme selfishness they, too, are rare or non-existent.

What is the true current situation?  The answer is :widespread anxiety. Large numbers of overstressed people, visiting doctors for anti-stress medicines, feeling the need for yoga or some form of meditation or fall to depression.

The best approach to one’s anxiety is not to let it overpower you. Keep it at bay. Trust in God. Be strong. Anxieties come and go. Adopt a healthy life style. Learn to acquire the art of self-dependence. Read some good book on living a fearless, healthy and happy life. Don’t anticipate evils, and if they come face them boldly. Control your mind which is the main source of trouble.  Love your heart; be guided by this innocent central organ for remedial action.     

Finally, here is a piece of advice by the American theologian Edwards Tyron (1809-94) . He says that Anxiety is the rust of life, destroying its brightness and weakening its power. A childlike and abiding trust in Providence is its best preventive and remedy.

                                    ********

G.R.Kanwal

28 April 2024

 

BOLDNESS

 

                BOLDNESS

To be bold is to be brave, gallant, fearless, heroic, adventurous , courageous  or enterprising.

It is a great asset for every person in the battlefield of life. More often than not it results in victory.

Those who are not bold are timid, lack initiative and hesitate to take up any adventurous task.

            It is not false, but genuine boldness which achieves desired resultS. False boldness produces  shameful failure.

It is  right to say that even God lends a hand to honest boldness.

It is also true that to be bold implies a willingness to get things done despite risks.

In the great adventures of life risks are unavoidable but they should not discourage us. We should be bold enough to go ahead despite dangers and pitfalls.

             THE English poet and  literary critic  John Dryden (1631-1700)  says ‘‘Fortune befriends the bold.”

            To conclude, here is a balanced opinion about boldness  by the English essayist Francis Bacon (1561-1626)  : “Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers, and inconveniences; whence it is bad in council though good in execution.—The right use of the bold, therefore, is, that they never command in chief, but serve as seconds under the direction of others.—For in council it is good to see dangers, and in execution not to see them unless they be very great. “

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

27^th April 2024

 

INSULT

 

                INSULT

To insult somebody is to offend, discredit, hurt, humiliate or disparage him/her.  It is immoral and can also be unlawful. Those who insult others are indecent, disrespectful, immodest, intolerant or unduly proud people.

Insulting anybody even your opponent or enemy can lead to not only destructive anger but also legal wrangles.

Insult is mostly unbearable. It results in injurious reaction. It is not wrong to say that oppression is more easily borne than insult.

According to the English novelist Henry Fielding (1707-1754)  it is the nature of some minds to insult and tyrannize over little people, this being the means they use to recompense themselves for their extreme servility and condescension to their superiors. Slaves and flatterers exact the same taxes on all below them which they pay to all above them.

English author Samuel Johnson (1679-1748) thinks that fate never wounds more deeply the generous heart, than when a blockhead’s insult points the dart.

Finally, insult by anyone is inadvisable however great or powerful he/she may be.  

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

26^th April 2024   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

 

THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK

Think before you speak is half the proverb which becomes full with the words “Look before you leap”. To ignore this proverb is to invite trouble. To speak is to say or tell or express or explain something in words which should be appropriate and as few as possible. To be verbose is not the quality of a good speaker. The words used be a speaker should enlighten, not confuse; they should be agreeable not hurtful.

            To speak means to speak the truth. The information imparted by the speaker should be based on facts. There should be no twisting of somebody’s words or addition of falsehood to his statement. These features lead to unpleasant results like bitter discussions, snapping of relationships, physical fights or even legal wrangles.

It is better to keep silent than to speak thoughtlessly.  Wrong or baseless or hurtful words cannot be taken back once they have left your tongue. The best approach is not to utter them under any circumstances.

            It has been rightly said that speech is a faculty given to man to conceal his thoughts. It is also irrefutable that every unbridled tongue in the end finds itself unfortunate.

Finally, to conclude this short note, people’s fortunes, believe several philosophers, are oftener made by their tongues than by their virtues.   

                                    *************

G.R.Kanwal

25^th April 2024

 

REMEMBERING SHAKESPEARE

 

                REMEMBERING  SHAKESPEARE

English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616.

