| Watch Tower: The Philosophy of relativity & synthesis Posted: 23 Apr 2010 07:16 AM PDT Only that philosophy is real which can be lived. An ideal which cannot be put into practice, has little value. Likewise, a practice which does not help us to realize the ideal is valueless- Mahaprajna
Jain Acharyas developed a science of politics which is founded on relativity and synthesis. We have before us the individual and society. Some people have an absolutely individualistic mentality. They make the individual wholly responsible. Others emphasize the role of society. In political systems, particularly in the socialist and communist ones, the entire responsibility is placed on society, whereas for an individualist, the development of the individual is of supreme importance, for a political ideologist, social progress is all that matters. But unless we have a relative approach, the relationship between the individual and society and an absolutely socialized individual have little worth. Socially-oriented individual and individual-oriented society are what really matter and with them alone can the process of right development be advanced.
The principle behind the truth-oriented approach is- relativity. This relativity is also developed through self-identification and logic. Not mere logic, nor insight alone. Not only spirituality, nor conduct alone. Stress on conduct alone, gives rise to grossness. So much grossness that truth is left far behind. With transcendentalism alone, spirituality stands weakened, both are necessary-the transcendental and the empirical. In other words, the sect is necessary; so is spirituality. Spirituality unrelated to the sect may be useful for some individuals, but it is of little use to the public. A person might benefit there from: their path remains undetermined, community is necessary, so is the Order. Organization, oppose the sect and the Order as well, those who talk of being alone, of solitariness, are also not able to grasp the truth. They seem to be prejudiced in favor of solitude. One or two persons might benefit from being world? One comes to take it for granted that by retiring into a Himalayan cave, one will be able to lead a peaceful life. But on other side the whole atmosphere is polluted. There is not a spot in the world which is free from contamination. Where could an individual go to? In what cavern will he seek refuge? To what hollow will he retire in search of solitude? It is a contagious world. A thought arises in the mind of a person sitting here, and the atoms of that thought spread throughout the world. Nothing is spared-neither the Himalayas nor any cave.
In this world of fast transmission, what armour have we to protect ourselves? In this direction, the Veetaragis have endeavored to create a good world, where people might live righteously, and where an order of noble men, an exemplary, ethical society and community might come into being. If this does not come about, a dreadful situation might arise. Even a veetaraga is obliged to live out his life. His mind may remain unsullied, but his body will certainly be affected by the state of world. He will not be spiritually sick because of ill thought, but he could physically ill because of the vitiated atmosphere. The food he is given might make him ill. The world in which he lives, the people in whose midst he spends his life- it is a veetaragi's duty to inspire them to move in the direction of veetaragat.
So there is nothing evil about an organized Order or community. It is even very necessary to have some organization or community, it is productive of evil. We should accept the truth to be found in an Order or community, derive inspiration and support from a transcendental view, so as to develop spirituality in ourselves. Without spirituality and transcendentalism, the Order or organization will be reduced to a mere skeleton devoid of life, glory and consciousness.
The relativity of the two dispositions can be a pointer. Neither a solitary individual nor society by itself-neither individualism nor collectivism-can show us the way. Only a combination, a synthesis of the two can become the path of our evolutionary pilgrimage. Truth-oriented approach, as it develops further, leads to a fusion of knowledge with action. Who says a philosophy cannot be lived? I think that a philosophy which cannot be lived, is like building castles in the air, a thing of imagination, with nothing real or factual about it. Only that philosophy is real which can be lived. An ideal which cannot be put into practice, has little value. Likewise, a practice which does not help us to realize the ideal is valueless. What is required is a combination of the ideal and the practical, a harmonious union of the two.
Acharya Sri Tulsi has greatly extended the frontiers of Terapanth. He has set up religion on the altar of the age and this has benefited all communities. During his Southern tour, people said to Acharya Sri-"Many religious teachers have come to us, but you are the first religious teacher who talks of humanity. Other religious teachers talk of their respective sects, but you are the first to transcend sectarianism and talk of mankind as a whole." There was no Jain (by birth) among the audience, but it did not seem to us that they were not Jains.
Acharya Sri has brought about a revolution in the field of religion. He taught his disciples to be objective and impartial, so that they are completely free from any thing of communalism.
