Writing on some matter is a tendency of lateral thinking to propound something for reasoning together as different people who live differently think differently. In the midst of a given complexity of life, the freedom of choice is to be perceived and determined by the choice of values for what we wanted it to be. In the process of so doing, it is somehow difficult to ascertain precisely which value is superior to which in so far the preference of the individuals is concerned. Critical mind is required for critical analysis to this effect although which is limited as imprisoned within our body. Everything has its own beauty; but everyone has not seen it, is not a blind catastrophe but to be discovered the latent capabilities eventually. As a man can do more than he can, the fluctuation of progress in life could be visualised with the change in our mindset. The free flow of good things from the mind to be distributed through the eyes should be impartial and be placed sometimes if necessary beyond neutrality. This is because, educated people who are fit for rulers or administrators cannot do wrong intentionally. They will not do the wrong things because they shall certainly refuse to do them as their conscience shall never allow them to do so.
To live a good life is to do the right thing, is very praiseworthy. As the Jewish saying goes, “It is not difficult to do the right thing, but it is very difficult to know what the right thing is; once you know the right thing, it is most difficult not to do the right thing”. It is, therefore, very necessary to do what is right to do in our life time. Keeping this in mind, in the surface of the whole world, generally speaking, there is hardly any person, department, organisation, government, society or country admitting any mistake of his or its own voluntarily to the benefit of mankind which is an impediment to the advancement of social expectation in the history of human civilization. Many a time, in most cases, some leaders of today talk so much about their society but work mostly for themselves which is but a paradox contradicting only with their own principles of life. To substantiate the point, as Shiv Khera, the famous world-wide motivator had stated: “our society suffers not because of ignorant people but because of the inaction of the competent people”. Cunningness and cleverness are the two different things, could be seen in the performance of the actors for the society as there can be no smoke without making the fire apparently. Sometimes, some people pretended to act as if they were for the people who can see their true colours of narrow mindedness which could only bring tantamount to opposition of social barriers and discontentments. In this way, our life on earth has become miserable and poorer. It is therefore, indispensable on our part to know ourselves.
If at all, we dream some kind of enjoyable world to live in-a world which we long for so long; we all shall then, have to change simultaneously. The world cannot change without us. Our senses shall not be allowed to influence us but our intellect should control them. There is no place for secrecy in society on good purposes; and if any of such is going on between or among some people, something is going wrong with such people then excepting in some very rare cases. We are being led to believe that things are getting better when they are actually getting worse. We are always expecting respect and good things from others when whereas we do not want to do anything worthy to others. It is I and we who are responsible but blaming others for any untoward eventualities in life. For good part we always hasten to take the credit of, but for failures we make other people accountable which shows our half- hearted irresponsibility towards life.
It is also important in life, to think not only more but also bitter; however, in our contemporary society, many people try to think better than to work better in helping the people. We used to think that we are making the right compromisingly against our own conscience. We should use our liberty to think and not the liberty of thinking to make us to think. This thinking should not complicate the matter but simplify or prevent from becoming deteriorated. In other words, it should not dwell in the dilemma of confusing perimeter but lessen the intensity of the problem. As rational beings, in the matters of disagreement, we need to exchange our positions and try to understand each other’s stand-points by leaving aside our respective arguments. This gives us a larger perspective, wider horizon and a deeper understanding of the problem under discussion.
In our present-day world, conflict is important which is not an end in itself but a means to an end. On good purposes, honest or constructive criticism is essentially called for as opposed to destructive criticism. For socially useful issues, we need a critical analysis of the mind for arriving at a logical conclusion backed by clarity of thought and vision. To quote Hegel, a great political thinker, “Thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis are the stages of development”. There is always a solution to every problem; and it is not a problem if there is no a solution to it conversely. As such, we must find out some ways and means for the solution. Which is why, education imparts knowledge to the people to be always on the side of the problem solution. As the adage goes: “To err is human; to forgive divine”. Nobody is interested to do wrong but everybody makes the mistake. Therefore, as intellectuals as we were, need to do a lot of adjustment. The people who are right should forgive the wrongful people and not the vice versa as we value human relationship for good purposes.