Among his notable writings are 37 plays (Comedies, Tragedies, Histories) and 154 sonnets , mostly addressed to his friend.

The four great tragedies are Macbeth, Othello, King Lear and Hamlet. Most of his unforgettable quotes are taken from these plays.

Given below is a bit long but very significant quote from Hamlet:

                   To die, to sleep;

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub ;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give a pause : here’s the respect

That makes calamity of so long life;

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make,

With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscover’d country from whose bourn

No traveller returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

 

In his most characteristic play like Hamlet, Shakespeare shows us life in its variety ; he ranges from tragic passion to ironical comedy, from solid realistic portraiture  to ethereal lyric beauty. That is why his works are even today read, staged and interpreted all over the world in almost all the languages. .

 

To conclude, a short quote from King Lear:

As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods

They kill us for their sport.

                                                            *******  

23^rd April 2024l                                                                                   G.R.Kanwal

 

 

  

 

DON’T BE AN EGOTIST

 

DON’T BE AN EGOTIST

Ego is one’s self. It also means self-love, self-confidence, self-esteem and self- importance. 

To love oneself is good rather desirable provided  it does not lead to  selfishness, vanity or arrogance.

An egoist loses appreciation when he/she  becomes a self-seeker.

Egoists are better than egotists who are egocentric, vain, boasters, and braggers.

According to Swiss Physicist Johann Georg  Zimmerman (1728-95}  egotism is more like an offence than a crime, though it is allowable to speak of yourself provided nothing is advanced in your own favour;  but I cannot help suspecting that those who abuse themselves are in reality, angling for approbation. 

            To conclude, it is true  to say that an egotist will always speak of himself, either in praise or censure; but a modest man ever shuns making himself the subject of his conversation.

            It is also true that an egotist considers himself or herself to be better or more important than others.   

G.R.Kanwal

21^st April 2024

TRUTH ABOUT PREDICTIONS

 

                TRUTH ABOUT PREDICTIONS

To predict is to foretell what will happen in future. It may be based on astrology or science or any other method of prophesying.

Among present, past and future times only present is in hand. Past is gone and future is uncertain.

The proverb: Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today is significant.

As for predictability, science is more reliable than astrology. It is based on the theory of cause and effect and the laws of nature.

            What follows are a few couplets by the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) on the book of fate, i.e. destiny, God’s will, future, and astral influence on one’s life.

“Heaven from all creatures hides the book of Fate,

All but the page prescribed, the present state;

From brutes what men, from men what spirits know:

Or who could suffer Being below?

 

To conclude, had it been possible to predict all sorts of coming events, much loss of life and property which has occurred  in the world so far would have been avoided.                                                 ********

 

G.R.Kanwal

20^th April 2024

SOME SHORT QUOTES ON MAN

 

SOME SHORT QUOTES ON MAN

A great many thinkers, poets, writers, philosophers, saints and scientists have expressed their views about what man is. Here are some very short quotes.

1.     To me man looks like God’s wonderful feat of artistic and biological engineering.

2.     Man is a rational animal.

3.      Man is God’s deputy on earth. 4. Half dust, half deity, alike unfit to sink or soar. ---English romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824 ).

4.     Limited in his nature, infinite in his desires. –French poet Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869).

5.      When man is a brute, he is the most sensual and loathsome of all brutes. ---American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864).

6.      Man is a wealth grabber, man is a pleasure seeker; man is a power wielder; man is a thinker, and man is a creative lover. ---American inventor Graham Bell (1847-1922).

7.      Man is a reasoning rather than a reasonable animal. ---Alexander Hamilton, American statesman (1757-1804).

      And finally what the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744)  said : The proper study of mankind is man.

                                    ********    

G. R. Kanwal

19^th April 2024

 

A SHORT NOTE ON ANGER

 

          A SHORT NOTE ON ANGER

Anger is fury. It is steady or sudden loss of temper. Normally, it is the result of some old or new provocation. It is similar to retaliation.

Some of its synonyms are  annoyance, rage, indignation , wrath, ire, vexation, outrage, etc.

It is concerned with a person’s negative emotions. It shows intolerance and results in physical or mental outburst. It can become destructive both to him who expresses anger and to him who becomes its victim.