In the field of philosophy, too, Acharya Sri has propounded new values. He was established contact with lakhs and lakhs of people. In this sphere, Acharya Sri and his disciples have put in a Herculean efforts, with the result, that some who were near got estranged, while many who stood far away, have come closer. Great men never follow a beaten track. There are many who follow a tradition; rare are those who further develop a tradition even while keeping in it. Acharya Bhikshu, Jayacharya and Acharya Tulsi are among those great men who have through their achievements extended the frontiers of traditions.
As told to Lalit Garg
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| Political philosophy book to be discussed Posted: 22 Apr 2010 10:36 PM PDT [fivefilters.org: unable to retrieve full-text content] CHARLESTON - "Who Really Wrote John Stuart Mill's 'On Liberty'?" will be the subject of the keynote address Saturday at Eastern Illinois University's John Stuart Mill Memorial Philosophy Conference. |
| Paul Brown's Draft Philosophy Wouldn't Fly Today! Posted: 23 Apr 2010 06:10 PM PDT
The late Paul Brown wouldn't recognize some facets of todays' National Football League. He would be very pleased with some of the new wrinkles, even if they were throwbacks to his era. Seeing Tim Tebow throw a jump pass to the tight end would conjure up memories of one of his favorite quarterbacks, Otto Graham. I'll never forget him demonstrating the way "Otts" used to do it during an idle moment at Spinney Field 25 years ago or so. A former quarterback himself, I think the success Brown and Graham enjoyed together at Cleveland, is one of the reasons why Paul liked to build a team around the QB. Paul Brown is credited with being one of the founders of professional football but in truth, he came to the game rather late. He told me one time that the first professional game he ever saw, he coached. That was back in February of 1945, when he left a position as head coach of the Great Lakes Naval Station Blue Jackets, to throw in with a guy named Mickey McBride, who had bought a franchise in the All American Football Conference. And with that the Cleveland Browns were born. And they went about stocking their team as franchises did before and since. Scouting colleges but also semi-pro leagues for guys who wanted to make a little money playing football. The draft back in those days consisted of 30 rounds. 30!
Think how many days ESPN could stretch that over.
It was pared back to 20 by 1960 and 17 by the time the Bengals set up shop in 1968. That was and remains a lot of players to cull through to select a roster and would account for the fact that teams played 6 pre-season games in those days. Keepers would eventually bubble to the surface and be offered contracts which they inevitably signed. After all, there were few if any options. There were some though, talent aside, that got away. A product of Paul's determination to maintain control of every facet of his team. Especially salaries.
He told me so in a private moment. "Dennis, until we absolutely had to because the business surrounding the game had changed, until that I wouldn't consider drafting a young man, if it was even rumored that he had any kind of representation. If we found out he'd been in touch with an attorney or his dad or brother was an accountant, we wouldn't touch him. It just wasn't worth it." The Coach further justifed his stance in part by saying he didn't want to employ anyone who wasn't smart enough to cut his own deal. That he preferred to negotiate face to face with someone and if they couldn't come to terms, so be it. He'd find someone else and coach him into being competent. Considering the numbers of players eager to make 'a few extra bucks' playing a game before getting on 'with their life's work", it is no wonder it worked for him for decades. And I have to think that many of his counterparts in those embryonic days of pro football shared his views if not tactics. Today they would probably face charges of collusion.
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| Possum Philosophy: Just a run of bad luck Posted: 23 Apr 2010 01:53 PM PDT By ROBERT "ROCKY" CAHILL/Columnist I'm sure many area readers of this column remember the TV show "Hee-Haw." It featured Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Grandpa Jones, String Bean, Minnie Pearl and numerous other country singers, comedians, and various musical and comedy guests over the years. It was pretty much a staple in most homes throughout this region. One of its old standbys was a song that went "Gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair and agony on me."
I don't know who actually wrote the song, but there are times when I would bet good money the writer knew me. There are days, sometimes streaks of them, where I am about like the guy in the old comic strip "Li'l Abner."
This guy was named Joe $%^&#$ or something along those lines and he went around with a dark cloud over his head and lightning flying out of it. He was the epitome of bad luck and misfortune. For the last week or so, that has been me. I often have spells of bad luck. Just your ordinary run-of-the-mill stuff, the kind everyone has. But sometimes mine seems to step up to another level. You might say it's like getting called up to the Major Leagues, the major league of misery that is.
