ekkentros free thoughts

Institution of Marriage, and Divoece

2011-03-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 15-2-11 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Dr. Babu Ravindran, Edavalath House, Thiruvangad Tellicherry-3

Coram: Seven members except Prof P.M.Sankarankutty who is out of station, attended and participated in the discussions. .

Subject: The Institution of Marriage, and Divorce

Dr. Babu Ravindran: Dictionary meaning of marriage is the formal union of a man and woman as husband and wife – it is a ‘combin-ation’.
It is a social union or legal contract between two people that create kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationship, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union is usually formalized by a wedding ceremony.
Confucius said, “Marriage is the union of two different surnames in friendship and love, in order to continue the posterity of the former sages, and to furnish those who shall preside at the sacrifices to heaven and earth, at those in the ancestral temple, and at those at the altars to the spirits of the land and grain.”. This has not much meaning now. In the present day social set up in India, people marry in order to set up a family of their own. People marry for many reasons, - may be legal, social, emotional, economical, and religious. The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved.
The institution of marriage has most probably developed out of primeval habits, that even in primitive times it was the habit for a man and a woman, (or several women), to live together to have sexual relations with each other and to rear their offspring in common, the man being the guardian of the family and the woman his helpmate and the nurse of their children. Wife is not only a source of sexual pleasure, but a helpmate, or food provider, a cook, and a mother of children. Thus habit was sanctioned by custom and afterwards by law, and was thus transformed into a social institution.
In any attempt to study the origin of marriage we have not found unanimity of opinion. It was held by eminent sociologists that the human race must originally have lived in a state of promiscuity, where individual marriage did not exist, where all the men in a horde or tribe had indiscriminately access to all the women and where the children born of these unions belong to the community at large.
Prof. Mohan Nair: It appears that even now there are some communities where men and women live together freely with multiple relationships, without marriage. I understand that in Badagara there is a community or Ashram where people live like in a similar way looking after children who belong to all of them.
Dr. Abdulla: There are some tribal communities also who follow that practice even now.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: But Darwin remarked that from what we know of jealousy of all male quadrupeds, promiscuous intercourse is utterly unlikely to prevail in a state of nature
Many writers believe that the earliest form of marriages was a so-called group marriage, implying a union between a certain group of men and certain group of women. Dr. Briffault says that, “the regulation of collective sexual relation between given groups has everywhere preceded any regulations of those relations between individual members of the group” and that “in their origin marriage regulations had no reference to such individual relations, but to relation between groups”
During the course of evolution social reforms and moral codes evolved to the present day system of marriages. Now there is wide cross-cultural variation in the selection of partners. Usually it will be a collective decision of the partners’ groups. It is generally limited to suitable partners of specific social groups – (endogamy). In certain groups a partner is expected marry their cross cousins (father’s sister’s son etc.), or even own sister’s daughter as in the case of some Brahmin communities in the South. This is mostly to protect their family property from going outside. ‘Levirate’ marriage is in which widows are obligated to marry their husband’s brothers. Now with the growing IT facilities, the E-mail marriage bureaus take up the responsibility of giving the choices.
Marriage is usually formalized at a wedding/marriage ceremony. Christian marriages are supervised by priests and conducted in church, Muslim marriages by Mullas, and for Hindus the custom varies from group to group. Some groups take the help of temple priests, while others depend on family elders. Earlier the marriages were conducted at the residence of the bride, but now it is mostly shifted to marriage halls. As per rules marriage has to be registered with the appropriate authority to have legal sanction.
Religious groups have different views on polygamy, the practice of a man taking more than one wife. Islam and Confucianism allow that. But Christian, present day Hindu and all others do not approve that.
Financial dealings are also a part of the marriages in different societies. Dowries and Bride- Price continue even today. It has often led to women being killed in the name of dowry. In Muslim marriages, the groom is expected to pay a bride-price to the bride’s family for the right to marry their daughter. It is called ‘Mahar’.
Polygamy existed in three specific forms, Polygene, Polyandry, and group marriages. Historically all the three forms existed, but polygene seems to have been more common. Polygene is when one man has more than one wife e.g., Dasaratha, father of SreeRama. In Polyandry a woman is married to more than one husband e.g., Draupathy. And, Group Marriage is when a family unit consists of more than one man and more than one woman, any of whom share parental responsibility for any children of the group.
In normal Indian set up to-day, a man marries one woman and lives with her with their children as a close unit family with all sentimental attachments as father, mother, daughter and son, and in-laws. There are social and moral restrictions and understanding that are the basic necessities for a peaceful society.
Apart from being willing to be governed by the rules of the land and religion as required by society, the key to successful marriage life is love, understanding, mutual respect, trust, commitment, and togetherness.
Divorce: Divorce is the final termination of the marital union, dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two parties of the wedlock. In monogamy it allows each of the former partners to marry another. In polygene it allows the woman to marry another. Divorce is now allowed in almost all countries except in Malta and Philippines.
Reasons for divorce are several. In India we do not have survey or statistics published in this regard. It would be interesting to note such details published in UK. According to the statistics of a survey group published in UK the percentages of divorce due to various reasons are,
Adultery, extra-marital sex, infidelity 27%
Domestic violence 17%
Midlife crisis 13%
Addiction – alcohol/gambling 6%
Workaholic 6%
In three-fourth of the cases where extra-marital sex was the reason for divorce it was the husband who was the offender. In family strain, the wives’ families were the primary source of strain. Emotional and physical abuses were more evenly split among husbands and wives. 70% of the workaholics were men. According to the 2004 survey, over 90% of the petitioners for divorce were wives, and these were invariably not contested. More than half the divorces (53%) were after 10 to 15 years of married life. 40% were after 5-10 years. During the first five years of married life, there were hardly any petitions for divorce. The first few years are therefore divorce free. If the Marriage lasts for more than 20 years it is unlikely to end up in divorce.
In most countries, divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process. It also involves the issue of spousal support, child custody, child support, distribution of property and division of debts.
There are two basic approaches to divorce, fault based, and no-fault based. Laws vary as to the waiting period before a divorce is effective. The three types of divorces normally come across are,
1. No-fault Divorce
2. At-fault Divorce
3. Summary Divorce.
No-fault divorce requires no allegation or proof of the fault of either party. The application may be made by either party or by both parties jointly. On the other hand, at-fault divorce requires proof by one party that the other party had committed an act incompatible with the marriage obligations. ‘Ground for Divorce’ is the term used for this and this was the only way to terminate a marriage. In USA no-fault divorce is now available in all 50 states and the last state which permitted no-fault divorce was Columbia-New York in 2010
In India, divorce is still a social taboo, although legally the courts allow divorces in specific cases. Divorce rate is significantly low in India, though in Kerala it is slightly higher. In spite of the existence of reduced economic disparity between spouses, either of the two was always expected to compromise with the other so that the marriage bonding survived. In most cases women in the past were forced to adjust to the unbearable post-marital conditions for the sake of the welfare of the family, children, and even for herself as she was hardly open to any means of earning her own livelihood. But, spread of education, Human Rights activism etc. have become ways to break free from the marital clutches for many a woman.
As regards the connected laws relating to divorces, The Hindus (including Buddists, Sikhs, and Jains) are covered by the Hindu Marriages Act of 1955. Christians are governed by the Indian Divorce Act 1869. For Parsis there is a separate law viz. Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936. Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act1939 covers Muslims. The practice of ‘Talaq (Triple Talaq)’ among Muslims. is well known. When the female demands the divorce it is called by the name ‘Khula’.

Ekkentros Reports - Emotional intelligence

2011-02-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 26-10-10 (Tuesday)

Venue: Hotel Malabar Fort (Gokulam Fort) hosted by Dr. K.P.Thomas.

Coram: All eight members attended and participated in the discussions. Artist K.V.Haridasan also attended as guest participant.

Subject: Emotional Intelligence

The report of the last discussion on 28-10-10 was accepted as amended (vide last page of the report replaced). After the Forum’s invocation the discussion on Emotional Intelligence was initiated by Sri Kunhikrishnan and discussed by others. Artist Haridasan showed print of the painting to be used for the cover of the proposed book to be published and the drawings made by him for inclusion in the various topics. After a lavish dinner hosted by Dr. Thomas, and a vote of thanks by Prof. Sankarankutty , the meeting dispersed at 11 PM

Sri.K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Intelligence has been given undue importance compared to emotion for too long a time now. In the words of Jaggi Vasudev,

“An emotional person looks like a fool to an intellectual person. But what an emotional person knows in terms of experience and perception of life in its totality, an intellectual person will never touch that. So, a devotional person looks like a fool, but the real fool is elsewhere.”
Courtesy, ‘Forest Flower’

At the outset the term or expression looks a contradiction, the juxtaposition of two incompatible words denoting entirely different entities. Intelligence relates to reasoning, intellect, logic and the like. And emotion signifies mind, feeling etc. In traditional thoughts also they are treated as different. In Bhagavat Geetha it is said that intellect is beyond the mind. Intellect controls the thoughts arising from emotions by reasoning. The combined expression therefore appears not proper.
But individual word meaning has no place here. One cannot try to understand Chinese Philosophy by looking up into the dictionary the word ‘China’ and ‘philosophy’. The term Emotional Intelligence has been coined to represent a particular aspect in the use of intelligence. In measuring the intellectual capacity of individuals, and in particular among students and employment seekers, the management experts and educationists have developed what is called the Intelligence Quotient, the I.Q. Elaborate methods have been developed to assess the I.Q. of employment seekers so that the best of men could be recruited.
But when the best of men with highest I.Q. were put into the place of managers of business and administration it was found that several of them were lacking talents in understanding the mindset of the people with whom they have to do business or the personnel whom they have to tackle in day to day work. Some who had the capacity and talent to gauge the emotional behavior of those on the other side, on the other hand, could do excellently well. So the experts thought of some ways of assessing the capacity of individual employees in the matter of understanding and handling the emotional aspects of others. From this arose the term Emotional Intelligence and thereafter the ‘Emotional Quotient’, EQ. There were objections to calling it intelligence. But the expression seems to have stuck after the best seller book of Daniel Goleman popularized it extensively.
For assessing intelligence and arriving at I.Q., the cognitive aspects were naturally given more importance than emotional aspects. Abilities of good memory and reasoning power were considered to be the most important assets for success in business or any other career. But Emotional Intelligence considers also the ability to understand others and to control not only one’s own emotional behaviour towards others but that of others also. So, for success in any field today understanding of others and managing the emotional behaviour of others are considered to be an essential requirement. Methods are also developed to measure this ability, although it has been found rather difficult to assess it with any precision.
The basic idea of Emotional Intelligence as a factor in the ability to live in difficult surroundings was recognized since Darwin expounded his theory of the survival of the fittest. Emotional balance was a valuable asset for survival. But the term Emotional Intelligence was first used only in 1985 when a doctoral student Wayne Payne used it for his thesis for doctorate called ‘Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence’. It became very popular and came into wide use after the publication of the best seller book on the subject by Goleman.
This I put forward for further discussion and elaboration.

Dr.K.P.thomas: I have personal experience of this in our organization. While the administrator and the manager are able to carry on their work very well they are found to be not able to either inspire their subordinates or understand the workers. Of course, they are not qualified in modern management or well versed in maintaining discipline of the working staff. The disadvantage is clear. If they could understand the mind of people working under them it would have been ideal. Harassment of the staff and quarrel among the employees would have been the minimum.
I think that in these matters heredity is a very important factor. Part of the capacity for leadership and management is inherited. Apart from the upbringing, genetically what we acquire from our parents become our heredity, and that counts a lot in understanding others and managing them.

Prof. P.M. Sankarankutty: But that is not always true. Milton, the famous English poet’s children were not at all brilliant.

DR. Thomas: Yes, then both the parents may not be brilliant. But the level of their upbringing may still be seen. The Tibetans and the Eskimos developed the genes to put up with extreme cold. When the English wanted to rule India they educated the middle class of Indians in large numbers, and their progeny is today reaping the benefits. In the present time English education has become a big advantage to India. Indians are by nature very intelligent because they inherited it from their ancestors, and today they are proving to be more brilliant than the Americans and the British. The Brahmins understood that emotion is necessary more than intelligence. They had trained to control emotion. Brahmins were therefore given promotions and put in important places like assisting and advising the Rajas. Emotion is the base of motivation.

Dr. Sadanandan: For the emotion to function effectively, intelligence is essential. Emotion is beyond one’s conscious control. It is intelligence which has to regulate and direct the emotion to advantage.

Prof. M.V. Mohanan Nair: At the same time emotional security is needed for intelligence to function and operate properly. Social Intelligence which studies how to deal with society and manage it, works by directing the emotions of society.

Dr.Babu Ravindran: Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Some say it can be learned and strengthened, but others say it is an inborn characteristic.
End of 20th century had a surge of scientific studies on evolution. Till that the IQ was considered the major determinant of success in life. But it is Daniel Goleman who argued that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is more important. EI validate the idea that people can be smart in a way that has nothing to do with their IQ. Tests of IQ do not measure the aptitude that count most in life, but merely measure the ability to do the tests. The poets and mystics have always known that true intelligence is a blend of head and heart, thought and feelings.
Goleman defines EI as including self awareness, impulse control, zeal and motivation, empathy and social deftness. These are the qualities he identifies as the qualities for success in career and relationship.
The term EI was first formally defined in 1990 by Mayor and Salovey as
1. Knowing how you feel, how others feel and what to do about that
2. Knowing what feels good, what feels bad, and how to get from bad to good
3. The emotional awareness, sensitivity and management skill which helps in maximizing our long term happiness and survival.
More recently they have updated this definition. “Emotional Intelligence involves the ability to perceive accurately, apprise, and express emotions: the ability to access and to generate feelings when they facilitate thoughts; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotion to promote emotional and intellectual growth.”
Emotion is the complex psycho-physiological experience of an individual’s state of mind as interacting with biochemical (internal) and environmental (external) influences. In humans emotion fundamentally involves ‘physiological arousal, expressive behaviour, and conscious experience. Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality, disposition and motivations.
Some categorizations of emotion are
1. cognitive/non-cognitive emotion,
2. instinctual emotion (in amygdale / cognitive emotion (in pre-frontal cortex)
3. that based on duration – some emotions last for over a period of seconds only (ex; surprise), others can last for years (ex; loss).

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 23-11-10 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Prof P.M.Sankarankutty at Green Hills, Temple Gate, Tellicherry. -670102

Coram: All eight members except Prof. Mohanan Nair who was out of station attended and participated in the discussions. .

Subject: Emotional Intelligence (Cont’d)

The report of the last discussion on 28-10-‘10 was accepted as amended After the Forum’s invocation the discussion on Emotional Intelligence was continued by Dr.Babu Ravindran and discussed by others. After a sumptuous dinner hosted by Mrs. Sankarankutty and Prof.Sankarankutty, and a vote of thanks by Dr. Thomas, the meeting dispersed at 11 PM

Dr. Babu Ravindran: Emotion is linked to the limbic system of the brain – specifically the Amygdala. The limbic area is where we experience joy beyond the duality of happiness and unhappiness, and intelligence beyond the blinkers of ego and conditioning.
Arab philosopher Ibn al Arabi wrote that intelligence emanates from Allah. The Hindu idea that intelligence is the gift of Mother Goddess makes it inseparable from maternal qualities of empathy, forbearance, compassion, reflections, and selfless nurturing.. Motherhood demands a high level of Emotional Intelligence. A mother must have the emotional brilliance to know how to discipline her children without inhibiting them. Aristotle said, “Anybody can become angry, that is easy, but to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not easy.”
Emotions are what make life worth living or sometimes ending. Emotion also raises normative questions about the extent to which they can be said to be rational, or can contribute to rationality. They are both the object of our most immediate awareness and the most powerful source of our capacity for self deception. Emotion actually represent the break down of smoothly adaptive functions such as thought, perception, and rational planning.
Emotion as a concept is much complicated. Descartes said, “It is impossible for the soul to feel a passion without that passion being truly as one feels it”. He again said that those that are most agitated by their passions are not those who know them best. The recent understandings are ,
1. Emotion is typically a conscious phenomenon, yet,
2. They typically involve non-pervasive bodily manifestations than other conscious states
3. They vary along a number of dimensions, intensity, values, type and range of intentional objects
4. They are reputed to be antagonists of rationality, but also
5. they play an indisputable role in determining the quality of life
6. They contribute crucially to defining our ends and priorities.
7. They play a crucial role in regulating social life.
8. They protect us from an excessively slavish devotion to narrow conceptions of rationality.
9. They have a central place in education and normal life.
In this context again,
EI refers to the competence to identify and express emotion, understand emotion, assimilate emotion in thoughts, and regulate both positive and negative emotions in oneself and others. Goleman defines Emotional Intelligence as “an ability such as being able to motivate oneself and pursue in the face of frustration, to control impulse and delay gratification, to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swaying the ability to think, to empathize, and to hope.”
What is the secret of human happiness and fulfillment? Psychologists proposed that understanding the emotions of oneself and others is the key to satisfying life. Those people who are self-aware and sensitive to others manage the affairs with wisdom and grace even in their adverse circumstances.
Now EI has been touted as a panacea for modern business, and as the essential but often the neglected ingredient in the practicing medium, nursing, law, engineering etc. EI has both positive and negative cultural mores. On the positive side it emphasizes the value of non-intellectual abilities and attributes for the success in living, including emotional understanding awareness, regulation, adoption coping and adoption adjustments. It drives home the notion that, while the road to success in everyday life is determined partly by intellectual ability, there are number of other contributory factors including social competencies, emotional adjustments, emotional sensitivity, practical intelligence, and motivation. It also focuses on character and aspects of self control, such as the ability to delay gratification, tolerate frustration, and regulate impulse (ego strength). On the negative side, EI places greater emphasis on the importance of emotional abilities than our intellectual intelligence.
To paraphrase, emotion provides the ultimate validation of action; if it does not feel good, don’t do it.
Prof.P.M. Sankarankutty: But emotion has to be restrained. It should not be more than what is desirable. Certain ‘clinical detachment’ is said to be desirable in all actions.
Sri.K.V.Kunhikrishnan: That detachment is necessary for not getting involved.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Some times emotions get out of control. Socrates had a quarrel with his wife and that became hot. In the heat of anger his wife threw a bucket of water over his head. He coolly remarked, ‘there is a shower after the thunder.’
Dr. Babu Ravindran: If Daniel Goleman is associated with popularizing EI, it was Reuven Bar-on in 1997 who has contributed the first commercially available operational index for assessment of EI. Bar-on Characterizes EI as an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies, and skills that influences one’s abilities to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures. Emotional Quotient assesses five broad sub-types of Emotional Intelligence.
1. Intrapersonal Intelligence: composed of emotional self awareness, assertiveness, self regard, self actualization, and independence
2. Interpersonal Intelligence: composed of empathy, interpersonal relationship, and social relationship.
3. Adaptability: problem solving, reality testing, flexibility.
4. Stress management: stress tolerance, impulse control.
5. General mood: happiness, optimism.
Assessment of EQ is based on capacities related to the above categories of emotional intelligences.
Dr. Thomas: Emotional action not deliberate sometimes helps solve problems. There is a problematic person as the Secretary of the managing committee of our Church. He became secretary only because he was vehemently assertive in all matters desirable and undesirable, and nobody was willing to oppose him for fear of disturbing the sanctity of the atmosphere. The result was that the Church affairs were badly mismanaged. In most of the occasions he went on talking irrelevant things not allowing others to say anything. One day after I joined the committee when he was lecturing others about something silly for quite sometime, I couldn’t bear the nonsense any longer and blurted out, ‘you are a bloody fool’. Everybody was stunned although they all liked it and remarked later that it should have been done much earlier by somebody. After that incident he became a changed man. He stopped his irrelevant talks and did work quietly. Although using the word ‘bloody’ in a church was considered a horrible thing, nobody objected and took it in its stride as necessary at the time. Even the priest tacitly conceded it. After that incident the administration of the church went on smoothly. Perhaps that is an example of Emotional Intelligence working automatically.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Emotional Intelligence has an important place in Indian Culture although no particular term is used to represent it. Three virtues are stressed in ‘Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’. They are, compassion or empathy, delaying gratification or self control, and creativity. Self control comes from self awareness. Self flowing to the other person is compassion. Creativity comes from emotion and sensitivity. It is said that creativity begins with madness. Height of emotion becomes almost madness. The poet T.S. Eliot was in a lunatic asylum for sometime. His extreme sensitivity and emotional intensity can be seen in his poetry on Thames which he identifies as a polluted woman. He asks who will save the woman and world which is wasting away.
Dr. A.V.Sadanandan: Man and his mind stand at the apex of the evolutionary process. He thinks, and he feels. He has knowledge – knowledge is power, position and money. The whole educational process and training aim at this. We train better technicians, engineers, professionals, teachers, and all proposing to have a society with efficiency, success and prosperity.
As individuals each one is struggling to equip himself with knowledge and training to be successful in life. If one is a little bit alert and has accumulated some knowledge and information, and is proficient in expression, how important he becomes in the society. We worship those who are intellectually superior. But man essentially is an emotional being. His psychological make up determines his relationships with things, ideas and people. And this relationship is what life is all about. Our consciousness includes everything, thoughts, memories, knowledge, feelings and emotions. As emotions we have our anxieties, fears, grief and sorrows and occasional joys too. Our actions spring from desires, likes and dislikes, ambitions envy and greed. We strive for pleasures, gratification and happiness, and in the process one may become angry, aggressive and violent. We live within the field of mind and its activities. Mind is accumulated sensations and its reactions that can cause confusions, miseries and problems. And mind always seeks security and in this process there is isolation and self centeredness.
We know we want freedom from these emotions. These are restricting, limiting and distorting all our activities. But we remain the same since generations. There is no change. Is there no psychological evolution? But always there exists a longing for man to free himself from all this burden of fear, hurt and sorrows inside him. But how? We are not able to do that. Is our mind not equipped for that? We are not educated enough for it. We are not trained for it. Can we seek help from someone? We manage to conform to the social morality with all the tricks that our mind plays. We can suppress the emotions. We can control them. We can analyze and rationalize it to have some security. Our beliefs are there to help us to be consoled. Our brain can forget them. We can find solace in ideals and philosophies. We can pray God and at times take refuge in monasteries. We have our pleasures, entertainments and games to keep them away for a while.
Apart from all this, is it that our mind cannot deal with it, solve it; is the mind itself the cause of it? To answer, one has to think, scan through the memory. Thought is the only tool we have. But thought and feelings have created it. One fragment of thought on the other part may not give the answer. And the thinker, the seeker again is a conglomeration of thoughts. Not to think, is it possible? Mind has to be quiet. When it is quiet there is only seeing with all the being. Mind is being attentive, ‘aware’. There is no choice. There is only understanding. In that state there can be the awakening of Intelligence that can subdue the thoughts, memories, knowledge and emotions, and can cleanse the mind. This intelligence can use thoughts, memories, knowledge and emotions justly, rightly, and in the most proper way.
But we are not alert. We don’t want to be attentive. We just imitate, we try to follow and conform; we accept the authorities. We become conditioned. We reason out giving too much importance to reasoning. We become insensitive. We don’t see ‘what is’, why?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: In Short, you suggest that what is desirable is neither conventional ‘Rational Intelligence’ (Cognitive Intelligence), nor Emotional Intelligence, but Pure Intelligence that comes out of absolute attention from a quiet mind. That Intelligence alone can ensure correct action that is right and proper.
Dr. Thomas: That is difficult in everyday life. We have in our organization five gold medalists, each of them devoted and brilliant in his own field. But they are bad managers making our life miserable. They cannot keep good relationship with the staff or the public. Therefore others have to do all the work. Emotional people are much better than IQ people.

Professor Sankarankutty Those who are intelligent pass the exams and get gold medals while those who understand emotions achieve. Man with IQ gets appointed; but the man with EQ gets the promotion.

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 14-12-10 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Dr.Sri.T.Bhaskaran.

Coram Six members attended. Prof.Sakarankutty and Prof. Mohanan Nair could not attend as they were out of station.

As regards the proposed publication of the book it was decided that a good printer would be contacted immediately so that the book can be released as early as possible.

Dr. Mohammed Abdulla:- Substantial disagreement exists regarding the definition of EI, with respect to both terminology and operational methods. There has been much confusion about the exact reasoning of the construct. The definitions are so varied, and the field is growing so rapidly that researchers are constantly reevaluating even their own definitions of the construct.
Emotional Intelligence is very lately identified as a branch of Psychology. Even though the earliest roots of EI can be traced to Darwin’s work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and second adaptation, the branch of science gained momentum only in 1990 onwards.
As already mentioned by others, the concept of EI is popularized after publication of psychologist and New York Times science writer Daniel Goleman,s book ‘EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, why it can matter more than IQ’. Even though Daniel Goleman has popularized this branch of psychology of Ei his researches were only directed to the effectiveness Ei in the field of management and professionalism which is only a very narrow angle of applied EI while the huge clump of this concept and its application in day to day human life has not been high lighted.
Analyzing EI is said to be a Herculean task. But a very broad classification given is as follows:
The five components of EI are,
1 Self awareness: The ability to recognize and understand one’s moods, emotions and drives, as well as their effects on others. To achieve this one must have
i) Self-confidence
ii) Restrictive self assessment
iii)Sense of humor
2. Self Regulation: The ability to control and react to disruptive impulses and moods, and the propensity to suspend judgment- to think before acting - .
To achieve this one needs trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, and openness to change.
3. Motivation: A passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status: a propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence. To achieve this, a strong drive to achieve optimum even in the face of failure, and organizational commitment are necessary.
4. Empathy: The ability to understand the emotional make up of other people, skill in treating people according to their emotional reactions. To achieve this one has to develop expertise in building and retaining talent cross, cultural sensitivity, and service to clients and customers.
5. Social Skill: Proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, and an ability to find common ground and build of rapport. To achieve this one needs effectiveness in leading change, persuasiveness, and expertise in building and leading teams.
To conclude, we are left with the question, ‘Can emotional intelligence be learned?’
For ages people have debated if leaders are born or made. So too goes the debate about EI. Are people born with empathy for example, or do they acquire empathy as a result of life experiences? The answer is both. Scientific enquiry strongly suggests that there is a genetic component to emotional intelligence. Psychological and developmental researches indicate that nurture plays a role as well. How much of each perhaps will never be known; but the research and practice clearly demonstrate that Emotional Intelligence can be learned.
One thing is certain. Emotional intelligence increases with age, but even with maturity people still need assistance and training for emotional intelligence to develop. But in most cases the present day training programs have unsatisfactory results and outcome. Researchers conclude that EI is mainly originated in the neurotransmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which manipulate feelings, impulses, and drives. This is best learned through motivation, extended practice, and feed back.
Dr.K.P.Thomas: According to the management expert Drucker the members participating in a meeting or conference to make decisions should be in a happy mood in order to be effective. At least it will give better results. Therefore we decided to introduce that in our organization. Somebody suggested and we decide to serve beer to the members before the meeting. The results must have been better, we presume. But later we found that the members were too happy to be effective. We therefore discontinued the practice.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Emotional Intelligence or the conventional intelligence, which is more important? I think, it is the usual IQ and not EQ.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan. Yes, definitely IQ is important. What is stressed here is that EQ has been ignored so far and the emotional angle completely forgotten.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: At best EQ supplements IQ.

Ekkentros report January 2011

2011-02-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 25-1-11 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Dr. Md Abdulla, Marayakulath, Nettur PO., Tellicherry-6

Coram: Seven members except Prof P.M.Sankarankutty who was out of station, attended and participated in the discussions. .

Subject: Emotional Intelligence (Cont’d)

The report of the last discussion on 14-12-‘10 was accepted as amended After the Forum’s invocation the discussion on Emotional Intelligence was continued by Dr.K.P.Thomas and Prof. Mohanan Nair. A lively discussion ensued. After an elaborate and sumptuous dinner hosted by Mrs. Khadija Abdulla and a vote of thanks by Dr. Thomas, the meeting dispersed at 11-30 PM

Dr. K.P.thomas: In stressed group activities and its management the Emotional Intelligence has to get into a flow for any achievement. But emotional interference can bring in disaster also, like the angry pilot who crashed because his copilots were afraid to tell him that his fuel tank was fast emptying. Understanding one’s own emotions and thereby having empathy with the emotions of others is the basis of EI.
Love, tender feelings, and sexual satisfaction entail parasympathetic arousal – the physiological opposite of the ‘fight or flight’ mobilization shared by fear and anger. The parasympathetic pattern produces ‘relaxation response’ to the whole body and it generates a state of calm and contentment, facilitating cooperation. This will lead to a state of happiness without negative feelings, and an enthusiasm and energy to do certain tasks. Worrisome thoughts are excluded in this condition of the brain. This is the state of the brain achieved by meditation, religious devotions or in a social festival and feasting.
Up to about ten thousand years back, man has always been threatened by calamities and predators limiting his existence to 30 years or so. But with the coming of agriculture and formation of human societies, the odds of survival changed dramatically. However those pressures of older days made our emotional responses quick enough and valuable to our survival for a longer span of life.
We have two minds, one that thinks, and the other that feels; the rational mind and the emotional mind.
Dr. A.V.Sadanandan: Yes. Both are meant for human survival. Emotional mind works fast. It comes from the tacit, instantaneous understanding of a person The rational mind takes time, thinking by slow deliberation.
Dr. K.P.Thomas:Let me explain the working of EQ by an illustration. I had to do a project for our hospital company. The adjacent plot of 8 cents was offered to us for 40 lakhs. The title being pledged in the Union Bank, for its release we agreed to give a check of Rs 3 lakhs as advance through an agreement signed by me on behalf of the Company, and the owners, a son, his sister, and their bed-ridden mother. When we (myself and the son) went to the bank with the check the manager wanted the signatures of the women to be put in his presence for which he was ready to come with us to the adjacent plot. But the son said that his sister was out of station. The next day was a holiday, and the next day when I talked to the sister over the phone she denied having any knowledge of the agreement and that she can vacate only after six months. Without expressing any emotion I told the son to make her understand and go to the bank to effect the closure of the loan. It was 1-45 PM. Before they reached the bank by 3 PM I cancelled the check through phone.
It was a split second, instinctive decision. I took it automatically to protect the company from an imminent loss of Rs.3 lakhs, and a possible legal and socio-political wrangle, that can go on prolonged for over a decade. I came under fire from the company directors and the son and the sister. (The mother had died the very next day.). They told me that I took a unilateral decision without consultation to cancel a significantly lucrative capital addition and business expansion of the company. For a split second (Say, 1/1000th of a second) decision, I had to ponder over and think for three-four days to find sufficient rationale and points of justification! And the more I rationalized the more and more points fell into line with perfect alignment to justify my decision to cancel the agreement. It was just like my primitive psyche escaping an on-coming fatal arrow from hitting me and exterminating me, and my progeny from the face of the earth. The decision was the functioning of emotional intelligence, and the rationalization later was the conventional rational mind working to pacify and convince my directors, which did not appear that easy. I cannot claim to be the most intelligent of the twelve directors, but I am, (as the oldest, and the strategist ) the crisis managing expert. I am generally in the background, and once they get trapped I may step in and gently unravel the quagmire of situational problems. I try to make each one of them feel that it was all their idea that solved the problems. High I.Q. is definitely good for individually thought out programs, but EQ is essential in group activities.
Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Here your sudden hunch worked as the Emotional Intelligence.
Prof. M.V.Mohanan Nair: We already had a very exhaustive discussion on the topic. Traditionally we were given to understand that emotion and intelligence are incompatible. Today we know that they are complementary, and that the emotional aspect is as important or perhaps more important than the other, because emotional security is essential for the intelligence to function effectively. Gone are the days when we used to consider IQ of an individual or a group as the supreme trait. Its place has been taken by a persons’ or group’s EQ, a self perceived ability to identify, assess and control one’s own or their own emotions and that of others’ and groups. As was pointed out by all my friends here, the lack of EQ has failed many with very high IQ. This is true with every aspect and sphere of human activity whether it be the family, the society, state, nation, etc. For example, it is known to everyone that Kerala has the highest literacy rate among all the states of India. I am afraid that Kerala is on the hot track to be the highest in divorce rates also. Why does this happen? The answer is that, times are past when men thought of their wives as household commodities, without paying any attention to their emotional needs. Education leads to a better understanding of one’s emotional needs. Women today are educated and they, especially those who work, (not on office alone) are conscious of their emotional needs. They refuse to be an instrument of pleasure alone for their husbands – and the result is divorce or suicide.
And parents, they are often blind to the emotional needs of their children. In my own example, I used to feel proud on being a professor. I realized that I am a foolish Professor with no EI. When we do not respect the emotions of our own children they revolt which in many cases result in elopement, suicide etc. The student Dhanya who committed suicide recently was very brilliant – she could recite all that she studied – but felt emotionally insecure. The strength of the family lies in, each member understanding the emotional needs of the others..
This is true in the national scenario too. Mrs. Gandhi was a very intelligent and shrewd politician. But she didn’t have the EI to understand that our country which was under British imperialism for about 200 years was not emotionally willing to be under another dictatorial P.M. and in the end, in spite of all her shrewdness, she failed. – failed miserably. Again India lost one of the most brilliant PMs in Rajiv Gandhi. His sending the Indian Army to Srilanka was rather a political strategy adopted by him without paying any heed to the emotions of the Srilankans.
Recently there was a lot of uproar about Ms Arundhathi Roy’s statement about the people of Kashmir (I have no particular respect for her being the writer of ‘God Of Small Things’, a mere trash). The full text of the statement was in the news paper ‘Hindu’. She only said that Kashmirians do not feel to be an integral part of India. We know that at the expense of other states, the major portion of the Indian budget has been flowing to Kashmir ever since it was granted special status. You cannot force anyone to love you. They should be emotionally willing to love you. It should come from within and is not something that could be imposed.
Terrorism is something that could never be tolerated or justified. The terrorist leaders shrewdly and intelligently exploit the emotions of the easily credible ones, mainly their religious feelings, or social inequality (Maoists). The Germans were emotional enough to be exploited by Hitler’s myth about Aryan supremacy. It is an illustrious example of how an emotionally unintelligent nation could incite disaster.
The world is becoming smaller and smaller. We speak of the world as a global village. Paradoxically human worries and tensions are on the increase than in the past. What man needs today is emotional security. How to achieve this is the big question.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: Lack of emotional security often drives people to commit suicide. Intelligent people are more prone to commit suicide. I have noticed it in the Vellore Mission Hospital when I was there. Same thing I understand is the case of IIT, Madras also. This points to the fact that conventionally intelligent people are generally weak in emotional intelligence, and they cannot stand failure.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: All this forces us to examine our mind. The Functioning of the mind has to be closely looked into.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: Yes. But how to look at the mind can be misunderstood. It is not by studying the structure of the mind or the network of neurons by dissecting them. Neither is it by psycho-analysis. The mind is not a physical object to experiment and study. No scientific approach can help here. It is only by quietly sitting down and observing closely how one’s mind functions and how thoughts arise and subside. One has to go deeper and deeper into the mind. One can start by observing the tip of one’s own nose, for example.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Sudarsana Kriya .Starts with observation of breathing and breathing exercises.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Where is actually his mind when a patient is in anesthesia? His organs are all functioning perfectly. But for quite some time, no feeling is coming. The mind is not there.
Dr. Sadanandan: This is more or less the case in deep sleep also. Only, it is passively alert.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: The need to look into the mind and emotions is now more or less well recognized. It is a well known established fact that vast areas of the human brain are lying unutilized. The left brain, dealing with the rational part has all along been given undue importance neglecting the portions in the right brain connected with Emotional Intelligence, Insight, Intuition, Hunch, what is called the ‘Gut Feeling’ etc. The ‘scientific approach’ in every field of human activity, since renaissance, made Man look at and analyze only the object for study ignoring altogether the subject who is actually the observer.
The subject, observer is an emotional being, and that has tremendous influence in whatever man does. All decisions are influenced by emotions. However convinced a man might be by using his reasoning power, ultimately his decision can be seen to have been influenced by what his emotion dictated. Even in scientific experiments, where one is supposed to go strictly by observation of physical facts and reasoning, both of these factors can be seen to have been influenced by his emotional bias.
It can be noticed that all the great inventions and discoveries originated initially from hunches, visions, intuitions, insights etc. Reasoning at best only confirmed what ideas appeared in the minds of the scientists, a priori, after testing and experimenting. Often the reason and logic helped fitting the findings to what was acceptable.
Therefore what is needed seems to be to develop the power if intuition and insight in order to reach great heights in achievement. Going into one’s own mind and understanding it is the preliminary step in that direction. How other minds work can then be better grasped. The unity of existence also will be then become clear.
Not that the rational mind is not important. Philosopher/Spiritualist Jaggi Vasudev says that one has to use logic and reasoning like a drunkard uses the lamp posts – only for support.