Non-violence and peaceful co-existence is of great importance. But we cannot agree with what we think to be wrong at the cost of our rights. We have to speak out the truth first and then only after which we have to forgive others if it is necessary to do so. Many things may happen; almost everything is transitory; time is short; man may come and go; but truth remains constant and reigns supreme forever which is the source of joy and essence of life. Therefore, We must be very courageous not for fighting but on standing for the truth in our life-time.
King Solomon had stated. “As the wisdom increases, so also the sorrows”. There are countless problems confronting our society today. And these are mostly man-made problems. Such is the case, these problems should be solved through human efforts identifying the behaviours of the individuals. However, we are in itself but not for itself. To quote Billy Graham, the world famous preacher and evangelist: “ We are the most informed people in the history of civilization and yet the most miserable on earth”. We are the people Who are very committed to ruin one another. There is no peace in our minds.
To this effect. William Wordsworth, the greatest poet reclined to remark in pity: “ Have I no reason to lament what man has made of man”! Indeed, we want for ourselves but we hate and refuse to appreciate the good and success of others. This is very contradictory and paradoxical in nature. We cannot live in isolation but in society we live. we cannot therefore, fool the whole people for all the times.
At this very critical juncture of social turmoil, we need to change our attitude and mindset for a paradigm shift. The renown poet P.B. Shelley’s thought conveys here in verbatim: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind”! If we admit our human short-comings through retrospection and look forward for better things through introspection, everything will be possible for better life-chances in future. This change can be possible through inward adjustment of moral action which is the quality of the soul. A good thought eventually beautifies actions which in turn encourage better thoughts. This thought certainly dispels darkness, misunderstanding, hatred, selfishness, aggressive ness, suspicion, ruthlessness and untrustworthiness but which overwhelmingly brings harmony, mutual interaction, justice, humility, peace and happiness to one’s search on actualization in the philosophy of existentialism.
Although the idea of human goodness may change according to times and circumstances, an unexamined life is not worth living. We cannot change the events but we can change our approach to events that we must convert the difficulties into opportunities for larger life. For this reason, cultural assimilation is important not because it is new but because it is good. Such is that therefore, some of the obsolete values which prevent progress may be changed in favour of enlightened ideas. In our day-today life, we need wisdom which not only makes us to understand others but also to love them.
Happiness is the necessary but inevitable outcome of love; and love is the source of creativity and immortality, but the highest idea is the love of spiritual beauty according to Aristotle, the famous Greek political philosopher. Beginning from the beautiful things and moving step to step to beautiful bodies, beautiful practices, beautiful learning, beautiful works, one may reach the love of perfection of beauty which is the highest idea of beauty in God’s beauty. Without shadows a picture is not complete or wholly beautiful. If there is not the negation of good, the good loses its values. However, the people of small mind discuss about people; of average mind discuss about events; but the people of great mind discuss about ideas. Although we do not agree with their ideas, w e have to respect their rights of having so in some way. Darkness prevails in society only in the absence of light that when the light appears, the darkness will disappear by itself.
In conclusion, somethings which are common to all of us may be appreciated and cherished in congruence. Respecting others is respecting ourselves. As we consider ourselves to be as themselves, our concern for their life will surely value our life as we progress the journey together in life. In the whole, our achievements will be the achievements of the society which cannot die when we die. To this end in view, the educated, the wealthy, the rulers and the strong have a great role to play in transforming our society. Let the spirit of love once again penetrate into our hearts for a worthy life through disseminating the knowledge of adjustment and realization in God’s good time.
To live a good life is to do the right thing, is very praiseworthy. As the Jewish saying goes, “It is not difficult to do the right thing, but it is very difficult to know what the right thing is; once you know the right thing, it is most difficult not to do the right thing”. It is, therefore, very necessary to do what is right to do in our life time. Keeping this in mind, in the surface of the whole world, generally speaking, there is hardly any person, department, organisation, government, society or country admitting any mistake of his or its own voluntarily to the benefit of mankind which is an impediment to the advancement of social expectation in the history of human civilization. Many a time, in most cases, some leaders of today talk so much about their society but work mostly for themselves which is but a paradox contradicting only with their own principles of life. To substantiate the point, as Shiv Khera, the famous world-wide motivator had stated: “our society suffers not because of ignorant people but because of the inaction of the competent people”. Cunningness and cleverness are the two different things, could be seen in the performance of the actors for the society as there can be no smoke without making the fire apparently. Sometimes, some people pretended to act as if they were for the people who can see their true colours of narrow mindedness which could only bring tantamount to opposition of social barriers and discontentments. In this way, our life on earth has become miserable and poorer. It is therefore, indispensable on our part to know ourselves.
