facts for free thinking

EKKENTROS FORUM


The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 10-11-09 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Prof. P.M.Sankarankutty, Green Hills, Temple Gate, Tellicherry-670103

Coram: Seven members attended. Prof. Hay and Sri. T. Bhaskaran could not attend as they are out of station to the Gulf.

Subject: Facts in Unbiased Free Thinking.
Dr. Md. Abdulla: In our discussions we have now reached a point where the question to be tackled is whether any unbiased thinking is at all possible for human beings. While caught in the worldly affairs, every individual faces problems and agonies of different kinds and intensities. The practical reaction to search for a solution in such circumstances has been to seek God Almighty’s assistance. While praying the problem seems to become lighter, but when we come out of the prayers the problem returns. This would make it clear that we are unable to hold on to “Bhakthi Bhava” or the devotional attitude. We are able to experience the emotion of devotion only fleetingly.
The secret of leading a life where problems do not affect us is therefore to learn to sustain the devotional attitude or in other words, to maintain the purity of the mind. All religious texts give us the advice to reach that goal by continuous devotion and prayers. In short Purity of the Mind is the prerequisite for unbiased free thinking, and devotion or Bhakthi is the simplest way to attain and sustain it. And they have to be realized in one’s inner self as an experience of God’s all pervading Truth. That results in a state of absolute humility.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: What is actually purity of mind? Is it a mind without any feeling of doing wrong or a feeling of guilt? I think doing wrong is a mental concept. One feels that he has done wrong.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: A person has an idea that killing is wrong. He has been brought up to think so. But killing an enemy soldier in battle is not wrong. Yet killing a stray dog is sin.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: There is no sin except the mental concept of guilt. It is the conditioning of the mind which brings about the feeling of guilt.
Dr.Thomas: For the Jains, even inadvertent killing of insects is sin, and they really feel guilty for the death of tiny insects caused by their breathing. They are supposed to go around covering their mouth and nose to avoid that. Many of them follow that practice even now. Similarly among hunters there were certain codes to be followed to avoid committing sin. Animals should not be killed while they drink water from their water holes. Neither pregnant animal or a couple in mating should be killed. Once these are in their mind they naturally feel guilty when they go against the codes.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Each person’s thinking is based on the way he is brought up. It is based on past experience and is limited by his experience. And there are certain rules of society that everybody has to follow in order to keep harmony among its members. The concept of sin comes from that. Any violation of the standards brings a feeling of guilt or sin. All sins are the manifestations of the feelings of the mind. But you can, of course be emotionless like saints and then you may be free of guilt. One is afraid of ghosts as he has been told stories and experiences relating to them. Imagination takes over and he is afraid. But if you analyze the mechanism of the process in the mind, the fear disappears and the person becomes calm. Certain amount of intuitive analysis is required. If the imagination goes uncontrolled, fantasy takes over resulting in psychosis etc. It is an aberration of the mind.
In a situation of unbiased thinking or comment, one’s previous knowledge or preconceived ideas should not interfere.
Dr. Abdulla : Only a pure mind can have balanced thoughts. That is why I say that purity of mind is essential for unbiased thinking.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: One must be able to understand that external things and extraneous matters always come up and interfere with free thinking. In one is aware of that then free thinking will be possible.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: Yes. If I am aware that I have my prejudices and my past experience is continuously interfering with my thoughts it makes a difference. I can think with an open mind and think freely. Free thinking is thus possible.
Dr. Abdulla: My past experience and my opinion need not be always wrong. If you are pure at heart you can be absolutely correct and you can insist that your opinion is correct. There, one is sure of one’s opinion. A man who is pure at heart can make a good and correct decision.
Dr. Sadanandan: Conscience is built upon so many factors. Past experiences, Rules and codes, ideas of right and wrong, religious beliefs, etc. etc.
DR. Abdulla: One must be prepared to hear others’ points of view also for the thinking to be free.
Dr. Sadanandan: But we act on our conditioning. We are patriotic and love our country intensely. Therefore we kill, and killing becomes thus right. But basically where is the enemy? He also is patriotic and loves his country. Countries are mere border outlines, and a person born on the other side cannot become automatically an enemy. Ultimately there is no enemy. I believe that no human being should kill another human being. I may not be patriotic and I may be persecuted as a traitor. But I am right. I act according to what my conscience tells me is Truth.
That is free thinking. But we act on our conditioning. We act on the basis what we are told by others to be patriotism. The thinking itself is biased.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: Who was it that died in prison taking Hemloc? Yes, Socrates died for the Truth that he was sure of. Unbiased thinking has its consequences when one acts accordingly.
Dr. Sankarankutty. Bernard Shaw said that we act on a state of conditioning, not on realization.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: I cannot be said to be biased if I am aware of my conditioning and prejudices, and am willing to understand others and to change my opinion if I am wrong.
Dr. Md. Abdulla: The one great character I admire as absolutely unbiased, is Mahatma Gandhi who truly lived in Truth.
Dr. Thomas. In the events of the world, right action or wrong action is said to be known only long after the events are over. Therefore it is only from history correct action can be judges, known and studied. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are being judged now on the basis of the results of their actions. They were both sure of the correctness of their ideas and theories in their time. They had no doubts. But their actions created great miseries in the world and they are being judged now accordingly. Trotsky was different. He was more flexible in his thoughts and was a liberal. Therefore he suffered at the hands of the other two. He had his convictions for which he suffered. Marx and Engels were both biased by their own notions and ideas, but still they firmly believed then that they were right.