2009-11-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

ageless body and timeless mind - Seminar Report

2009-11-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

SEMINAR organized by Current Books and conducted by Ekkentros Forum on 25-9-09(Friday)

Venue: Currenr Books Premises, Thalassery.
Participants Present: Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, IRS(Retd), Chairman of the Forum,
Dr. Babu Ravindran, Prof. P.M.Sankarankutty, Dr. K.P.Thomas, Dr. Md.Abdulla, Prof. Mohanan Nair, all members of the Forum,
Sri. K.P.Kunhikrishnan Nair,
Mrs. Shobha Rajagopal Menon, Principal(Retd), St.Kabir High School, Ahemedabad.
Prof. Richard Hay, Member of the Forum arrived late as he was held up in his college. His paper is, however, added as an appendix.
Subject: Ageless Body and Timeless Mind

The function started with Sri Biju, Manager of the Tellicherry Branch of Current Books welcoming the members of the Ekkentros Forum, other participants, and the gathering. He then invited the chairman of the forum Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan to conduct and moderate the seminar.

Sri. Kunhikrishnan: We are here today to participate in a seminar. The time available is very much limited. Usually a seminar will last for a whole day from ten to five. But here we have only two and a half hours for about twelve people to present papers or to speak. Therefore the time for each to present his papers and to explain his point briefly will be only eight to ten minutes. Those who are only speaking may take not more than five minutes, and those who have not so far given their names, may take only three minutes.
The language used can be English, Malayalam, or both.
Any arguments and controversies should be avoided. Each puts forward his point of view which may freely differ from any other point of view. In this regard it would be proper to bear in mind the invocation of the Forum, which I shall read out now.
Ekkentros Forum is a discussion forum constituted in Tellicherry about eleven years ago to discuss on various topics of a basic nature relating to man and the universe. The first twenty topics discussed were published in a book titled “Confessions of Eccentrics” by the New Delhi Publisher, M/s Somaiya Publications. Subsequent topics are published in the blog of the forum, www.ekkentrosthoughts.blogspot.com . There is also a blog of the chairman of the forum, www.kvkekkentros.blogspot.com the contents of which are published in a book recently released, ‘Ruminations and Reminiscences at Eighty Plus’. Let me read out the invocation which may be given some careful attention:

WITH THE KNOWLEDGE GATHERED ALL THROUGH OUR LIVES,
WITH THE WISDOM DAWNED THEREFORM,
WITH THE ABILITY OF EXPRESSION
ACQUIRED WITH CARE AND EFFORT,
AND OUR UNFATHOMED INTUITIVE FACULTIES,
WE NOW INVOKE,
FOR A FREE INQUIRY WITH NO HOLDS BARRED,
WITHIN THE VAST MENTAL SPACE IN THESE MOMENTS OF SILENCE

The subject today, Ageless body and Timeless mind’ is a very tough subject. It would have been very vague and intangible also but for the book by the same title of Deepak Chopra, a doctor and an endocrinologist. It is one of the best sellers, a wonderful book much appreciated in US as well as in India.
Deepak Chopra’s main point is that aging is a matter of choice or is optional, and not mandatory or inevitable. How the choice is exercised is a big question. It is exercised through belief. Aging happens because from birth onwards we believe that we have to age and die. We see also that others as well as animals and plants age and die. This belief has to be reversed. And the belief that aging is not inevitable has to be so rooted that it has to come from beyond the mind from the quantum field or domain. Deepak Chopra tries to prove through the latest findings in quantum physics that aging can actually be avoided. He approaches the source deep within all of through three different paths, through body that is matter, through mind which is the transition level, and time.
Body is made of material. But what is this material? If you go to the ultimate ingredients we find the individual cells and then the genetically coded DNA consisting of Nucleotides and then Amino Acids, Sugars etc. Material means cluster of energy. DNA contains information and energy. All the information for the functioning of the body is contained or coded in the DNA. But if you analyze the DNA we come across amino acids, sugars etc which are nothing but molecules and atoms. Atoms consist of quarks, neutrinos and electrons, all of which are photons in vibration. The material part ends at the atom. Beyond it, the quarks, leptons etc are energy photons in vibration with vast spaces in between. This is the quantum field or domain. There is tremendous intelligence functioning in the body for all the organs working in unison. Where is then this intelligence lying? Not in the material body. In between the neutrinos and electrons there is only vast space. In fact 99.9 per cent of material is space. There is intelligence and information functioning, directing, manipulating, guiding these constituents of the body to act in a particular manner in these quantum space or quantum field. It sees and supervises that a cell does not grow as a nail in the liver. Tremendous intelligence is at work without our conscious participation. The seat of this intelligence, the source of this information we cannot find in the cells or in the DNA. The coded information in the DNA functions alright but what intelligence creates it and makes it function we cannot fathom. The quantum field, the non-material mental stage, as already mentioned is composed of concentrations of energy waves and vast empty space. Therefore we can say that the whole universe is composed of empty space and energy, fluid energy. Energy and matter are convertible at quantum level. This is therefore the transition stage between mind and matter. Our body is mainly empty space at the quantum level. The intelligence, the source has to lie in that empty space at the quantum field level or beyond it at the virtual level. How to access that intelligence to stop ageing or slow down aging is the question.
Human thought happens when the neurons in the brain fires. Thought is thus matter. Memory is stored impressions of thought. But no storage device is found anywhere in the body or brain. The brain is all mainly liquid. Only thing I have left is my awareness, pure awareness. All the intelligence, all the information that the body needs must therefore be coming from the awareness or through the awareness. That must be the source and that must be the creator and the controller of the DNA and the very atom. Its seat need not be anywhere in particular. In the quantum field or beyond space and time has no meaning. The source can be anywhere or everywhere. The gap, the chink in the quantum world through which the access to intelligence is possible is the awareness. It is the window.
We know from modern science that billions of cells are dying in our body every day and billions are being replaced. Yet we all look and function as if the body is the same. That is to say that repair and replacements are happening every day, and by the time a year is out we have a completely new body. Then why should we age? It must be because the replacing mechanism does not function fully. Replacing and repairing or healing will work perfectly if the underlying intelligence of the awareness is taken recourse to without interference by thought. The thought has to be quiet, still. Attention and intention of pure awareness can do the trick says Deepak Chopra.
According to Einstein’s theory time is not absolute. That is, time is a make believe, an illusion. It is relative. We have chronological time, psychological time and biological time. While my chronological time is eighty-two, my biological or physiological time may be only seventy and my psychological time only fifty-five. Chronological time is because of earth’s change of position or rotation relative to the sun, our light. The duration is divided into twenty four hours etc. imagine a person in empty outer space far away from the sun. What is time for him? There may be changes in his position or bodily functions. But there is no time. There are only changes in the universe. And memory creates past and future. We metabolize time by thinking. But if we metabolize it by observing, perceiving, witnessing then we find that time stands still in the present. A timeless mind, a timeless awareness creates an ageless body. Natural rebuilding and replacing of the body happens and aging slows down. Even the bio-chemistry of the body actually arises from the awareness.

Prof. Dr..P.M.Sankarankutty: I intend to continue what Sri. Kunhikrishnan elaborated, namely, the idea of going beyond death, but connecting it at the level of mythology. A myth does not prove anything empirically, but it has its own warp in bringing out the immensity of the universe. In Hindu mythology death is represented by Yama who is also the lord of time. Most of us have come across the story of Nachiketas who went to Yama and had a discourse with him on Life and Death. Because of the deep devotion and penance of Nachikethas the Lord of death had to give/show him the secret of Life.
The most fascinating of all the myths about death is the story of Savitri-Sathyavan, adopting which sage Aurobindo wrote his famous epic poem “Savitri’, to bring out his idea of the supramental manifestation on earth, achieving immortality. The legend of Savitri is one of the side stories found in the Mahabharatha in its chapter or part relating to ‘ Forest ’ (Vanaparvam). The story in the Mahabharatha starts with the king of Madra, Ashwapathi and his wife Malathi living an ascetic life for years praying to the Sun God (savitur) for many years because they had no children. Finally they are blessed with a girl child who was given the name Savitri in honour of that God. When Savitri grew up she also became deeply devotional and ascetically bent. Beautiful and pure, she shunned all men. No suitor would dare approach her. Fed up, her father tells her to find out her own husband. She therefore goes on a pilgrimage and by chance meets Sathyavan and falls in love with him. Sathyavan, she learns, is the son of blind and destitute king of Salwa, Dyumatsena, who lived in exile in the forest because his kingdom was usurped by enemies. In spite of all that Savitri loved Sathyavan intensely and decided to marry him. But the blind king in exile was told by sage Narada that the choice made by Savitri was an erroneous one because Sathyavan was destined to die exactly after one year. Savitri was therefore asked to change her mind. Yet Savitri would no relent, and stuck to her decision to be the wife of Sathyavan, who was never told about his fate. They thus get married and live in the forest with Sathyavan’s parents. Few days before the foreseen death of Sathyavan, Savitri takes intense vows of fasting and vigil. On the morning of Sathyavan’s predicted death, Savitri accompanies her husband who is not aware of the impending doom, into the jungle. While splitting wood, Sathyavan collapses and dies on Savitri’s lap. When Yama comes and takes the soul of Sathyavan Savitri follows Yama. In spite of all coaxing and threatening Savitri refuses to turn back. With devotion, strength of feminine chastity and extreme love, she argues her case with Yama and wins him over. Impressed by her devotion and wisdom Yama allows her three boons, except the life of Sathyavan. She asks for the restoration of eyesight for her father, children for her parents, and also children for herself by Sathyavan. Yama could not break his promise and thus she indirectly got back the life of Sathyavan. Savitri is thus able to overcome the death of her husband. That was the original story in Mahabharatha. But its spiritual and mystic meaning comes out in Aurobindo’s epic poem by the same title.
The Savitri story held an irresistible fascination for Sri Aurobindo, because Sathyavan stood for Truth and Savitri for a wife’s devotion and power. When they come together, the union gets charged with enormous possibilities, ready to dare even Death. On the material plane his poem begins on the day Sathyavan is fated to die. And the poem ends with the resolution of the crisis, that is, wresting satyavan from the clutches of Yama, the lord of death. In her final confrontation with Yama, Savitri assumes her cosmic form (Viswaroopa). In Aurobindo’s words, I quote:

A mighty transformation came upon her
In a flashing moment of apocalypse
The incarnation thrust aside its veil
Eternity looked into the eyes of death.

Now the fateful day has surpassed its fate and the poem concludes magnificently.

Night splendid with the moon dreaming in heaven
In silver peace, passed her luminous region
She brooded the stillness on a thought
Deep-guarded by the mystic folds of light
And in her nursed a greater dawn

Savitri became a supramental being by expansion of her consciousness to claim extension of life for her husband. In short through the evolution of consciousness, space, time and death can be defeated by supra-mental manifestation.

Sri. K.P.Kunhikrishnan Nair: (Sri Kunhikrishnan nair opened his talk by saying that he had gone through the book of Dr.Deepak Chopra on the subject, but unfortunately he could not find anything practical in it. The paper he presented in Malayalam is given below.)

Dr. Md Abdulla:In the course of the evolution of Man, since the dawn of the human race, there has been no change in the anatomy of the human body, but for the difference between male and female (Sex difference). The structure, and the functions of human body in terms of Anatomy and Physiology remain the same, unaltered through millions of years of their existence in nature. In short, Human Beings Have an Ageless Body. Here the reference is not the life span of an individual but the Human Body as such through the ages. Hence we can refer to it as the Ageless Body.

There are infinite potentialities for the human mind. It is so vast that we cannot find any boundaries for it. No amount of calculation will suffice to determine its speed or any other parameters. For example, mentally I can reach my children who are abroad far off in Australia in no time. Here the distance and speed are of no concern. It takes no time for the mind to reach them, nor does the distance delay the speed. That would mean that the mind reaches its object near or far at the same time. One can reach the top of Mount Everest in no time when you think of it. The distance and speed are totally irrelevant.

Where exactly is the seat of the mind in human body, is it in the brain, the heart, or in every cell or gene? Scientists are unable to locate it till today. And to where does it leave from the body when a living creature dies?

We never know when the life enters the foetus inside the mother’s uterus. It is a timeless entry – only when the fetal heart is heard beating we know that the body inside is alive.
The human mind has wondrous capabilities. Among the various capacities of the mind two are very important, the capacity to dream, and the capacity to imagine. They both have no borders in space or time. It is timeless and thus we have the timeless mind.
Dream and Imagination are also not much influenced by your knowledge or intelligence. Even uneducated and ignorant people can have wonderful imagination or dreams. The difference between dream and sleep is that dream occurs in the sleeping state while imagination including fantasies is active while one is in the waking state. These are phenomena which are secrets of the human mind beyond measurement and beyond time. Hence Timeless Mind.

Mrs.Shobha Rajagopal Menon: Healing From Within
(Health Through Spiritual Practice)
It is widely believed that the people of ancient times, the Vedic period and before were taller and larger and had much longer life-span than humans today. Even today, off and on we hear someone or the other mention that such and such a recluse living in the mountains or forest is already above 200 years of age or so. I myself have heard a well known spiritual Guru mention such an individual among his own acquaintances who has crossed the age of 300!
Everyone has heard of the miraculous disappearance of diseases, sicknesses and even wounds in the presence of saints and other spiritually advanced persons. The phenomenon is common to all religions be it Hinduism, Christianity, or Mohammedan. Christ is known to have cured many by mere touch, Mata Amrithanandamayi, popularly known as ‘The Hugging Saint’ does so in her own benevolent way, Yogi Ram Dev does so through his widely popular yogaasanas. ‘Reiki’ is another popular system of healing by the use of Cosmic Energy. You on your part probably know of many other instances of healing through spiritual methods. It is well known that in large spiritual gatherings, many people go back feeling healthier and happier. Often there are instances of miraculous cure of serious sicknesses. In my own personal experience during serious and sincere practice of meditation for over eight years I have witnessed many instances of healing taking place through spirituality.
If the presence of spiritually evolved persons can make these phenomena happen, isn’t it clear that if we ourselves evolved spiritually we can, each of us, tap the healing power within us. Incarnations and saints are but humans who have taken the initiative to evolve their spiritual selves to the utmost and tap the wonderful potential within themselves to the fullest.
The truth is that the human race has long forgotten to look within themselves. The whole attitude has become objective. Most are ready to bestow all their faith on to a stone idol, but cannot believe in their own living breathing self! Man has been quite effective in harnessing the external resources and has accomplished immense material advancement, but has failed miserably in tapping the powers inherent in his own self,
Everyone is familiar with the concept of the left and the right brain. The right brain represent those qualities which are considered ‘feminine’ and include imagination, intuition, love, compassion, artistic perception etc. humanity is at present tapping the left brain containing the intellectual, mathematical and material abilities, ignoring the finer qualities of his ‘better half’ to a great extent. A human being with the left brain highly advanced and the right neglected is not properly balanced and hence is only partly healthy. When both the objective and subjective aspects of the individual are fully developed he is healthy and happy, mentally, physically and emotionally. This can happen only by giving a chance to the hitherto neglected intuitive, aesthetic and spiritual aspect of the individual through yoga and meditation. But the problem with us is that we are not ready to practice spiritual systems sincerely and methodically. We are not ready to discover and accomplish this inner wealth. We want ready made solutions dished out on a platter. The fact is that spiritual rejuvenation is available only in one form: the ‘do it yourself kit’!
All religions have in some way or the other discovered the presence of what are called ‘energy centers’ in the human body. When one undertakes spiritual practice in some form, these centers are activated. Each of these energy centers within the human body are associated with certain parts of the body and certain specific organs. When each of these centers get activated through yoga and other spiritual systems, cosmic energy gets transmitted to these organs and healing of different kinds take place in these areas. The more advanced spiritualists like yogis and saints produce such healing energy in surplus quantity. This surplus energy flows out into the surroundings and touches those present around causing healing in them too. This healing is need based; it may be physical, mental or emotional as per your personal condition. Also, the degree to which this healing energy is received by one depends on one’s receptivity. Devotion and dedication to the spiritual path prepares one to receive this blessing in equivalent proportion.
Nothing I have said here is mere assumption or theory. It is the essence of the spiritual knowledge I have gained through years of dedication to the spiritual quest. What I intend to stress here is that our body, during what we call ‘old age’ has capabilities to heal itself. But we have to reap these blessings within us with our own efforts. Try practicing yoga, whichever kind you choose, with total dedication and faith and you will find new wonders opening before you as you progress.
Often people are reluctant to take up spiritual exercises because we feel we may have to give up our favorite addictions like smoking, drinking etc. I assure you, you do not have to give them up; they drop off you most naturally, like old and spent hobbies. They dull out and fade-out before the new addiction to spiritual well-being.
The proof of whatever I have said is within yourself alone. So I cannot prove it to you. All you can do to convince yourself is to begin practice with whichever spiritual system suits you.

Dr.Babu Ravindran: Aging is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Aging in humans refer to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social changes. Some dimensions of aging grow and expand over time, while others decline. Reaction time, for example, may slow with age, while knowledge of world events, wisdom may expand.
Aging is the progressive, universal decline first in functional reserve and then in the function that occurs in organism over time. So it is heterogeneous. Aging is not a disease. But the risk of developing disease is increased, often dramatically as a function of age. The biological composition of tissues changes with age, physiological capacity decreases, the ability to maintain homeostasis in adapting to stresses decrease, vulnerability to disease process increase.
Population world wide are aging. Improvement in environmental (clear water and improved sanitation) and behavioral factors (nutrition, reduced risk exposures), and treatment and prevention of infectious disease are largely responsible for the 30 year increase in life expectancy since 1900.
Women outlive men. In the world only 15% of centenarians are men.
As we age, we become increasingly unlike one another. The ability to maintain stable functions in the face of change in environment is called ACCOSTASIS, and it declines with age.
One problem as we age is NOSOLOGIC. It is a question when exactly is a peculiar change considered a normal age related alteration, and when does it become a disease.
Earlier 75years BP of 170/90 was considered an age related increase in systolic BP which need not be interfered. Now we know it is a reflection of increased vascular stiffness, one of the major cardio-vascular risk factor.
The term ‘aging’ is again some what ambiguous. Distinction may be made between Universal aging,- changes that all people share,
Rehabilistic Aging,- age changes that may happen to some, but not to all e.g., T2 DM(type II Diabetes Mellitus)
Chronological aging, - how old a person is
Social aging, - Society expectations of how people should act as they grow old
Biological aging, - A person’s physical state as he ages
We quite often see that age does not correlate perfectly with functional age.
Aging is a very personal experience. No two individuals age in the same way. It is because each one has unique experience and genes. Nobody dies of age.

Mind refers to the aspect of intellect and consciousness manifested as thoughts, perception, memory, emotion, will, imaginations etc. including all of the brain’s conscious and unconscious cognition process. Mind is often used to refer especially to the thought process of reason. Subjectively, mind manifests itself as a stream of consciousness.
The question as to which attributes make up the mind is also much debated. Some argue that only the ‘higher’ intellectual functions constitute the mind, particularly reason and memory. The emotions – love, hate, fear, joy – are more primitive or subjective in nature and should be seen as different from the mind. some argue that it cannot be differentiated.
In popular usage ‘Mind’ is frequently synonymous with ‘Thought’. No one else can know our mind. they can only interpret what we consciously or unconsciously communicate.
We can see that individuals are prisoners of thought. He is what he thinks he is.
The development of the body is greatly decided by the mind. the fears, stress, emotion, jealousy, rivalry, enmity, are all manifestations of one’s thoughts and that affect the body to a great extend. Our bodies are constantly exchanging information and energy from our environment.
If one thinks that he is old and has to retire from activity he is as good as dead. So a refreshing mind is very essential for a comfortable life.
I think that it was the actor Thikkurissi who said that man passes though five phases of life. First is that of a monkey playing pranks and running about. Next is the horse galloping away on its energy. Then as a donkey he suffers all the burdens of life and family. After that he has the life of a faithful dog serving as watch-man. And in the end he just sits like an owl looking this way and that, and responding with only h’m for everything. Deepak Chopra compares human body to a river. It appears to be still but is constantly changing every moment with its flowing waters.
To know himself fully man has to understand his mind. Breathing is definitely helpful as any change in the rhythm of breathing changes the mood and emotions of the person. For example when the breathing is regular and slow one cannot get angry. When you are angry or agitated you breathe very fast. Breath control can therefore definitely help. And I believe that a good meditation method is a way by which one can perceive and understand one’s own mind.

Dr. Thomas: The theme today relates to time, thought, meditation, and aging. One main factor that controls our aging is the genetic configuration inherited from our parents. Then there is the environmental factors that modify our thoughts and life. There is aging occurring in all objects around us, for example, cloths when old will tear easily. Paper becomes fragile after a few years, whereas a living object, though subject to aging will be renovated. The hormonal mechanisms will swing into action for this purpose. The renovation is related to the mind and thoughts, and Serotonin, the chemical transmitter between neurons that activate the mechanism.
Overeating is one sin that can damage our frame of health. From the thought processes in the brain hormones and the other body secretions are controlled and produced. Exercise and meditation induced pheramones increase the sense of well being. The harmony in life with love produces oxytocin (love hormone). For example, oxytocin is enhanced by the mother’s touch on an infant.
The aim of religious practices through the ages had been to promote these states of the mind in the brain. Words and actions can stimulate ‘God spot’ and the ‘Pleasure spot’ in the brain. Kundalini is the force derived through the vagus nerve which runs down supplying the heart, stomach, and intestines. The balance we obtain with the opposing nervous system through practiced prayer or meditation will give the solace and freedom from fear. Understanding capabilities by the mind that is thus sharpened will be the cutting edge against any problem.
Possibility of renovation on aging is very much there as has been noticed in nature. The study on bees showed that when a hive is full of aged worker bees, and insufficiency of young bees to collect honey or fight enemies is felt, they put the aged bees in special cells and feed them and look after them till they become young and energetic again.
Alzhiemers disease affecting the brain and cancer are the two killers that have puzzled man for the past 17 years ever since publication of Alzhiemer’s book in 1992. Reversing the onslaught of these diseases may give some path breaking clue on aging.

Prof. M.V.Mohanan Nair: The extension of human life span has been one of the oldest preoccupations and greatest dreams of man! The Indian concept of rebirth and elixir are only extensions of man’s eternal craving for immortality. In the modern world this desire for longevity has resulted in the establishment of hundreds of thousands of anti-aging clinics in most of the developed countries as early as the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. Millions are being spent on anti-aging research projects. The discovery of the structure of the DNA was a great stride in this direction. The Human Genome Project which identified all the genes in the human body and which was completed in 2003 was the greatest effort in this direction. Man has now taken over the control of all the genes in the human body. He has succeeded in removing the genes that cause aging and replacing them with non-aging ones. The American company which produced tomatoes which do not ripe and rot had removed the genes that cause ripening. If this is possible in a fruit why not in man? It is as simple as this – remove the genes that cause aging and replace them with genes that cause youthfulness and vigor, and man achieves immortality! And the social consequences when man never dies? Dead bodies which are preserved using the cryogenic technique come back to life. Will they be ghosts or human beings? Science has to give an answer.
Let us now pass from modern science to certain ancient branches of knowledge which had advocated a healthy body and healthy life-style for the extension of human life span. It is said that during his wanderings in search of ultimate knowledge Gauthama Buddha gave himself up to fasting and terrible penance. Consequently his body became so weak that one day he fell unconscious. That brought him the realization that Truth could be reached only by a nourished brain in a healthy body.
Modern man often finds it difficult to cope with the hurry and stress of modern life. Relaxation, both physical and mental has become impossible, even in bed. Recognizing man’s need for discipline to prevent mental and physical deterioration the ancient saints of India evolved the Yoga cult which embodies the secrets of successful living. Yoga combines in itself Asana, Pranayama, and Meditation. It provides an effective remedy to the problems that plague modern man. Dr. Deepak Chopra, in his book “Ageless Body and Timeless Mind” has stated that meditation lowers the biological age. It provides the much needed basic harmony in the mind of man.
However, I think that no man would desire an infinite extension of his life. A day may come when he will be overtaken by the desire for death, like the Sibyl of Cumae. When the Sibyl of Cumae was asked, ‘Sibyl, Sibyl, what do you want?’ the Sibyl’s answer was “I want to die” because her longevity had caused a sort of death wish.

At the end of the program, three members among the audience gave their comments. Sri Raghavan Vengad pointed out the twelve stages (four plus eight) of man in his life’s journey mentioned by Nithya Chaithanya Yathi in his works, and said that finally Man carries his burden like an ass. The ass or donkey was shown in a cartoon some years back. Sri P.V. Ramachandran who spoke in detail, extensively reviewed the talks of the various participants in the seminar but said that he had missed the talks of the first few speakers. He was all praise for what was said by Sri. K.P.Kunhikrishnan Nair.

Appendix :
Prof. Richard Hay: Whatever be the incantations of poets and authors on ‘ageless body’, man is destined to perish after having lived a certain period of time. No doubt about it. The concept of ageless body is a mere myth or the flight of imagination. The oldest man in human history is Seanne Calment who lived for 122½ years. In non-human longevity, the 460 year old bristlecone pine in the mountains of California, called Methuselah, -I had occasion to see this during my visit to Mount Sastha in California-, steals the lime light. I have also seen the great tortoises, near the Velliankallu off the coast of Payyoli, which would have lived for more than 150 years or more according to eye-witness reports of generations of fishermen of the area. Whales do live longer.
Why human beings are destined to die in a short life-span? The main reason is said to be the death of millions of cells in our body, which results in aging and finally death. Scientist Leonard Hayflick, in his study on Human Cells demonstrated that a population of normal human fetal cells in a cell culture divide 40to60 times, and then it enters a senescence phase that increases aging. Each cell division (mitosis) shortens the telomeres on the DNA of the cell. Telomere shortening in human beings eventually blocks cell division and the action correlates with aging.
Along with the death of cells, impairment of physiological systems like the homeostatic system or immune system, expedite the aging process.
The oxidation – inflammation theory states that the chronic oxidation stress which affect the neurons, endocrine and immune system is adding to the process of aging. Hence the role of anti-oxidants in ensuring a healthier life.
Gerontology, Geriatrics, and other ares of modern medicine are constantly developing newer and newer medicines for the treatment of the aged. Alzeimers’, Dementia, Parkinson’s are diseases for which no permanent cure is discovered. Scientists and doctors practicing in the field of modern medicine can throw light on these aspects of aging. We can only leave it to them to ponder over this central area in the survival of our species.
Nanotechnology, stem cell research, etc. are being considered as tools or methods by which span of life could be increased. Before we extend the span of life of humans, let us first prove our capacity by proving that the span of life of our pets could be increased.
In Kerala, the aging process is accentuated by the fact that the retirement of Govt.servants takes place at the age of 55. elsewhere in India it varies from state to state between 58 to 62 and 65. judges retire at the age of sixty-five, university professors too. in USA and Europe the age of legal retirement is 65. taking into account these figures, the hapless Govt.servant in Kerala is a big loser. He starts thinking of old age when he attains the year of retirement, ie. 55. age of retirement casts a negative influence on Keralites.
Recently in an Oprah Winfry Show, Winfry interviewed centenarians from different countries to find our whether their life-styles had an impact on the aging process. The show revealed that the centenarians led an active life and ate lots of vegetables and fruits instead of meat. But, that being the case, here in our country we see that cent per cent of the octogenarians die around eighty plus or seventy plus. Hence, it can be stated that there are some factors other than vegetarianism which decides the faster aging process.
Some say that ‘Reservetrol’, a chemical found in red grapes can help extend life span. Hence in the west, people are drinking red wine to avail this boon. Some new drugs are being developed for extending life span, but so far those drugs have not resulted in slowing the aging process. Some say we can extend life by consuming fewer calories.
In a TV show the other day, an actor with Alzheimers’ appeared and talked at length about his physical and mental disabilities. One doctor stated that due to lack of lubrication inside the brain, all those dysfunctions were caused. As you grow old, the brain shows a decline in its function. Our memory fades considerably.
Cloning and stem-cell research may one day find a method of regenerating the cells or even parts of the body. But, the question is whether these new bodies will have the capability to ensure consciousness and enable them to think like a human being. By the way, consciousness, it seems, is some form of energy which could be transferred from one body to another. Are these only whimsical ideas?
In Christianity it is believed that when Jesus returned, the resurrection of the just will take place in which all believers who died would be raised again and the unfaithful would also be resurrected, judged and condemned to eternal punishment and alienated from God. Hence, for the just and the unjust, there would be life after death. In this sense, timeless mind is not a quixotic idea.
But some believe that consciousness ends once a person dies and the physical death of body and mind takes place simultaneously. In this sense, such believers do not subscribe to the idea that there is life after death or immortality of life. In such a situation the scope of religion becomes dimmer and dimmer. Spiritualists too would be annoyed if one argues that life after death or deathless soul is a non-starter.
All religious interpretations about life after death which ensures a timeless mind, are a manifestation of intuitive thinking, used for the purpose of teaching everyone to lead a virtuous life.
It is easy to make us believe that there is a timeless mind and so a life after death since most of us are carried away by the thought of the fear of the unknown. We are confounded every moment by the concept of eternal life. For some it gives immense joy to follow a life of piety and virtuousness and to subjugate oneself to the judgment of a supreme being.
At this point, I can only say that the mysteries of life, whether it is timeless mind or imperishable soul, will confuse mankind for years to come until the Truth is revealed.
To me consciousness is like a transient light of candle, when the light of which is blown out, the candle remains in its physical form for some time and disintegrates. Likewise, when life ceases, consciousness and the body disintegrate.
Also the concept of ageless body itself would create a mammoth problem for humanity when with five billions of people on earth, the earth suffocates with the alarming situation of needing to feed such a big swarm of people. The depletion of huge natural resources would be alarmingly huge.
Deepak Chopra fascinates us with his interesting theory which as I understand it is that through some awareness one could tilt the biological clock in one’s favor to enable himself to live longer. He too is a wishful thinker spreading his message throughout the world like any Indian Sanyasin, especially to a world of stress, strain, confusion and miseries, more often in a state of mayhem.
As far as the quest for life and passion of life inspire us to live longer, man would desire and seek new methods and practices that ensure longevity.

facts for free thinking

2009-11-19T04:59:00.000-08:00

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.

facts in free thinking

2009-11-19T04:44:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 11-8-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. Babu Ravindran, Edavalath House, Tellicherry-670103
Coram: Eight members attended. Dr. Sadanandan could not attend as he was not well.
Subject: Facts in Unbiased Free Thinking.
Dr. Mohammed Abdulla: I would like to raise an important point that occurred to me. It can be elaborated later if necessary. That is the basic question whether free thinking is at all possible unless the mind itself is free? I find that the mind has to be first freed of all thoughts before free thinking can become possible. For that, meditation would be necessary. Generally, chanting of Mantra may help to reduce the flow of thoughts that disturbs and clears the mind to make it free. Mantra has got that capacity.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Thought is not separate from environment. Is there any thought at all unconnected with environment?. I mean the environment, internal as well as external. Therefore thought is always there. The mind is never free of it.
Dr. Thomas: It is generally an autocratic mind which has adamant thoughts that always wins. Stalin was an autocrat while Trotsky was democratically minded. Stalin could manipulate and kill Trotsky to captured power for himself. Then he killed all the members of the Trotsky family. A set or fixed mind succeeds compared to a free thinking mind.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Yes. That is ‘Macbeth Strategy’. There is struggle for power, capture of the power, and then retention of the power. That is the technique.
Dr.Thomas: But now it is difficult to fool people like that because of the media and the resulting instant publicity.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: What actually is bias? What is meant by being biased? How can anybody decide whether some thought or action is biased? What is bias for one may be fair and unbiased for another.
Dr.Sankarankutty: By the quality of thought itself we are all biased. So says J.K.
Dr.Thomas: I found an example yesterday. Our Administrative Officer and Manager were having an argument yesterday on an unimportant matter. I was noticing it quietly. Each vehemently held to his own opinion and went on talking agitatedly without making even a smallest attempt to hear the other point of view.
K.V. Kunhikrishnan: Bias means prejudice. One can hold one’s own view. There is nothing wrong with it. But if he is aware of his own prejudices, and is willing to hear the other point of view, and also willing to change his opinion if he is wrong then he is not biased.
Sankarabkutty: Mantra sounds have significance; it is supposed to open the channels to the Chakras or the vital points in the body. The ancients had found out great truths subjectively and communicated them in forms that others could understand. For example, they knew the steps of evolution of man from the form of fish (animal in water), through the stages of tortoise (animal on water as well as land), pig (animal on land), Man-Animal, Small short man, and then Man. This they told out to others in the form of the story of Dasavathara(Ten Incarnations). The epics and legends are not mere superficial facts of life narrated. But they contain several profound truths. Naked truth cannot be easily exposed. They will be misunderstood and are therefore given in legends. There is an interesting story why Truth is called naked. Truth and Falsehood are sisters. They went together for a bath in the nearby river. Falsehood got out of the river first and seeing the nice, clean and colourful dress of Truth, wore them and left immediately. When Truth came out of the river her dress was not to be found. The tattered, worn out dirty dress of Falsehood was lying on the bank. She would not wear it and therefore had to go naked. Thus formed the expression ‘Naked Truth’. This is an example how myth is developed. When language is difficult and insufficient to express truth, myth develops and comes to the rescue.
Prof. Richard Hay: The bias and prejudice of the dominant holds control. The saying that might is right holds even today. See the result of the Iraq invasion. Tony Blair has the cheek to say in British Parliament that he was right in being a party to it. And the opposition could not counter! Facts do not count. The more powerful always decide what is right for all.
Dr.Thomas: Britain is trying to hold on to their might as long as possible.
Dr. Abdulla: Earlier, spiritual power prevailed over the world; but now material and physical power has supremacy.
Prof. Hay: Compared to the materialist world of thought, there has been clear deterioration on the spiritualist world.
Prof. Sankarankutty: In the evolution scale there has been a time when one who had the power to heal, the medicine man, counted and controlled all others. But later the mighty took over.

book release on 14th july 2009

2009-11-19T04:31:00.000-08:00

The report on Book Release:
Thalassery 14-7-09
The premises of the New Cosmopolitan Club, Thalassery, Kannur Dt., Kerala, bore witness to a small but beautiful function when the book entitled ‘Ruminations and Reminiscences ay Eighty Plus’ authored by Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, Chairman and Convener of Ekkentros Forum was formally released by the celebrated novelist and short story writer in Malayalam Sri. M. Mukundan, President of the Kerala Sahitya Academy. Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University received the first copy of the book.
The deliberations began with a prayer by Miss Shreesha Chandran which was followed by the Ekkentros Invocation by Dr. A.V. Sadanandan. Prof. Richard Hay welcomed the gathering. Dr. T. N. Babu Ravindran, presiding over the function traced the history of the Forum and its growth over the last eleven years.
Sri. M. Mukundan, the chief guest of the evening was introduced to the audience by Prof. Mohanan Nair. Sri Mukundan dwelt at length on the various themes covered by the author. He said that the mind is both the hero and the villain, and the book is an effort to map its complexities and continuities. He described the present age as the age of ‘indescretions and disasters’ where the rising tide of the cult of the individual has defiled the sanctity of the social values. He also said the book is not one to be just read and kept aside on the shelf, but to be read over again and again.
Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the Guest of Honour, elaborated upon the several facets of philosophy as adventure and an attitude, and made a special effort to highlight the relevance of Jiddu Krishnamurthi’s illuminations on the predicament of modern man.
Sri.K.Balakrishnan, Program Executive, AIR, Kannur hailed the book as a unique reading experience which raises the issues that confront the sensibilities of modern man.
Prof. M.P. Radhakrishnan, described the book as another experiment with questing after the Truth. According to him the book spoke the language of ultimate surrender that emanated from a mature mind.
Prof. K.V. Haridasan, the renowned modern artist, and brother of Sri Kunhikrishnan spoke about the family tradition that spurred scholarly pursuits like this and corroborated Sri Kunhikrishnan’s perceptions.
Finally, the author shared with the audience his perceptions on the making of the book, its content in cyber-world, and the themes that impinged upon the human community at large.
Dr. P.M. Sankarankutty proposed a vote of thanks, and the deliberations concluded with the national anthem.

After the Function of Book Release was over a grand dinner with fellowship was hosted by Mrs. & Prof. Richard Hay for the Chief Guest with the members of the Forum.