            Some common ways of anger management are : taking deep breaths, drinking water, walking, talking to some delightful friend, reciting some mantra, writing down the cause of your anger on a piece of paper, reciting a relevant song or poem, forgetting the incident and forgiving the provocateur.

            Anger is not a virtue. It is a vice. Calmness is a positive quality. It is your strength. Impatience and intolerance are weaknesses.

            Greek philosopher Pythagoras (570-490 BCE) said anger begins in folly, and ends in repentance.

            According to a Chinese proverb the fire you kindle for your enemy often burns yourself more than him.

            To conclude, a statement by English dramatist  John Webster (1602-84) : There is not in nature a thing that makes man so deformed, so beastly, as doth intemperate anger.

                                                ***********   

G.R.Kanwal

!8^th April 2024

 

GOD IS EVERYWHERE

 

          GOD IS EVERYWHERE

            God has many attributes. One of them is that He present everywhere. Scottish writer Alexander Cruden (701-1770 ) says this is one of the names which we give to that eternal infinite and incomprehensible being the creator of all things, who preserves and governs everything by his almighty power and wisdom, and who is the only object of our worship.

            To worship is to be grateful to God for granting us  life and providing us with the wherewith all that preserves  ourlife.

            Most of the people visit fixed places of worship and perform rituals. There are however others who think God is everywhere. He is even in their heart, so there is no need to go to a particular place of worship .   

Among Indian saints it Is the poet Kabir (1398 -1518) who believed in the formless God. Here is one of his songs translated into English by Bhagwan Rajnish briefly known as Osho (1931-1990).

“He is the real Master who can reveal the form

Of the formless to the vision of these eyes:

Who teaches the simple way of attaining Him,

That is other than rites and ceremonies:

Who does not make you close the doors, and hold the breath,

And renounce the world:

Who makes you perceive the Supreme Spirit

wherever the mind attaches itself:

Who teaches you to be still in the midst of all your activities.

Ever immersed in bliss, having no fear in his mind,

He keeps the spirit of union in the midst of enjoyments.

The infinite dwelling of the Infinite Being is everywhere.:

In earth, water, sky, and air:

Firm as the thunderbolt, the seat of the seeker

Is established above the void.

He who is within is without: I see Him and none else.

 

In another song Kabir says:

I do not ring the temple bell:

I do not set the idol on its throne:

I do not worship the image with flowers.

It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh

Which are pleasing to the Lord.

            To conclude, let everybody has the right to follow his own beliefs and religious practices as he wants.

                           *********

G.R.Kanwal

17t April 2024

 

 

 

 

HEROISM

 

          HEROISM

A hero is a gifted person. He has extraordinary qualities in his specific field. He out-performs others and becomes a leader. He is looked upon for solution to all the problems of his followers. He achieves this status both by birth and experience. His popularity continues to rise and he starts demanding hero-worship. A time comes when he cannot do without being admired, exalted and glorified. This makes him proud. He starts looking down upon some of his rival.  It is also possible that his hidden weaknesses may start showing themselves  and his esteem mat start declining.

 A great fact is that no hero is perfect. He does have some tragic flaw in his character.  

It is a popular saying that there are heroes in evil as well as good.

A sensible piece of advice is that worship your heroes from afar; contact withers them.

German poet Goethe said : No body is a hero to his valet.

Finally, what a French author Laurent Beaumelle (1726-73) said: Of two heroes , he is the greatest who esteems his rivals most.

                                                ******

G.R.Kanwal

15 April 2024

 

 

 

 

  

SOME WISDOM QUOTES

 

          SOME WISDOM QUOTES

Wisdom is knowledge, learning, intelligence, reason, insight, sagacity, enlightenment, philosophy, experience, perception, etc., and a wise person is one who is  learned, sensible, prudent, astute, reasonable, rational, logical, sane, enlightened, knowledgeable, experienced, etc.

What follows are famous quotes on wisdom:

1.Common-sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. 2. A nod to the wise, a rod to the foolish. 3. He is wise who knows sources of knowledge. 4. There is one person that is wiser than anybody and that is everybody. 5. Much wisdom often goes with fewest words. 6. Wisdom is to the mind what health is to the body. 7. Our chief wisdom consists in knowing our follies and faults, that we may correct them. 8. God gives men wisdom as he gives them gold; his treasure house is not mint, but the mine. 9. Among mortals second thoughts are wise. 10. The wisest man is generally he who thinks himself the least so.

