A Concise Study Of Human Thought as Key To World Peace-
V Sivaramakrishnan, IES (Retd.)
Everything has been said,
and we are more than seven thousand years of human thought too late. Jean de la Bruyere
Human thought is evolving, as is
evident from new discoveries, inventions and even philosophies seen around over
these thousands of years…. There will be no end to that process... ever...
- A human being is consisting of a body,
mind, intellect and soul/spirit is now well accepted….
- From time immemorial attempts are on to explain the phenomenon called a human or other being…..
- Man in that quest has come out with many theories, religions, philosophies and schools of thought…yet the end is no where near….
- Though this is the reality, many go around with great confidence and finality in regard to what they have come to believe as the “truth”…
- None is waiting for any validation from “others” for such pet conclusions…
- Hence all conflicts, strife, wars and what not in the recorded human history…
· All these thoughts came up to the
fore while and after reader an excellent book titled A Concise Study of Human Thought As Key To World
Peace by V Sivaramakrishnan ( L K M Publication, No.10,
Ramachandra Street, T Nagar,Chennai-17.Pages 290, Rs.250/-, October, 2021)
- The book is, as evident from the
title itself, an attempt to trace the
developments in the human thought down the millennia…
- The author has made an earnest attempt to capture the huge volume of information already existing on this vast subject within the space of some 290 odd pages… indeed a very difficult but commendable task…
- He has arduously and painstakingly collected and collated the varied thought developments in the human history…. from Greek thinkers to present day thinkers- almost up to date…
- The book has been divided into different phases/periods of human thought in a very systematic manner for easy presentation and understanding….
- Some 54 Western thinkers and another 46 plus thought leaders from India are covered either in brief or in detail to suit /support the line of argument/presentation…
The
unique feature of the book is that the author has also appropriately intermingled
the analysis with the comparative wisdom available from Eastern- read Vedic-
thoughts..
It is rather unfortunate
that West did not give much credence to the Vedic thoughts…. Till almost 20th
century….
Still, they don’t want to admit whole heartedly the
contributions of our Rishis and saints to the thought process…
Sadly, our own people, with few exceptions also did not take the
trouble to emphasize our past contributions.
Now it is, as given in the quote at the outset… 7000 years too
late to start a new argument…
There is a saying… Jo jeetha woh hi Sikander… and history is
written by the victors… the also ran have no place in the scheme of things..
So, what we find in the development of the
human thought as listed from the West is that they have made concerted efforts
to understand the human mind and intellect in stages…. and often contradicted
and confused / got entangled too…. in
the name of reason, scientific temper and proof, rational thinking… they were
caught in their own web of confusions…
·
This is a view based on the
understanding of the Vedo-Upanishad- Gita etc teachings available to us even
before the Greek thoughts came to the fore…..
·
Our Rishis of yore have explored
these areas in depth and our Sanskrit literature is full of materials to
support their stand… provided one is willing to look with an open and unbiased
mind…
·
But there is a great lack of
advocates even locally for such rich Vedic thought processes…
·
Then how can one expect the
Westerners to appreciate them en masse…. even though one Emerson, Max Muller or Schopenhauer would
have showered unrestrained encomiums on Eastern.. Vedic thoughts..
Coming back to the book under review…
one must appreciate the “Tapasya”
undertaken by the author to glean thorough the vast history of human thought spread
over thousands of years and present a brief Encyclopaedia for readers’
consideration and knowledge… after reading the well presented and lucidly
written book, the reviewer was enlightened on
many new areas … and also got familiar with many hitherto unknown greats of the
past….
The book is studded with quotes from
the greats of yesteryears and many poems are also quoted to convey the evolution
of thought..
Human being is born equal … in the sense the features are same …
7000 years back and even today…
all of them wonder at the
creation, as soon as they become conscious of the surroundings…
then based on external circumstances and schooling their
thoughts take shape…
no finality is ever possible as each being is capable of coming
out with a new version of “ thought” today and later on…
one need not be overawed
by the thoughts so far, as new ones are waiting to come…
I liked the following quote of Arthur
Balfour (1848-1930) given in page 270 of the book…
“Though human thought changes, man’s instinct and feeling do not change
over time and that is the secret of our failure to transmute our growing
knowledge into happiness or more lasting peace.” This quote in a way sums up the issue succinctly..
- A perusal of the book will ignite fresh
thinking in any reader… highly recommended for study and reflection…
- Author deserves Congratulation for a great effort in bringing out this Concise Study-when national and world peace is on the brink..
वन्दे मातरम्
ॐ शान्ति
8 15 AM
Thank you for sharing.
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