2009-11-19T04:22:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 9-6-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. A.V.Sadanandan, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr. Abdulla joined later. Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as he was out of station.
Subject: Facts in Free Thinking
Dr. Sadanandan: In the discussions here now I propose to follow the line of thinking of J. Krishnamurthy. Human mind is the greatest of all mysteries. The status and stature of the human being in this universe is because of its mind. What one is, is his mind and the mind’s activities. The whole developments, progress, and achievements of the human race is because of its mind. Yet our minds are burdened with our day to day existence too. We are unhappy. We struggle, we crave for security, have fears, anxieties and confusion created by our minds. Should we change, if at all it is possible to change, or simply accept our fate to continue in our mediocre existence of struggles to fit into and conform to the social morality and modes? On accepting the fate and modes we are conditioned. We get biased. Our conditioning to the race, religion, class, nationality or organization, is to seek security. Culture, traditions, own experiences in life, memories of hurt, fear and grief, all, weigh down us from having a new avenue in the mind for Free Thinking. We are conditioned, we are biased. The built up idea of ‘me’ is the most restricting, conditioning. The ‘me’ has to be silent for the free thinking to be possible, or to arise.
We live the way we think. Thought is the tool to act. It is the knowledge, experience, feelings as memory that responds to any challenge. The knowledge, intellect, and intuitive faculties through generations of human existence helped the scientific and technological progress that we see today. There is definitely creative and free thinking involved in this. The story of science is the story of human capability to understand facts, and to develop by imbibing newer ideas through free thinking.
But man’s story of progress or failure is largely dependant on his psychological existence. His thoughts, feelings, emotions and sentiments decide his actions. Our inner psychological nature is reflected in our relationship with ourselves and the society at large. What life is, is our relationship with each other. This psychological nature conditions one’s relationship with the society. And this conditioning has tremendous influence in our social well being. This conditioning doesn’t allow one to relate to another freely and gracefully. So, the real problem is lack of true relationship due to one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions. But these are all important factors of one’s being. Do we see these as real facts or illusions? We do not see facts, and our life is an emotional circus. If we could see these thoughts and use them only when required, illusions could be subdued.
Psychologically, when thoughts are seen and one is aware inwardly there can be freedom from thoughts. Then there is free thinking, but what is there to think? Outwardly we build up that with understanding of solid facts and inwardly we uncover layers of illusions to see what is.
Dr. Sankarankutty: It appears from what Dr. Sadanandan has put forward that free thinking is never possible. Even if facts are verified and accepted, the bias of conditioning will still be there. Thinking, any thinking, itself is therefore biased by the conditioning.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Quite true. But if one is aware of the conditioning and the bias, free thinking would still be possible. The illusions are there as fully recognized. But one goes beyond them.
Dr. Sankarankutty: When thought itself is conditioned and one is not conscious of the conditioning, there is no freedom in thinking.

Dr. K.P.Thomas: When we talk of the product ‘free thinking’, we have to take into consideration the raw materials, namely, the brain, experiences, inheritance, present and previous beliefs, decisions already made, and the like. A debating mind can make anything look logical and correct. Therefore a mind like that of justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, though flowery literature, cannot be trusted because of his inconsistent intellectual truthfulness, and attraction to opportunities. Vis-à-vis, Panampally Govinda Menon was, in my opinion, a better debater, and intellectual administrator, full of wit and humor. I compare these two because they were well known debaters and public personalities one time during the same period. We can put some well known personalities in the category of luminaries who are self centered intellectual beings more bothered about their own image and news-making capacity than anything else. I would put Sukumaran Azhikode and Justice Krishna Iyer in this category of public figures.
Free thinking was put to test abrasively during the emergency period of 1975-77. V.P.Ramachandran, the doyen of journalism in Delhi those days was appointed as the censor working for the P.M., Indira Gandhi initially. When he passed a text of news for release without censoring, a junior close to Indira Gandhi reminded him that the PM was interested in censoring that particular text. He censored it accordingly with a light remark jocularly, ‘let the bitch have her way’. This comment was, it appears, promptly relayed back by the junior journalist to Indira with the result that V.P.Ramachandran was sent on transfer to a post with silly responsibility in Madhya Pradesh overnight. Intellectual honesty is always in jeopardy when there is power that is corrupt, and vested with one or few. The streak of a little madness in Nehru runs in Varun also through Sanjay. There was innocence in Achutha Menon, Craftiness in EMS, and popular welfare interest in AKG, all personified.
Twisted facts masquerading as fiction may make our lives worth living. My letter to the Home Minister is a good example, I think. Facts were in fact a little twisted to entertain and titillate the sensitivity of the scores of reading public. Still, even now after over a few months, I get comments from the rank and file of the ‘party’ for the tremendous courage exhibited by me in launching that news story item. Explicit expression of thoughts through pen at the right time may alter the course of our social history. I sometimes wonder how useless the present day communist leaders are, with their lack luster pedantic writings, full of clichés, in their party paper that appeal neither to the intellect nor to the masses. Time alone can prove whether ‘free thinking’ was after all, the right one or not.
The role of visual media and telecommunication has made facts to reach you instantaneously, and hence people are able to give a verdict decisively. For example, in the case of the Karala Governor’s permission to prosecute Pinarayi, instant sms polling showed that 85% of the people who sent sms was in favor of the prosecution. It has therefore become extremely difficult to suppress facts, and information by any government or party. I think that an oligarchic iron curtain, or an iron fisted rule by fascists, or a totalitarian communist governance will not be possible any longer. If the communist party has to survive anywhere, they have to first destroy the media as well as all modern means of communication. Without genuine facts we find that people are not swayed or influenced easily. At present, the party machinery, the PB, and the Government, all are trying to save the career of Penarayi or to save him politically from ‘Banvas’ of fourteen years in court jungles. The present tragicomic situation is the result of globalization which is dooming any dictatorial governance, whether proletarian or not. Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq can be said to be some exceptions; only time can prove what will happen to them in future.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: To illustrate the point of unbiased thinking, the present controversy on the Governor’s permission on the Lavlin case can be a good example. We can understand that politicians are naturally divided according to their party or leanings. But look at the different opinions expressed by legal luminaries and intellectuals! The Governor had said that he gave the permission to protect the interests of the public.
Senior Advocate Ramkumar said that as per Supreme Court decisions in two cases the Governor can take independent decisions against the advice of the cabinet if it is warranted by the apparent bias of the Ministers. Therefore Governor is right.
Sr.Advocate Janardhana Kurup said that there is no provision in the constitution for the governor to take a decision against the decision of the cabinet.
Justice Krishna Iyer also said that the governor has to obey the cabinet. The few exceptions cannot be expanded to suit a different decision in the present case. (Italics mine)
The DG of Prosecution, P.G.Thambi said that Pinarayi should immediately go to the High Court.
The PUCL President P.Chandrasekharan also said that he should go to the court.
Sr. Advocate Kelu Nambiar said that Governor may not be right because he cannot go against the cabinet.
Sr. Advocate Kaleswara Rao said that Governor is right and Government should accept governor’s decision because there are other accused also involved. (unfair to let off Pinarayi alone!)
Former advocate general M.K.Damodaran said that Governor, if he does not agree with the cabinet, should have consulted another legally constituted authority and not any lawyer of his choosing.
These opinions are only some among hundreds. The differences merely show that the matter of giving permission can be argued both ways according to the interpreter’s leanings.
Dr. Sankarankutty: Politicians and bureaucrats are hand in glove and they always escape the arms of the law through loop holes and clever interpretations.
Prof. Hay: It is a fake democracy. Consider the case of Ex-Minister Sukh Ram who had crores of rupees stuffed in his waste baskets! He never got punished, but was again contesting elections with impunity!
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: The interesting part is that in all these discussions and opinions nobody talks of finding the truth. They are bogged down with the technicality of giving permission to prosecute. How can the truth be known unless investigated, prosecuted and tried? After all, prima facie, fraud has happened because others, who were not ministers, are anyway being prosecuted. For all that Pinarayi may be innocent. There should be a way to prosecute without affecting the future or political career of any accused in the meanwhile. The defect of the system lies there.

Facts in Free Thinking

2009-11-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 12-5-09 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, IRS(Retd), Patikkal, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr.abdulla and Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as both were out of station.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan:
We had briefly touched upon this subject in our tenth anniversary proceedings but had no opportunity or facility to discuss the subject in detail.
Fact is a casualty in today’s world. A stage has come when we cannot rely on any information whatsoever that we come across in the media. They are manipulated by personal or group interests. As our Forum stands for free unbiased thinking, we have a stake in the premises based on which we think, and the premises are facts. The first requisite for free thought is the correctness of facts and a respectful commitment to facts. The other requisites are of course, clear logic, understanding the other, and willingness to change one’s opinion.
The main requirement is getting the facts. When we have direct knowledge, facts are clear and self evident. For example, when I tell you that I am old, you see straight that I am old. Nobody will deny. But when I say that I am over eighty, it can only be a reliable belief to you because it is not in your direct knowledge. There is no proof. That is why I have to produce my birth certificate to get enhanced pension on crossing the eightieth year. In day to day life we believe and rely on so many doubtful facts without evidence that the conclusions arrived at are very often widely off the mark. So, what is the remedy? Doubting anything and everything till authentic proof is obtained is no remedy, and is neither practical. But a healthy skepticism has to be maintained while having an open mind. Those who do not have an open mind cannot be unbiased.
Facts are generally elusive. It has different perspectives. There are different versions to the same set of facts. But the deliberate distortions of facts have to be recognized and discarded diligently.
Those who do not have an open mind can never find out the truth. Anybody who is wedded or committed to a dogma can never be free thinkers because he has already surrendered his mind/brain to fixed ideas. He will accept as facts only what suits his blind beliefs To avoid conflicts we need free thinkers. Future leaders have to be free thinkers who can influence the ideologists to change and be free. This is not to discount any dogma or ideology, or to say they are wrong or right. But the necessity to have open minded people in this age is very important. merely tolerating the other point of view is not enough. One must fully understand and respect the opposite point of view also. Then there cannot be any violent conflict. Facts have a most important function here.
When I was a student of sixth and seventh standard we had two Newspapers in Malayalam. The Mathrubhoomi and the Kerala Patrika. All people believed whatever was published in those papers, and rightly so because there were no contradictions or differences in facts. Facts were never disputed because non-verified facts were never published. Of course there were deliberate distortions like those by Sanjayan for the sake of humourous writings that used to appear in Kerala Patrika. The 8th column of the paper was reserved for him. What I mean is that things have changed so much that today we do not know on what to rely and what not. This is not to blame anybody, but only to highlight the pitiable helplessness of the readers.
Today if you read four newspapers you will get four versions of the same small incident. Everything seems to be distorted and politicized. It is difficult to get at the truth and form any opinion. Truth is always hidden somewhere. And even to find the truth of a very small incident you may have to appoint a commission and wait for several years! Most Newspapers can be read only as fiction not as facts.
There is a book called Flat Earth News by Nick Davies, a journalist. He cites a typical example of how a false news is sensational. A news item was published in the Fleet Street Journal saying that a five year old boy was caught by a rowdy gang and tried to kill him by hanging by neck on a tree and that he somehow managed to escape. Most of the prominent papers like the guardian, Times, Mail and Evening News went on repeating it. Newspapers did not stop there. They published features about the atrocities that have increased in the city and the terror that have been unleashed.
But it appears that the real truth was only that a twelve year old girl tried to walk a boy of five like a dog by tying a leash around his neck and in the process he got some bruises on his neck! Nick Davies compares this with the vide coverage to the news that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. According to him only ten percent of the news published by newspapers are verified and authenticated. The rest are second hand news as handed out by interested public relation people or governmental agencies.
Once something has happened it has become the past. It has become the history. Unfortunately it has become “his story’, and not my story. My story is different, I claim. Everybody claims his story, his version, to be true. Of course it depends on one’s perspective. But if there is compassion, understanding, truth will emerge. A willingness to find truth may help. Capacity for discrimination is important. For recognizing facts from fiction the only thing one can rely on is one’s own direct intuitive perception and understanding without bias or preconceived notions. Too much stress has been made on logic and reasoning, which, although have helped man in scientific development, are actually only instruments for verification of intuitively obtained ideas.
I think, an open mind and willingness to understand the other point of view can help to sift facts from fiction.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: I first thought that free thinking was unbridled thinking without caring for facts or anything else. If free thinking is on its own considered a virtue facts are of no relevance. One goes on thinking of various aspects of a case from different angles till a conclusion emerges. Then naturally the decision based on incorrect facts will also be incorrect. The importance of facts are then recognized. Sometimes in a court of law we find that opposite parties go on putting arguments in all sorts of manner giving several reasons and law points on a matter before the judges without bothering about the facts. After considering all the forceful arguments if the judge comes to a conclusion he will be committing grave errors if facts are not checked. Free Thinking is thus not merely thinking freely with abandon as you like. Fact is the most important part of free thinking.
Prof. Hay: Just consider the case of P.J.Joseph, ex-Minister. The judgment of the court is in all the Newspapers to-day. What is the actual fact? Did he actually molest the lady or not? The allegation was outraging of her modesty while traveling in the aircraft. The court says the prosecution could not produce sufficient evidence. We cannot say that he is exonerated. One can neither say that he was innocent nor that he is guilty.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: A lady will not normally come forward with such an allegation openly in public unless she did feel really outraged. What would be her purpose otherwise? There is no possibility of any political conspiracy.
Dr. Thomas: Protection for ladies in such circumstances is difficult. It is one man’s word against the other. No direct evidence is possible. The innocent, the minister or the lady, suffers the humiliation and consequential losses.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: In the film ‘Sakshi’ recently seen, an innocent is thus hanged because the truth was never revealed.
Prof. Sankarankutty: The truth should come out from the bud of fact and blossom naturally. Facts are different from truth. To-day’s fact may not be a fact tomorrow. Things change and therefore facts also change. But truth never changes. Unlike truth, facts get twisted and turned in the folds of time and space. In the legal proceedings, facts are found out and established by examining evidences and cross questioning witnesses. In the process a lot of violence may be done to facts as the judge watches on. A fact is thus temporary.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: But often we use the word fact as synonymous to truth. An established fact is considered true.
Dr. Thomas: There is the difficulty with languages. Words will have different meanings at different times and therefore meanings are never precise. Meanings and grammar are formed in the brain. American linguist Noam Chomsky has written about it.
Prof. Sankarankutty: He said that actually there is no need to teach or learn grammar. Human being knows the general principles of language by birth. It is the way of thinking later codified into a form of rules or grammatical structures for uniformity. Language itself is actually unreliable because what is expressed is not exactly what is intended or understood. Everywhere there is infection of facts. How to disinfect facts is the question.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Time and space do affect facts. Earth was flat earlier and that was a fact then. Now it is round and that is accepted as fact.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Facts get altered in time and space but truth always remains the same.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Mathematics as such never changes. Two plus two is always four when two, four and addition are defined.
Dr. Sadanandan: But perceptions of it do differ and change. For those who do not understand mathematics even the fact that two plus two is four need not be a fact. It can be a bigger two.
Dr. Thomas: It is a well known fact that Omar Khayam was a man who loved and wrote about wine and women. Now I understand that he was a mathematician as well. What is truth or fact?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: He was actually a mystic. Ultimately I think, fact is a state of the mind. When a mind is settled on a matter it is accepted as a fact. But it need not be true.
Dr. Sadanandan: Truth cannot be explained. When I explain it, it becomes only ‘my explanation’ having nothing to do with the actual truth. Prophetic sayings may be slightly different because they come out with the light of truth. But when explained they become mere words. Truth when explained becomes merely versions of facts.

roots of terrorism

2009-11-18T04:31:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 17-3-09 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Prof. Mohanan Nair

Coram: Eight members attended. Dr. Thomas could not be present as he was out of station in Bangalore.

Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)

Prof. Mohanan Nair: Most of the aspects of terrorism have already been discussed by this forum, and therefore what I have to say here may have some repetitions.
The use of the word ‘terrorism’ began in 1795 with reference to the ‘Reign of Terror’ initiated by the revolutionary government in France, though violence has been used systematically throughout human history by political organizations, nationalist, ethnic and religious groups, and by revolutionaries to create fear and to force government or societies to achieve political, religious and ideological goals. It has been an effective tactics of the weaker side of a conflict. Being an asymmetric form of conflict it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost. This is also true with regard to the human lives lost in terrorist operations. Though terrorist activities had started early in human history its impact has been magnified by the deadliness and technological sophistication of modern weapons. The attack on the WTO on Sept.11, 2001 by the Al Qaeda suicide squad is an illustrious example. Changes in the tactics or techniques of the terrorists have been significant, but even more significant, is the growth in the number of causes and social contexts where terrorism is used.
Terrorism has been described variously depending on whose point of view is represented. There are three perspectives of terrorism – that of the terrorist, the victim and the public. The three perspectives can never be accommodated in one definition. The terrorists never consider themselves as evil. They think of themselves as legitimate combatants fighting for what they believe to be right while in discriminately killing the non-combatants including women and children. The suffering of the citizens accomplishes the terrorist’s goal of instilling fear and getting their message out to the world. A victim of terrorism looks at the terrorist as an inhuman criminal having no regard for human life. The perspectives of the general public should have been the most important. But unfortunately it is the most unstable.
There is also another difficulty in constructing a definition for terrorism. History provides us ample examples of organizations and leaders branded as terrorists eventually emerged as accepted leaders. This is particularly applicable to national liberation movements fighting colonial oppression. Nelson Mandela, Bhagat Singh etc. are standing examples. In spite of the terrorist activities committed by the communist party of Nepal, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, is now the head of a democratically elected government.
Another dimension to terrorism is the exploitation of the capability of the media by the terrorists. The terrorists are always careful to obtain the greatest publicity. The effectiveness of a terrorist act does not lie in the act itself but in the public’s or government’s reaction to the act. The ability of the media and the avidity in covering news of terrorist activity instantaneously encourages the terrorists to carry out novel techniques of suicidal killings.
When we try to analyze the causes of terrorism we find that primarily it is the imbalanced human brain that initiates terrorist activity.
Dr. Abdulla: Not exactly. We cannot call it imbalance which will amount to madness. It is an aberration rather than an imbalance.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: whatever it is, the loss of balance may be due to political reasons as was in the case of the French Revolution or the Soviet Union of Stalin, racial in the case of Nazi Germany, ethnical in the case of LTTE, religious fundamentalism as in the case Lashkar E Tioba or Al Qaeda, or social or economic inequality as in the case of Maoists in a number of states in India. We cannot have an exhaustive list because the number of cases is on the increase. The perpetrators of terrorism exploit the poverty and illiteracy among the masses. Illiteracy breeds gullibility. The sweet imagination of immediate ascent to heaven or having hallows of martyrdom around them are ideas that could be easily driven into a gullible brain. We find that the organizers of terrorism keep themselves away at a safe distance and encourage illiterate ones to blow themselves up in the name of an imaginary cause. The manic ideology of Al-Qaeda has no roots in mainstream Islam which share core values of peace and tolerance with the world’s major religions.
We notice that always it is the crazy idea of one single man that is at the root of any terrorist organization, and he is the person who propagates and builds up a terrorist outfit. It may be either a Hitler or an Osama Bin Laden.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Any idea is always like that. It originates from one man, spreads and takes root. Only, the originator has to convince his group.
Dr. Abdulla: No Bin Laden or LTTE Prabhakaran will go with the suicide squad. They will only send their brainwashed followers.
Prof. Mohan Nair: No engineer for that matter will join the suicide squad. They plan and engineer from behind. If a few top leaders including the originator are eliminated, the organization could perhaps be destroyed.
Prof. Sakarankutty: If leaders are killed violence may become out of control.
Dr.Abdulla: All the same, it will definitely harm the organization. The second rung leaders would take over, and if they are unable to control the followers there may be chaos and more destruction imposed on the public.
Sri. Kunhikrishan: There is some point in the idea of eliminating the leaders. In olden times when a Raja is killed in battle, his followers and army are defeated and they surrender.
Prof Sankarankutty: There was a news item recently in The Hindu about Bin Laden’s death. Some papers reported, as if originating from authentic source, that Bin Laden was killed. But before his organization was affected by the news they managed to show him alive in some Television Channel.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: though suicide attacks are particularly associated with Al-Qaeda ideology, they have been adopted even much earlier by Tamil Tigers, and by militant groups in Afghanistan (Taliban) and Pakistan. Islamic education system, may be in a very minority of cases, advocate extreme views which are inconsistent with main stream Islam. This has been said to flourish in Pakistan where inadequate funding of state education permits unregulated ‘Madrasa’ religious education to take hold.
Prof. Sankarankutty: When we think about the lack of funds for education, the first thing that comes out is the expenses that are incurred in this world on the military or the defense establishments as a whole. A fraction of that would have been sufficient to promote good education and social uplift.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Terrorism has invariably an imaginary enemy. To fight it terrorists use all means in their command, right or wrong, basing their activities in weak countries. In fact, the countries which are conducive to the spread of terrorism, according to the UN are those characterized by the ‘lack of rule of law, and violation of human rights, ethnic, national, and religious discrimination, political exclusion, socio-economic marginalization and lack of good governance.’

Dr. Sadanandan: Terrorism is an extreme form of violence, heinous, tragic, and distressing. Innocent people getting caught unawares, killed for no reason, and for no fault of theirs, is barbaric. It is brutal, coming out of some crazy ideas of a beastly mind.
Our concern here is to get to the root of terrorism, perhaps to find out means to eradicate this evil completely. We have been going through all possible reasons behind this problem and what contributes in the making of a terrorist. It may be the violent reaction in an outburst of an oppressed and disgruntled individual in his struggle for existence. And someone cunning and having ulterior motives might be exploiting this mind to his virulent designs.
We have explained many reasons that lead to violence in our social existence. Social upheavals, social differences and discriminations, religious fundamentalism, economic disparity, political and national differences, ideological conflicts and psychological idiosyncrasies, are all causes for violence in our society. The problem is in human relationships. The existence of appalling division and thereby isolation of individuals into different groups, sects and compartments does not help to instill good relationship in the society. But why these differences cause violence amongst us? Is it that while getting evolved, human beings still retain and inherit those qualities of animals that generate violence? And is it that in humans, apart from the biological evolutions, changes take place in their consciousness too – the evolution of the mental process – thereby a refinement and maturity of the mind is possible, but is lacking when one is violent? In our day to day life we are all violent sometime or other. We are at war with each other on our differences. Battle is there in the psyche too. Mind is where all thoughts, feelings, ideas, experiences exist. And our relationship is based on this mind. Daily living is a struggle for each one of us. When we compete with each other and force one’s way up, there develops friction, noise, and violence. For generations we have lived with these noises. We are getting accustomed to it. Our social morality has been shaped accordingly and we live with it.
But terrorism is horrible and dangerous. With it civilized society cannot exist. That dark-hooded man from the distant land crossing the sea, getting into a hotel room fully armed, killing a helpless innocent lady, the mother of a small, kid and shooting anybody at sight, it is horrifying1 one can’t see any logic in it. The only logic could be that man is still an animal. At least some are, and they behave beast-like.
The Tatas are considering doing whatever is possible to rebuild the structures of their hotel to make it terror proof. Government is making sure that every nook and corner of our land is accessible to the security guards and commandos within no time when the need comes. Cross- border terrorism has to be sorted out with our neighbors with dialogues and appropriate diplomacy. Now we try to rest our hope on Mr. Obama, the most powerful leader on earth to save us from Osama, the terrorist. Osama Bin Laden is there very much alive in his den, and to extricate him seem to be a real task. And who knows how many dens are there with terrorists inside, and where all?
Is not the real den our own mind, the resting place of the wildest of all beasts always exuding venom and creating whatever problems we have? Do we see this? Can we understand? Is there light? Is there intelligence? What is it that we lack?

Sri. Kunhikrishnan: We have seen that criminally minded people will be there as long as human mind does not change either by individual effort on a wide scale or by mutation. Till then the causes for terrorism will have to be contained, viz. 1) the patronages by, politicians of different states and countries, interests of religious groups, ideologies, and selfish interests who use the criminals and 2) people or organizations who finance the operation of terrorists.
I feel that there is a need to make people aware of the utter need to eschew violence on a wide scale, in matters of dispute or dissatisfaction or grievances, relating to religion, ideology or politics. Nothing can be achieved by violence as it breeds counter violence. One may think it is a futile exercise, or is useless to try. But why not make a world wide campaign for all organizations, political parties and religions to be forced to give a declaration that they are against terrorism and violence in all matters? Those who do not give a declaration or include the pledge in their manifesto should be treated as criminals by the world society. And to remedy grievances there could be arrangements to solve them in all countries, sponsored by the world Forum. This may at least morally discourage the general public not to join or support terrorism financially or otherwise.

roots of terrorism

2009-11-16T04:35:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 24-2-09 (Tuesday)

Venue: Residence of Dr.Mohammed Abdulla

Coram: All nine members attended.

Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)
Prof. Richard Hay: There has always been a conflict between the East and the West for several centuries. The conflict between the Middle East and the West has roots in the belief that Jerusalem and surroundings were given to the Jews by God Himself. Even long before the present Israel was born, there were crusades for centuries.
Dr. Sankarankutty: That is the ‘Cross and the Crescent’ conflict.
Prof. Hay: The conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and Hindu fundamentalism is another. The main objective of the Al-Quaida is said to be to destabilize the American Federal Government and other western powers to establish complete radical Islamic control. There is a similarity in the fundamentalist RSS way of thinking and objectives. And this is similar in the sense that they want to enforce what is called Manu Dharma, the law founded on the caste system, or the Racist Culture. How can such differences be reconciled? Is there any solution? Not to just contain the conflicts, but to stop it once for all?
Al-Quaida was formed in 1980 with the financial support of America to fight Russian Communism in Afghanistan. The Taliban was also similarly encouraged and supported by US to chase away communist Russia from Afghanistan. On the ouster of the Communists from Afghan, Americans lost control over the powerful fundamental groups who had out-served their utility and had become religious fanatics. Under the leadership of the wealthy and disgruntled engineer from Saudi Arabia, Osama Bin Laden, Al Quaida became a terrorist organization to fight the US and defend Islam from it’s ‘oppressor’.
Same is the case with other fundamentalist organizations and the states that support them. Extremism and fundamentalism are built up and encouraged first to whip up emotions on the basis of religion, language, race etc. to capture power, and then they get out of control leading to creation of terrorist outfits. Criminally minded leaders take advantage of the situation.
The same sort of situations can be traced in respect of most of the terror outfits, whether it is the fundamentalism of the Sikhs, the LTTE, the Irish Terrorists, or the Nexalites.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Emotionally charged factors like religion, language or race are used by politicians and countries to play power politics and in the bargain end up creating fundamental outfits for criminally minded leaders to take over and misuse. The root cause is therefore not religion or language, but the politicians who use the outfits for their purpose whipping up hatred.

Prof. Hay: It was to capture power from the Shah of Iran that the fundamental religious heads organized and promoted Islamic fundamentalism under the leadership of Khomeini. Finally it ended up in the extremist religious rule and a ‘fatwa’ against Salman Rusdie for imagined insult to Islam. Now Taliban desires to establish Shariat Rule all over Pakistan and Kashmir.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Kashmir’s position is different. It was originally under the rule of a Hindu King to whom the Kashmiris owed allegiance sincerely. This was said to be because the majority of Kashmiris revered the Sufi tradition which the King encouraged as against the strict following of Sunni Islam. The majority were, no doubt, followers of Islam, and that gave the reason for Pakistan to claim the area.
Dr. Thomas: The people there were on the side of India when the partition happened. Their leader Shaik Abdulla joined Nehru in the fight against Pakistan to retain Kashmir with India. Present leader Omar Abdulla is his grandson.
Prof. Richard Hay: The question now is how we can end terrorism? Is there any solution? Any solution has to be political, for it to last. It cannot be suppressed militarily or by the elimination of terrorist sanctuaries. Will terrorism end if the unjust military occupations are reversed? Can we reclaim religion from the clutches of fundamentalists? These are burning questions now. Terrorism is born out of grudge, grievance, disappointments that find expression in hate-attack-revenge syndrome. When an opportunity comes in the form of fundamentalism and finance it flourishes. Can the terrorists be brought to join the political process? Arab countries are divided over Palestine. And their governments are not democratic. It is doubtful that the Islamic countries would prefer western type of democracies. Can a united Arab World tackle Terrorism?
Dr. Abdulla: The Arab countries have been financially independent and self sufficient. Economic grievances are not there for the general public. People are otherwise controlled by force of stringent laws. There is no political force in Arab countries. People are by nature peace loving and nature loving.
Prof.Richard Hay: Every country has its own culture. That culture never propagates terrorism. Deep within, the inner feeling is always peace loving. But I am surprised and even embarrassed at times to find that yet some of them support extremism and violence.
Dr. Abdulla: I wonder why the U.N. is not working in a big way against terrorism. It is only at the international level that terrorism can be tackled.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Now that Obama is at the top of the most powerful nation in the U.N, can’t he do something? Somebody can move him.
Prof. Hay: It is definitely a possibility. There is perhaps a chance.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Somebody has to put forward the idea. Man should be educated to think without bias. Free thinking without the bias of religion, language, race or idealism has to be promoted in a big way at the world level. Indian constitution provides for treating all citizens alike without this bias, but yet people are not even aware.
Prof.Sankarankutty: But history repeats. The abolished caste system has come back in the form of reservations in a more complex pattern creating fights and conflicts.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Had the criterion for giving special status and concessions been only economical for any reservation, the division on account of caste would not have been perpetuated. Any discrimination or insult on account of caste etc. could have been instead made more stringently punishable by law.
Prof. Sankarankutty: A change has to happen at the level of the mind of Man. World is a universal brotherhood. The change from violence to peace has to come from within. Sage Arobindo’s idea is to transform the mind of man in such a way that it can be compared to a state among animals where the dear and the tiger drink from the same stream without any animosity or conflict.

roots of terrorism

2009-11-16T04:17:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 20-1-09 (Tuesday)

Venue: Hotel Malabar Fort (Gokulam Fort) hosted by Dr. K.P.Thomas.

Coram: All nine members attended and participated in the discussions. Dr.R.Ramesh, attended as invitee and guest participant.

Subject: The Roots of Terrorism
Dr. K.P.Thomas: The height of perceived nationalism is down. It is now much less than before. The threat of a third world war is minimal as opposed to the threat in the fifties and sixties. The strength of the superpowers are also now in doldrums, the communist block led by Russia failing in late ’89, and the leader of capitalist, America, failing in 2009 economically. The days of an imminent confrontation is over, a nuclear holocaust in the 80s was predicted, but has not happened. By the advent of the twenty-first century, Sept 11 occurred as a novel way of terrorizing USA by Taliban/Al-Queida outfit lead by Osama bin Laden, a rich construction engineer with imagined revenge against America. The core of hatred is directed against the Jews of America who control the world economy. The brainwashing technique is attained by promise of immediate ascent to heaven for those who are willing to indulge in suicidal attacks in the name of Jihad. The act of destruction and killing is justified by Jihad, a term originating from the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Lashkar-e-Tioba, another terror outfit is having an intelligent pediatrician as its leader. To a certain extent a large chunk of Islamic population supports action against USA by boycotting their products through sms and internet.
Weaker nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon are being used by the terrorists as hiding places. Israel, the half-brother of Muslims, is master of terrorism claiming also that they are the selected people of God. Now, off and on, the war has been developing vigorously in the Palestinian region. The Terror in India is Pakistan sponsored, and the irritant causes are Kashmir, river water sharing, and Religion.
Christian evangelism does not have any physical aggression component or any use of weapon other than a little conversion mania which is now being made illegal. They suffer aggression from outfits like Bajrang Dal, ABVP, and RSS. They advocate clean living, education and the betterment of the ignorant people.
Religious fundamentalism is on the increase more than feelings of nationhood, and the way of life is different from religion to religion. Even in the same religion there are sub-groups who disagree with each other. The borders of nations have thinned out, and in the global village people are divided into Jews, Muslims, Christians, RSS, Backward class, Scheduled castes, etc. etc. Many of these groups have so-called charitable outfits into which large amounts of money flow in and these funds are managed by criminally minded people. Dominance of these criminals is on the increase, and the moment they are identified and tackled, terrorism can be contained. The outfits of the mischievous elements have always been coated with so much culture, way of life, lofty interests, religion, and political clout, that it has been virtually impossible to identify their real purpose. That is why there was a Jenkiskhan, Timoor, Lodi, Khilgee, and then westerners marching on to India, Ceylon, Burma, Malayesia and Indonesia. The superior cultures always asserted themselves in the olden times. But now, in the globalized situation, conditions have changed.
Terrorism in the world as recorded were in France, Italy, and South Africa at different times with different groups, like Communists, Nazis, Zionists, Ku Klux Klan, Irish rebels, and the like. In India, Nagas, Mizos, and Nexals are the examples.
As of today many terrorist outfits are whipping up imaginary fears among themselves that make them indulge in or abet terrorists. A weak government like Pakistan has no control over many of the outfits who get finance by drug trafficking, smuggling, and mafia activities. Davood Ibrahim is an example where no government can touch a criminal. Benazir Bhutto was eliminated and then Marriot Hotel in Pakistan attacked and destroyed. These points to a weak president and a weak Prime Minister ruling a country with the military calling the shots.
The majority community in India is also acting with immaturity in certain parts of India. In the present times the political parties are losing their grip over the masses. The money and facilities pumped into gullible youth results more in terrorism than in any political process.
The consequences of terrorist actions are explained to the outfits by interpreting religious texts as glorifying God, or by manipulating ideology as leading to the freedom of a community or region. Some promise, through religious edicts, entry straight into heaven to suicide squads.
In the present world order when there is no great identifiable evil threat to the human being affecting in a common way – except perhaps the environmental hazards – even small subtle ethnic differences lead to clashes of interests.
In the absence of the thrill of a pastoral life, unemployment and deprivation leads the youth towards the excitement of terrorism as a hobby, livelihood, and way of life. This is with regard to the youth in a society of pastoral parents. The struggle for Khalistan is an example. It got burnt out by itself during a period of two decades between 1980 and 2000. Khalistan or a Punjab separate from India, died along with their proponents, their gullible youth, and the then PM Indira Gandhi. An altogether different terrorist action, the LTTE’s terrorism snuffed out the life of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
After 1978, with the end of Viet Nam war, terrorism has become something of a fashion. It is cheaper for prosecuting a struggle and it is perpetrated by hatred and perceived injustice, utilizing youth power.
In modern times politics and religion are like business. Politicians and priests acquire wealth and that wealth is spent to increase clout. Some exceptions may be found in individuals like Antony, Oommen Chandy and Achuthanandan. But a party like the communist Party is acquiring wealth aligning itself with running business and receiving commission money. The spending money thus acquired by one group is used to increase clout against the leader of the opposite group. Example is the clout developed against Achuthanandan. Some private companies are hand in glove criminally with politicians. With a small change of policy ministers and leaders can make money. Many have accounts in Swiss banks according to Subrahmania Swamy. Widening economic disparity is a cause for youth to pursue easy money by indulging in violence and terror-like activities. One can use religion, caste etc. to whip up violence. But finally drug trafficking and smuggling come in to make quick money. Illegal wealth can in turn generate terrorism in the younger generation under the garb of charitable activities like orphanage schools and hospitals.
Glorification of wealth and glittering life style should not be encouraged. The neat, puritan, pastoral just living, has to become the order of the day and could be encouraged and rewarded if the society is to be rid of violence and terrorism.
Regarding the Thalassery killings, after the Hindu-Muslim showdown in 1973-74, the fights did not recur because people realized that much will be lost on either side if the killings are to happen again. M.V.R had instigated violence in the eighties to show his party’s superiority. After his exit in 1992-3, it was the turn of the RSS and Marxists to sponsor the violence leading to murders. Actually it is the absence of any apparent welfare work by the NSS and SNDP in these areas, combined with a traditional glorification of martyrdom, that resulted in the present day violence and murders between Marxists and RSS in North Kerala.
While people born as Marxist in Marxist families naturally advocate violence as a means to achieve their ends, the RSS who were hitherto separated from the tradition of violence, now indulge in and keep up the culture of violence and murder in order to retaliate in the same coin. The religious stigma against killing of a fellow being as an ultimate sin is no more rooted in the youth in and around Thalassery. To a certain extent, intellectual discussions and verbal showdowns are absent here. And that is terrifying.

Dr.R.Ramesh: It is the big-brother attitude of one Party that does not allow any other Party to function which creates frustration in others to retaliate. No freedom is allowed for others to work in their strong holds. This is especially so in and around Tellicherry. They have also the full support of the police.