I guess you could say I hit the big-time when Terry fell and demolished her elbow. It has been over six months now and though much better than it was, it is not completely healed and it likely never will be as it was before the accident. She doesn't believe me, but the fall was indirectly my fault. We were just starting to drive over to a festival in Erwin, Tenn., and I had developed a headache from allergies. I asked Terry if she would drive over and told her the allergy stuff should start working soon. When she started around the car to the driver's side, Brandy, our rescue dog, tripped her and that's when she broke her elbow.
Then there is my sister Lynn and her poor health. She scared all her brothers half to death. And though she is slowly improving, she is still a long way from being in good health.
It's been just regular ho-hum bad luck for me, just same-stuff-different-day kind of luck. Then about 3 a.m. last Thursday morning (April 15) all that changed again. Bad Luck stepped up its game again. Maybe it was just rubbing off from Tax Day since Terry and I filed early and weren't worried. But whatever, the black cloud struck, fast and hard.
Ask any of my family or friends and they will tell you I am a light sleeper (OK just wanted to let them all get the laughs and yuks out of the way). In truth, I am a sound sleeper, sleep like a log. But, a ruckus woke me up. The noise I heard was my stepdaughter Melissa yelling for her mom to come help. Terry's mother had gotten out of bed to go to the powder room, fallen and was not able to get up.
She is 84 and has numerous health concerns. She has developed very thin skin and as she takes blood-thinners for another problem, the least scratch or tear (and she had a couple of pretty good ones this time) bleeds so it looks like a slaughter-house fight. But, this time she really did have a problem.
She had broken her right arm, above the elbow. We had to get the Washington County Rescue to help with her. (A small side-note here: My Dad helped start the Saltville Rescue Squad and was one of its earlier members so I know how hard it is and what a wonderful service these folks perform. Just wanted to say that the two young men who answered this call were two of the most polite, best trained and professional EMTs I have ever encountered.)
Once at the ER, the doctor agreed with Terry and after X-rays and such said there was little she could do other than immobilize the injury and let nature heal it. She referred her to an orthopedic surgeon, but said she doubted if the surgeon once she saw the X-rays would do much more than that. We will know later this week.
Then Saturday, after my mother-in-law's accident, I decided to go get a haircut. Now haircuts are not my favorite thing. Guess you could chalk it up to my being a child of the '60s. I fought many a battle with my Dad, who hated long hair on his sons, and Robert G. McCoy, the principal of R. B. Worthy High School, who hated it on his students, over the length of my hair and when it needed cutting. I only had two things going for me.
One was that both Dad and Mr. McCoy were good guys who liked me or so I suspect in spite of my efforts to defy their rules (But never doubt for a second that either of them were pushovers. They were pretty determined in their own right too.). The second was that the barber who gave me the majority of haircuts in those days, the infamous Pete Frye, liked me and also liked aggravating my Dad, who was a cousin of Pete's in some way. So he generally sided with my brothers and me.
I don't really know why, but I am pretty particular about my haircuts. I figure it's my hair and I pay someone to cut it so I deserve to have it cut the way I want. I went without Terry and just on the spur of the moment I picked a barbershop. It was pretty cool with a real retro-look to it, old chairs for customers, old-style pop cooler, not a copy of Cosmo or Vogue in the place, just Field & Stream, Guns and Ammo, Car and Driver and other "guy" magazines.
The barber had given the place a regular late '50s-early-'60s look. I felt right at home. Made me wish Pete and Dad were there, the one to entertain, the other to argue with. The guy was a nice, personable fellow. After a short wait, it was my turn in the chair. We talked a minute or two. He asked and I explained how I wanted my hair cut or at least thought I had.
One problem I have is that I am near-sighted. When sitting in a barber or stylist chair, they remove one's glasses. This puts me at a disadvantage since if the seat is very far from the mirror I can't really see clearly whether I like the way my hair is being cut. This one was a little farther than most.
I guess it was just a problem of miscommunication. I was lulled into a sense of complacency by the retro shop and the easy conversation with the barber. Before I realized it, he had cut far too much hair. And it was such that the only thing he could do was keep cutting. The shop not only looks like something out of the early '60s, but so do I. My hair now looks much like it did when I was about 12 or so, in the pre-Beatles days. It has been many, many years since it was cut this short. Needless to say, I am not a happy fellow. Yes, I know it will grow back. That's not the issue. It will be a good six months or more before it is even similar to the way I prefer it. The old black cloud of bad luck strikes again.
Like the country song, if it weren't for bad luck, I would absolutely have no luck at all. Hope its saving all the good luck up for me to hit the Powerball lottery this weekend. But I am not counting on it. A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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