            Finally, what the Persian poet Sheikh Saadi Shirazi  (1210- ?) said : He who learns the rules of wisdom without conforming to them in his life is like a man who ploughs in his field but does not sow.

                                                *******

G.R.Kanwal

12thApril 2024   

 

           

SOME THOUGHTS ON POWER

 

SOME THOUGHTS ON POWER

‘Power’ has many meanings like ability, capability, competence, force, strength, mastery, right, prerogative, etc. In this short note, this word has been used in the sense of authority.

            The central idea in this note is that power should not make its holder proud, arrogant, autocratic, dictatorial or revengeful. Power should be used to help not to harm anybody. English writer Francis Bacon (1561-1626) says “Nothing destroys authority so much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power, pressed too far and relaxed too much.“ 

According to French philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662 } “Justice without power is inefficient; power without justice is tyranny. Justice without power is opposed, because there are always wicked men. Power without justice is soon questioned. Justice and power must therefore be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful  may be just.”

Power should not be misused. It should not make its holder cruel or merciless. It should rather make him humble and kind-hearted. God is omnipotent, yet very merciful. The appropriate use of power is to strengthen the weak and uplift them.

To conclude let you power become moral power and be used spiritually rather than physically.     

There is the most famous quote

“ Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

                                                            ********

G.R.Kanwal

11^th April ----------- 2024

 

RUMI SAID ….

 

RUMI SAID ….

“Come, come, whoever you are,

Wanderer, fire worshipper, lover of leaving.

This is not a caravan of despair.

It does not matter that you have broken your vow

A thousand time, still come,

And yet again come.”

 

These poetic lines have been taken from “Rumi The Big Red Book by Coleman Barks.”  Rumi”s full name was Jalal-al-Muhammad Rumi. He was born on 30th September 1207 at Balkh, Afghanistan and died on 17 December 1273 at Konya, Turkiye. He is regarded as the greatest mystical poet of Islam.  His poems are  popular among the followers of all the faiths in every part of the world.

 

The lines quoted above are about God’s forgiveness for all sorts of  sinners howsoever hardened they may be,  provided they have decided to reform themselves.  God is always merciful, his home is one of hope, not of despair.  

 

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

9^th March 2024  

 

A POEM ON FORGIVENESS

 

            A POEM ON FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is an essential quality of a noble person.  To feel offended by the wrong doing of somebody is a normal reaction.   But not to forgive the wrongdoer and to think of retaliation shows that they are ignorant of each other’s background.  

The title of the poem that follows is “To KNOW ALL IS TO FORGIVE ALL”. It is written by an American journalist Nixon Waterman (1859-1944).

“If I knew you and you knew me--

If both of us could clearly see,

And with an inner sight divine

The meaning of your heart and mine---

I’m sure that we would differ less

And clasp our hands in friendliness;

Our thoughts would pleasantly agree

If I knew you, and you knew me.

 

If I knew you and you knew me,

As each one knows his own self, we

Could look each other in the face

And see therein a truer grace.

Life has so many hidden woes,

So many thorns for ever rose;

The “why” of things our hearts would see,

If I knew you and you knew me. “

        

            According to a commentator the  poem “To know all is to forgive all” means understanding and knowledge can lead to forgiveness. If we have a deep understanding of someone’s circumstances, experiences, or struggles, we can empathise with them more fully and find it easier to forgive any wrongdoing or mistakes the may have made.”

 

            The key lines in the poem are: Our thoughts would pleasantly agree/If I knew you and you knew me.

                                                                                                                                                                                    *********

G.R.Kanwal

8^th March 2024

 

BENEFITS OF FORGIVENESS

 

BENEFITS OF FORGIVENESS

To forgive is to let bygones be bygones. It is to excuse, pardon, acquit, not to bear malice or harbour grudge. English poet Alexander pope’s saying : “ To err is human, to forgive, divine “ is only partially true. Human beings, too, should be kind-hearted and forgiving. Revenge and retaliation are not virtues; they are some sort of deadly sins. .