Dr.Md. Abdulla: There is no internationally accepted definition of terrorism. But generally it is ‘the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments often for ideological or political reasons.’
There is also the statement, ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ Thus, in the struggle against terrorism the problem of definition is a crucial element in the attempt to co-ordinate international collaboration, based on the currently accepted rules of traditional warfare.
Terrorism is variously classified:
International Terrorism
National ,,
Racial ,,
Economic ,,
Environmental Terrorism
Social ,,
Political ,,
Psychological Terrorism
Cyber ,,
Religious Terrorism – Islamic Terrorism.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the times we live in is the overwhelming presence of violence in our societies. Whether it is the bomb going on in the market place, or the hijacking of the aircraft where innocent people are held ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become common place. Such is the all-pervasive nature of indiscriminate violence, that terrorism is considered as one of the prime threats to peace and security in our societies.
The word terrorism came into wide usage only a few decades ago. One of the unfortunate results of this new terminology is that it limits the definition of terrorism to that perpetrated by small groups or individuals. Terrorism in fact spans the entire world, and manifests itself in various forms. The perpetrators do not fit any stereotype. Those who hold human life cheap, and have the power to expend human lives, appear at different levels in our societies. The frustrated employee who kills his colleagues in cold blood or the oppressed citizens of an occupied land who vents his anger by blowing up a school bus is a terrorist who provoke our anger and revulsion. Ironically, however, the politician who uses age-old ethnic animosities between peoples to consolidate his position, the head of state who orders ‘carpet bombing’ of cities, the exalted councils that choke millions of civilians to death by wielding the insidious weapon of sanctions, are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity.
It is the narrow definition of terrorism that implicates only individuals and groups, that has caused Muslims to be associated with acts of destruction and terror, and as a result to become victims of hate and violence and terror themselves. Sometimes the religion of Islam is held responsible for the acts of a handful of Muslims, and often for acts of non-muslims.
Could it be possible that Islam, whose light ended the dark ages of Europe, now propound the advent of an age of terror? Could a faith that has over 1.2 billion followers the world over and over seven million in America, actually advocate the killing and maiming of innocent people? Could Islam whose name itself stands for ‘peace’ and ‘submission to God’, encourage its adherents to work for death and destruction?
For long we relied on popular images in the media and press for answers to these pertinent questions. It is now time to look at the sources of Islam, and its history to determine whether Islam does indeed advocate violence.
Now, let us see what Islam say on terrorism. Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded special place. The first and foremost, basic right of human being, is the right to live. To quote, “….if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
Such is the value of a single human life, that the Quran equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with the killing of all humanity. Thus, the Quran prohibits homicide in clear terms. The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to administer justice is required to uphold the rule of Law, and the peace and security of the society. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has fortified his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.
Even in a state of war, Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. The instructions of the prophet are as follows: Do not kill any old persons, any child or women. Do not kill the monks in monasteries and do not kill people who are sitting in places of worship. Thus non-combatants are guaranteed security of life even if their state is at war with an Islamic state.
JIHAD is a word that is totally misunderstood and abused. While Islam in general is misunderstood in the western world, perhaps no other Islamic term evokes such strong reactions as the word ‘jihad’. The term jihad has been much abused, to conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims, forcing people to submit at the point of the sword. This myth was perpetrated throughout the centuries of mistrust during and after the crusades. Unfortunately it survives even to this day.
The word ‘Jihad’ comes from the root word Jahada, which means to struggle. So jihad is literally an act of struggling. The prophet said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with insidious suggestions of one’s own soul.
Thus jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.
Secondarily, Jihad refers to struggle against injustice. Islam like many other religion, allows for armed self defense, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression. Thus Islam enjoins upon its believers to strive utmost, in purifying themselves, as well as establishing peace and justice in society.
As Martin Luther King said, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
This is not surprising to a Muslim, for his faith prohibits him from forcing others to see his point of view. Quran says, “ Let there be no compulsion in religion; Truth stands out clear from error; Whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks; And God heareth and knoweth all things.”
Far from being a militant dogma, Islam is a way of life that transcends race and ethnicity. The glorious Quran repeatedly reminds us of our common origin.
As with the term Islamic Terrorism and the Christian Fundamentalism, the latest addition to the media lexicon is highly emotive. It was in the aftermath of the 29th Sept. 2008 bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in Maharashtra that the newly coined term ‘Hindu Terrorism’ or ‘Safron terrorism’ came to be used widely.

Dr. Babu Ravindran: The holy religious texts never promote or advocate violence and terrorism. But the terms in the texts are misunderstood or deliberately mis-interpreted for their use by the terrorists.

Prof. Sakarankutty: Quran is subjected to exhaustive and serious scrutiny by scholars of the world, and therefore there is not much room for misinterpretation.

Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who utilize terrorists for their agenda use deliberately, the wrong distorted interpretations.

Dr. Babu Ravindran: Injustice, deprivation, denial of legitimate rights, excess use of force, social and economic inequalities, are thought to be the usual causes of terrorism or violence.
May be, after exhausting all means of getting redress, a frustrated individual feels that the only way for getting public attention is by measures of intimidation. Opting violence also appears to be the short cut towards attainment of goals. But the very interesting aspect of it is why some resort to terror and others do not. Mahatma Gandhi for achieving independence for India, Eastern Europeans for bringing down the Berlin Wall, Martin Luther King for equal rights, have not opted violence or terrorism. If deprivation of rights is indeed the root cause of terror then why do we see these people not resorting to violence?
Those practicing terrorism do not think of harmony in life. For them, the cause they espouse is so all-encompassing, so total, that it justifies anything. There is no name for the doctrine that produces the evil – i.e., totalitarianism – simple brainwashing of its subjects to indoctrinate hordes of killers to suspend all normal constraints for the sake of a twisted cause. In history we can see from its beginning totalitarianism has always been wedded to terrorism. From Lenin to Stalin, to Hitler, Ayothullha, Saddam Hussain, and right down to Osama Bin Laden, one can see a total blind commitment to a totalitarian belief.
Measures they choose tell us what their goals are. Bin Laden is not seeking to defend the rights of Muslims, but to murder as many Americans as possible and destroy America. Like that Saddam Hussain was not seeking to defend his people but to subjugate his neighbor.
Those who fight as terrorists rule as terrorists. They cannot protect freedom and human rights.
If poverty is the cause of terrorism the most poverty stricken areas of the world like the indigenous parts of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asian islands, should have been the breeding grounds for terrorism. But they have not produced any terrorists. On the other hand all terror leaders and most of the terror perpetrators are seen to be extremely rich. Poverty may assist in the recruitment of vulnerable individuals to train as terrorists, but it does not seem to be the root cause.
If helplessness, desperation, lack of opportunity and use of force are the causes hundreds of thousands of Burmese in the refugee camps of Thailand who have been poverty stricken, are helpless, and are hopelessly desperate for the past more than twenty years should have turned terrorists. No terrorist has arisen from them.
If religion alone is the cause, why do we see Muslims killing Muslims? Saddam Hussain must have killed far more Muslims than any other leader in the world at any time did even in war.
So, it is the tyrannical mindset of some which initiate terrorism. Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, the author of ‘Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Islam USA, and the Global War Against Terrorism’ says that the rhetoric of terror is the rhetoric of demonisation, the only way out of which is to destroy the perpetrator.
Praveen Swami, in an article in the Hindu has written as follows: ‘GHASWA’, the weekly newspaper of Jamat-Ud – Dawa hailed the Mumbai Massacre as ‘a historic victory for Muslim warriors who have avenged the atrocities committed by India against its Muslim minority’. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the chief of Jamaat – ud – Dawa, said in Feb 5 2001 in his speech delivered during the formation of Indian Mujahiddeen, “Remember friends, that the jihad has been ordained by Allah, it is not an order of a general that can be started one day and stopped the other day. Our Jihad in Kashmir will end when all the Hindus will be destroyed in India”.
What rhetoric! And what to do with the perpetrators?

Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who indulge in such rhetoric have to be tackled of course, and the propagator of hatred destroyed. But I think that the root cause of all this is the source that uses such people for their purpose and those who finance them. The roots can be there.

Terrorism EKKENTROS discussion 9-12-08

2008-12-17T03:57:00.000-08:00

Sri. K.V.kunhikrishnan: When we chose to discuss Terrorism last month it was just another subject for discussion, although it still had its importance as a regular threat to be tackled by Governments to ensure safety and security of their citizens. But now all on a sudden like a tremendous bolt from a wrathful blue, it has become a live calamity that imposed wanton destruction on Bombay. There is no demand, no claim, no purpose; Just destruction in their madness to satisfy the whim of a few international criminal leaders.
Terrorism is a very vast subject, as vast as the ocean. There will be no end if we start examining every aspect of it. We have therefore chosen to try and find out only the root causes, if we can.
What is terrorism? Whenever there is mass killing of human beings can we call it terrorism? No. Every army is then a terror outfit. It is a machinery for mass killing of perceived enemies. But can’t we call killing of civilians terrorism? Perhaps we can. But there also it will be a matter of opinion. Indian freedom fighters were terrorists for the British. Communists were terrorists for the Congress Government in the late forties of last century. Nexalites are real terrorists for us now. But for them they are fighters for a cause, and the governments who fight them are terrorists who kill and torture their innocent family members. Kashmiri terrorists call themselves freedom fighters. Those who fight them are suicide squads for the militants of Kashmir. Therefore, the usage of the word is according to the perception of the user. According to me an unbiased and non-controversial definition could be ‘wanton killing of innocent civilians with no purpose other than to create terror in the minds of people’ Now what will be the purpose of creating such terror? It could be vengeance against perceived grievances, it could be frustration for any reason, it could be criminal wrath leading to a psychological imbalance, religious fanaticism, power madness, or belief in a divine mission to kill, and/or to establish political supremacy. Lashkar e Toaba, at the time of its establishment is said to have announced its purpose as establishment of an Islamic World. This is not surprising when we consider that the purpose of the communists was, and even now the ultimate aim is, to establish world communism or ‘proletarian internationalism’ using violence. In a sense the aim of both is world government of their ideology by the use of violence. The purposes mentioned are not exhaustive. But generally none of the purposes are achieved by terrorism except the mental satisfaction of deranged minds.
When one comes to the causes, the first and basic cause of terrorism is the inherent violence in human beings inherited from the animal world. Violence in the form of excessive flow of energy is there. Nature meant it to be used for self defense, gathering of food and survival in general. But the energy of violence is misdirected and diverted to wanton violence against others to create terror.
At present we have within the society individuals who are
1) exploited by the greedy and powerful and therefore having a sense of injustice and resentment,
2) disillusioned with society because of rigid norms to be conformed to,
3)frustrated because of rampant inequality,
4) fed up of poverty,
5) whipped up by religious fanaticism, or a virulent ideology,
and 6) emotionally upset by political rivalry and vengeance
As individuals they may be harmless or incapable of much violence. But they are amenable to recruitment into violent outfits. Just like the able bodied youth who join the army, these people join terror outfits out of frustration or for money. Once they join they have no escape. They are brain washed and criminally trained. It is said that they are even drugged to be able to perpetrate atrocities. They are merely the cannon fodder of the terror outfits. The terrorist who was caught in the recent attack in Bombay, Ajmal Amir Kasab was said to be a small time petty criminal from a poor family of Pakistan Punjab who chanced to get recruited in the terrorist outfit and got brain washed and trained. A vast majority of the terrorists are therefore not the root cause, but only instruments.
But among them there are a comparatively few powerfully intelligent, clever individuals who have either a criminal desire for money and power, or a compulsively mad need to wreak vengeance against particular, group, community, or state. Some are religious fanatics. They are ultimately the leaders who organize, collect funds, recruit frustrated youngsters, brain wash them and use them as instruments to execute terrorist atrocities. It is my suggestion that these leaders are one of main root causes. They are at the head of terrorist organizations. Bin Laden Al Quida, Zaki ur Rahman Lakhvi of Lashkar e Taiba, are examples.
Next comes the funding part of the activities of those inclined to organize terrorism. The agencies and rich individuals, who fund the outfits and use them, are the main culprits. They employ the outfit chieftains on contract for their nefarious purposes. Such agencies would include even governments who want to destabilize ‘enemy’ governments. Once an outfit is thus used for harming another country, it gets enough money to thrive and become powerful. America themselves encouraged and is said to have given, through CIA operations, massive financial assistance to several virulent religious outfits in Pakistan and Afghanistan to drive away Russians and in the bargain became instrumental in creating and strengthening Taliban and several fanatical groups of terrorism. In our own country Bindranwala was first encouraged and helped by congress government to fight the then strong Sikh groups in Punjab. Later he became a religious fanatic and had to be destroyed. Pakistan encouraged terrorism in Kashmir and finally is now suffering the damages themselves. Then there are rich individuals who support an ideology or religion who contribute generously to the outfits either out of misunderstanding of the purposes or of perceived injustice.
Therefore I would put forward that the roots are
1. a few criminally minded, power mad individuals capable of organizing terrorism, who lead the outfits. These people have to be identified and incapacitated/eliminated with international cooperation
2. sources of funding the organizations and outfits have to be found out, exposed and the flow of money to the outfits dried up. In my opinion without these actions any attempt, however elaborate and efficient to catch the terrorists and punish them will not help in stopping the menace.
Prof. Richard Hay: Terrorism like that is not confined to Islamic terrorism alone. For example Israel has many terrorist outfits to destabilize the countries around it, especially the Arab countries. . America has its own to contain their enemies. All organized American organizations have their own terror groups for the purpose of financial control. Even when the purpose is political, religion is used for organizing terrorism. Rligious fundamentalism is of course, at present seen as the main underlying cause.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: There is always a highly motivated leadership behind the attacks. Four or five people from poor families have been recruited, sent to Hyderabad for initial training and then sent to the border to cross over. They are the ones killed at the border. Two or three of them are said to have actually wanted to come back after the Hyderabad experience. But they were threatened with death and compelled to stay. If they had not obeyed they would have been killed there itself. Similar is the case of LTTE recruits. LTTE cadres are recruited by force, and even young girls are compelled to join for fear of their lives. Money is forcefully collected to finance their operations. Terrorists in general are trained in use of drugs. And drug smuggling and selling in enemy territory is also a source of income.
K.V.Kunhikrishnan: As regards LTTE they had at the time it was constituted, a genuine reason to engage in a guerilla war with the Srilanka Govt. For a large chunk of well domiciled Tamil people in that country, even citizenship was denied and they were asked to go back to Tamil Nadu by the Cylonese Government. India was not ready to take such bulk migration. Tamil people were in a real fix. It was then the Tigers under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran was born. But slowly it later became power mad and deteriorated into a terror army. They had a highly qualified, intelligent, committed leadership in the beginning.
Prof. Sankarankutty: There is always a hidden cause, a perceived hurt, a psychological grievance of violence that is hiding behind all terrorism. It may be just a personal hurt or insult as in the case of Hitler that finally ended in the mass elimination of Jews. A personal hurt hides behind a deliberately made out general cause. In the name of saving Germany, he was actually wreaking vengeance against them for a personal insult that he suffered as a youth
Dr. Sadanandan: .Man is what his mind is. Anything hidden in the mind comes out in his actions.
Prof. Sankarankutty: A personal agenda comes out in the garb of a common cause. Even in the case of Mahathma Gandhi we can say that it was his personal insult of being thrown out of a first class compartment of the South African train for not being white, that culminated in the freedom struggle against the British.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: It is surprising that even Bangladesh has terrorists operating against India who helped the ‘Mukthi Bahini’ to fight Pakistan and get their independence. The religious angle is clear there.
Prof Hay: Bangladeshis are dead against India. Some of us who traveled to that country recently could make it out. We were advised not to take any Indian currency with us because even the sight of it by the people there might provoke anger! That is the extent of hatred against India.
DR. Babu: What about the local violence in Kavumbagam here? The political murders, is it also not terrorism? The cadres of political parties kill each other. In one party, if a worker tries to, he is eliminated and the blame put on the opposite party to escape detection.
Dr. Abdulla: That is actually a law and order problem. An impartial police have to take action. Innocent ordinary people are generally not victims. Violence is part of basic human nature. When somebody is denied his legitimate right and he feels that he has no remedy he becomes violent. If one kid alone among many is denied a toffee, he gets angry and may become habitually violent if the denial is repeated. Frustration and sense of injustice may turn people into becoming terrorists. The basic human instinct of violence can thus become a cause for violence and terrorism.
And there are different types of terrorism although ninety percent of it at present is religious. There is political terrorism; there is racial terrorism, and there is ‘casteist’ terrorism.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Violence in nature is for survival. And for survival of the fittest. Man can, if he wants, canalize it in the right direction.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: What is the injustice done to the terrorist Ajmal caught in Bombay attack? He was just recruited in Pakistan Punjab, given intense training, brain-washed with hatred against India and sent to kill innocents at random. He cannot have any personal grievance against India or Bombay.
Sri. Sivanandan: I am in agreement with what Dr. Abdulla said and would like to elaborate on it. The down trodden poor people have a grievance that they are never cared for by the society. They are deprived of even the minimum human requirements for making a livelihood. The depraved people are frustrated. They are naturally angry and willing to make a fight to death. When somebody promises them what they are denied so far, and they get recognition in their group, they become willing to do anything in their frustration. Poverty and depravation can thus be the cause for violence and terrorism.
Dr. Sadanandan: Patriotism is another reason for hatred and the resulting political terrorism. In the name of protecting the citizens, in the name of security, the feeling of nationalism is whipped up creating hatred against the ‘enemy’. But if one looks deeper, one can see that each country does the same thing, thus separating everybody from everybody else. What is after all, patriotism? Is it more important than the value of human life? Being patriotic, countries are secretly developing nuclear weapons for fighting each other and in the process preparing to destroy the world itself. Patriotism or nationalism is more propaganda than a genuine division of territories.
Dr.Sankarankutty: J.Krishnamurthy said that patriotism is glorified tribalism. Each tribe fights the other tribe to protect their identity and territory.
Dr. Thomas: In normal fighting, that is, in fighting a war, the losses and casualties are more. Terrorism is actually cheaper. It is a cheaper way of inflicting greater losses.
Dr. Abdulla: The nexalites do it. They are angry and frustrated that their rights are not properly served by the government and the society.
Dr. Sankarankutty: You go to any government office to get something done. There is a casual reply with least consideration asking you to come later or telling you that somebody is not in his seat. Or they say, ‘we will look into it’. Politicians are also same. There is no honesty in politics. Citizens naturally feel helpless, frustrated and angry.
Dr. Thomas: But those who die for a cause that they sincerely believe in, are real martyrs. They die without expecting or getting any money or reward. Contract killer gangs or an army is not like that. They die for a remuneration.
Sri.Sivanandan: How do people resort to violence or indulge in it? If a person gets what he wants, that is, if he gets the minimum facilities that he requires, he will not be frustrated. When he is denied his requirements he is angry and frustrated. This frustration is utilized by those who want to create panic for their own purposes. The militants want to be well fed and lead a life without poverty. At the grass root level this is the position. At the level of nations big and powerful countries subjugate lesser nations like what America did to Iraq, and make them helpless and frustrated. If people of Iraq indulge in terrorism it cannot be surprising.
Dr.Abdulla: When you have no remedy, when there is no way to counter the injustice, when you have no power to retaliate, what you can do is only to indulge in violence.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Of course, those who plan the attack, the leadership is responsible. Others are only brainwashed followers. Recruitments by force, keeping under coercion and threat of death, and using as suicide squad like what the LTTE and Al Quida are doing is definitely nothing but terrorism.
Prof. Richard Hay: Personal frustration and injustice do not seem to be applicable to terrorist leaders like Bin Laden. He was an affluent construction engineer. He was not even religious it is said. Later he learned religious texts and became devoted. He then became a missionary. There in Saudi Arabia he is said to have realized the atrocities America is committing against Muslim countries and decided to fight the powerful Americans by using terrorist tactics.

Dr. Babu Ravindran: Ultimately, the world requires ‘philosopher kings’. In a world where there is too much money and luxurious living among many, but hardly anything with a large majority, only divine rulers can manage to rule.

ekkentros reports october 08

2008-10-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on
14-10-08(Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Prof. P.M.Sankarnkutty
Coram: Eight members attended and participated in the discussions. Prof. Mohanan Nair could not attend

Dr. Md.Abdulla: We have discussed here several aspects of the Government and Governance in general and that of our country in particular. Drawbacks and shortcomings of governing have also been mentioned and highlighted. But the most important of all viz. the governed, the citizens of the country, who bear all the brunt and burden of any bad governing, has not yet been touched upon. Nobody has yet commented on the ‘ruled’. So I propose to discuss that now.
It is time that we, the ruled, introspected. Do we observe the laws of our country? Do we as good citizens of the country follow the prescribed rules and regulations laid down by our own legislatures? The answer has to be ‘no’. People drink and drive with impunity, never bothering whether it is illegal or not. They smoke in public places. The roads are littered all over.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: That is because no body bothers much about civic sense.
Dr. Abdulla: It is lack of consideration for the laws made for the public good, and disrespect for law that creates all the criminality and violence. We fight against the law made by ourselves. Any law is objected to and fought against by the political parties when in opposition. People do not have any definite opinion or stand about anything. They cannot form any opinion because things are made controversial politically and argued upon endlessly even after the court gives a ruling. Every law inconvenient to some is fought against even if it may be for the good of the majority.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: The rights are stressed, not the responsibilities.
Dr. Abdulla: The failure of any government is because of the non-cooperation of the ruled.
Prof.Sankarankutty: The average citizen has the civic sense, he has a face. But a group or gang is faceless, and loses all sense when emotions are whipped up by politicians.
Dr. Abdulla: Violence is a way of showing superiority. The party in power wants to exhibit superiority. Police indulges in violence to show that they are powerful and superior. The opposition wants to capture that superiority by fighting and indulging in counter violence. It is a vicious circle.
Prof.Sankarankutty: Governance is an art. And the art of governance is idealistic. It is a product of culture and not politics alone. But in actual practice it has deteriorated into capturing power and retaining power.

Prof. Richard Hay: Mine is a continuation of the point put forward by Dr. Abdulla. The relevance of the people in governance and government. Let us take the outcome of elections in our country. In actual practice twenty or thirty per cent of the total votes enable a party to rule the centre as well as the states. The party who gets the largest number of votes, and not necessarily who gets more than 50% majority, rules, either by coalition or by outside support. It is always a minority that rules by manipulations. Who is actually responsible for this sort of situation? The citizens themselves. The people get the government they deserve.
Governance is not confined to government alone. All institutions are ‘governed’ by governing bodies, or governing authorities. Organizations like N.G.O.s, political parties and others have their own methods of governance. Certain private sectors may be governed by individuals. In all these forms of governing there will always be an ethical grounding for governing. Public accounting and transparency is the most important of them all. The test of good governance is its respect for rule of law. Good governance will be based on strict rule of law and at the same time, relying on the principle, ‘one who governs the least governs the best.’ Society expects a clean, transparent, open, accountable, corruption free administration. And it is for this purpose we change governments by elections. That way India is not a banana republic. But still we do have criminals as members of parliament and representatives of state legislature. What recourse, what remedy is there to correct the situation? In advanced countries they have the best management institutions and universities like Harvard to take up leadership training to create good leaders. The resources of the country should be entrusted for management only to people of high principles and talented knowledgeable leadership. Sustainable human development is essential in this regard.
Good governance can always show good results. The experiences of third world countries like Malaysia and Singapore are examples that show results in the matter of economic advance within a very short time.
It is necessary to identify what actually perpetuates poverty in the country. If one looks deeper it can be noticed that it is the incompetent political leaders who are actually responsible. Unqualified and unprincipled and inefficient political leaders entering the legislatures and parliament have interfered with not only the political system but also in the social, civil and legal institutions to infuse inefficiency, nepotism and corruption. The remedy would lie only in evolving an intelligent political guidance system to create and sustain competent and principled legislators.
Broadly the purpose of government and governing can be said to be for,
Protecting individual rights,
To provide stability,
Maintenance of public order and security,
To provide economic and social security,
And to promote environmental security.
At present we find that for all this there is no political consensus on development issues.
* * * * *

government and governance

2008-09-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 26-8-08(Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. Babu Ravindran. .
Coram: All nine members attended and participated in the discussions.
Subject: Government and Governance (Con’td)
Dr.Babu Ravindran: Governance simply means the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented. The word governance is derived from the Latin origin ‘gubernare’ that suggest the notion of ‘steering’.
A government is the apparatus through which a governing body functions and exercise authority. It is the authority to make laws, to adjudicate disputes, and to issue administrative decisions to ensure harmony in society.
The fundamental purpose of Government is the maintenance of basic security and public order without which individual cannot attempt to find happiness. The philosopher Thomas Hobbs figured that people, as rational animals, saw submission to a government dominated by a sovereign as preferable to anarchy. Politics is the process by which group of people make decisions that affect other’s lives. Politics consists of ‘social relation involving authority or power ‘, and refers to regulation of a political unit and to the methods and tactics to formulate and apply policy. The government is formed according to the group when policy is accepted by the majority.
The left-right politics originated during French Revolution, when those members of the National Assembly who opposed the monarchy sat on the left and those who supported it sat on the right. Broadly it can be said that the right wing is often linked to the moral and social conservation, law and order and religion, while the left wing is often linked with redistribution of wealth and resources to the poorer or less successful section of society. The right wing is more often linked to the idea of social equity, and the left to the idea of social equality.
Some of the earliest governments in history are that of Sumer (5200BC), Indus Valley civilization (3000BC), Ancient Egypt (3000Bc), Yellow river civilization of China (2000BC). When we examine the types of government, they are,
1. Anarchy - Absence or lack of governance,
2. Democracy - Rule by a government where people as a whole hold the power,
3. Despotism - Rule by a single leader who considers all his subjects as his slaves.
4. Dictatorship – Rule by an individual who has taken over or wields full powers over the country.
5. Monarchy - Rule by an individual who inherited the role and is expected to bequeath it to his heir.
6. Oligarchy - Rule by a small group of people who share similar interests or by a group of family relatives.
7. Plutocracy - A Govt. composed of the wealthy class.
8. Theocracy – Rule by religious elites.
We have also seen that some countries have hybrid form of government like, for example,
Iran – a combination of democratic and theocratic institutions.
Netherlands – with monarchy and democracy.
The role of a Government includes, Military defense, Economic security, Social Security, and environmental security
Democracy is a system of government by which political sovereignty is retained by the people and exercised directly by the citizen. In modern times it has been used to refer to constitutional republic where the people have their voice though their elected representatives. The word democracy is derived from the Greek word demokratia, meaning ‘popular government’. Demos means people and kratos means rule or strength.
There are two principles that any definition of democracy should include. The first is that all members of the society have equal access to power and the second is that all members enjoy universally recognized freedom and liberty.
Democracy has its origin in Greece. However other cultures have significantly contributed to the evolution of democracy, such as ancient Rome, Europe and America. Democracy has been called ‘the last form of government’, and currently there are 123 countries that are democratic.
In parliamentary democracy there are legislature, executive, and judiciary which are complementary to each other and independent to some extent. Legislature is to form laws, executive for implementing it, and judiciary to see that every thing is done in order according to Law. Police, Revenue, Health etc. are various wings of execution. For the effective functioning of all, it requires honesty and integrity to be maintained.
From time immemorial philosophers have attempted to comment about Governance, Politics, and Government, e.g., Confucius (551 – 471BC), Plato (428-348BC), Aristotle (384 – 322BC), Thomas Hobbs(1611), John Lock, John Stuart Mill (19th century), and Karl Marx. Confucius said that Rulers should learn self- discipline, should govern his subjects by his own examples, and should treat them with love and concern. He links politics to a great extent to personal ethics and morality. In the epic Ramayana, Lord Rama has been depicted as the solid example of good governance. He had shown how a king or Ruler should live for his subjects.
In this background it will be interesting to analyze the Govt., Politicians, and Governance of our present time. Appeasement politics has become the order of the day. According to the democratic ideals of participatory governance, good governance is where no one ruled and no one is ruled over. Now political executions fall under the sway of influential groups. Those with money, political clout, caste supremacy, and communal support continued to call the shots. Others, the poor, the honest, and the down trodden are dumped in no man’s land. The bureaucracy, the only constant factor in the ever changing democracy remains pliant, to unquestioningly toe the line of their political masters. Instead of anchoring the political executive in constitutional values, it played along with the whims of politicians.
Since honesty was looked down upon and complicity rewarded, there was enough incentive for the bureaucracy to turn a blind eye to the shenanigans of political executives.
And of late what have we witnessed on 22nd of July 2008 – the day of Trust Voting in Indian Parliament? The cynical horse trading of MPs and the display of bundles of currency notes showed us to what low level our democracy can sink. These highlight that democracy involves a lot of money and there is a close interplay between money power and political power. And we also notice that criminals are elected as MPs, and criminal Members of Parliament were released from jail to participate in the voting.
Independent police is a forgotten entity. There is no proper maintenance of roads. Supply of electricity and drinking water are erratic or non-existent, and waste management is not considered at all. While smoking is banned, political prisoners in the jail are given special sanction to smoke beedis in prison. To top it all one is surprised to see government sponsored harthals and bandhs!
Arrogance everywhere is the order of the day. Courtesy and concern for others, the society seems to have forgotten.
It reminds me of an interview late Rajiv Gandhi had with JNU students. When the students were asked what they wanted to become, there was none to opt for politics. He asked why, when politicians are ruling the country why nobody wanted to become a politician? They answered they hate politics, and politicians are dishonest, corrupt and criminally minded. He explained to them, ‘when you people are not opting for politics, the corrupt and criminals will have an easy walk over others, and you will be ruled by them’. I feel that educated and intellectual youth should enter politics and clean it up for future good governance.
Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan: And, in the process they may get killed instead of politics getting cleaned.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Theoretically correct. It is a vicious circle when politics is controlled by musclemen.
Dr.Babu Ravindran: Youngsters should be motivated to take up the challenge to save politics.
Prof. Sankarankutty: As it is, arrogance is the quality required to be a politician, and daring to commit crime is qualification enough.
Dr. Thomas: Governance in India had been as per the prescription in the great epics, and some of the ancient texts and scriptures, where the methods and conventions of good rule are elaborated. Dynastic rule was prevalent till the Moguls came. Theocracy was followed in their rule, but it got watered down when benevolent kings deliberately took Hindu wives and diluted the theocratic practices. Peace prevailed for quite some time making it possible for art and philosophy to flourish.
As regards Kerala, Travancore and Cochin remained princely states ruled by kings even when the British ruled the country. They were fairly well administered. One other state that was well ruled was Baroda. Europeans actually wanted trade and for that purpose peace also. Finally the British won and exercised power over the kings. Residents were appointed to collect taxes. The kings were not powerful enough to resist the mighty British. Swathi Thirunal of Travancore who tried to confront Col.Munroe, finally died of depression. But he was the king who made his subjects learn English. The kings were benevolent and good administrators. Highly learned and efficient Diwans ruled for the king. The two states were ruled by the kings for over twenty-five to thirty years. Because of this long duration a sort of continuity became possible and permanent structures, institutions, and establishments could be built in the two states. Main income was from rice. A sort of barter system prevailed then in the sense that even wages were given in quantities of rice. The hierarchy was, village officer, Adhikari, Peshkar, Diwan Peshkar, and then the King. Whatever happened in the state, the King was never blamed or considered to be responsible. He was above reproach. Responsibility was with the Diwan. The last Diwan, C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer, although extra efficient, turned out to be very cruel, siding the British in the freedom struggle. He was ‘dethroned’ and thrown out by the idealist people of the state under the leadership of people like Pattom Thanu Pillai.
In India, Javaharlal Nehru was a great leader and administrator. He belonged to an aristocratic family and had great financial backing. He had British education. He lived at the time of great happenings in the world like the world wars and Chinese civil war. He could become an international politician. Mahatma Gandhi also had financial support of his own. Indira Gandhi was lucky to have a good background. But yet she was democratically ousted at the later stages. Deve Goeda had only some local clout in a particular area of the country. Yet he became Prime Minister due to some peculiar circumstances. In the national stage, it is difficult for people to accept local chieftains. Therefore he could never come back again. Rajiv Gandhi became PM too early and also got killed too early. In Kerala at present we lack people of some maturity to be leaders and to govern. The left is divided. There are divided opinions everywhere. Confusion prevails. But confusion protects also in the sense that no body can do harm by themselves alone. From the confusions something good may emerge. Society gets new concepts from the chaos. Kerala is a governing crucible in which different ideas are interacting.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Things have changed. People shout at police now. And the policemen are helpless. Jobs are not available. Even small jobs like weaving straw mats, and bamboo baskets have been usurped by the plastic industry.
Dr. Thomas: Only elections are looked forward to and to nothing else by those who are entrusted to govern. Citizens get killed in the process of vote catching.

Dr.Babu Ravindran: The bureaucracy is also to some extent responsible.
There is an interesting article in to-day’s Indian express titled ‘When callousness Rules’ by Seema Musthafa, a political commentator. Among other things the author points out how our citizens behave now. To quote, “Take the people on the road. They litter, they pee, they drive like maniacs, they abuse each other, they shout at cops, they break all conceivable laws, they pay bribes when checked, and they show scant consideration for the ‘other’ on the street”. It highlights almost all the ills that our country is afflicted by. The article is very much relevant to our discussion here, and suggests that perhaps the solution lies in bringing about a change of the mindset apart from providing for practical measures.
(Dr. Babu Ravindran then read out the article.)

Governance And Government report july 08

2008-08-02T03:50:00.000-07:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 24-7-08(Tuesday)
Venue: Hotel Malabar Fort, Good Shet Rd, Tellicherry, hosted by Dr. Sadanandan. .

Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan: A Government generally has to have certain essential characteristics. First it must be legitimate, in the sense that it is recognized by its citizens and a majority of other states/countries as a de facto government. Secondly it should have a definite area over which it has jurisdiction. Thirdly it must have sovereignty over such area in the sense no other government should have any rights on its area. Fourthly it should have its own Rules and Regulations to govern, something like a constitution. Fifthly it must be able to establish law and order in the area of jurisdiction. Without all these a government can not function properly with any amount of authority.

We can take the analogy of a computer to understand the government. Computer works on a system. It is a system, and it is a machine. The mechanical part would require repairs, replacement and maintenance for smooth running. It would require also well thought out soft-wares for it’s efficient functioning. Once set up it would work automatically to do particular tasks and would not tolerate interference. If interfered with, it would become corrupt. Otherwise it is precise in its operations. A government is therefore somewhat similar. It is a set of machinery that is supposed to operate according to well thought out rules and regulations. If the rules and regulations are not followed correctly it becomes corrupt. It requires maintenance and replacements. It should normally be precise in its operations.
Governance is not only the operation of the Government but also the supervision of the operations as well as laying down the rules and policies of the operation. Setting up the rules and regulations like programming for a computer is part of its function. In short, a well thought out software for the machinery is built by it. Managing and operating the Government machinery is its function. Repairs, replacements, and maintenance of the Govt.Machinery is essential. Defects are to be found out, located and mended. The media, the members of legislature, and the public serve as peripherals of the computer to feed data as well as to receive the details of the output. The end result of the operations, viz. the welfare of the society has to be watched vigilantly to monitor the achievements. Complains of inadequate results have to be looked into for rectification. Targets of end results have to be laid down and necessary methods to follow up have to be established. Proper budgeting has to be planned and action taken to execute them by using the machinery. It has to be assured that the machinery is never misused.
Those who are in charge of governance have to look up also towards the basic system that gives them the mandate to rule, viz. the legislature. The legislature prescribes the Law. Once law is laid down, the authorities who govern has no flexibility in law to sway from what is prescribed therein. The rulers authorized to rule, the Ministers, have to follow the Law strictly as much as any other citizen, whether they like it or not. But they have the right to recommend change of the Law, to the legislature/legislators.
Nepotism and corruption can ruin both the government and the Governance. Politicians, legislators and Ministers have actually no powers to deviate from the Laws, the Rules, and Regulations of the state, let alone breaking or going against them. If they want to do anything which is contrary to the Law, they have to first get the Law amended with the help of the Parliament of the country or the legislature of the state. When a minister rules according to his whim, it is nothing but show of illegitimate power.
The employees of the Government have actually no power to govern as such. They are obliged only to do their duty. In doing one’s duty there is no visible power or satisfaction to his ego. Power is visible when the Rules are apparently broken by the law enforcing employees or authority..
Ideal governance is therefore a social service and an ideal Government is the machinery to strictly perform the duty of governance in order to achieve the purpose of that social service
Power of the Government, if at all, is only to help people who need it but do not get their legitimate rights and dues.

Prof. Sankarankutty: The topic to-day is too big a fish to catch and swallow. Everything connected with it has controversies and criticisms. Powers that governed were there right from the time human society started evolving. The concept of a sort for governing prevailed among tribal groups also. Only, the tribal leader was a Law unto himself. He created the law, he executed the law, and he punished. As the society evolved religion also became an integral part of the system of government. To some extent even now this continues in large parts of the world. Religion was all along one of the pillars of governing. It was the door through which manipulation of governing could be done. The ruling power could look after both the ‘here and hereafter’ by bringing in religion and ruling to a single person. Often the Priest was also the healer and the ruler. The ruler- priest wielded enormous power because the sources of power fused into him.
Sometime in the course of the evolution of human society, slowly physical might gathered the upper hand. Divine right then had to give way to physical power to a large extent.
Dr. Thomas: For manipulation of governing we have a concrete example in Pakistan. President Musharaff has been a master manipulator who has managed to survive in power so far.
Prof.Sankarankutty: Manipulation for governing is a psychological phenomenon. Hunger for power is inherent in human nature. From all situations a manipulator tries to derive power to control others. According to Plato an ideal ruler is a philosopher statesman. A philosopher shuns power. He has no need to control others and therefore no need to manipulate the governing. But a king or a politician craves to dominate others.
Dr.Thomas: But Musharaff’s actions have led him to a power struggle in Pakistan. Although he is still in place as president he is riding a tiger.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Man acquires power and tries to consolidate it. Ordinary rulers fail to consolidate. Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharatha prescribe how to govern without that craze for power. Here the king is always the sufferer sacrificing his own needs and himself for his subjects. The problems of his subjects are suffered by him. He is invariably a lone traveler. And his journey is long. Each epic is a story, may be a myth, created to give out a great truth.
In the path of the evolution of the human being, sometime someone becomes great combining governing with wisdom. Cyrus the Great was one example. It was the time when power and wealth played all politics. Later great idols like Alexander came up with all power. Statesmen and philosopher were in opposite poles at the time. Although political power is for service of the people, service became only incidental to the execution of power. If we look at the evolution of power structure we can see that when somebody is given the power to rule his governing becomes the Government. Adding religion to power the power to govern is then consolidated. The evolution that way is now total, global. Originally the relationship between kings and subjects must have also evolved the same way. Actually the Mahabharatha war must have been just a small skirmish, but suggested on a macro level to drive home certain great truths.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Cant we say that Asoka was an example of a Philosopher King?
Prof. Sankarankutty: Asoka became one only after a devastating war. He was a cruel conqueror who caused enough suffering. He had inflicted terrible suffering on the people by waging wars before he learned his lesson. On seeing the suffering he became compassionate.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: His greatness was in relinquishing his kingdom after winning a war, very rare in history.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: The Kings of the epics had great power. But at the same time their kingdoms had good structures for governing. The kings had wise advisors (Rajagurus) and a team of experts and other important citizens (Raja sadass) to help them rule.

human rights

2008-07-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

Prof. Mohanan Nair: Human Rights means the rights that belong to an individual as a consequence of being human. It is a term deriving from the doctrine of natural rights, associated with the Greco-Roman concept of ‘Natural Law’ since the end of the Middle Ages. The term came into wide use after World War II. It holds that individuals, by virtue of their humanity, possess fundamental rights beyond those prescribed in the Law. It was first formally incorporated into the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776). The General Assembly of the U.N. adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 followed in 1953 by the European Convention of Human Rights. In the late 20th century ad hoc international tribunals were convened to prosecute human rights violations and other crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. ‘The International Criminal Court’ which came into existence in 2002 was empowered to prosecute crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide, and war crimes. U.S. which has been indulging in war crimes since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki conveniently withdrew from this. Many European powers followed suit and the court, as I understand, is dormant now.
However, the violation of human rights is a process that began from time immemorial and continues till the present day and may continue in the future. In ancient times it was the monarchy that annihilated human rights. In ancient cultures the killing of a human being or the substitution of an animal for a person was regarded as an attempt to commune with God, and to participate in Divine Life. It was common among the agricultural races for increasing the fertility of the soil. In ancient Egypt and elsewhere in Africa slaves and servants were killed or buried along with dead kings in order to provide service in the afterlife.
Coming down to the 15th, 16th and 17th, 18th centuries we find religion and colonialism as persecutors of human rights. Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, and Joan of Arc were all victims of religious persecution. Joan was burnt at the stakes and the others were either tortured or threatened with torture for speaking out what they believed to be the truth. And the colonial powers blatantly violated human rights by establishing colonies all over the world and indulging in slave trade. A slave was considered as a property and was deprived of the rights of human beings. In U.S history there were laws governing the status of slaves, called the “slave Code”. Slaves had no legal rights. In the court their testimony was inadmissible in cases involving the whites. They could not make any contract or own any property. They could not be away from their owner without permission. They could not be taught to read or write and above all they were not permitted to marry. Offenders were subjected severe punishment including whipping, branding, imprisonment and death. However, Britain abolished slavery in its colonies in 1833 and France in 1848. During the Civil War slavery was abolished in the US by the Emancipation Proclamation ordered by President Lincoln in 1863. However, slavery continues to exist in many parts of the world, though not officially recognized by any government.

Again in the 20th century we find the most atrocious violations of human rights during the two world wars and during the post-war period. The genocide of the Jews by a megalomaniac, the systematic rape of women, and the brutal killing of children will remain for ever as the blackest chapter in human history. I would rather like to dwell on the atrocities committed on women and children by a so called civilized society.

Women’s equal dignity and human rights as human beings are recognized by the international community. This is evident from the United Nation’s charter on the endorsement of the equal rights of men and women to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the subsequent International treaties and declarations. It is clearly stated that the protection of the rights of women are Central to our vision of a democratic society. But the fine words of these documents and of the Vienna Declaration in 1993 and the Declaration of Beijing in 1995 stand in sharp contrast to the daily reality of life for millions of women. The majority of world’s refugees are women; female illiteracy is far higher than male illiteracy. Women and girl children are treated as commodities in prostitution rackets and the pornography industry. Women in every country are regular victims of domestic violence. Women’s social and cultural rights continue to be neglected. Gender based inequalities continue to haunt millions of women throughout the world. They live in abject deprivation and attacks against their fundamental human rights for no reason. They suffer from systemic and systematic discrimination which results in deep patterns of inequality and disadvantage. The gender based division of labour with women being primarily responsible for reproduction work and work related to the family, and men for productive work, also contribute to the perpetuation of gender based inequalities.

The gender based inequality is evidently present even in the so called literate society of the west. In the U.S., voting right was won by women after prolonged struggle in 1918, after World War I, but it was limited to women of 30 or above. In England it was not until 1929 that women over 21 achieved the right to vote. Even in the 21st Century it is an undeniable fact that American Voters are not yet ready to accept a woman as their President. It exposes the hypocrisy of a nation that boasts of having liberated women long ago. Even the media, the so called American ‘Free Press’ was indulging in cheap personal attacks against Hillary Clinton.

It is not surprising that the U.S is also in the forefront regarding violence against women. The journal ‘Violence against Women’ reports that from 25 to 31 percent of American Women are being physically or sexually abused by a husband / boyfriend at some point in their lives. Drawing on a survey date the “National Research Council” reports that one in every six US women has at sometime experienced an attempted or completed rape. Annually more than 3 lakhs women are forcibly raped and more than four million are assaulted.

Another crime that violates women’s right to live, is committed during war and during post-war period-namely organized rape. Rape during war appears to have gone through three stages.

1. In ancient times rape was a reward for the victor. The Hebrew Scriptures [OT] describe the rape of the women of conquered tribes as a routine act.

2. In more modern times random rape by soldiers was a common phenomenon, particularly when there was a lack of army discipline.

3. In recent times systematic, organized rape is used as a tactic of war to terrorize the victims. It was a weapon of terror when Germans marched through Belgium in World War I: Gang rape was practiced in the beginning of the Nazi campaigns against Jews. It was used as a weapon of terror when the Japanese raped Chinese women in the city of Nanking during World War II. The Americans made rape in Vietnam “a standard operating procedure aimed at terrorizing the population into submission.”
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: What the Japanese did to the Chinese women is graphically described by Pearl S. Buck in Mother Earth, her Nobel Prize winning Novel.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Numerous recent cases have also been seen, mostly in religiously motivated wars.

1. 1991-1994 Serbian military and paramilitary troops used rape systematically as a tactic to encourage Bosnian Muslim Women to flee from their land. It was reported in “News Day”, that each night the policemen selected ten or more Muslim women, led them at gun point to some nearby house and raped them.. The site of these crimes known as the Partizan Sports Hall was in the Centre of Foca, a small predominantly Muslim town in Eastern Bosnia. It was then used as a transit facility for women and children about to be deported from the town. But for two months in 1992 it functioned as a rape camp holding fifty women. Partizan was only one of the several rape camps in Bosnia.
2. In 1994 Rwanda Hutu leaders ordered their troops to rape Tutsi women as an integral part of their genocidal campaign.
3. In 1997 secular women were targeted by Muslim revolutionaries in Algeria and reduced to sex slaves.
4. In 1998 Indonesian security forces allegedly raped ethnic Chinese women during a major spate of rioting.

5. In the late 90s Serbian military and paramilitary units systematically raped ethnic Albanian Muslim women during the unrest in Kosovo.

It was Jawharilal Nehru who said “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women”. So what is the condition of the women in India?. The Indian constitution grants women equal rights with men, but strong patriarchal traditions persist with women’s lives shaped by customs that are centuries old. The origin of the idea of appropriate female behavior can be traced to the rules laid down by Manu in 200 B.C. According to ‘Manusmrithi’, in childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, and in old age to her sons; a woman must never be independent. Accordingly in many Indian families a daughter is viewed as a liability and she is conditioned to believe that she is inferior and subordinate to men. Sons are idolized and celebrated.

In India,
1. Women suffer malnutrition consequent of the inequality between men and women. Hence they are in poor health. Surviving through a normal life cycle is a resources-poor woman’s highest challenge.
2. India’s maternal mortality rates in rural areas are among the highest in the world. This is due to reluctance to seek medical aid during pregnancy.
3. The tasks performed by women are usually those that require them to be in one position for long period of time resulting in premature and still births. (e.g. Rice transplanting in July – August)
4. Women end girls receive far less education than men due to social norms. Consequently girl children are married off at an early age.
5. Women work for more hours than men and their work is more arduous. Still men report that “they like children, eat and do nothing”. This means that their work is rarely recognized. Wherever technology has been introduced in areas where women worked, women laborers have been displaced by men, [ e.g., threshing grain by automatic threshing machines operated by men] thus losing an important source of income.
6. Women are kept subordinate and are even murdered by the practice of dowry. Dowry exists even to day though the Dowry Prohibition Act has been in existence for about half a century. Despite every stigma dowry continues to be the signature of marriage.
7. Maintenance rights of women in the case of divorce are weak. Although the Hindu and Muslim law recognize the rights of women and children to maintenance, in practice it is rarely set at a sufficient amount, and is frequently violated.

And coming to ‘Gods own Country’ we come across shocking realities. Education and employment have not played the transforming role expected of men & women. Gender based violence particularly domestic violence mental health or manifestly increasing suicide and the growth and spread of dowry related crimes compel us to look at family relations in a different way. Some one said that Kerala homes are theatres of violence. Sexual harassment of women by the big and the powerful has become a common thing in Kerala. Sooryanelli, Kiliroor, Kaviyoor, Poovarani, etc are known to everyone in Kerala. And the protagonists Nadar, Kunhalikutty, P.J. Joseph and the latest entry the saint SanthoshMadhavan and a Church Father, are all more familiar to us than popular Film Stars. Partly power or partly fame-o-maniac mothers are responsible for the sex rackets. Bureaucratic laxity due to political interference is another reason for these.
Gender equality is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting development and building up a healthy society. This recognition is currently missing in India. We have to recognize women’s contribution to every aspect of society; in politics, industry, commence, education, agriculture, and at home. Changing the social discrimination against women must be given top priority. Efforts must be made to improve the social and economic status of women. For which women must receive greater education which will help them to earn more money. This they could spend for better education and better health of their children unlike men. As they rise in economic status their social standing will improve Moreover education and economic status will help them to make stronger claims to their entitlement & rights. This will help them to overcome the condition of son preference and thus put an end to dowry. This will encourage families to educate their daughters & the age of marriage will rise. They will be healthier, more productive and give birth to healthier children. Only through action to remedy discrimination against women can the vision of Indians Independence - an India where people have the chance to live healthy & productive, be realized.
Prof. Richard Hay: A recent survey showed that 68% of the women in India are illiterate and hardly earn more than Rs.20 a day. That itself amounts to a violation of Human Rights.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Various aspects of Human Rights have been elaborately presented here. Exploitation of women and children is a sort of practice of slavery. In spite of the UN Declaration of Human Rights as well as the various conventions and treaties, violations continue with immunity. All democratic countries have adopted the declaration. The application of The Declaration has now been an index to measure the efficiency of any Government. Yet even leaders of the democratic countries like U.S. and U.K have been brought to book for violation of Human Rights. The approach of almost every country towards Human Rights is superficial and insincere.
Whether knowingly or unknowingly, we follow certain values in present day life. And there are several forces in which we believe, but which impinge on the rights of others. Capitalism is an example. We believe in the system which we have now adopted. But it affects the rights of many. It is absolutely clear to everyone that child labor is prohibited and is against Human Rights. But in several industries children are employed in order to make profits, or even to survive in a competitive market. People and Govt. close their eyes on this. Children are freely employed in the garment and other industries. We can see them toiling in shops and domestic establishments.
Prof.Mohanan Nair: The latest are the reality shows in which children are made to rehearse the dance and music performances without going to school or college.
Prof. Sankarankutty: That is slightly different. Deep seated human greed is working there. And, as mentioned earlier, ‘Fame o-mania’ as well.
As regards child exploitation, enactment of labor laws and dignity of labor are only on paper. Violations go on deliberately unnoticed by Law. Laws in such cases are mere pretensions.
Almost every day we read about farmers committing suicide. It is not correct to say that they are lured by money lenders into a higher standard of living and thus fall into money traps. Govt. policies and the overall situation are actually responsible for farmers’ suicides. They do not get any safeguard for obtaining a reasonable price for their produces. Finance Minister is supposed to have written off loans. But there is no guarantee that the benefits will reach the real farmer. With the rampant corruption and nepotism nothing reaches the farmer as the people in Govt. themselves often admit. The man who actually till the soil and produce food for you to be alive, is never assured a decent life. He is deprived of a legitimate, dignified existence.
Violation of human rights should not be seen as merely something that is happening to women and children, or tribals etc. The man next door, the farmer who toils on the land to feed the humanity should be protected from penury and suicide. We see so much written in the media about women’s rights, tribal welfare etc., but nothing much about the poor farmers. We do not realize that the whole of farmer communities are suffering and that every 30 minutes a farmer in this country is pushed to the level of killing himself. These are not things which are merely looked at in the academic way quoting statistics. The reality has to be seen
For anything and everything we have to legislate. Problems are supposed to be solved by legislation. But nothing would happen in reality unless the government approaches to the root of the problem in real terms. The need to legislate arises because we are not cultured. A cultured society cannot tolerate a next door neighbor, a man who feeds the society, the farmer, being exploited.
Therefore we can say that Human Rights actually exist only in the beautiful pages of the Declaration. It is only an ideal (Aadarsh) to be talked about. In truth it does not take effect. It is only of decorative value. Human rights or no human rights, the Human Nature persists. The basic human nature thirsts for power. Look at the countries like Myanmar. The dictatorship is afraid even to accept help to its citizens in times of misery like an earthquake. One has to look at the eyes of truth. The human nature has to be therefore tackled to make people more cultured if Human Rights are to be established.

Dr. Sadanandan: The way we live on this earth is far from right, and on the contrary, is terribly wrong. The whole movement is a struggle for existence. In this struggle, on exercising one’s freedom, another’s right for freedom to live is completely ignored.
We are promoting a highly competitive existence. Each and every individual wants to reach on top, somehow or other. And, in the process we are all becoming violent human beings. Violence includes every other bad emotion like jealousy, envy, greed, anger ambition and ill will. Of course there is violence when we compromise, compare and control. In this movement the individual does not bother to consider the rights of another to pursue his interests. This imbalance manifests over the whole of human existence. Conflict is there between individuals, between social groups, between religions, between nations and in all organized human endeavor.
How to contain and overcome this evil should be a major concern of all serious minded people. We do not know what to do. We have invented many forms of control. We have rules. We have legislations. We have constitutions, deals, creeds, laws and punishments. And it is an irony that the executor himself often breeds violence. Should we hope and depend on governments, democratic institutions and leaders to find a solution? Can revolution transform society and human relationship? Can social change effectively transform the individual? Is it that individual is an instrument for social purpose, a puppet in the hands of masters for social cause? Does the individual serve the society or society is for the individual? Relationship between the individual and society should be smooth and harmonious without any problems. Whatever revolutionary, drastic changes are forced on to the society, the society would remain static if no transformation is taking place in the individual. Transformation of the individual may be the only key available to uproot the evil of violence from human relationship.
If the individual is to change or transform, the question would be, how? We live in relationship. My life is depended only upon the fact how I am related to my kith and kin, to the people around, to the society to which I belong, to myself, to the various ideas, to the events in my life, to the situations in life, and to the whole universe. How am I related with each of these, or to all? Is there jealousy? Is there ill will? Is there greed? Is there no concern for the other? Instead, is there competition and cruelty? These are all reflected in the mirror of relationship. Does one use the other for his own pleasures, gratifications and comforts? Do I hurt anyone? Do one’s actions cause inconvenience to others? If I am concerned about this it is imperative that I should be aware of my relationship with others. But we don’t see this. We are not interested. We rather drift fully immersed in our own seclusions.
Is there any other way of relationship? What is missing and what is hindering our relationship from blossoming into goodness and harmony? Why are there no cheer, no happiness and no serenity?
What is love, and where is it hidden? Is there love in any of our relationships at all? How different things would have been if there was love and understanding in our relationships! That could have transformed the whole society and the world, - the only revolution.

Dr.Babu Ravindran: The reason why one should be concerned about Human Rights can be summarized by the statement by Martin Weimuller, Pastor of German Evangelical Church;
“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a communist. They then came for the Jews, and I did not speak up as I was not a Jew, then they came for the Trade Union, and I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and then they came for me, and by that time there was no one to speak up for any one.”
Advance in technology and changes in the social structure had rendered war a threat to the continued existence of the human race. Large number of people in many countries lived under the control of the tyrants, having no recourse but war to relieve them from often intolerable living conditions. Unless some way was found to relieve the lot of these people, they could revolt and could become a catalyst for another war on a wide scale and probably one that was nuclear. For, perhaps the first time, representatives from majority of Governments in the world came to the conclusion that basic human rights should be protected not only for the sake of the individuals and countries involved, but also to preserve the human race.
That was why Albert Einstein said, ‘I know with what weapons the III rd world war will be fought, but world war IV will be fought with stick and stones.’
The concept of Human Rights has existed under several names in European thought for many centuries. When King John of England violated a number of ancient laws and customs by which England had been governed, his subjects forced him to sign the Magna Carta which mainly enumerates human rights.
In the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe many philosophers proposed the concept of ‘Natural Right’, right belonging to a person by nature and because he was a human being, not by virtue of his citizenship in a particular country or religion or any ethnic group.
In 1700 two revolutions occurred which drew heavily on this concept. In 1776, many of the British colonies in North America proclaimed their independence from British Empire in a document which still stirs feelings and debate, the U.S. Declaration of Independence. i.e.
“ We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”
In 1787 the people of France overturned their monarchy and established the Free French Republic, out of which came the “Declaration of the Rights of Man”.
But the term ‘Natural Rights’ slowly fell into disfavor. Henry David Thoreau was the first philosopher to use the term ‘Human Rights’, and does so in his treatise ‘Civil Disobedience’. The work influenced great men like Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. It is said that Gandhiji developed his ideas on nonviolent resistance from this work.
Other proponents of human rights were English philosopher John Stuart Mill (Essay on Liberty) and American political theorist Thomas Paine (The Right Of Man).
The middle and late 19th century saw a number of issues take centre stage, which we now consider as human right issues. They are slavery, serfdom, brutal working condition, starvation wages, and child labor. In the United States, a bloody war on slavery came close to destroying a country founded eighty years earlier on the premise that ‘all men are created equal’. Russia freed it’s serfs the year the war began. But neither the emancipated American slaves, nor the freed Russian serfs saw any real degree of freedom or basic rights for many more decades.
For the last part of 19th and the first part of 20th century human right activism remained largely tied to political and religious groups. Then revolutionaries pointed their fingers at the atrocities of Govt. and showed it as proof that their ideology was ideal to end the Govt. abuses.
The labor unions brought about the system of granting workers the right to strike. The women’s rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the right to vote. National liberation movements in many countries succeeded in driving out Colonial Powers.
In 1961 a group of lawyers, journalists, writers and others, offended at the sentencing of two Portuguese college students to twenty years in prison for having raised their glass in a toast to ‘freedom’ in a bar, formed the ‘Appeal for Amnesty,1961’. The Appeal was announced on May 28th of that year in London Observers Sunday Supplement. The response to the appeal was larger than any one had expected. The Amnesty International and the modern Human Rights movement were both born.
The early years of modern human rights movement were rocky. The Organization dropped Nelson Mandela, a black South African Anti- Apartheid activist in jail at the time, from the list of adopted prisoners on a trumped up charge, because of his endorsing a violent struggle against apartheid.
These concerns led to the formation of different Regional Human Rights Watch-dog groups like the Helsinki Watch in 1978.
Recognition for the Human Rights movement, and the Amnesty International in particular grew during 1970s. Amnesty gained permanent observer status as an NGO at the United Nations. Its press releases received respectful attention. In 1977 it was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for its work. But there were dissents with claims and counter claims that Amnesty was a front organization for Soviet KGB by some and CIA for USA by some others.
The history of Human Rights being such, even now violations of it continue. Only a few countries do not commit human rights violation, according to Amnesty International. In its 2004 report the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, and Costa Rica are the only countries (mappable) that did not violate at least some human rights significantly.
When a Govt. closes a geographical region under its control to journalists, it raises suspicion of human rights violation. Seven regions are currently closed to foreign journalists in the world:
1. Chechnya (Russia)
2. Jaffna (Sri Lanka)
3. Myanmar (Burma)
4. North Korea
5. Papua (Indonesia)
6. Peshawar (Pakistan)
7. Tibet (China)
With the advance of Technology, Medicine, and Human Philosophy, the status quo of human rights thinking is constantly challenged. Certain other human rights are,
1. Water: In Nov.2002 the UN Committee for Economic, Social, & Cultural Rights issued a non-binding covenant affirming that access to water was a human right. It was reaffirmed at the 3rd and 4th World Water Councils in 2003 and 2006. This marks a departure from the conclusions of the 2nd World Water Forum in Hague in 2000 which stated that water was a commodity to be bought and sold, not a right.
2. Fetal Rights: Pro-life people believe that the individual life begins at the moment of conception. So fetus has equal rights as any other person. But some argue that life as an individual begins only at the stage of viability of the fetus.
3. Environmental Rights: Human Rights ultimately require a working eco-system and healthy environment; but the granting of certain rights to individuals may damage these.
4. Future Rights: Future technological advances such as the possibility of mass space travel, advances in medicine and possibility of access to huge amount of information and other such things raise possibilities of new rights.
5.‘Gay Rights’ is a Human Right for the Gays.

ego's suicide?

2008-06-27T03:17:00.000-07:00

The learned spiritual teacher who gave a talk to an elite audience yesterday said that most of the problems and agonies of individuals arise only from their ego. The ‘I’ and ‘mine’, have to be got rid off. Eliminating the ‘I’ is the purpose of spiritualism so as to prepare oneself to approach divinity.
I have been hearing this too often. The ego, the culprit, has to be killed! It seems to be there in all the spiritual texts. It looked to me as a sort of extortion to commit suicide! The saying itself is traditional, and by repetition it has almost become a cliché that nobody pays much attention to, as if it is a saying taken for granted in any spiritual talk or discussion.
But for the understanding of the present day minds, there is a slightly different approach to the same idea or fact, which appeals to me. The EGO can never be eliminated. It can only be quieted. Elimination of the ego is suicide. Only when the person dies the ego gets eliminated from the body. Here what is meant by the EGO is the constant feeling of ‘I’ and not the boosting of the ‘I’ with self importance.
‘I’ is necessary in day to day life. Like the mind, and being a creature of the mind, ‘I’ is a useful tool that can be used positively and constructively. Here the user is also ‘I’, activated and identified by the underlying reality.
‘I’ is quiet in real meditation, may be even for a few moments only. But on coming out of meditation, ‘I’ becomes as active and as virulent as ever, unless the ‘I’ is understood while in meditation or otherwise. Every aspect of ‘I’ has to be directly perceived and understood before it can become quiet. When the ego is quiet one can go ‘beyond’ it. Or at least try to feel what is behind it illumining it. Direct perception of the ego in meditation eliminates its virulent negativity and allows itself to be quiet even on coming out of the state of meditation. Attention to all passing thoughts, images, visions, emotions, regression incidents etc. help to perceive and understand the ego allowing itself to be totally quiet until evoked for use.
As an example let us take the ego’s fear of death. Fear of death is part of the ego, the ‘I’. In meditation you either feel or perceive as an outsider, the nature of the fear of death with all the accompanying symbols, images, noises and visions. You notice the underlying fear and understand that there is actually only ‘fear’ underneath and not ‘fear of death’ in particular’ It is the one fear as a single emotion that is projected as fear of death, fear of disease, fear of losing one’s job, etc., etc. On understanding this, the fear, losing its identification with death, becomes quiet. That part of the ego is then quiet even after coming out of meditation, because the knowledge of the nature of fear remains with the ego. Simple fear as a dormant emotion may still be there because of one’s physical chemistry, but its intensity slowly fades.

Symbols of terror and fear

2008-06-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Symbols of terror and fear: Behind the ancestral joint family house we were living way back in the twenties of the last century, there was a hill known by the same name as that of my family. It was a hill with naturally terraced slopes thickly vegetated and with wild growth of tall trees like teak wood, jack fruit, mango, and a large number of other jungle wood. There were even a few sandal wood trees. While climbing up one could see hares, rabbits, and wild fowl running about. At night we could hear the howling of jackals, wild cats and the hooting of large owls, known to be an omen signifying death somewhere in the area.
Once we reached the top of the hill we could run on flat plain ground carpeted with green grass stretching from one end on the right to the other end on the left, where there was the famous Siva temple. Portions of the flat plain nearer the temple was rugged with black boulders. During the Onam season we, the group of boys and girls in the house, of eight to twelve years age, used to climb up the terraces to reach the top where there were plenty of bushes on the sides full of flowers of all hues to pluck and gather.
I would run up the first few terraces with all energy and enthusiasm, but would have to immediately slow down breathless while others would happily proceed to move up much ahead. I would feel tired with a sort of heaviness crushing my chest. Stopping for a minute or two, I would attempt to catch up with the others. But a sort of fear and loneliness haunted me then making me afraid of being left alone Yet, I would push myself up, not wanting to be considered unfit to go up.
On the third or fourth day of the first truck up on my being allowed in the team, as I parried for breath, I noticed some newly half burnt and charred logs of wood kept by the side at the edge of one of the terraces. Suddenly, a funny feeling engulfed me making me sad and afraid. Something was eerie there! Other boys told me in whispers that the logs are left-over of the cremation of some dead body. Somebody had died a couple of days earlier. Terror struck me in the pit of my stomach as if it was waiting for a reason to strike. I somehow pretended as if nothing had happened, but while returning made it a point to walk as far away from the logs as possible covering myself from it behind other boys. The fear remained and haunted me at night, the dark, charred logs appearing before my closed eyes.
Thereafter, I felt terror and torment whenever I crossed the charred logs, any charred logs, and sometimes even those which had no connection with any cremation or death. It was as if the terror was always there within oneself waiting for an opportunity to haunt. Charred logs, a symbol of death served as a trigger.
As time passes one wards off from the mind all fearful and uneasy thoughts and symbols to get along with day to day life. Emotional upheavals of everyday life and absorption in work help one to keep aside what is unpleasant and fearful. But they are never forgotten altogether. They come up and surface later on whenever the mood is depressing.
The opportunity for going into the phenomenon came when I suffered a heart problem at the ripe old age of seventy-five years. I had to get an angiograph done. Now I have a CD showing the beating of my heart and the blood vessels supplying blood to my heart. From the time of my birth I have been having an insufficient blood vessel supplying blood to my heart, and I have been living all along only because of a not-so-efficient connecting vessel from one side of the heart to the other known as a ‘collateral’. A sinking feeling, with fear and terror, is part of the problem whenever any exertion is done with an insufficient heart.
Connecting everything together, I came to the following conclusion. The insufficiency of my heart started manifesting itself as soon as I climbed a few terraces of the hill of my childhood. I started becoming breathless, started having the sinking feeling and the fear of death. At that exact moment I noticed the charred logs that had a connection with death, and got mentally fixed to it. A coincidence or not, the insufficiency of the heart, the breathlessness, the fear and terror, the charred logs, cremation, dead body and the natural fear of death, all combined together to create an obsessive fear of charred logs! Does Destiny or Almighty pre-plan such a thing to teach a person an elevating lesson? I wonder.

blank mind?

2008-06-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

When the mind is deliberately kept silent, it is blank with no thought allowed to be present. But it is not naturally silent, not spontaneously quiet. Lurking behind, waiting to erupt out are fears and thoughts not allowed to come up and surface.
What are they? Fears to be tackled, tasks to be completed, disputes and controversies to be settled, problems to be solved, and emotions that are suppressed. When all these are lurking below the surface of the blank mind how can deeper and deeper disturbances lying dormant in the subconscious come up breaking the barrier of the superficial thoughts and fears near the surface?
Therefore what is in the surface has to be first allowed to come up and exhaust itself by directly seeing them and understanding them, if thoughts and emotions lying dormant deep within are to be noticed and tackled. Therefore it is not advisable to try to create a silent mind in order to avoid facing minor disturbances. What is needed is only not to go along with the disturbances identifying with any part of it. Let them come up. Just observe them for what they are, superficial unrealities.
Often when the mind is naturally silent also, it is a blank. Is there then nothing underneath striving to come up? Is it really blank? Yes, and No. Yes, in the sense that no thought or image recognizable at the moment comes up. But No, it is not blank, when you consider the screen before the closed eyes.
There is a screen in front of the closed eyes. The screen then slowly develops pixel dots of different colors. Clouds of different colors move one over the other forming clusters and shapes of no significance. But they are pleasantly bright. As you feel a little relaxed (drowsy), the shapes get meaning and significance. They become people, things, scenes, buildings and landscapes. Sounds appear from nowhere. What is deep down below may come up.
Or may be, one is dreaming or hallucinating! Yet they are from far down within.
But if the mind is in alert attention, although blank, it is a clean slate, a clear color screen with no images or shapes. Such a relaxed state is silent, peaceful and enjoyable. But what has it to do with the power that runs the show?

Human Rights

2008-06-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Prof. Richard Hay: When I start speaking about Human Rights, the first thing that comes to my mind is the pitiable state of health sector in India. It is a matter of shame that the majority of Indians do not have access to reliable health care services. Kerala may be an exemption to this sad state of affairs. Right to life is one of the basic human rights. I believe, access to reliable health care is therefore the right of every human being. Indian health care system is the most privatized system of the world. Govt. has been neglecting this vital sector which should normally ensure the proper upkeep of the health of every citizen in the country. Let me refer to the National Rural Health Mission Report. This crucial report, which has brought to light certain stark realities, reveals the lop-sided development of the health sector in India. It is a damning indictment of the health care system in our country which is a socialist, secular and democratic republic. It is evident that Govts. have failed miserably on this count. Public money is squandered and crucial sectors are neglected.
The report states that the majority of the Primary Health Centers are ill equipped and short staffed. 8% of the PHCs do not have even a single doctor. 17.7% of the PHCs do not have a pharmacist. 39% do not have lab technicians. Adding to the woes of the poor villagers in India there are no labor rooms and operation theatres in the majority of the PHCs. With such lapses on the part of the Govt.s, how can we expect the vast majority of our countrymen to be healthy and able bodied to contribute their mite for the growth of the GDP of the country? Due to lack of proper medical care, the productivity of Indian labor has become the lowest in the world. In such a deplorable and despicable situation what kind of human rights can be ensured to the common man of India?
It is evident from the media reports that the basic rights of the citizens are denied in our country mainly on the basis of religion, caste, gender and also economic depravity. Umpteen incidents have been reported in the media proving that atrocities inflicted upon the weak and oppressed in our country are mostly carried out by religious bigots, caste-ists, anti-women lobbies, and the like. In most cases, political parties are directly involved in these predominantly communal clashes. What is disturbing is that most of these are institutionalized oppressions, heavily financed by political parties. In all these cases women and children are the most vulnerable persons subjected to inhuman treatment by the powerful political parties and their outfits.
What is the remedy? In this regard, I wanted to collect information as to the stentorian role, if any, played by the parliament and state legislature in protecting human rights. I find that only on very few occasions have they deliberated on such burning issues. It seems that they were more vociferous and outspoken when they were taken to task by their political rivals or by some others on matters of violation of their own rights. Then it is found that they raise much hue and cry in these highest democratic institutions. The reason being, political parties are not much bothered about the violations of human rights of the common man. It is a known fact that a corrupt political system can never protect the human rights of their citizens. The major cause for never ending human rights violation is the existence of astronomical corruption in India. Political parties breed corruption. After sixty years of independence, whom can we blame for the perpetration of poverty and all other social evils in our great country? Everybody knows that corruption is the major factor that gas kept India poor and thereby made the common man miserable. The common man is treated like leeches and untouchables. If one checks upon, as an example, the quantum of money spent by the Govt. for the amelioration of the scheduled castes and tribes, a veritable truth will emerge. To substantiate this, may I quote Rajeev Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, who made the public statement, “if a rupee is spent by the Govt., only 15 paisa reaches the genuine beneficiary. “ This public statement pin points the veracity of facts relating to the corrupt practices of politicians and bureaucrats.
Another human rights violation that is taking place in the corridors of power is the sizable perks that the people’s representatives enjoy while they turn a blind eye to the developing needs of the poor country.
Let me take you back to the pristine Gandhian era. The Mahatma categorically stated that the congress party must be disbanded, as they by that time had perhaps proved that they were misfits to govern the country. What the Mahatma had feared has become the reality. It is their party which ruled India for a long time, and still continuing in power, that is responsible for the perpetration of poverty in our country. Other parties only followed suit. Who is bothered about the human rights of the poor and marginalized in India? There is almost an abrogation of human rights when it comes to the poor. The have-nots in India can be called by a little sophisticated term – ‘Vote Banks’, for which purpose they are exploited by the powers be, to cling on to power. Look at the undeniable facts – more than 50% of India’s population live in constant economic insecurity in the midst of plenty! Please have a look at the caricature of India’s common man in all media publications. He is week, feeble, thin and skinny, hungry-looking, and even haunted by economic insecurity, fear, and resentment. This appalling condition has warped his personality. He is denied of all social and human rights. They have been suffering agonies of discrimination for ages. If the importance of economic planning is relegated, within a short span of time, we fear, due to lack of food security, our whole economic infrastructure will collapse which would result in great human tragedies in the form of starvation, famine, homelessness, widespread diseases and many other calamities. Human rights protagonists will have to then consider still more burning issues – that of the very survival of the common man in our country. Will they then rise to the occasion? God only knows!
May I also touch upon the role of judiciary? Do the courts in India have efficient machinery to attend to human rights violations? Have a look at the statistics regarding the back-log of pending cases in the Indian judicial system. In 2006, 36.5 cases were pending in higher courts, while lower courts had a whopping 2.48 crores cases. The oft repeated words of caution that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ boomerangs across the corridors of Indian courts. It is the right of every Indian to see that justice is carried out without much delay. If the judiciary is not able to protect the rights of the citizenry on a time bound basis, who else can do it? Let me give you one more piece of information to prove how inefficient are we as a country. It takes 425 to 1165 days to enforce a contract in the Indian courts. Adding to our woes, it is reported in the media that even judges are corrupt, who are supposed to be the custodians of public justice and paragons of moral excellence and virtue. Recently I read an article in which a learned judge opined that even judges these days fall a prey to the consumerist craving. When the judiciary is also not able to attend to cases of human right violations on account of these reasons we are certainly deprived of any protection of human rights. Let me quote former Supreme Court Justice Santosh Hegde. “75% of human rights violations were due to corruption.” He said. He also stated that there are two types of citizens in our country. The first type becomes rich by dint of hard work done for 24 long years. The second type becomes rich within 24days by corrupt practices. In such a disastrous situation, how can the citizens expect justice in protecting human rights? The arrests of few swamis in Kerala shed more light on this matter of grave concern.
What kind of human rights do we enjoy in our own society? Take for instance our traffic system on our roads. Motorists have total disregard for traffic rules or basic courtesies. People spit in public places and behaves rudely to others. The police think that their first and foremost duty is to abuse and insult any citizen who he comes in contact. Public manners remain appalling. There is lack of democratic culture in India. Shoddy governance and poor infrastructure continue to retard the country’s prospects for faster economic development. Abrogation of human rights has become the order of the day.
Well, protection of human rights is the key for the development of a free, democratic and secular society. The Govts. and public authorities should be made more responsible to establish human rights in our country. The sooner, the better.