            Forgiveness has many benefits. One of them is “It brings restoration. When we forgive, it opens the door for relationships to be restored. It is the key to rebuilding trust and restoring broken relationships.”

Vindictive and revengeful persons harm not only those who have hurt them but also themselves. The anger which they carry disturbs their inner peace because they go on brooding over the unhappy past events which ruin their physical and mental health.  

            Finally, as somebody said : He who has not forgiven an enemy has never yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

6^th March 2024

WHAT MAKES A NATION STRONG

 

                WHAT MAKES A NATION STRONG

Countries are classified as developed, developing and undeveloped. The main basis is their industrial development and the wealth produced by it. However, there is no equal distribution of wealth among the people of any country. There are very poor and very rich people side by side.

Some unworldly philosophers don’t agree that wealth is the essential basis of a country’s strength. According to them, the wealth of a state, consists not in great treasures, solid walls, fair palaces, weapons and armour; but its best and noblest wealth, and its truest safety, is in having learned, wise honourable, and well-educated citizens.

There is also no single definition of wealth. For Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 Bc—270 BC) wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.   

To conclude, here is a poem titled “A Nation’s Strength” by the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882):

Not gold, but only men can make

A people great and strong

Men who for truth and honour’s sake

Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep

Who dare while others fly –

They build a nation’s pillars deep

And lift them to the sky.

                                    ********

G.R.Kanwal

5^th March 2024      

 

 

 

Religion and Politics

 

Religion and Politics

There are different views about politics in religion and religion in politics. As there are several religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc., so  are there several political systems like democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, dictatorship, etc.    

            In secularism, States do not represent any particular religion. Here, a citizen is free to practice any religion.

            English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) says : “For forms of government, let fools contest/Whatever is best administered is best.”

            Cutting short my theme about intermixing  religion and politics, I want  to emphasize only one  thing and that is one’s  relationship with God.  

Here is a relevant view by American orator and statesman Daniel Webster 1782-1852). He says: Political and professional fame cannot last forever , but a conscience void of offence before God and man is an inheritance for eternity. Religion, therefore , is a necessary, an indispensable element in any great human character. There is no living without it. Religion is the tie that connects man with his Creator, and holds him to his throne. If that tie is sundered or broken, he floats away a worthless atom in the universe, its proper attractions all gone, its destiny thwarted, and its whole future nothing but darkness, desolation and death. A man with no sense of religious duty is he whom the Scriptures describe in so terse but terrific a manner, as ‘living without hope and without God in the world.” Such a man is out of his proper being, out of the circle of all his duties, out of the circle of all his happiness, and away, far, far away from the purpose of his creation.”

                                                *******

G. R. Kanwal

4^th March 2024   

 

WHAT ARE PROVERBS?

 

          WHAT ARE PROVERBS?

Proverbs are also known as sayings, maxims, adages, aphorisms, etc. Most of them are old, well-known, traditional and time-honoured. 

Lord John Russell has defined them as the wisdom of many, and the wit of one.

According to American author Ralph Waldo Emerson proverbs are the literature of reason, or the statements of absolute truth, without qualification. Like the sacred books of each nation, they are the sanctuary of its intuitions.

The simplest definition of proverbs as : ”Short sentences drawn from long experiences.” Belongs to  the Spanish writer Cervantes (1547-1616).

A bit longer definition which follows is by the English Quaker William Penn 1644-1718 . “The wisdom of nations lies in their proverbs, which are brief and pithy. Collect and learn them; they are notable measures of directions for human life.”

Let us now look at some proverbs taken from a school boy’s English textbook .

1. A lie has no legs to stand upon. 2. Truth is ever green. 3. Might is right. 4. It takes two to make a quarrel. 5. Hunger is the best sauce. 6. Nearer the church, farther from God. 7. Haste makes waste. 8. It is never too late to mend. 9. Better late than never. 10. Out of sight, out of mind. 11. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 12. A little pot is soon hot. 13. A golden key opens all locks. 14 Much cry, little wool. 15. Penny wise, pound foolish.

To conclude, proverbs are not the literary treasure of the educated people. They are an important   part of folklore. The illiterate, too, use them in their day-to-day life.

                                          ******    

G.R.Kanwal

3^rd March 2024