HUMAN RIGHTS 3

2008-05-17T02:47:00.000-07:00

Sri.K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Last time I had mentioned that while introducing the subject I missed to mention an important point about the various conventions under the Declaration of Human Rights. It is about the International Criminal Court. One of the most important agreements among 80 Conventions and Covenants under the Declaration of Human Rights is the International Criminal Court established by what is called the Rome Statute in July 1998. When it came into force in July 2002 only 60 countries were signatory to it. Now there are 105 countries agreeing to it. India is not one of them. Instead, we have already our Human Rights Act of 1993, The National Human Rights Commission, the provisions guaranteed under the Indian Constitution, and the obligations under various other conventions entered into earlier. That was considered more than sufficient The U.S.A. was signatory to the ICC during President Clinton’s time. But Bush managed to withdraw/’unsign’ from it. If USA continued, some of their soldiers could have been punishable by the international Criminal Court. It was clearly to avoid such a contingency that Bush withdrew from the convention and pursued several unilateral policies like authorizing pre-emptive strikes against other countries, ignoring International Laws.
In the UN, the High Commissioner for Human Rights monitors violations and looks after complaints (The present High Commissioner is Louise Arbour). But all the international agreements are only obligations to be complied with and have no full force of any International Law. It is ‘pathetically un-enforceable’, as put by Srilankan Permanent Mission in Geneva recently. International conventions can be flouted by countries in special cases of change in circumstances. Such circumstances are not easy to concoct!
Actually the most effective instruments enforceable for any HR violations are sanctions of the Security Council.
The erstwhile Human Rights Commission of the UN is now, since March 2006 known as Human Rights Council established as a political body of members of the General Assembly for policy matters on Human Rights. It gets support from the Office of the High Commissioner for HR. As said earlier there are about 80 conventions and covenants to be monitored by the High Commissioner for HR. There are also many other organizations working for the cause of Human Rights. Some of the Major Organizations are,
Amnesty International
Committee to Protect Journalists
Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights
Human Rights Watch
Freedom House
Global Vision’s TV Channel ‘Rights and Wrongs’
Fourth World Documentation Project
The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In spite of all this, human rights violations do take place with immunity because of the lack of a proper legal mechanism to strictly enforce even the existing laws. It is history that a sage like Osho could be attempted to be poisoned in the US, and hunted out without proper trial in spite of all the noise being made there about Human Rights violations by others. Only the influence of interested parties and organizations succeeded there against Human Rights. It appears that even Pentagon and White House had agreed and authorized the violations in Guantnamo and Abu Grieb. America’s own Newspapers have exposed this.

Dr. Abdulla: Most of the aspects of Human rights have already been discussed. I shall therefore confine myself to certain broad problems in a general way leading to a possible suggestion for a solution.
Everyday the newspapers illustrate incidents of human rights violations at the level of the local circles, at the national level or at the international level. Internationally, the Iraq and Afgan wars are still continuing endlessly. The newly found Chinese high handedness on Tibet is another violation. At the national level we have the problems in Maharashtra, Manipur and Delhi, where the migrants from other states face very serious human rights crises. At the local level, the adivasis are facing problems at Wynad and other places. There were violations in other states like Gujarat and West Bengal.
At the International level, we are now left with one super power. After the fall of the Soviet Union, USA has in some sense, taken on the role of a ‘De Facto World Government’, or that of an International arbiter. The high handedness of the Super Powers has proved one thing; that is, the new world order has completely failed to deliver, not so much for lack of means or materials as for lack of moral credibility. This has been proved undoubtedly right from Vietnam war of the 70’s, through the Arab Israel conflicts, to the Afghan and Iraq wars. The recent Chinese actions in Tibet only confirm what a big power can perpetrate in a region.
At the national level, the recent incidents in Maharashytra against migrants from other states pose a big question against the functioning of democracy itself. The hatred and violence against non-domiciles, non-locals particularly migrants, could constitute one of the main sources of hard core conservatism in contemporary India.
In a globalizing, liberalizing and ‘corporatising’ economy, we have been ignoring the substantial body of the labour force, and migrants, not allowing them the benefits of labour rights laws and the guarantees of the rights of inter-state migrants. Our Governments have no will today to turn the guarantees into practical and meaningful measures in order to respect, protect and promote migrant rights. But for a few trade unions and labor support groups there is hardly anybody working and campaigning to exert pressure on governments, employers and others to make the rights that are set out in the national and international laws into a reality for individual immigrants. This human rights crisis in this regard should really shame our conscience.
People’s welfare and quality of life are indices that measure human rights maintenance in a society or state. Improvements in infrastructure developments, growth of industry and agriculture output, more number of qualified youth through better educational institutions, are all important parameters in the progress of human rights. To achieve this, the governments have to protect the most basic rights of an individual, viz. the right to life, liberty and security. It is doubly sad that this is not being assured now. With the advent of globalization and with the mankind facing such insurmountable problems as climate change, global warming, atmospheric pollution etc, we need a effectively functioning world governance mechanism and structure that is not only participatory but trustworthy at the same time. The need for this is now felt more than ever.

HUMAN RIGHTS 2

2008-05-17T02:41:00.000-07:00

Dr.K.P.Thomas: Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the middle of 19th century. She keenly observed the pang of separation of children from their mothers at a very tender age in the wilderness of Africa due to the prevailing business of slavery in the Cotton fields of Southern America. She was born in 1812, after the death of previous four siblings of her in infancy. In her family of slave owners, this also contributed to the increased sensitivity of separation of children. She had the occasion to observe the last days of an old Negro in suffering and dying, to whom she had developed an understanding, compassion and attachment. This and several other incidents were recorded by her, including some from the accounts of others, and were published in a newspaper serially. She later codified and rewrote these in the form of a novel, titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became a best seller and a classic in American literary, social and political fields. At a time when many took slavery as nothing but natural and not evil, this book startled them and shocked them. But it also opened the eyes of many and slowly people started to think otherwise. The awareness created by it produced a congenial atmosphere for the slaves being released later, allowing them to choose their own destiny. Unable to reconcile with the consequent economic backlash, the southern states vehemently opposed the legislation to abolish slavery by the then president of American Union, Abraham Lincoln. The bloody civil war that broke out was very destructive, and the southern states were defeated.
Now, after about one and a half centuries later, to-day we cannot imagine about man’s slavery. But it took one full century for America to get rid of the discrimination of slavery to be completely taken off in the nineteen sixties by the late President John F. Kennedy, who paid the price with his mortal life, like his great forerunner of the cause, Abraham Lincoln. Thus after abolition of slavery by law it took nearly a century of transition period for it to be effective. The minds of the oppressor as well as the oppressed have to get used to the change. Actually, after abolition of slavery the Negroes were thrown into joblessness and crime.
This, in fact, is a lesson in Human Rights. Awareness has to be cultivated for the society’s mental make up to change. Nationhood requires time to mature and accept an idea for change. The social, economic and political changes require more than three generations to absorb and implement the righting of a wrong that is enrooted in the psyche of the people concerned.
Denial of Rights of women in the Namboothiri Community was rectified by the historically great efforts by the enlightened social workers like V.T.bhattathirippad and others. Their dramas highlighted the traditional atrocities in the community, and got themselves ostracized in the bargain. Although the whole of the traditional community was against them in the beginning, finally it was the traditionalists who got into trouble. In southern Kerala, untouchability was very much there up to early 1940s, although it was supposed to be abolished by the Maharaja of Travancore in 1936.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: In some states ostracism is prevalent even now. In some parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, low cast people are prevented from wearing chappals. In most villages in Bihar even now they have to drink tea only in earthen pots, not in glasses.
Dr. Thomas: The Syrian Christian community was free of this malady, and this contributed a lot to the thriving of their farming activities for two centuries or more. And they still enjoy the benefits and thrive.
The universal education policy of the British Government in the erstwhile Malabar prevented the marginalization of some of the communities into backwardness in that region. Clearly, it is ultimately education that produces awareness which prevent any Human Right infringements.
While religion is good in its own way, it sanctifies perpetration of cruelty on its own defenseless members as well as others. Violation of Human Rights can result. Politically, the consolidation of power in the hands of a group of organized people can also perpetrate cruelty infringing Human Rights. Justice H.R.Khanna who died recently stood against infringement of Human Rights even during emergency in a habeas corpus petition on which he wrote a dissenting judgement disagreeing with four other Supreme Court judges including the then Chief Justice. His was a lone voice holding up against infringement of freedom by detention without trial even in times of emergency. The ruling hierarchy then saw to it that he never got his chief justiceship in the Supreme Court. It required great courage of conviction and an amount of self sacrifice to be on the right side at the time of crises. He then said that the avenue of a citizen to present a grievance in court should not be denied under any circumstance. Although Justice Khanna was made Law Minister in 1979 when the Government changed he resigned on the third day. He died recently on 24th Feb this year at the ripe age of ninety-four.
A fearless judiciary and press are essential for maintenance of Human Rights. A certain amount of activism is also essential on the part of the judiciary as the common man may not always have the ability to fight due to lack of resources or time.
Regarding the rights of women, it is very difficult to ensure and preserve their rights legally. We find that generally men are gentler towards their counterparts of the other sex because of their weak predicaments. Help from kith and kin as well as an effective executive action can only give them succour wherever aberrations and atrocities happen.
Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan: There was an omission in my initial talk on introducing the subject. I had mentioned that India is signatory to most of the covenants and conventions on Human Rights. But India is not a signatory to an important agreement, although 105 countries had signed it. It is the International Criminal Court established under what is called the ‘Rome Statute’ in a UN conference there in 1998. India had no need to sign it because it was already covered by the Human Rights Act of 1993 and the fundamental rights of Indian Constitution. Details of ICC can be explained next time.

HUMAN RIGHTS 1

2008-05-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Sri.K.V.kunhikrishnan: When we talk of Human Rights we do not generally mean the rights that we expect each of us to have as a human being living in this world. Such a concept would mean all the very different notions about individual freedom and rights that each of us may have. What we mean about Human rights is only the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on 10th December 1948.
As we all know the United Nations came into being immediately after the IInd World War in 1945, as an attempt to stop the possibility of any further World Wars. In 1946 the UN appointed a commission to formulate the Human Rights that any citizen of the world could enjoy without restraint. The commission was appointed under the Economic and Social Council of the U.N. The U.N. had already affirmed its faith in Fundamental Human Rights in its charter, and the declaration of human rights was meant to pave the way for its implementation.
There are thirty articles in all in the declaration. The first twelve articles of the declaration stress equality and liberty to all without any discrimination, abolition of slavery, security and safety to life, recognition and honor, justice and equality before law, and natural justice. Art.13,14, and 15 refers to freedom of movement, asylum and freedom to change nationality. Right to marriage by mutual consent is assured by art.16, and art.17 preserves the right to property. Freedom of thought and expression are covered by art,s 18 and 19. There are also rights for assembly and elections, which are assured under articles 20 and 21. Other political rights like right to work, rest, leisure, standard of living, and freedom for self development are covered by articles 22 to 25. Separate provisions are there for education and culture in articles 26 and 27. The rest of the three articles 28, 29, & 30 are of a general nature to establish a set up to implement these provisions, imposing some limitations to the freedoms subject to the general purpose of the UN Charter, and to avoid misinterpretation of the provisions in the declarations.
We can thus see that the declarations are elaborate and rather exhaustive. But alas, the declaration does not have sufficient teeth to impose it on the nations of the world. It has no legal validity or backing unless each country incorporates the same in their constitutions. The declaration itself is recommendatory in nature and is a standard prescribed for such incorporation. For example, in our own constitution, which came later on in Nov 1949, most of the provisions are incorporated in the Fundamental Rights, but with modifications. Most of the nations violate the provisions of the declaration, in what are called ‘public interests’, by enacting special emergency laws. But although not strictly legal, the Declaration of Human Rights have powerful moral authority, which is very often used (or even misused) by superpowers as a stick to beat other nations with. And they themselves, like in the case of Guantnamo Bay, are sometimes caught violating human rights.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Violation of Human Rights is naturally a matter for condemnation. All the same, certain degree of cruelty becomes necessary to be practiced by those who defend the rights. The question is how do one deal with the terrorists? Normal mild approach would not do.
Prof. Richard Hay: And where is Human Rights in the matter of freedom of expression? Take the case of Taslima Nasreen. She was hunted out for writing a novel.
Prof. Sankarankutty: She criticized the clergy and the whole community turned against her, even in India. She has a right to express her views. In Hyderabad in India, she was physically manhandled. She is a Bangladeshi who was denied any Human Rights in her own country. She was to be safe in India, but that also turned out to be unsafe for her. It is a chain of Idea Vs Politics Vs Human Rights.
Dr. Thomas: There is a view that she is uncomfortable with herself like Kamala Surayya, and that is why both of them behave eccentrically.

Sri.Kunhikrishnan: That would be no excuse for denying freedom of expression. Now to continue, there are some mechanisms to implement the Human Rights. The covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture, the conventions for women’s and children’s rights and the Convention against Racial discrimination are some of them. Again, these are applicable to the member nations who have entered into the respective agreements. In so far as India is concerned it is a signatory to all major conventions. Although all cases relating to Human Rights are still dealt with under the common criminal law of the country, we have an effective monitoring system under the Human Rights Protection Act. Under this Act, there is a National Commission for Human Rights, and State Commissions in the States. The commission takes notice of human right violations and receives complaints, and proceeds to see that justice is done. One sessions court in each district is designated as Human Rights Court for giving speedy justice. The commission takes up cases suo motu when violations come to its notice.
In Law, if precisely worded, there is not much room for any free thinking. The provisions have to be strictly interpreted according to rules of interpretation. There are many books on principles of statutory interpretations, on jurisprudence, and on Natural justice. There are also binding decisions of the Supreme courts, which have the force of law. While passing comments and references in the course of a judgment, called ‘obiter dicta’, of the Apex Court are not Law. Substantial findings of the courts are as good as any enactment by parliament. But yet they are only interpretations. It would be foolish to criticize the judge, as the present day politicians often do, for a decision because he has no other alternative but to go strictly according to the principles of interpretation. If the politician cannot agree, he has the remedy to change the law, which is within his area of action. Thus in Law there is no scope for free thinking.
That is not the case with Natural Human Rights. Having been born in this world, has he not the basic rights to keep his life safe till nature takes it back, pursue happiness and avoid unhappiness, and have his minimum needs met? But naturally, others have also such rights which he has to recognize and concede. Therefore he must be prepared to compromise, and find a balance. That is what is called living in a society. Man is thus a social being.
Stretching the idea further, the question will arise whether only man has rights in this world? What about animal rights? They have also the right to live as comfortable as possible. Among themselves survival of the fittest is Nature’s rule. But vis-à-vis the humans it is the duty of man to recognize the rights of animals and to see that a balance is maintained by doing only the minimum harm to the animals in the course of pursuit of his own happiness. He should not have the attitude that all other beings are here on earth to satisfy the pleasure of Man as maintained by the captain of the ship on which Mahatma Gandhi traveled.
Sometimes one has to kill or destroy insects and animals, knowingly or unknowingly. This cannot be avoided. That is definitely part of nature. That is why perhaps the Puranic writers invented the system of giving ‘Moksha’ to their enemies whenever they needed to kill. There was nothing wrong in Rama killing Bali hiding behind a tree, because he was giving him Moksha!. So many instances of giving such Mokshas to Rakshasas and demons can be found in the Epics.
Ultimately one has to find his own balance among human rights, animal rights, insect rights, and Rakshasa (murderers, rapists, and the like) rights, to live properly in this world!

Destiny-Are we destined(5)

2008-03-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

Prof. Mohanan Nair: The concept of destiny controlling man’s life was there from time immemorial. Whenever some unfortunate thing, beyond man’s capacity to explain, happened unexpectedly he attributed it to destiny. That was the easiest and most convenient way to explain the inexplicable.
Greek mythology tells us of the three Goddesses who determined human destiny, known as Fates. They were depicted as three old women, Clotho, the spinner, Lachesis, the allotter and Atropos, the inflexible. Clotho spun the thread of human life, Lachesis dispensed it and Atropos cut the thread. They determined the length of each person’s life as well as his share of suffering. This concept of destiny is reflected in Greek tragedy. The great Greek tragic heroes are all the victims of an implacable destiny. Their doom is decreed beforehand, and they cannot escape it.
This Greek concept of fate was alien to Elizabethan drama, especially to Shakespeare. The Shakespearean tragic heroes bring their fate down on themselves by some error of their own known as the fatal flaw. Hamlet had ‘the courtiers, soldiers, scholars. Eye, tongue, and sword’ but suffered from the habit of procrastination. Othello, ‘a noble and valiant general’, was a slave of sexual jealousy. Macbeth, ‘a peerless kinsman too full of the milk of human kindness’ was ruined by his black and deep desires. Lear who was every inch a king suffered from a violent temper and lack of judgement.
In India the theory of cause and effect was very much in vogue. It was inextricably linked to the process of reincarnation. If the cause and effect are static, then the future is already established. Men can sit back and wait for their destiny. The theory will look all the more illogical when large number of people is involved or calamities like the tsunami swallow the lives of thousands. A hundred thousand including women and new born children were killed in the bombing of Hiroshima. Could it be attributed to destiny? It was the callousness and cruelty of Man that brought about the disaster. Was it the cruelty of Hitler or destiny that was responsible for the merciless genocide of the Jews in the gas chamber? Is it because of destiny or the exploitation of man that millions die of starvation in African countries? How could a whole nation like Iraq be destined to suffer? Will any super intelligence allow such cruelty though the victors reiterated that God was with them? The answer is evident – destiny has not played any part in these.
Emerson has said, ‘the bitterest tragic element in life is the belief in the brute fate or destiny’. Belief in destiny as in the case of any blind belief is the denial of truth. It is a sort of cowardice which helps one to hide the absence of the will to act persistently in spite of failures. In each one of us the good and evil are at war. All through our lives the fight goes on, and one of them must conquer the other. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be, what we are. In other words what we do and what we are, are inextricably linked together. Man is master of his own fate. We have plenty of illustrious examples. Christ could have escaped crucifixion. But he willingly courted crucifixion for the salvation of humanity. Socrates – not destiny – had the courage to stand by his convictions. Louis Braille, who had gone blind at a very young age challenged destiny, overcame not only his affliction but also helped the blind people all over the world to empower themselves by reading and acquiring knowledge. Helen Keller who had gone deaf and blind when she was 19 months old challenged destiny and became a distinguished writer and lecturer.
There is a Chinese saying:
Sow an act and you shall reap a habit.
Sow a habit and you shall reap a character.
Sow a character and you shall reap a fate.
An act is something done or the aggregate of things done, the social implication of which is clear to the doer. A habit is a constantly shown tendency to act in a certain way. Character is an aggregate of the most stable psychic traits of a personality manifested in his acts. But ‘fate’ has been invented by the weak, it has been invented to justify their failures, bad acts, offensive character, and to be able to shift the blame for things on others.
Life on earth is wrought with misery often and the tendency is to blame it on destiny. But if we remember that Man is born to give and not to grab there would be undiluted joy. Life flowers when you realize that you are useful to others. There is the story of the old man who was planting trees on the road side. He was almost bent double with old age. Someone who passed by asked him, ’why do you work so hard to plant these when you may not live to enjoy their shadows?’ the old man replied, “The shadows of the trees which now I enjoy were not planted by me.”
To day there is an accumulation of destructive forces resulting in a feeling of insecurity and mutual distrust. If the world is pushed on to another war and humanity goes back to the Stone Age it is only man made destiny. It is our duty to avoid such a catastrophical fate for humanity. Our duty is to make this world a better place to live in. the world abounds in facilities and amenities that have come as a result of accumulation and application of scientific knowledge. Man should make right use of the facilities and amenities and to live in harmony with nature. In such a case Man is destined to live, as held by H.G.Wells, in a universal palace making the whole globe our garden and play-ground.

Sri K V. Kunhikrishnan: From what we see around us we perceive that for every cause there is its effect and for every effect there is a cause, or several causes behind it. There has been no doubt about this fact. We have discussed the destiny of individual and also the destiny of Man in general. For what is happening today the causes may be spread out to several years, may be decades or centuries in the past. But whether such causes created by a man in a previous birth can affect his fortune in this life is very controversial as we have no means at present of knowing whether there is a previous birth at all, and whether any consequences of actions could be thus passed on. But we do definitely know that actions in this life have their consequences, good or bad.
Therefore there can be no dispute that an individual’s destiny depends to a large part on his own choices, effective efforts, talents and perseverance. But when unexpectedly some untoward outcome turns up, man is naturally confused. When a tree falls on the head of a person walking along the road, it would look absurd to attribute it to his actions of the past in this life unless the timing of his walk at the exact second could be blamed on him. Thus there are many unknown things beyond explanation. Explanations given by seers, masters, and spiritual leaders are also very contradictory, and cannot be verified unless one experiences them oneself.
It is in this context and in the context of the evolution of Man that the question posed in the beginning by Dr. Sadanandan becomes relevant, whether a mutation is possible in the evolution of Man wherein he becomes absolutely free of the cause/effect chain? The question has been answered by the Seer Aurobindo, as explained in the talk of Prof. Sankarankutty. The mutation has already started in the evolution of Man, and what is called the “Supramental Manifestation’ of Man is now happening in a wider scale than earlier. It will speed up faster and faster hereafter.
Going beyond the cause and effect can happen in two ways. The first is being free of it, mentally. Being free does not mean eliminating the effect or altering the effect. One goes beyond the effect, meaning that he is consciously free of the result of the actions, whether it is good or bad. The second is by a willful alteration of the effect or result. If the possible future is known beforehand, any danger can possibly be altered, or avoided. Here again we have no way of knowing which of the ways one can be free of the outcome of one’s actions. Until one becomes super-conscious, there is no way of knowing whether any future is predestined or preordained.
Ultimately, the only way is to acquire the necessary intuitive faculties to understand and comprehend this life and the Reality. For that, the mutation is necessary in all of us. It would appear that each man has to fend for himself in this regard, clearly discriminating whatever advises and suggestions that comes bye while going through one’s life.

Comment:
ALL SAID AND DONE, THE QUESTION STILL REMAINS: WAS IT THE WILL OF THE CRIPPLED AND THE DEAD, OR THEIR DESTINY THAT BROUGHT FORTH THE TSUNAMI? OR MERELY THE RELENTLESS DESTRUCTIVE FORCE OF PURE CHANCE?

Destiny- Are we destined?(4)

2008-03-06T04:15:00.000-08:00

Prof. Richard Hay: Talking about destiny, there is the story of a commander of the Japanese army during the II World war who showed his followers what destiny meant. The brave Japanese soldiers were badly outnumbered by the Allied soldiers in a battle. The Japanese troops were apprehensive about imminent failure. The commander arrayed his soldiers in the field and asking them to pray deep with devotion, said that he is going ro toss a coin, and it will show their destiny in battle. He said that heads would show victory and tails, failure. Heads turned out in the toss. With all enthusiasm and confidence they went for the battle and achieved a miraculous victory. On return one of his colleagues remarked how wonderfully the destiny worked. It was then that the Commander revealed that the coin had head on both sides!
The moral of the story is that destiny is not chance or fate, but sheer will power and perseverance. But in our country destiny has a negative connotation. One’s destiny is supposed to be predetermined and indicated either on one’s palm or in the position of the stars! And just observe the palm. The lines change almost every day. Science says that man changes so fast that a person is not the same next year. But of course there are stories like that of Markandeya in the epics that show that destiny can be challenged and changed by will. .
The legend says that according to a boon granted to the childless couple, Markandeya’s parents belonging to a Rishi family, they had the choice of either having him as a mentally retarded blockhead with a long life of one hundred years or as a short lived child, brilliant and wise, who will live only for sixteen years. They opted for wisdom and brilliancy for their child. When the son became 15 years old, the parents became jittery and panicked. They prayed to the lord with great devotion and intensity, and the lord of death had to yield. To everyone’s surprise he was made a ‘chiranjeevi’, meaning a person who is immortal! Even in ancient times, destiny could be changed. The moral of the story is that destiny can be changed through perseverance.
Now, look at the palm of one’s hand. If you observe it you will notice that the lines change every fortnight, however minute the change might be. Modern psychological theory says that we are not the same person next year, or even next day or next moment.
Dr.Thomas: I have actually noticed it in myself. And the sad part is that the end is more and more nearer!
Prof.Sankarankutty: Wisdom has a relationship to the comb. By the time one is wise there is no need to comb the hair because one is bald!
Prof. Richard Hay: Using the ever changing lines on the palms, the palmists predict the future! My question is, is destiny designed by the lines on one’s palm?

If it is the argument that destiny is perceived as unchangeable and inevitable because it is God’s will or God’s plan, what I would like to state is that destiny is nothing but the bounds created by man that can be crossed by man himself through his will. One succumbs to destiny if he doesn’t use his free will to change it. Will power and ingenuity can help in changing one’s destiny. Man is his own master. If this cannot be accepted, he becomes a slave to his destiny. Destiny per se is superstition.
But we notice that western thinking also was indulging in similar beliefs! Let me quote from Chaucer:
“The destiny a minister general,
That executeth in the world o’er all,
The purveyance which God hath seen before,
So strong it is, that though the world had sworn
The contrary of the thing by yea or nay,
Yet sometime it shall falter on a day
That falleth not oft in a thousand year,
For certainly, our appetite here,
Be it war or peace, or hate or love,
All this is ruled by the sight above.”
Destiny was thus perceived as God’s absolute determination. In the Greek mythology, the underlying concept is absolute belief in destiny. They believed in the ancient saying, “whatever is fated, that alone will take place ‘.
Let me tell you the story of two frogs. The two frogs got caught in a small milk can with a lid. The lid was too high for the frogs to jump at it or open it. The first frog panicked, and in the frustration of hopelessness, drowned in the milk The second frog analyzed the situation, and in the hope of finding some way of escape kept himself alive swimming round and round in the milk. Eventually the churning of the milk produced a lump of butter on which it climbed and escaped from the can. The story goes to show that destiny is not a matter of chance, but it is a matter of choice. This has been proved again and again by achievers in Literature, Commerce, Arts, Sports, and in other fields where we go by the saying, ‘genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
As regards the Indian philosophic pronouncements that destiny is nothing but the result of past deeds committed in a previous life, acceptance of this would require an ardent belief in re-incarnation. Many in the world would not subscribe to this view. Hence destiny cannot be conceived as an aftermath of one’s deeds in a previous period of life. Whatever Man achieves is the outcome of his decisions, and not the aftermath of his previous life’s misdeeds or deeds.
With the development of science and technology man is able to bring about drastic changes. Stem cell research, nano-technology, etc., presage wonderful change. The boundless talents of men are still to be exploited to invent new products which would change the entire destiny of mankind. So far we were looking at the sky in wonderment. When spaceships traveled far into space and brought home the secrets of nature unknown to us for centuries, we were thrilled at the achievements. Till then we were mere ignoramuses. Whatever limits us we call Fate.
But destiny has definitely helped Man when he faced risk or failure. This is as a defense mechanism to tide over the repercussions of failure, attributing it to destiny or fate. That way it has served a psychological purpose. Nothing more.
People who believe in the concept of destiny do put pertinent questions like why some people are born rich while others are poor? Why are some people lucky and others not? Why are some people smart and healthy while some are otherwise, although sometimes born to the same parents? Why should one of the siblings be blessed with all material comforts while the other is deprived of them all? Why are some countries growing so fast while others still remain much less developed? These are but questions put to confuse the minds of non-believers of destiny. William Jennings Bryan says, ”Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”
To be successful one has to break the pattern of the old destiny-centered ideas, and develop a new faith, and pursue it with strong determination and ruthlessness. When a person starts unlocking his hidden talents, he gets on to the right road to success. Look at the present younger generation known as ‘techies’ who are more skilled and knowledgeable than their predecessors. They belong to a rapid growth field when they getr the best out of the new system. Talent, determination and a little bit of luck decide the future of men. Are we to call this bit of luck as destiny?
To me destiny characterizes slavery. Liberty, freedom, fortitude, and free will would help demystify the concept of destiny and free us from the bondages of such imperfect thoughts. When man is weak and fickle minded he has no other go but to depend on destiny as an excuse and aid to failure.
Let me conclude by narrating the story of a girl who fought against her destiny, - the story of Wilma Rudolf:
She hailed from a poor family in Tennesse, USA. Plio struck her when she was a child. Paralyzed, she wore braces. Her mother, determined to change her fate, encouraged her to walk. At the age of ten Wilma told her mother that she wanted to be the fastest woman on track in this earth! At the age of thirteen, she entered the race at district level and failed. Destiny against hopes, she failed several times. Undaunted she tried again and again. At 17 she met coach ED Temple who said that with her spirit nobody would stop her. Such was her strong will to succeed. Rest is history. In 1960 Olympics Wilma won three gold medals, for 100, 200, and 400 metres. This greatest of all events in the history of Olympics reveals the strength of that indomitable strength of man to excel braving all challenges. So, destiny is not a matter of chance, but of choice.

Prof.Sankarankutty: Is not the word destiny limited in itself? Not only does it not throw any light on the concept of destiny it is also a trap to get into the confusion on destiny. Be as it may, to remain in the mess on destiny is itself a beautiful thing. The unraveling of it should be worth it.
Talking about Arobindo on the basis of whose metaphysical and spiritual thoughts I base this discussion, I must say that one cannot directly go into the subject of destiny as his thoughts would enclose all the discussions. So vast is the area he covers. In his younger days he was involved with the destiny of India, participating in the freedom struggle. But he was basically concerned with the destiny of all countries in the sense that what he was bothering about was the destiny of the whole of mankind. Coming out of slavery for India was but a limited purpose. Following the cue from the philosopher Nietzsche (Friedrich Nietzche – German), he believed that the whole mankind was, and is, evolving towards super-manhood.
Sri Aurobindo’s 75th birthday on 15th August 1947 coincided with the dawn of India’s independence. He wrote: “I take this identification, not as a coincidence or fortuitous accident, but as a sanction and a seal of the Divine Power which guides my steps on the work with which I began life.”
To understand the integral quality, philosophical, political, poetic, and spiritual, of Sri Aurobindo, it is necessary to have some knowledge of his life and background. At the early age of seven he was taken to England, along with his two brothers, by his father who was in the medical profession. It is an irony of fate that his father, a fully westernized gentleman, permitted no Indian influence to pollute his children’s minds. He spent thirteen years of his developing days in England returning to India only on his twentieth year. He was also fully westernized in behavior. English was almost his mother tongue to the extent that he was thinking in English. He mastered many western languages. He also prepared for the civil services (I C. S) and passed the examination, but was rejected for failing in Horse Riding! It is said that he deliberately failed himself to escape his father’s wrath in refusing to accept the ICS. It was then he came to India and indulged in the revolutionary aspect of the freedom struggle. He found asylum in Pondicherry when he was banished from India by the British. By that time he had found himself absorbed in spiritual pursuit. This is not surprising when we notice that he was destined to the ‘last of the Rishis of India’ as referred to by Romain Roland.
On reaching Pondicherry and founding the Ashram, he kept silence for 12 rears and spent most of the time in meditation. He wrote several books of which two are said to be the most outstanding and of epic quality, in poetic vision and spiritual insight. They are the Life Divine and the epic poem ‘Savitri’. In this poem he deals with the challenge of destiny by the devoted wife Savitri for the life of Satyavan, her husband. He fights the case against the God of Death and wins with her arguments and dialogue. Metaphysical and spiritual truths are revealed with vision and insight. The challenge to destiny here is another interpretation of destiny.
Life divine has a poetic title. But it deals with the evolution of the human kind. It refers to the supreme zone of intelligence. While in Savitri he challenges the concept of destiny, in Life Divine he shows how that challenge can be approached and understood to get an insight to challenge it. It is like the hardware and software of a computer. The hardware is the nature of the human mind which has to be properly tackled and arranged. The software is the way in which it has to be used to challenge destiny. Indian inheritance of the ideas in Vedas, Upanishads etc. helped him in arriving at methods to tackle the mind.
According to his thoughts, one can be free of destiny through ‘supra-mental manifestation’. This manifestation is a mutation in the process of evolution. The process can be speeded up by meditation. Yoga accelerates it. Sri. Aurobindo has a remarkable way of fusion of the eastern and the western ways of thinking. Nobody expressed eastern thoughts in ways that can be understood by a western mind, as Sri.Aurobindo did.
Aurobindo gave us a huge machinery of ideas, very heavy, yet freely moving on water like a ship on the ocean. Inside is very complex in which one could easily be lost. But yet it is simple and straight to understand when you enter into it. Let me try to explain:
Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy is to turn the current of human progress in evolution towards the goal of Supermanhood. The yogi in him formulated a method for achieving the desired ’total change in consciousness’. In his magnum opus, the Life Divine, he incorporates manifold techniques that would pave the way for the creation of the superman and super-nature. First and foremost, the western notions of the supremacy of the intellect in comprehending reality, is to be dismissed. It has to be replaced by the spiritual intuition in man. It is worth recalling in this connection the sayings of Martian Heidegger: ‘Reasons, glorified for centuries, is the most obstinate adversary of thinking.’ Reason has great limitations. How can reason be used to analyze reason? Staying within reason one cannot observe reason. Archemides said, ‘I can move the earth; but get me a space outside earth, and a lever! Reason is only an instrument. It is an exercise by the mind. And the mind has to be understood in terms of other faculties. It was the ancient Greeks who promoted the analytical scrutiny of detached thinking of things and phenomena, giving rise to the present edifice of civilization. It has it’s own uses, but for which today’s progress in conveniences and technology would not have been possible. But the Indian sages insisted on the very opposite, because they found through highly developed vision and insight that man does not attain truth so long as he remains locked up in his intellect.

The answer to the basic problems of philosophy is not possible to be found by mere intellectual exercise. It has to flow from one’s own experiences and realizations. Sri Aurobindo said, ‘discover your state of being, don’t look for God outside. He felt that it is possible for man to advance further in the evolutionary race and reach a new dynamic status, that of the supra-mental being. But there is a lid of resistance barring the way. It is the veil of what is called Maya, the semi-transparent illusion of the mental consciousness. This lid has to be broken through. The mind, instead of guiding us through the haze of half lights and false lights, should link up with the ultimate source of knowledge and power, and achieve the glory of a new life as supermind and take charge of the planning of the new world.
To quote from the Life Divine:
“ We perceive that our existence is a sort of refraction of the Divine Existence in the inverted order of ascent and descent thus arranged:
Existence
Conscious force
Bliss
Supermind
INVOLUTION > < EVOLUTION
Mind
Psyche (Soul)
Life
Matter
The Divine descends from pure existence through the play of consciousness force and Bliss and the creative medium of supermind into cosmic being. We ascend from matter through a developing life, soul and mind and the illuminating medium of supermind towards the divine being. The knot of the two is where mind and supermind meet with a veil between them. The rending of the veil is the condition of the divine life in humanity.”.
Modern materialism, mainly a western phenomenon, has given us considerable knowledge regarding the lower planes of existence. Asceticism, an Eastern, rather an Indian Phenominon has served us by boldly adventuring into the unknown, giving him intimations of the contours of the spirit. And yet Sri Aurobindo urges that neither the revolt of the matter against the spirit nor the revolt of the spirit against matter can yield a lasting harmony. He gives us two facts. (1) The fact of Pure Existence – Being, (2) World Existence – becoming. To recognize the facts of consciousness and find out the relation between Being and Becoming is the true and useful wisdom.
According to Aurobindo the descent (involution), the ‘original sin’ has already occurred, and the ascent (evolution), the redemption is in process. His vision is that it has begun. The leap from mind to supermind is the spiritual adventure of cutting the knot of the mind and supermind by rending of the veil separating the two. The destiny of mankind is the spiritual evolution in which darkness, ignorance and death give place to light, knowledge, and immortality.
It is a total change that is needed, not only transformation of man into superman, but also transformation of nature into super-nature.

Destiny- Are we destined?(3)

2008-03-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

Dr. Abdulla: Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines Destiny as ‘The power believed to control events or fate; something which is inevitable or unavoidable’. References to destiny are often made by poets and writers. “Happy is he who caring not for pope, consul or king, can sound himself to know the destiny of man, and live in hope”, said William Wordsworth. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the bitterest element in life is the belief in a brute Fate or Destiny. A vast majority believes that faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life.
Belief in God is akin to belief in Destiny. Why do we believe in god or nature, or the power that governs the whole universe? And did God create everything? A possible answer to this question is indirectly suggested in the interesting dialogue quoted below:
Did God create everything?
The university professor challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?”
A student replied, “yes he did!”
“God created everything?” The professor asked.
“Yes sir”, the student replied.
The professor continued, “If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, God is evil”.
The student became quiet.
The professor quite pleased with himself boasted to the students that he had proven once more that faith in God was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask you a question, Sir?”
“Of course”, replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, “professor, does cold exist?”
“What kind of a question is this?” Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?”
The students snickered at the young man’s question.
The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460F) is the total absence of heat; all matters become inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat. “
The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”
The professor responded, “Of course it does.”
The student replied, “ Once again, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colours, and study the various wavelength of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”
Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, similarly does evil exist?”
Now uncertain, the professor responded, “ Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing but evil.
To this, the student replied, ”Evil does not exist sir, or it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
The professor sat down.
The young man’s name was Albert Einstein.

Dr.Thomas: Einstein’s thoughts came from outside the structure of his brain. He functioned beyond it.
Dr.Abdulla: Well, I gave this anecdote just to explain that innumerable phenomena are there in this universe that cannot be explained or reasoned out. Universe follows great mathematical laws and reveals unimaginable engineering feats that only a gigantic intelligence can fathom. These cannot exist by mere chance. No wonder that scientists like Darwin and Einstein believe in destiny. Life on the planet cannot be by accident. I would like to give here a brief summary from the book, ‘Man Does Not Stand Alone’, on why scientists believe in God or Destiny.
SEVEN REASONS WHY A SCIENTIST BELIEVES IN GOD OR DESTINY:
Since Darwin over ninety years back, the world had been progressing tremendously in science gathering more and more knowledge. The more we know, the more we are fascinated at the super-intelligence of a creator. The probability of choosing at random a sequence of one to ten from a pack of ten shuffled cards in succession is, as we know, the unbelievable chance of one in ten billion! With all the precise and complicated mathematical laws that govern the physical existence of this world as uncovered by science now, the probability of it being a chance is one in infinite, or nil. There is every indication that the whole system is the handiwork of an infinite intelligence, and not that of any chance. The earth’s rotation, its slant for exposing evenly to the sunlight, the moon’s position, the depth of the sea, earth’s atmosphere, why, even the supply of sufficient oxygen on earth to make life possible, point to an unimaginable force of intelligence.
Life is a fantastic phenomenon. It’s roots can crack a rock, even its tiny beings are able to change the chemical structures of almost all matter, it compels elements to dissolve and form different combinations, it creates colourful pictures on leaves and flowers, produces music of the birds, gives tastes and flavours to fruits, and fragrances to blossoms. The life in a single cell, a drop of protoplasm has so much power that it multiplies itself ultimately into all sorts of vegetation, animal, and all life in general. Who put life into it?
Who put instinct into animals to make it capable of survival? What makes some fish to travel all through a river miles and miles to reach the sea, and then ultimately come back to the same place of its birth to breed? What guides the migratory birds to travel thousands of miles in the same route year after year? A wasp stings a grasshopper only numbing it to preserve its meat for its offsprings till the eggs are hatched. Who teaches it the technology?
Man’s intelligence, just a spark of the universal intelligence, makes him capable of thinking all the thoughts. Is not that universal intelligence that of god or God himself?
The wonders of Genetics, Gene and the unraveling of the secrets of Genome are now fairly well known. Who gave the power of self organizing to the double helix DNA, the chromosomes and the genes, the intricately woven patterns which decide the nature of each individual being?
Plants, pests, flora and fauna are balanced by nature, by destroying excess growth of some, promoting growth of others and making yet some others extinct. Some deliberate intelligence is seen behind these checks and balances. Only infinite wisdom could have foreseen this and made provisions.
The very fact that man is able to conceive the idea of god in his wonderful imagination that can perceive the unseen, points towards the existence of the unbounded power that is of God. Behind that imagination there must be that divine force which makes it possible.
“Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork”

The supreme power governing the entire universe, you call it by any name, GOD, Almighty, or even Destiny, is undoubtedly beyond human intelligence, comprehension, or reasoning. Even though science and technology have advanced to such heights, we are nowhere near to analyzing Life as such, from where it comes and to where it disappears.
I think, the most simplest form of destiny – or you might call it Primary destiny- of any living object in this universe is the GENETIC DESTINY, the destiny of being male or female at birth. I don’t know whether this new terminology coined by me is appropriate or correct. But the gender of any organism in this world at birth can be its main destiny, and it invariably cannot be altered or manipulated with any amount of success. Even with the present day advancement in science it is very difficult. In human beings even before birth this gender destiny plays an important role in the sense that you cannot alter it even though you may find it out, the power of that destiny continues till death of the individual.
The much acclaimed ‘Karma Yoga’ of Hindu philosophy, in my opinion points to the role of destiny in our worldly existence. Your Karma is your yoga(fate). Similarly the cause and effect phenomena, where the effect or Karma is the response to the cause, yoga or destiny.

Prof. Richard Hay: There is another angle or approach to the way of thinking. Man, bewildered by the mystery of life, took recourse to the idea of destiny or faith for consolation or relief from his predicament. But it is an escapist philosophy. It was explained here that biology, especially the DNA that determines the structure and behaviour of a being is indeed destiny as living beings cannot go beyond what it stipulates. But that is an old theory exploded long ago by the advent of Stem Cell Research. Science has developed methods to change the very structures of the basic cells making it possible to change everything in a living being. Even the gender of a child to be yet born can be changed. Nothing need be predetermined. What we refer to as Destiny is actually accidental; it is mere coincidence.
Dr. Abdulla: But how the basic cell itself came about? There is a superior intelligence that created the complicated cell?
Dr. Thomas: It can be called the God-point. Brain is the god-point.
Prof.Hay: Man;s creative powers work. Inventions are made. Patents and trademarks are taken. WTO works internationally expanding trade in new findings worldwide. There is the cause, operations, and the effect functioning. Occasional accidents cannot change this view. Of course, death is destiny. Everything ends there. But Man’s progress is through technological advancement. The great powers are fast advancing in powerful nuclear fusion-energy reactors, stem cell research, cloning, and nano-technology The point is that the destiny of Man hereafter will be decided by the super powers, and not by fate. Man has to act to avert any disaster. Destiny is not by accident, but by choice. I shall elaborate the point in my talk in the next discussion. Recently American president Bush came to India. Most people do not know his real purpose. It was actually to seek the help of India in that area of science where intense research is required in genetic and other higher technologies.
Mr. Kunhikrishnan: Science is definitely very much advanced. It is going up and up to reveal the secrets of nature and perhaps ultimately, even God. But the God has to come down to meet it. Science is the external exploration. God is internal. The understanding and probing of the internal makes the God climb down to meet science.

Destiny-Are we destined (2)

2008-03-06T04:01:00.000-08:00

Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan: In the initial discussion on the subject Dr. Sadanandan had posed the question whether a mutation is possible in which human beings will be free of the chain of cause and effect, which actually results in the destiny. Defining the words relating to ‘Destiny’, he started with the genome restrictions on the destiny of man/living beings. He proceeded to show that in this vast universe where Man seems to be an insignificant entity, we are in a process of cause and effect phenomenon. Is an escape from this possible by a mutation, was the question. Dr. Babu Ravindran pointed out that the same cause and effect phenomenon is contained in the concept of the continuity of birth and death in the rebirth philosophy of ‘Karma Yoga’ in the Hindu tradition. In the elaboration of that tradition the principle of right effort/work as sacrifice without bothering about the results is a key for liberation from the phenomenon of cause and effect resulting in the chain of births and deaths. Dr. Thomas dwelt on the other meaning of the word destiny as the ultimate destination or future towards which man is moving, and explaining the various aspects suggested that a good future of man can be assured only by ‘psyching’ up the growth of children with right motivation, intelligence and health.
With these ideas in the mind I am inclined to think that may be, will or volition is a myth or illusion, and destiny is preordained. ‘The best of men cannot suspend their fate’, said Daniel Defoe. Or is it to be reworded to say that the best of men cannot suspend a coincidence? If Man is not fated, then every incidence should be a coincidence or accident. If everything that happens is the resultant of a series of causes, the future should be predictable when all the causes and circumstances are known. The ignorance of all causes does not make it any less predictable.

Destiny, Fate, and Will or Volition, are closely interconnected. While destiny and fate are used as synonyms, fate has an element of foregone past in it, whereas destiny seems to have hope in the future. Will has to play and act within the limitations imposed by fate and destiny.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Unlike ‘destiny’, ‘fate’ has negation in its meaning. It is used in a negative sense. For example, Napolean was a man of destiny; you don’t say he was fated. But the famous musician, Maharajapuram Santhanam died suddenly in the prime of his life, and he was said to be fated to die early. Similarly the American singer Elvis Presley also died early in his forties.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Man’s mind is programmed to act in a given situation. To that extend he is bound by destiny.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: A dog is bound and restricted to move and act as a dog, not as a cat or rat. Its will and freedom is restricted to the behavior of not only a dog but also the particular dog. Is it not destined or fated to behave in a predetermined manner decided by its genetic structure and its particular environment? It has definitely freedom of movement within the restrictions of its body and surroundings. A train has freedom of movement within the beaten railway track. The driver may have freedom of movement from here to Kashmir, but only on the beaten track. Can we call restriction that a dog thus experiences as its destiny?
Suppose in an accident the dog is killed by a passing motor vehicle. Was it fated to so die? Was it its destiny? Genetics cannot explain that. A man driving his scooter along the highway was hit by a falling coconut tree right on his head and he collapsed dead. His DNA can hardly be responsible for his scooter reaching the particular spot so as to receive the tree on his head at the exact moment. The consolation of an explanation for such a tragedy can be found only in his fate or destiny unless on a future date somebody proves that the victim’s brain could be so programmed as to reach the particular spot at the moment of the fall of the tree. And thus, probably a whole system of fate, destiny, predictions, and occult remedies started, all because of man’s confusion and ignorance about the unknown. Samuel Johnson said that our will is free and there is an end on it. The free will was going along on the scooter with a clear purpose and target. And the end came from elsewhere.
An English poet of the last century wrote,
‘Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate
Still achieving still pursuing
Learn to labour and to wait” (HW. Longfellow)
This is nothing but condensed ‘Karma Yoga’ of Lord Krishna! I think that somewhere he might have come across a text on ‘Karmayoga’. Why should one ‘labor and wait’ if one is destined?’ the question arises. But even if fated, one does not know all the facts leading to the end-result. One does not also know whether one is destined to work and win, win without working, or to lose. Moreover, ‘Where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise’ Therefore it is better to work and wait for the result whatever that might be.
As regards predictions, as said above one is incapable of knowing all the minute circumstances to predict a result of an action. But one can always roughly predict where a stone will fall on throwing it. But the final point where it reaches depends upon several factors. Even a passing bird may hit it. Outcome of an action depend on several factors. If all factors are known to a superior intelligence, such an intelligence may be able to predict the exact point of the fall of the stone. By extending this idea of cause and effect we can reach to a conclusion that everything that is happening in this universe is predetermined and predictable provided one has a superior intelligence to know all facts and circumstances. As no man has such an intelligence, and he, in his confusion, is fated to act only to the best of his ability according to the will or volition conferred on him, surrendering or leaving the power of granting results, to his fate. Man is thus doomed to imperfect action. The outcome also is, therefore, destined to be distorted to the extent of that imperfection. He can only succumb to his destiny – ‘ the immanent will that stirs and urges everything’.- Thomas Hardy.
Dr. Sadanandan: Confined by thought, it is the mind that restricts man’s freedom. Once the mind is free of thought, there cannot be the imperfection in action and the distortion.
Prof. Sankarankutty: The limitation is there, and the freedom is there. Both are there. Man can become a superman by being free of the limitation.
Dr. Sadanandan: That freedom is Divine Love. The action of a person with a lot of love will be entirely different from that of others.
Prof. Sankarankutty: It is said that the mother’s love is the greatest and the most pure. Is it a mutation? Real mutation should be at the psychological level or the psychic level, and not at the material level. This psychic level mutation can then make changes not only at the mental level but also at the material level even in the DNA. The processes are by movements in two directions, up and down. The soul or man’s will moves upwards to the divine, say by ‘Chittavritti Nirodha’ meaning a silent mind, and the divine grace comes down to meet it. This is called by Sri Arobindo as Supramental Manifestation. Allow me to explain this in detail in my talk in the next discussion.
Stray comment by a member: Science is in the process of creating a superman.
Prof. Hay: Man is born, and his growth and development are all programmed. But he has the freedom to shape his own destiny. He creates a future for himself. Let us take India and America for example. With all the knowledge available the American pursues relentlessly with vigor to create new things and to prosper. We only copy lacking creative action. Nothing is pre-ordained. Even in the story of Srirama you can see that he had to live life in the jungle because he chose it. It was Rama’s destiny which he himself created and shaped. It was not pre-ordained. I would talk on this in detail later.
Dr. Thomas: In the west they encourage creativity and enterprise, and that makes a lot of difference.
Dr. Sankarankutty: Stephen Hawkins cannot live the life of an ordinary human being because of his handicaps. Yet he became great by his creative abilities and effort. Did he create his own destiny or was he destined to become great because of his inborn abilities?
Indian fatalism is actually a corruption of the original Indian thinking on fate. The fatalistic superstition was not there in the Vedas. Original thinking on destiny and fate did not make man lethargic by promoting inaction or by belief in superstitions. But later on even in the texts of scriptures superstitions crept in. the present day texts are not one man’s creation. Nor are they original. So many people have contributed, tampering with the originals.
There cannot be fatalism where there is continuity in the cause and effect chain. For right action there is right result. There is a hidden continuity in it. The Karma theory has an ultra part and an infra part.

Note: The discussion went on for some more time. No particular point is noticed for recording except that it was pointed out that in the Vedic stories even the gods and goddesses are seen to be not free from the cause/effect chain. For example, to expiate a curse, even Godess Mahalaxmi had to take birth on the earth as Tulsi, the basil plant.

Destiny - Are we destined (1)

2008-03-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

Dr. Sadanandan: Let me first go into the various definitions connected with Destiny:
‘Destine’ means 1) To determine beforehand: Preordain to, or as if to, an inevitable outcome. 2) To assign or intend for a specific end use or purpose. 3) To direct towards a given destination
‘Destined’ means preordained, assured through destiny: Bound for a particular destination. And
‘Destiny’ means 1) The inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined 2) Preordained or inevitable course of events considered as something beyond human power or control. 3) The power or agency thought to predetermine events, fate.
It is our experience in life that many things happen to us without our planned move or control, and, it might be cause for far reaching consequences in our life. We term this fate or destiny.
At times, what is initially considered to be good for us may in due course turn out to be quite bad, and vice versa. These happen without our control or conscious knowledge, and we attribute the whole thing to some external agency – some supernatural power, e.g. God; so much so, while considering the subject ‘Destiny’ the God-factor in any event has to be understood first. And, the idea of God interfering in between, in a random fashion, in the affairs of certain individuals, is indeed difficult to understand. An omnipresent, omnipotent god, as generally conceived, should be there in all activities of the whole universe. The universe as we perceive is immensely vast. The sun, the planets, the stars, the galaxies, and our tiny earth with all its living and non-living things form, after all, only an infinitesimal spec in this vast universe! Explanations as to how this whole thing, with a life span considered to be millions of years, manifested itself, are only mere theories. We do not know who designed this intricate vastness, who the prime mover is! We assume that a sort of Gas-mixture solidified and life formed from organic compounds in that ocean taking millions of years of churning. And Homo sapiens have hardly a history of 30,000years. And we, with our 80 or 90 years of life span is trying to understand the mystery behind Destiny!
The development of human brain to the present day level is helping us in our enquiry. We get knowledge formed out of experience. Such knowledge is apparently limited. And with this limited knowledge we form ideas. Before we act we plan. To build a house first we should have a plan, a blue print according to which we try to appropriate the final outcome. Similarly, our idea about creation of the universe may be that an architect, out of his imagination, visualizing the whole thing, knowing each and every detail started creating the universe. And this mastermind have the control on every aspect of it, control on each living or non-living thing on it. Here destiny comes into play. But this idea about creation, being only a concept of the human mind, might be entirely wrong.
But logically, we know that we are destined. The inherent limitation to our biological existence is self-evident. The activity inside our body is programmed. The genes decide everything. How long one should live, what illnesses one can contract, what all one can safely eat, -almost everything depend upon the nature of one’s genes. And the genes point towards how an individual would behave too. Certain levels of enzymes, chemicals, neurotransmitters etc. predetermine one’s psychological nature. And mind of course, is part of the biological system. Is its activity not thus predetermined? Thinking has a definite pattern. One thinks out of one’s memories. Experience stored as knowledge conditions one in his activities. This conditioning is naturally, a predetermination. Is there any spontaneity in any of our activities? We pray God to intervene and help us on our preferred path.
If we are destined, towards where are we moving? What exactly is the destination? Are we in a position to comprehend? We are evolving. We are in a process of cause and effect phenomena. We are the effect of a cause. And we move as a cause to some future effect.
Now, is there a possibility of a mutation where one is free from the chain of events, from this cause and effect system? Not freedom from something, but a simple freedom of being free. -not like an instrument A free will operating by itself, an Intelligence in tune with That Immensity.
Prof. Richard Hay: Are we not part of that Universal Consciousness?
Sri. K.V. Kunhikrishnan: Dr.Sadanandan is posing the question whether such a mutation is possible where Man comes out of the cycle of cause and effect.
Dr.Babu Ravindran: The need for the very same freedom from the cause and effect system, or the cycle of birth and death, is tackled also in a different way in our tradition. Destiny, and Destiny as opposed to Individual Effort or Will have been explained in detail, and are referred to very often in the ‘Karmayoga’ philosophy of Hinduism. This naturally is based on the firm belief in the rebirth concept. But yet it would be interesting to examine closely the ideas contained in the philosophy for understanding the subject ‘destiny’ contrasting it with Human Will.
Avoiding all technical jargon, we can broadly divide the purpose of life or the requirements/desires in this life into four items of pursuit. They are,
1. To lead life according to one’s conscience and understanding of what is right/wrong.
2. To acquire material prosperity,
3. To enjoy pleasures,
4. To seek the Truth behind the phenomena of Life.
Out of these, the first three are worldly pursuits, and the last is the spiritual pursuit. The great seers and saints consider and say that the last pursuit of seeking the Truth or Reality behind the phenomena of existence as the ultimate aim of Man in this life.
Individual human effort is the most important factor in living a life according to one’s own nature and conscience. Destiny or fate has only a small part to play. One has to be ever vigilant not to stray into illegitimate pleasure seeking or to go against one’s conscience.
To acquire material prosperity and importance in life, effort is definitely required. But result is not in one’s hand. The result or the fruits of endeavor are with one’s destiny, fate, or God. That is why it is said that you do your duty with utmost effort and with the aim of success, but all the time leaving the result to God, being never sure of the fruits of one’s labor. Too much reliance on good results only may end in disappointments, as the ultimate say is with one’s destiny.
In the case of spiritual seeking of Truth, continuous and incessant effort by oneself only can lead one towards understanding the Ultimate Reality that is referred to also as God. Only at the end of the road, destiny or fate comes into play for making it possible and ready for Grace to enter, and bless.
Therefore, in the Karmayoga philosophy, individual human effort or will as well as destiny, play their part in one’s life in different proportions in different types of endeavours.
But here destiny is not considered illogical. Destiny and fate depend on good or bad deeds did earlier in this life or an earlier life. The deeds of the past are, for purposes of deciding the consequences, divided into three categories, namely, those which are accumulated from the past lives but not yet ready to be compensated or exhausted now, those which are to be lived and exhausted now in the present life, and those which are newly committed or acquired in this life. Thus every action has a reaction, good, bad, or indifferent. All are accounted for, and punished or rewarded as the case may be. And, yet in it individual will plays an important part.
In the Karma theory, the accumulated results of past actions are in the nature of tendencies that lie dormant till they are ripe for working it out or ‘burning’ it out in the present life and time. Those that are ripe for exhaustion are experienced in the present life. Deliberate actions of will in the present create their results or consequences afresh, to be either accumulated for the future or to be experienced in this life, unless no residue of the results are left of the experience, they having been burnt in the righteous awareness of correct action. The theory is a little complicated for those who are not familiar with the belief in rebirth and the system of carrying on the consequences of one’s actions to a next birth. But it seems to have its own well-constructed logic.
To conclude, whether one believes in rebirth or not, it seems that both destiny and Will play their part in human life. Man is not entirely fated to any destiny. Neither is he entirely controlled by his own free will. Free Will and individual effort have their place.

Dr. K.P.Thomas: When we think about Destiny with a Destination, it implies a start or beginning. None will want a failure; but our life is such that several factors affect our journey to the destination of our destiny. Destiny is something of depth and distance. Achievement of greatness is one aspect of destiny. The work up towards it is the preparation that we do in life with available materials and circumstances. Many a civilization had the peak and then a decline. There were various factors controlling the final outcome. Since life is an ongoing process we cannot stop and take stock of the achievements we might have had.
The present frame of time is such that the whole world is like a single village. This happened in a short span of time during the last twelve years or so when computer network became global. Intramural within ourselves, and extramural from outside, knowledge has made us more in tune with the power of the Gods of yester decades. This phenomenon of rapid human progress in all fields of technologies has put us into the task of ‘protecting responsibilities’ in the global context or extra-global context.
The countries with sub-cultures are now being identified, but the common goal is to make life worth living. The restrictions are still there in the Indian community, but the western communities are looking towards occident. Even though there was progress in China and India, a superior culture evolved in the western world had asserted itself over the Indian sub-continent and Asiatic countries.
Search for energy for comfort, search for good living, and search for pleasure has pushed the western culture into a position in which the youth of the occident has an edge over the youth of those countries who burn out quickly with no more ambitions to fulfill.
However we may have to define the destiny of the universe with the destiny of man and beasts, destiny of vegetation and other structures, destiny of the condition of the globe in general etc. Considering ‘intramurally’, we can jump on to the development of nano-technology and its impact on the health sector, that is, our life itself. The genetic engineering has become part of the next generation or even the present generation itself. It has definitely got an impact on the global civilization. The times are such that there may not be a nature for us to paint or draw a picture of hope and solace. Impending doom is lurking. The stronger cultures are looking into the courtyards of the weaker neighbors. A sense of insecurity has gripped the developed countries. The once weaker countries are developing so fast that the world is afraid of a global catastrophe. The projection of this sort of fear is seen in the production of western motion pictures of extreme violence and of aliens take over of the world. Confined between the Sahya Hills and the Ocean the Travancore-Cochinites were not bothered till the early sixties. The two world wars did not make my village poorer or richer. But knowledge seeped through too fast thereafter, and my son and niece reached America and England as engineer and doctor.
The ‘umikkari culture’ of yesterday has now dramatically changed into a consumerist ‘Colgate’ culture. One ‘knickers’ or two and a shirt were all that was required for me till my fifth standard. Then came footwear, toothbrush, and shoes. With occasional dresses for multiple uses, a wardrobe culture evolved. Sharing of soap, towel, and food even in the same family slowly vanished. Single unit families burdened our culture, producing loneliness of old age and childhood with untold miseries. The destination of yester years was up to the nearest town, and now it is up to a distant country seeking better future, or even to the end of the world!
The selfish motive of destiny as far as I am concerned is the progress of my wife and that of my children, and a comfort, which may be equated with optimum sustaining wealth. In this context I can put forward the precept of combined efforts like forming a company or manufacturing unit. The Government has failed, and the individuals are there without any vision, and, perchance even if they have any vision they cannot join together due to the constraints of funds or capital.
Now let us look at the great people who have performed so as to enrich the present global culture. The Religious heads, the Scientists, the Architects, the Kings and Emperors, the company executives, were all driven by a zest for innovation, improvement, for conquering nature with the intent of wealth accumulation. Now the period of conformity in thinking is gone. Even in our own circle of nine there are nine viewpoints on one single subject. How can the world absorb all these varying ideas? In all probability, the strongest among a group or society may dictate to the others to follow his own destiny to pursue his own destination. The Portuguese occupation of Goa resulted in the imposition of a strong and ‘superior’ culture over the natives resulting in the present Goan culture.
Now let us go to the phenomenon of adventures like that of Columbus discovering America, Vasco De Gama landing in Calicut, and in general the Westerner’s opening of trade with Emperor Jahangir etc. the countries of Europe established themselves in various parts of India, and later the British occupied various parts of India as well as Malayasia, Vietnam, China and Combodia. In all this there was not only the spirit of adventure and exploration, but also to a greater degree the element of avariciousness. They were in fact fortune hunting colonialists only and not adventure seeking explorers. I think the least scarred of the area of population in India was the south of Vindhyas. Exploitation was always there and continues. The history of monarchs and their exploits are well known. However the present aggression seems to be in the form of taking up and controlling governmental activities by institutions like the World Bank and A.D.B. There can be a repetition of the colonial exploitation.
Regarding following one’s destiny I would like to say that the motivation for it starts from childhood. ‘Psyching’ it up is the most important factor in reaching the destination provided there is enough brain and brawn.

Human Rights1

2008-01-19T03:11:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 15-1-08(Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr.Babu Ravindran, Tellicherry
Coram: Eight members present. Prof. Mohanan Nair was out of station.
Subject: Human Rights
The report of the last discussion was accepted unanimously after a minor correction. After the Forum’s invocation the discussion on Human Rights was initiated by Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan. After an excellent and sumptuous dinner hosted by Mrs Radha Ravindran, and participated by Mrs.Kunhikrishnan, Mrs.Shakila Hay, Mrs. Khadija Abdulla, and Hema Bhaskaran, the meeting dispersed at 11 PM.

Sri.K.V.kunhikrishnan: When we talk of Human Rights we do not generally mean the rights that we expect each of us to have as human beings living in this world. Such a concept would mean all the very different notions about individual freedom and rights that each of us may have. What we mean about Human rights is only the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on 10th December 1948.
As we all know the United Nations came into being immediately after the IInd World War in 1945, as an attempt to stop the possibility of any further World Wars. In 1946 the UN appointed a commission to formulate the Human Rights that any citizen of the world could enjoy without restraint. The commission was appointed under the Economic and Social Council of the U.N. The U.N. had already affirmed its faith in Fundamental Human Rights in its charter, and the declaration of human rights was meant to pave the way for its implementation.
There are thirty articles in all in the declaration. The first twelve articles of the declaration stress equality and liberty to all without any discrimination, abolition of slavery, security and safety to life, recognition and honor, justice and equality before law, and natural justice. Art.13,14, and 15 refers to freedom of movement, asylum and freedom to change nationality. Right to marriage by mutual consent is assured by art.16, and art.17 preserves the right to property. Freedom of thought and expression are covered by art,s 18 and 19. There are also rights for assembly and elections, which are assured under articles 20 and 21. Other political rights like right to work, rest, leisure, standard of living, and freedom for self development are covered by articles 22 to 25. Separate provisions are there for education and culture in articles 26 and 27. The rest of the three articles 28, 29, & 30 are of a general nature to establish a set up to implement these provisions, imposing some limitations to the freedoms subject to the general purpose of the UN Charter, and to avoid misinterpretation of the provisions in the declarations.
We can thus see that the declarations are elaborate and rather exhaustive. But alas, the declaration does not have sufficient teeth to impose it on the nations of the world. It has no legal validity or backing unless each country incorporates the same in their constitutions. The declaration itself is recommendatory in nature and is a standard prescribed for such incorporation. For example, in our own constitution, which came later on in Nov 1949, most of the provisions are incorporated in the Fundamental Rights, but with modifications. Most of the nations violate the provisions of the declaration, in what are called ‘public interests’, by enacting special emergency laws. But although not strictly legal, the Declaration of Human Rights have powerful moral authority, which is very often used (or even misused) by superpowers as a stick to beat other nations with. And they themselves, like in the case of Guantnamo Bay, are sometimes caught violating human rights.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Violation of Human Rights is naturally a matter for condemnation. All the same, certain degree of cruelty becomes necessary to be practiced by those who defend the rights. The question is how do one deal with the terrorists? Normal mild approach would not do.
Prof. Richard Hay: And where is Human Rights in the matter of freedom of expression? Take the case of Taslima Nasreen. She was hunted out for writing a novel.
Prof. Sankarankutty: She criticized the clergy and the whole community turned against her, even in India. She has a right to express her views. In Hyderabad in India, she was physically manhandled. She is a Bangladeshi who was denied any Human Rights in her own country. She was to be safe in India, but that also turned out to be unsafe for her. It is a chain of Idea Vs Politics Vs Human Rights.
Dr. Thomas: There is a view that she is uncomfortable with herself like Kamala Surayya, and that is why both of them behave eccentrically.

Sri.Kunhikrishnan: That would be no excuse for denying freedom of expression. Now to continue, there are some mechanisms to implement the Human Rights. The covenant on Economics, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture, the conventions for women’s and children’s rights and the Convention against Racial discrimination are some of them. Again, these are applicable to the member nations who have entered into the respective agreements. In so far as India is concerned it is a signatory to all major conventions. Although all cases relating to Human Rights are still dealt with under the common criminal law of the country, we have an effective monitoring system under the Human Rights Protection Act. Under this Act, there is a National Commission for Human Rights, and State Commissions in the States. The commission takes notice of human right violations and receives complaints, and proceeds to see that justice is done. One sessions court in each district is designated as Human Rights Court for giving speedy justice. The commission takes up cases suo motu when violations come to its notice.
In Law, if precisely worded, there is not much room for any free thinking. The provisions have to be strictly interpreted according to rules of interpretation. There are many books on principles of statutory interpretations, on jurisprudence, and on Natural justice. There are also binding decisions of the Supreme courts, which have the force of law. While passing comments and references in the course of a judgment, called ‘obiter dicta’, of the Apex Court are not Law. Substantial findings of the courts are as good as any enactment by parliament. But yet they are only interpretations. It would be foolish to criticize the judge, as the present day politicians often do, for a decision because he has no other alternative but to go strictly according to the principles of interpretation. If the politician cannot agree, he has the remedy to change the law, which is within his area of action. Thus in Law there is no scope for free thinking.
That is not the case with Natural Human Rights. Having been born in this world, has he not the basic rights to keep his life safe till nature takes it back, pursue happiness and avoid unhappiness, and have his minimum needs met? But naturally, others have also such rights which he has to recognize and concede. Therefore he must be prepared to compromise, and find a balance. That is what is called living in a society. Man is thus a social being.
Stretching the idea further, the question will arise whether only man has rights in this world? What about animal rights? They have also the right to live as comfortable as possible. Among themselves survival of the fittest is Nature’s rule. But vis-à-vis the humans it is the duty of man to recognize the rights of animals and to see that a balance is maintained by doing only the minimum harm to the animals in the course of pursuit of his own happiness. He should not have the attitude that all other beings are here on earth to satisfy the pleasure of Man as maintained by the captain of the ship on which Mahatma Gandhi traveled.
Sometimes one has to kill or destroy insects and animals, knowingly or unknowingly. This cannot be avoided. That is definitely part of nature. That is why perhaps the Puranic writers invented the system of giving ‘Moksha’ to their enemies whenever they needed to kill. There was nothing wrong in Rama killing Bali hiding behind a tree, because he was giving him Moksha!. So many instances of giving such Mokshas to Rakshasas and demons can be found in the Epics.
Ultimately one has to find his own balance among human rights, animal rights, insect rights, and Rakshasa (murderers, rapists, and the like) rights, to live properly in this world!

limit of freedom3

2008-01-19T03:07:00.000-08:00

EKKENTROS FORUM

The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 18-12-07(Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr.Md.Abdulla, Marayakulath, Nittur P.O., Tellicherry
Coram: Eight members present. Prof. Mohanan Nair was out of station.
Subject: Limits of Freedom (Cont’d)
The report of the last discussion was accepted unanimously. After the Forum’s invocation the discussion on Limits of Freedom was cont’d by Dr. K.P.Thomas and Dr. Md Abdulla. After an excellent and sumptuous dinner hosted by Mrs Khadija Abdulla, the meeting dispersed at 11 PM.

Dr.K.P.Thomas: As the subject has been already discussed in some detail I would like first to touch upon certain ‘microscopic’ aspects of the limits of freedom like the misuse of freedom on health and environment. From birth our freedom is limited to a culture of expectations. We may call it a parental culture. Only a genius can cut himself away from it and be a free thinker and a free activist. But again, such free thinkers will have to suffer the constraints of poor health, lack of finance, lack of family and social supports. Changes are taking place very fast at present. Limits of nations and boundaries of countries are almost disappearing in a changing world. Slavery has disappeared. Of course, in India there was no slavery as such.
Prof Sankarankutty: Whatever slavery was there was due to the mis-interpretation of Manu Smrithi.
Dr. Thomas: Actually freedom is now available to everybody. But it may be restricted privately or personally. Private restrictions and controls cannot be avoided. As said earlier, health and environment can take away one’s freedom. Hence I am inclined to say that absolute freedom is a mirage. We are relatively free if left with funds, good health, love, and an atmosphere of our liking, which however, does not impinge on other people and hurt them. This can be found in the teachings of all great masters, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Sankaracharya, and Sree Narayana Guru. But their followers misinterpreted and vitiated the teachings.
We cannot separate our present from our past or the impending future. I feel that in these current times we are relatively free in relation to choosing or practicing our profession, business, religion, political activism, and any other activity. With increasing literacy, I find that many people are liberated from ignorance and are reasonably knowledgeable in regard to their and other people’s freedom.
Freedom from disease is one aspect I am interested in, and it is an aspect dependant upon availability of nutrition and awareness of healthy living. Presently we are having global pollution, global warming and loss of our heritage of the nature’s wonders, conducive to the control of weather. And the result is loss of freedom to have clean air to breathe, good water to drink, and uncontaminated food to eat. All these are now curtailed by our own misdeeds.
The Superpowers were indulging in biological warfare in Vietnam and Cuba. In order to subjugate the second and third world countries, the super powers were, and still are, indulging in a manner of freedom that hurt and damage weaker countries in a large scale. As a result we are in constant fear of a denuded environment in which freedom may lose its meaning by the destruction of our very moorings and habitats as I had already mentioned.
We are all slaves of time and space, and therefore our freedom is very relative to these parameters. We are bound to the universal consciousness from which we have evolved through many a generation. We are bound by its inherent rhythm of alternating fear and hope, towards a better future and ultimate salvation.
Another situation is where the freedom is being restricted by economical and political maneuverings. To engage in transactions with dependable people with no hidden trappings elaborated, has always been a pleasure. But what is happening today is similar to the old ways of Zamindars who trapped the tenants by financial ‘help’ of advancing to enslave them. The present day financial banking institutions entrap their clients in debt by invoking hidden charges, and involved peculiar calculations not understood by the clients.
Eternal vigilance is necessary to keep ourselves free economically, politically, religiously, professionally and entrepreneurially. This is because one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and the principle of the survival of the fittest comes into play.
Individually, we are bound to the family and society by love and its demands. An element of enslavement does occur, but may be more pleasurable than otherwise. Detachment of the type practiced by the Rishis of the orient produced several streams of thoughts, philosophy and off shoots of religion.
When scientific revolution took place in the west, everything was put to test. Science started unfolding nature, and in its advancement, even the secrets of the human body got revealed. Different hormones controlled our bodies. Freedom is restricted to different organs and cell groups that are stimulated whenever there is need for better function. One interesting thing revealed by science is that there is a love hormone called Oxytocin that is responsible for the deep bonding of the mother and her child. Endorphines and Pheramones play important roles in our body functioning.
The theory of natural selection seems to have ultimately produced a superior race about 4000 years ago in the formation of Abraham-> Issac-> Jacob, and the twelve children of Jacob are the Jews or Israelites. They got enslaved in Egypt, and then in Babylonia, and then they were ruled over by the Roman Emperor. Later on they got spread in all countries, but got persecuted. Now they dominate Israel, which happens to be the leading financial lobby of N.America. The all time tragic holocaust story is kept alive by this Zionist lobby who dominate almost all profession in the world. One can say that they factually rule the world now. The other Aryan and Slav races come behind, and their cousin brothers, the Moslems are seen to be out and out prone to terrorize various governments. Thus it would appear that more than the nations it is the races that try for more freedom. The superior genetic frame will score over the lesser talented ones. Shall I at this level therefore define freedom as the chances to succeed in acquiring possessions? Non-Jews may have to play second fiddle. This seems to be how the world is destined according to the available holy texts.

Dr. Md. Abdulla: We have already discussed the ‘limits of freedom at length. We have covered the social, political, religious, mental, sexual etc.,etc. What I could make out from these discussions, in a nutshell, is that the ‘limits of freedom’ varies from person to person, at different occasions and situations, in different religions and beliefs, in different social and economic groups, and in different political systems and parties. We are therefore unable to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion of what exactly are the limits of freedom. In contrast, the Right of Freedom assured by the constitution of the country is more relevant, and if observed and followed by every individual in its true spirit, that would be more practicable. .
My discussion shall therefore be basing on ‘the rights of freedom’ based on the Indian constitution, the largest and most detailed of all the written constitutions of the world.
Personal liberty (freedom) is the most important of all fundamental rights. The six freedoms under the constitution guaranteed to the citizens are,
1. Freedom of speech and expression,
2. Freedom of assembly,
3. Freedom of association,
4. Freedom of movement,
5. Freedom to reside and settle,
6. Freedom of profession, occupation, trade or business.
These six freedoms are, however, not absolute. Absolute individual rights (Freedom) cannot be guaranteed by any modern state. An organized society is the pre-condition of civil liberties. There cannot be any right which is injurious to the community as a whole. If people were given complete and absolute liberty without any social control, the result would be complete chaos and ruin. Liberty (freedom) has to be limited in order to be effectively possessed. For liberty (freedom) of one should not offend the liberty (freedom) of another.
Man as a rational being desires to do many things. But in a civil society, his desires have to be controlled, regulated, and reconciled with the exercise of similar desires of other individuals. Each of the above rights as guaranteed is therefore, restricted by the constitution itself, by conferring upon the state the power to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions as may be necessary on the larger interest of the community.
Reasonable restriction means that any restriction imposed on a person in the enjoyment of his rights should not be arbitrary or of excessive nature beyond what is required in the interest of the public. Reasonable here would imply intelligent care and deliberation that reason dictates which strikes a proper balance.
We are all aware of the fact that as per the constitution the system to safeguard the ‘Right of Freedom’ is the judiciary and its apex body is the Supreme Court of India. Of late we have been experiencing instances of what is called ‘Judicial Activism’.
Alladi Krishnasway Iyyangar, one of the founding fathers of our constitution rightly observed that, the doctrine of judicial independence is not raised to a dogma so as to enable the judiciary to function as a kind of super legislature or super executive. The judiciary, as much as the legislature and the executive, is dependant for its proper functioning upon the co-operation of the other two.
The forthright observation of the Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice A.K.Mathur and Justice Markhanday Khatju on the theme of judicial activism, that “judges must know their limits and must not run the government” reflects the welcome realization on the dangers of runaway judicial activism.
The emergency declared in 1975 and its aftermath brought about a sea change in the attitude of the government towards the judiciary, and the Supreme Court in particular. It is only due to the lessons learned from the emergency that a restrained and subdued Government that came back to power in Feb 1980 decided that it was no more prudent and wise to continue any confrontation with the judiciary.
Judges are not too eager to run the government. They have reluctantly done so when elected legislature failed to discharge their duties, or the executive did not act responsibly. The Supreme Court took Suo Motu action on the tragedy in Ervadi, Tamil Nadu, where 28 mentally ill chained inmates died in a fire. Can we call it judicial overreach? Again, what about the cases in which the legislature issued privilege notices against media persons for expressing their views? Are actions in these cases judicial overreach? Of course there has been certain amount of overreach in some judicial matters. But by and large, it is true that but for the timely intervention by the courts, democracy, secularism and freedom of expression would have been endangered.
Judges, in their over enthusiasm, are sometimes playing to the gallery in allowing petitions on subjects that have no relevance to the constitutional schemes. Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterji and former Chief Justice of India, J.S.Verma have expressed concern over the tendency of courts to stray outside their proper constitutional domain. Invariably the judges find some legal basis for their orders through an expansive reading of some rights, usually through right to life (Article21 of the constitution), and the right of equality (Art.14), or through detailed orders on the presumed duty of the executive. Such dangers of ‘unbounded judicial creativity’ are well recognized.
The people are forced to approach the judiciary when other remedies are not available. Public interest litigation pleas have proved to be a strong and potent weapon in the hands of the courts to unearth many a scam and corruption case in public life.
In spite of the exalted position the judiciary enjoys, like all other institutions it is made up of people, and people cannot be infallible. While there is a check on the legislature through the elections every five years, the mechanism to rein in an errant judge is rather dismal in our country.
Art.21 of the Constitution declares while laying down the fundamental rights, that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty (freedom) except according to the procedure established by Law. The Supreme Court breathed life into these words by expanding the meaning of the words ‘right to life and freedom’ as not mere animal existence, but as life with human dignity with all faculties intact and the basic right to freedom.

ekkentros free thoughts -pain

2007-12-10T03:24:00.000-08:00

Prof. Mohanan Nair: While the perception of pain is highly variable among individuals, the increase as also the decrease in the degree of pain is determined not only by the intensity of the stimulus but also by psychological factors. For example, the pain of crucifixion should be excruciating, but Jesus could not have certainly felt it so, because, moved by love, he was sacrificing himself for the salvation of humanity. The poem ‘The night of the Scorpion’ by Ezekiel in a lesser way speaks of the pain endured by a mother. The poet’s mother was stung by a scorpion on a rainy night. The superstitious villagers sat around her with the peace of understanding on each face. They said that the pain of the sting would burn away the sins of her previous birth and would reduce the sufferings of her next birth. It may also purify her flesh of desire and her spirit of ambition. The poet’s father, a skeptic and a rationalist, tried ‘every powder, mixture, herb and hybrid’. However when after twenty hours the sting was lost the poet’s mother only said, ‘thank God, the scorpion picked on me and spared my children’. That is love for her children! True love for others is one factor that reduces the pain.
Great artistic creations invite lot of pain and heartache. God knows how much mental pain and agony Shakespeare would have endured in writing his great tragedies. Such things could be written with the artiste’s total involvement only – the detachment of the self is not possible. Once it is finished it relieves the artist of the pain and exhaustion of creation. He feels excited as the mother who had delivered the child. The audience on the other hand identify themselves with the tragic heroes and share their pain and agony. This raises them morally and spiritually to a higher level by purifying their feelings.
But there is the physical and mental pain from which the sufferer never gets relief. The other day I saw a picture of a living martyr on the front page of a leading daily. It is that of a young man who was hit by a bullet in the neck twelve years ago which paralyzed him completely. The columns speaks about his immense courage and says that his faith in the political party would console him and relieve him of his pain. I do not know. I know only one thing. He has a long life to live, but cannot do it by himself. He is condemned to suffer physical and mental pain all through his life. This is not an isolated case. There are hundreds like him – the victims of politics.
I also think sometimes of the cruelty of children and the consequent mental pain endured by the parent, who in the evening of his life is entrusted to the care of old age homes. Imagine his mental pain and agony especially when he knows that he is to be kept frozen in the mortuary for a few days, sometimes even a week.
Dr. Babu: This reminds me of the Malayalam picture ‘Thingalarscha Nalladivasam’ Monday is auspicious. On that auspicious day when the mother is dumped by her children in the old age home in order to sell the ancestral house, she collapses and dies of shock.
Prof. Sankarankutty: In a community, the pain of an individual is a common pain shared by all members. Individual pain thus get shared and lessened. It is part of the tribal culture inherited by other communities. It had certain sanctity. Now with the alienation of the individual from the community, he has to bear the burden of the whole pain himself.
Sri. Kumhikrishnan: A bereavement for example, is of course shared by the community. The sharing is possible only in respect of the psychological or mental pain. But what about the physical pain? It has to be born by the individual only.
As far as the mental part is concerned there is a remedy in meditation. Inward looking can slowly eliminate any mental pain as it arises by practice. But physical pain is unavoidable?
Dr. Babu: For every physical pain there is a mental component. If the mental component is eliminated, the physical part also should disappear to certain extent. After all, all perception of pain is through the brain/mind.
Dr. Sanjeev: Pain is meant to be a protective mechanism. But in the case of diseases like leprosy all sensation is lost. The message is not carried to the brain. The mechanism does not therefore work. The physical pain is not felt.
Dr. Babu: Even where there is pain and sensation is not lost, if the nerves carrying the pain signals are blocked before it reaches the areas of the brain, no pain can be felt. But the mental discomfort or agony may still be there. The question arises, should one get trained to get rid of pain?
Dr. Sadanandan: When one is hungry one has to move to eat something. When one is thirsty he has to drink. Similarly when he is in pain he has to do something to get rid of it. Take medicines, go to a doctor, take rest etc. When one is suffering from psychological pain, what can one do? Go hunting for some ideas or ideology? Can some idea, ideology or faith help get rid of the mental agony? One should look at the whole mechanism and try to understand. Be with the fact of pain.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: For everybody there is a certain threshold of pain. It varies from individual to individual. But it is also possible to change the threshold by certain methods and training. Experiments have shown that the threshold can be brought down and the pain reduced.

ekkentros free thoughts - pain

2007-12-10T03:13:00.002-08:00

Prof. Hay: While in fight as in the case of a combating soldier in a war, the feeling of pain is considerably reduced. The body’s defensive mechanism jumps into action. The body adjusts itself and the secretions from various glands perhaps help this adjustment.It is partly psychological as well.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: Yes. As we have discussed earlier, the mind plays an important part and is even responsible for the prompt actions of the secreting glands. What about the people who are suffering pain from prolonged illness and are nearing death? How are their pain relieved? I have read in books about the hospices. How far do they help?
Dr. Thomas: Hospices are meant for the terminally ill patients. Although the hospice movement was started with good humanitarian interests, today it has become big business in western countries.
The hospice system was founded by an English physician named Cicely Saunders who had the first hospice in London in 1967. A team of people including the patient’s relatives, doctors, social service people like health visitors, clergymen, nurses and volunteers looked after the patient dying of terminally ill and incurable diseases to give him relief from physical and mental pain. Earlier the hospice team members used to visit the residences of patients to help them. The hospices are now like special nursing homes catering to the elderly dying patients suffering from chronic or terminal diseases.
As regards medicines and methods for relieving pain, there was apparently no medicines in ancient times. In stone age they were perhaps hitting the head of the patient with a stone to make him unconscious, so that he is not aware of the pain till he wakes up again. For alleviation of pain, medicines actually started only after the second world war when anesthesia and antibiotics came into use. From the fifties and sixties of the last century, pain and palliative medicines became very important and effective drugs for the same were discovered. The discovery of anesthetics was a land mark. Then came the universal analgesic aspirin. Later came paracetamol, cox-1, cox-2 endorphins etc.. For cancer morphine oral tablets are now being given. With the advent of many pain-relieving medicines, chronic patients can now be rehabilitated.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: The management of pain is now very much advanced. Every type of pain, even acute and chronic pains have now fairly good treatment. Wherever there is swelling there is inflammation that causes pain. The pain killing tablets reduce inflammation and thereby relieve the pain. Substances called prostaglandins and kinins are formed at the site of the inflammation activating the pain receptors. Drugs like Cox (Cycloxigeneratives) and aspirin inhibit the formation of prostaglandins to reduce the swelling and pain.
Patients who are in pain are generally depressed and anxious about their pain. And this aggravates the pain. Antidepressants are therefore used to relieve the depression. For nerve and neurotic pains, there are anti-epileptic medicines.
Some of the most common painkillers have undesirable side-effects. For example, Aspirin, not only the most effective and common analgesic, but also used in the treatment of heart problems because of its ability to reduce blood clots, irritates the stomach lining, causing bleeding in the stomach. Paracetamol, which does not have this defect, is also harmful when taken in large dozes. Normally it does not accumulate in the body. Yet in huge quantities, it is poisonous, damaging the liver. It appears that there are a large number of suicides in the United States, committed merely by swallowing large overdose of Paracetamol.
Narcotics, especially opioids like morphine are widely used as pain relievers, although they are addictive if treatment is prolonged. The mechanism of giving injection of opioids in the spinal chord to relieve chronic pain is one of the modern treatments.
Prof.Richard Hay: The Calicut Medical college has a Pain and Palliative Care unit, which was in the news recently because of its excellence. When some British delegates from the medical and social professions visited the unit they found it exceptionally well managed, and the patients well taken care of. And they are supposed to have remarked that they do not have such well managed centers in England, because there it will be too expensive.
Dr. Thomas: The five main causes of pain are, Injury, Congenital defects(by birth), Degeneration, Infection, and Tumor (Cancer). Each is handled in different ways, and the drugs used for management of pain will widely vary.

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2007-12-10T03:13:00.001-08:00

ekkentros free thoughts - pain

2007-12-10T03:05:00.000-08:00

Prof. Richard Hay:. The concept and understanding of pain differ from culture to culture. And therefore the differences in their approach to pain and their attitude to the sufferer of pain are widely varying.. In the East the perception of pain in general has a subtle spiritual angle whereas in the west people tend to be indifferent to the pain of others. I have personally noticed it in an incident in one of the western countries. When one of the persons in a group fell sick, others avoided him totally and behaved boisterously ignoring him altogether. In such instances the members of the group in an eastern society would show much natural sympathy because they can empathize with the sufferer. This I think is because of the cultural difference.
We cannot but notice that the world wars started in the west. The second world war was then dragged to the East. The business of war is to inflict pain. The Japanese had been as cruel as the Germans. This is rather surprising when we consider that the Japanese follow Buddhism, a peace advocating and non-cruel religion.
Dr.Thomas: There is a distortion in their beliefs in the sense that self- infliction of pain has been their tradition. There is glory for them in suicide. They call it ‘Harakiri’.
Prof.Hay: Inhuman and brutal cruelty is perpetrated against the people of the ‘enemy’ country in the name of war. Cruelty is almost institutionalized in the groups trained for fighting. When the war psychosis sets in, inflicting pain and cruelty becomes the sole goal of any war, whether it is in the Mahabharatha war or in the Iraq war. Cruelty on the ‘enemy’ is taken for granted. Majority of the societies world over accepts the modality!
There seems to be a correlation between pain and culture. The attitude towards pain change with changes in culture. Among Asiatic people who tend to be deeply religious and are ‘God-fearing’, pain is looked upon as avoidable. There is compassion in the outlook of the people. We need not go far back to notice the aggressive nature of the western culture. The west’s attack of Iraq on the pretext of non-existent weapons, or its attack on Viet-Nam, supposedly an easy target, are examples. The Viet-Namese suffered extreme pain, but ultimately won and had their own way. Iraq, once the hub of human civilization, and which still held remnants and symbols of an ancient culture is now almost destroyed. Posterity may see here an attempt to perpetuate the North-South divide and differences.
The younger generation in America is now more conscious of the failings of their cultures. Their way of life had been based on an attitude that promotes that anything pleasurable is welcome. A way of thinking that comes from killing and eating flesh and meat without the feeling of guilt. Eastern culture respects not only other cultures but also other creatures. This has its roots in the teachings of Buddha. The Sufi cult also propagated it. Understanding the other beings and empathy with all creatures had been the core of Eastern cultures.
Pain whether physical or mental is the root cause of mental tension that creates neurotic conditions. The human psyche is so formed that, may be, it is economic poverty or social condition, anything adverse creates mental tension and consequential pain that can turn into neurosis. Unbearable pains are suffered by people who undergo traumatic experiences. The very look of a rape victim will reveal the pain and agony being suffered by her. Torture, whether by police or Mafia is another type of pain that is excruciating because of the physical as well as the mental agony involved. Imagine the pain inflicted on the four dalit Maharashtrians recently by the upper class. These underprivileged people were paraded and dragged naked and then killed. The physical pain and the social trauma they underwent are unimaginable. The violence and cruelty are social as well as political.
Extreme sufferings of pain and agony cause dreams and nightmares to occur in sleep. The person is restless and disturbed during day and suffers traumatic pangs in bad dreams. Some become alcoholic or addicted to drugs. The disturbance and suffering is then carried to the family. Acute cases of pain and agony often result in loss of memory or aggressive behaviour including emotional outbursts. The person can become unproductive, anti-social with aggressive sexual behaviour and in general of criminal tendencies prone to vandalism.
Pain and suffering is of course part of life. So is pleasure. But pain is remembered more. It is more deeply rooted in the mind. Therefore painful memories come back to the mind too often.
To be born is to suffer
To grow old is to suffer
To die is to suffer
To lose what is loved is to suffer.
To endure what is disturbing is to suffer
Therefore in life, pain and suffering are inevitable.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Which is more unbearable? Mental or physical pain? Mental pain when unbearable results in suicide. So does physical pain, but it happens less often. In the case of torture or rape it is the pain as well as the humiliation that makes them unbearably agonizing with both mental as well as physical pains.
General observation: The human Rights Society is meant to protect people from torture. But interpretation of the rights makes it a mockery by serving only the strong.
Dr. Thomas: Thomas Hardy in his novels describes exquisitely some traumatic events. He also writes authoritatively experiences from a doctor’s point of view, although he is only a self-tutored person with no formal education to mention about.
Prof.. Sankarankutty: Suffering and agony are reduced to its fundamentals in poetry. For example, in the poem on the ancient mariner Coleridge brings out poignantly, the excruciating agony of the mariner arising from the guilt of shooting down the albatross until he gets emancipation when a feeling of love for even the slimy creatures of the sea arise in him.
General observation: In earlier times people in pain and suffering used to get some relief by getting resigned to it by attributing the pain to Sani-Dasa or wrong-doing in a previous birth.

ekkentros free thoughts - pain

2007-12-10T02:51:00.000-08:00

Dr.Md.Abdulla: From time immemorial Pain has been an unsolved entity in human suffering. It starts at birth and ends at death. It continues as an inseparable companion of life. As such scientists have classified pain into different categories like Physical pain, Somatic pain, Neural pain, Mental pain etc.
Whatever be the type of pain or the source of pain, as far as human beings are concerned, perceptions of pain differ from person to person, and from occasion to occasion. The variations are more mainly in mental pain than in physical pain. To be precise, pain is an individualized phenomenon of which the beginning and end are not predictable.
The Forum has already discussed almost all aspects of pain. To recall, they are,
Physical pain, Mental pain, the subjective aspect of pain, the objectification of pain in great Plays and Drama, Fear of pain, Expression of pain, Spiritual aspect of pain like that of Moksha or freedom from mental and physical pain, and the Pathways of pain viz. the neuro-physiology of Pain.
Thus most of the aspects of pain have already been discussed or mentioned here. My thought therefore shifted to loss of pain and thus to anaesthesia. Anaesthesia is primarily an induced insensibility to pain, and generally the loss of sensibility to pain. It is the process of blocking the perception of pain and other sensations. Anaesthesia is of several types.
1.General anesthesia is loss of consciousness that is reversible.
2.Local Anesthesia is loss of sensation only, again reversible, in a small part of the body by localized administration of anesthetic drugs at the required site. And,
3. Regional Anesthesia is loss of sensation, and possibly movement, reversible, in a region of the body by selective blocking of sections of the spinal cord or nerves supplying the region.
As regards the history of Anesthesia, Hypnotism and Acupuncture have been in use for long for purposes of blocking pain and sensations. In China, the Taoist medical practitioners developed Acupuncture as a means of creating anesthetic effect. Chilling tissues with ice was also used in the past to produce effects of anesthesia locally.
From historic times, the most important substances in use for anesthesia were the herbal derivatives like opium and hemp. They were either ingested, or burned and the smoke inhaled. Alcohol was also used in olden times for the purpose of creating some anesthetic effect.
The development of effective anesthetics in modern times started in the 19th century. The first was Ether. It was used by the British, especially by the surgeons and Dentists in Britain till Chloroform was discovered in1846. Chloroform was found to have lesser side effects than Ether. It got royal approval in 1853 when Dr.John Snow gave it to Queen Victoria during the birth of Prince Leopold. The ‘Etherdome’, the surgical amphitheatre at Massachusetts where this happened exists to this day.
Other local anesthetics are, Procane, Amythocaine, and Cocaine used in spinal anesthesia or Epidural Techniques. In current practice, Theopental, Curare (for neuromuscular blocking and paralysis), Halothane, Synceryl Choline. Gaseous vapors and volatile agents used are Halothane Isoflurane, and Nitrous Oxide. The most long lived and successful anesthetic was Nitrous Oxide. Ether, Chloroform and Nitrous Oxide remained the main stay in Anesthetics for 80 long years till in 1950 when Fluroxene was introduced, but it did not last long having been withdrawn in 1975.

Now a thought flashes into my mind about the abuse of pain and anesthesia, which I choose to call by a newly coined term ‘The Criminology of Pain’.
From ancient times people had been using or rather abusing the sensation of pain as a means of punishment, the most common and simplest example being the infliction of pain on children by parents and teachers to punish them. This being a universal phenomenon nobody has ever bothered about the abuse or the criminal aspect of it. A more intensified version of this is the punishing of criminals and war prisoners by lashing. Often the sufferers of punishment are innocent suspects or victims of intrigue. A striking example and an authentic evidence of the Criminology of Pain is indeed the Crucifixion of Christ. His suffering of pain and agony was of the utmost degree that any human being could imagine. The cruel sport of ancient Romans in making errand Gladiators fight lions and tigers, open handed, is another example.
In the modern society the police often abuse Pain for extracting truth or confession of crime from the accused. Suspected terrorists are said to be tortured by methods like introducing pins under their nails or through their urethra. The now notorious ‘Uruttal’, rolling an iron roller along the legs and body, is another means of inflicting extreme pain, said to be used by the police.
The criminology of pain will not be complete without mentioning the pleasure that a lot of people get out of seeing a boxing punch. We can see an entire mob in ecstasy when an opponent is punched out of the ring.

Kunhikrishnan: Pain is often unavoidable in this Life. When it is inevitable it has to be endured. The capacity for endurance is either inborn or is cultivated. To some, extreme faith gives tremendous capacity to suffer pain. Ideological beliefs also create such a capacity. Suicide squads are examples.
There are some good aspects also in suffering pain or anguish. One is, as already mentioned, that pains function as a warning system to protect the body. The second is that suffering of pain builds up the capacity to understand the pain of others, and thus develops compassion in the sufferer. Understanding, compassion and empathy are more in those who have suffered physical or mental pain than in people who have not undergone such suffering.
And the third and the most important aspect of pain is that it can actually help in the understanding of ones mind in its totality. A little practice can open the gates for revelation of the mind’s functioning. Suppose you have an ache in your stomach. You feel it, and you are aware of it constantly till it is alleviated or disappeared. That feeling of it and awareness of it, is the way of ‘seeing’ the pain or being conscious of the pain. If one goes on seeing the pain without agonizing it one understands the pain. From such understanding comes the wisdom of witnessing.
Once you are able to ‘see’ acute aches and pains, you will slowly become aware and watchful about smaller pains also. Watchful here means only aware of. and not watchful to avoid it as in the normal course. This practice can give one the capacity to watch and see any movement in one’s body including one’s thoughts. One can feel one’s thoughts. and one can feel one’s emotions arising in the mind. Slowly the capacity to understand one’s own mind develops. This is part of meditation although one need not call it by any common name lest it be misunderstood.

ekkentros free thoughts - pain

2007-12-10T02:38:00.000-08:00

Dr.Thomas: Dalai Lama was once invited to a Psychiatric conference. In the course of the discussions he was asked to comment on the observation of some of the participants that the ‘God feeling’ that some ‘godmen’ claim to experience is a sort of a disease of the mind like epilepsy. The Lama replied that with all the modern scientific advancement and technology available to them if the scientists are able to produce a similar condition of ‘god feeling’, or the divine state of the mind, he would be only too happy. It would hardly matter whether it is achieved through stimulation of the brain by instrumental probes or by some other means.
The divinity in great saints like Ramakrishna Paramahans or Ramana Maharshi appear like madness or epileptic attack to people who do not understand.

The conversation before the start of the main discussion slowly veered around the question where exactly the perception of the PAIN starts and who is the perceiver, sufferer or the feeler? The pain may be localized, say, in the toe. The person feels the pain in the toe. The pain receptors take the signals, and through a network of nerves carry them to the brain. Does only the brain ‘feel’ the pain. Or the nerves all through also feel the pain, or the whole body, every cell, feels it? In anesthesia or when a person is unconscious, he does not feel the pain although he is fully alive and all normal bodily functions are active. That would indicate/suggest that consciousness is the perceiver or feeler of the pain. But if the communicating nerves are numbed or cut then also the consciousness cannot feel the pain. The mind of course feels the pain in another way. When it is anxious it can panic, and the panic magnifies the nagging pain. But the main question remains as to who is the direct sufferer of the pain. Mind is part of consciousness. Is the mind the feeler as well as the sufferer? The whole question is intriguing and requires unraveling.
Professor Sankarankutty remarked that there arises the age-old question of the observer and the observed. Who is the observer of the pain? The pain is objectified here, and there is always a distance between the observer and the pain that is being observed. Here, it is not a detached observation. The space between the pain and the feeler of pain is much reduced. Is the pain itself then the feeler of pain and also the consciousness at the moment of pain? There is also the question what is consciousness? Is it synonymous with awareness? And is not consciousness or awareness of something different from pure awareness/ pure consciousness without an object?
All these questions are left for deeper thought and later discussion.

After the Forum’s invocation, the discussion was continued by Dr. Babu Ravindran.

Dr. Babu Ravindran: Generally speaking, pain is an unpleasant sensation located in a part of the body. It’s positive aspect is that it is a protective mechanism meant for preservation of life.
There are two types of pain in general, described as penetrating or emotional. The penetrating type is tissue destructive and can be variously described as stabbing, burning, twisting, tearing, or squeezing. The emotional type is felt as extreme discomfort or uneasiness. Some pain of higher intensity is accompanied by anxiety, and an urge to escape or to terminate the feeling. The duality of Pain is that it involves both sensation and emotion.
When pain is acute it is characteristically associated with behavioral arousal and stress response like Increased Blood Pressure and heart rate, and Cortisol Release. In addition, local muscle contraction, viz., limb flexion and muscle rigidity are present. These responses are necessary for immobilization and protection of the affected part of the body.
How is the pain perceived? There are specialized nerve cells or neurons called receptors throughout the body. Pain receptors are part of the peripheral nervous system consisting of sensory nerves, motor nerves and sympathetic nerves. The receptors sense the pain impulses and pass them on to the sensory nerves. The sensory nerves pass on the impulses to the spinal chord or the brain. After processing by the network of nerves in the brain or spinal chord the instructions for action are passed on through the motor nerves to the various parts of the body. When there is very sudden detection of pain the impulses do not go all the way to the brain. Quick and immediate instructions for reaction go from the spinal chord itself. This results in what is called Reflex Action. It is a reflex arc from receptors to the sensory nerves to spine to motor nerve and the executing tissues. An example can be seen in the functioning of bladder muscles when it is full. The immediacy of the sensation to pass urine goes as impulses to the spinal chord and if the pathways to the brain are blocked or injured, reflex action works, and immediate instruction to hold the urine goes to the bladder muscles at once from the spinal cord itself.
Peripheral nerves are of three different types. 1. Sensory afferent 2. Motor efferent, and, 3. Sympathetic. The sensory nerves are afferent in the sense that impulses are directed towards the spinal cord. The cell body of the sensory nerve is the dorsal root ganglia. Axon of the nerve bifurcates into two, one going to spinal cord and the other to the tissue. Impulses from the organs of the body are passed on to the central nervous system by these nerves. The motor neurons on the other hand pass on impulses of instructions from the central nervous system to parts of the body. The sympathetic nerves help carry out the involuntary functions.
The vertebra protects the spinal cord. The sensory nerves are in the posterior of the spinal cord, and the motor nerves in the anterior. Similarly the sensory cortex is in the posterior part of the cortex of each hemisphere of the brain, and the motor cortex is in the anterior part. The main nerves go out from the spinal cord towards various parts of the body through the gaps in the vertebra called the Intervertebral foramen.
Nerves in general are of three different types, viz. A beta, A delta, and C.
Ab type of nerves is of large diameter, and carries the light touch. It is not associated with deeper pain but is present in superficial pain (minimal pain) and skin numbness.
Ad type is myelinated (i.e. sheathed), of small diameter, fastest and very sensitive. Pain is felt by this nerve much more than by other types.
C type is unmyelinated. It is also pain sensitive but to a lesser degree than type Ad. It has pain receptors called noceceptors
If the Ad type and C type are blocked, the ability to detect pain is abolished. But if Ab is blocked the pain will still be there unless the nerve itself is damaged.
When there is tissue injury, what are called inflammatory mediators like prostaglandins, bradykinins, and leukotrines are released. The presence of these creates more pain. This process is called sensitization. The affected area becomes more sensitive. Histamines are also produced. contributing to the increased pain. A typical example is the sunburned skin.
The sensory receptors called Noceceptors contain mediator polypeptides, like for example, a neuro transmitter called Substance P, which is also a vasodilator, contributing to increased pain. If substance p is blocked pain is decreased
Pain is not felt alike in all parts of the body. Intestines feel a pain only when it is stretched, not when it is cut. Although the brain perceives all pain, the brain material itself has no pain. Only the meninges, the outer covering membrane feels the pain.
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Then there is what is called Referred Pain. Sometimes when there is some visceral damage at or near the diaphragm, pain is felt at the shoulder skin. This is because the skin over the shoulder, and the diaphragm, has the same nerve supply. Their common blood supply is through cervical nerves C3 and C4.
We have all noticed that often fear and agony arise when a person is in pain. A reason for this can be found in the pattern of the nerve supply to the brain. Pain signals pass through the spinal tract called the Dorsal Spino-thalamus Tract and reach the Thalami. From the Thalamus the impulses go to the Sensory Cortex through the third order nerves. Now, the sensory cortex that senses the pain is pure sensation, and not emotion. But from the Thalamus the pain signals not only go to the sensory cortex but also go simultaneously to the area in the brain called the Cingulate Gyrum linked to emotional receptors. Emotions like fear are thus triggered when pain is felt.

Pain Modulation: BEECHER’S World War II Survey found on investigation that some of the injured soldiers felt no pain in war although they had been feeling even minor pain in their house in peacetime. Actually it is the expectation of pain that induced pain without any noxious stimuli that is normally responsible for the sensation of pain. The brain does this by a sort of selective control of the pain transmitting nerves. When the brain expect pain the circuits starts the operation of modulation of the transmitting pathways that have links to hypothalami, mid-brain, and medulla The brain circuits have thus control over the pain transmitting neurons. In war the brain utilizes this facility for relieving of pain. The brain circuits cause the release of pain relieving chemicals like. bEndorphin and Enkephalin. These chemicals are absorbed by the ‘opioid receptors’, so called because the chemicals Endorphin and Enkephalin are similar to natural Opioids.
Neuropathic pain: Damage or dysfunction of a portion of a nerve produce pain. This is called neuropathic pain. An example is the pain due to the disease called Herpes Zoster. A person who is healed of Chicken Pox is not always free of the pox virus. Some of the virus get into the Ganglia of the patient and lies there dormant till the system becomes weak and vulnerable. Then the disease comes out erupting along the path of a particular nerve affected by the virus. There are thus painful eruptions of a particular nature and pattern along the path of the nerve. This is only one of the examples of neuropathic pain.
Ischaemic Pain: When the required blood supply does not reach a part of the body derangement of metabolism happens to that part, and the neurons in the area are affected thus producing pain. An example of ischaemic pain is Angina Pectoris. Lactate and Pyroate, which are pain-producing chemicals, accumulate in the affected part of the body causing pain.

ekkentros free thoughts - pain

2007-12-10T02:17:00.000-08:00

Dr.Thomas: The feeling of pain being very subjective, it is very difficult for others to assess the extent of pain when a patient complains of it. In many a court case the judge has asked, ‘how do you know that the patient was in pain?’ When a patient is constantly complaining of pain and is persistent in asserting that he is in pain although no apparent symptoms could be detected, it is usual to consult more than one doctor to establish the existence of pain. If two doctors agree it is usual to accept that the pain is real. Pain is different from tenderness. Sometimes there may be tenderness at a spot in the body without any accompanying pain. The patient could be malingering.
The extent of pain felt depends upon several factors. In order to ascertain the type and nature of the pain, the doctor asks a series of questions. Does the pain continue while resting, and does it disturb sleep? Does it interfere with daily routines, eating etc? Is it moderate or intense? Is it spread out or located at a particular place or point? Is it moving or stationary? Individual perceptions of pain are generally different. Apart from that, different parts of the body have different levels of sensitivity to pain. The somatic areas feel pains more intensely. Tooth ache and ear pain are more difficult to bear. The tip of the finger is more sensitive than any other part of the body. Middle part of the fingers is dull. The ends of the body have to protect the whole system and have therefore more supply of nerves. It is the nature’s blessing and is also thus anatomically explained. Then there are referred pains. For example, the tip of the shoulder may feel an acute pain while the problem may be at the back of the neck. Referred pain is also associated with sweating and fainting accompanied by Brady kinesis (abnormal sluggishness of physical movement).
Moods of the mind affect the feeling of pain. Endorphins secreted in happy moods reduce the pain considerably. There is also what is called the gateway theory of pain in which not only the secretions of morphine and endorphin are stimulated to reduce the pain but also the cycle or pathway of pain is broken to make the pain disappear. Acupuncture is supposed to use this theory in which the patient has a funny feeling passing through the place of pain by way of anesthesia.
Rishis and mendicants sitting or sleeping on nails is a well-known image. Some say they are punishing themselves to exhaust their sins. Others say that they are disciplining their body by inflicting pain and get some sort of pleasure out of it. Or else they are observing and studying the nature and behaviour of pain.
Sadistic criminals marvel in inflicting the worst type of pain on their victims. They invent newer and crueler methods of creating pain including those, which are psychological. Psychologists say that children who suffer severe punishments and cruelty early in life turn into sadistic criminals on becoming adults.
Some saints and monks are said to be in an ecstatic state even while they are in pain. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa is an example. Research has shown that when certain areas of the brain are touched by probes, ecstatic feeling would result. Maharshis are said to have the capacity to create such ecstasy on their own mental or meditative power. For those who are in search of Truth, lack of knowledge itself is pain.
As regards animals and plants, there are reasons to believe that all living things have pain to some degree or other. Scientist J.C.Bose had proved that plants too react to pain and pleasure. Plant researchers found that in the case of certain plants in Africa, pollination happens when women walk between the plants touching them. These indicate that plants also have sensitivity.
At the physical level, anxiety neurosis, depression and pain are attributable to the lack or balances in the supply of certain chemicals like say serotonin. Chemical changes in the brain can induce a person even to commit suicide. But at the spiritual level pain and mental agony are said to arise from desire and undue expectation as explained in Buddha’s Philosophy. Desire can create pain in the minds of even great achievers. It is said that Einstein was in great agony at the last moments because he could not complete some research.
Fear, especially fear of death is another factor that creates mental pain. The concepts of Ghosts and other unearthly beings have arisen from such painful emotion.
Anesthetics are useful to relieve physical pain. Alcohol, if not misused can take away grief, aches and pains to some extent. Drugs are used to give relief from physical pain.
Pains, physical and mental are there from the beginning of this world and have to be put up with. As a mythical saying goes, God has created the world and put it into motion, and then gone to sleep. It is moving according to the laws laid down. Is pain part of the Rules of Nature?

Dr.Sadanandan: Pain is a sensation with an emotional component. Both the sensation and the emotion are unpleasant. Therefore it is avoided. ‘Avoid it’, says the mind. Several things are done by doctors in an attempt to alleviate it. The emotional aspect of pain is generated from the physical. Pain, physical or mental, is thus a living thing for each individual. One has to endure the physical and somehow escape the emotional. The mind always wants to avoid the emotional pain.
How to avoid the mental/emotional pain has been the problem of Man all along. We have depended on so many things trying to find out how to avoid pain. But who gives the answer? We ask the question to somebody else. Man sought knowledge and answer from others, who are supposed to know the answer. But we have not succeeded in getting any satisfactory answer. Some seers have passed on some techniques of meditation. The methods prompt me to find out the answer for myself. One must acquire some method of one’s own to find out how to avoid pain altogether.
I then come to the conclusion that I must have some superior faculty of my own to find out an answer to the problem. What quality of my own can give a method to achieve that superior faculty? If there is a method what is it? I must find it. But is it within the purview of thought or outside or above it? This seems to be our quest here. This can be a basis of our discussion here.

Prof.Sankarankutty: Experience of pain is strictly subjective and its expression is through symptoms, gestures, sounds, body postures and the like. When the intensity is communicated through words, gestures and sounds like screams we, the observers, also experience it indirectly. The sufferer of the pain is thus an object to the observer, although his own experience of the reflected pain is still subjective for him. In short we the onlookers ‘objectify’ the pain through our empathy, to understand the pain of the sufferer. From this originated some great Art. The greatest examples are the artistic works of high dramatic expressions that we find in the Greek Tragedies.
In most of the great Greek Tragedies, a person of eminence is passing through high mental suffering and physical pain. This pain is expressed and communicated with aesthetic effect through high drama to induce pain in the onlookers. The intensity of pain is thus objectified for the viewers in order to understand the real nature of pain. From this understanding arose beauty and the aesthetic experience.
To understand the structure of pain we have to look at our pain right when we are in the midst of it. But can we pay attention to the structure and behaviour of our own pain when we are in it? We cannot. Therefore it is necessary for some body else to objectify the type of pain to us in order for us to understand it. The Greeks used this need of people to create the great tragedies and to communicate the structure of pain through aesthetic expression.
Pain has a physical component and an emotional component. It is the emotional component that is dealt with in the tragedies. The height of human suffering on the emotional and mental level is revealed for the audience in some of the dramas like those of Sophocles. In his drama Oedipus Rex, Oedipus, the king, unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother and even has children by her. When he finally realizes the truth any remedy is agonizingly beyond reach. He blinds himself, and his wife commits suicide. The uncertainty of human suffering is beyond comprehension. The suffering is enacted on stage exploring the structure of pain. The pain is passed on or communicated to the audience in micro-doses so that it could be understood by identification and appraisal. Finally in a catharsis the inner dimension of pain becomes apparent. It is a way of understanding pain, understanding life itself, by the process of objectification.
It is strikingly noticeable that in Eastern dramatic tradition there is practically no work of great tragedy. The reason probably is the spiritual background of the East. The ultimate that we seek is ‘Moksha’ or liberation from the worldly affairs treating tragedies of life as part of the process of advancing towards that liberation. Or such pain was attributed to Fate. Westerners had no such props to fall back on and therefore were more sensitive to tragedies that were beyond their comprehension.
In one of John Milton’s masterpieces Samson Agonistes the dramatist tries to show that purification of the mind takes place in tragic suffering helping the incumbent in the process to achieve calmness. Consciousness expands while pain touches the mind. The glory of Christ is in his acceptance of the spiritual pain of Man while he underwent the physical pain willingly and transcended it. Understanding pain brings forth compassion.
Another aspect of pain is that it has been always an inspiration for creativity. As a subject for creative writers and artists, the contribution of pain is unparalleled. It is almost the starting point of creativity. Pain is the lens of the microscope through which the aesthetic mind views the Universal Man.
As regards the individual, it is through personal pain, a father or son dying, a failure in love, a sudden sickness or some such suffering that he is starts looking at the universe, and the reality in the uncertainty of life in it. In a war there is great suffering, and shades of emotions become highlighted. Highly sensitive artists and writers express these emotions in visual form and succeed in communicating the intensity of painful emotions. An example is the powerful imagery created by the painter Monk titled ‘The Scream’, that really screams at the viewers offering no explanation. None is needed.