If at all, we dream some kind of enjoyable world to live in-a world which we long for so long; we all shall then, have to change simultaneously. The world cannot change without us. Our senses shall not be allowed to influence us but our intellect should control them. There is no place for secrecy in society on good purposes; and if any of such is going on between or among some people, something is going wrong with such people then excepting in some very rare cases. We are being led to believe that things are getting better when they are actually getting worse. We are always expecting respect and good things from others when whereas we do not want to do anything worthy to others. It is I and we who are responsible but blaming others for any untoward eventualities in life. For good part we always hasten to take the credit of, but for failures we make other people accountable which shows our half- hearted irresponsibility towards life.
It is also important in life, to think not only more but also bitter; however, in our contemporary society, many people try to think better than to work better in helping the people. We used to think that we are making the right compromisingly against our own conscience. We should use our liberty to think and not the liberty of thinking to make us to think. This thinking should not complicate the matter but simplify or prevent from becoming deteriorated. In other words, it should not dwell in the dilemma of confusing perimeter but lessen the intensity of the problem. As rational beings, in the matters of disagreement, we need to exchange our positions and try to understand each other’s stand-points by leaving aside our respective arguments. This gives us a larger perspective, wider horizon and a deeper understanding of the problem under discussion.
In our present-day world, conflict is important which is not an end in itself but a means to an end. On good purposes, honest or constructive criticism is essentially called for as opposed to destructive criticism. For socially useful issues, we need a critical analysis of the mind for arriving at a logical conclusion backed by clarity of thought and vision. To quote Hegel, a great political thinker, “Thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis are the stages of development”. There is always a solution to every problem; and it is not a problem if there is no a solution to it conversely. As such, we must find out some ways and means for the solution. Which is why, education imparts knowledge to the people to be always on the side of the problem solution. As the adage goes: “To err is human; to forgive divine”. Nobody is interested to do wrong but everybody makes the mistake. Therefore, as intellectuals as we were, need to do a lot of adjustment. The people who are right should forgive the wrongful people and not the vice versa as we value human relationship for good purposes.
Non-violence and peaceful co-existence is of great importance. But we cannot agree with what we think to be wrong at the cost of our rights. We have to speak out the truth first and then only after which we have to forgive others if it is necessary to do so. Many things may happen; almost everything is transitory; time is short; man may come and go; but truth remains constant and reigns supreme forever which is the source of joy and essence of life. Therefore, We must be very courageous not for fighting but on standing for the truth in our life-time.
King Solomon had stated. “As the wisdom increases, so also the sorrows”. There are countless problems confronting our society today. And these are mostly man-made problems. Such is the case, these problems should be solved through human efforts identifying the behaviours of the individuals. However, we are in itself but not for itself. To quote Billy Graham, the world famous preacher and evangelist: “ We are the most informed people in the history of civilization and yet the most miserable on earth”. We are the people Who are very committed to ruin one another. There is no peace in our minds.
To this effect. William Wordsworth, the greatest poet reclined to remark in pity: “ Have I no reason to lament what man has made of man”! Indeed, we want for ourselves but we hate and refuse to appreciate the good and success of others. This is very contradictory and paradoxical in nature. We cannot live in isolation but in society we live. we cannot therefore, fool the whole people for all the times.
At this very critical juncture of social turmoil, we need to change our attitude and mindset for a paradigm shift. The renown poet P.B. Shelley’s thought conveys here in verbatim: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind”! If we admit our human short-comings through retrospection and look forward for better things through introspection, everything will be possible for better life-chances in future. This change can be possible through inward adjustment of moral action which is the quality of the soul. A good thought eventually beautifies actions which in turn encourage better thoughts. This thought certainly dispels darkness, misunderstanding, hatred, selfishness, aggressive ness, suspicion, ruthlessness and untrustworthiness but which overwhelmingly brings harmony, mutual interaction, justice, humility, peace and happiness to one’s search on actualization in the philosophy of existentialism.
Although the idea of human goodness may change according to times and circumstances, an unexamined life is not worth living. We cannot change the events but we can change our approach to events that we must convert the difficulties into opportunities for larger life. For this reason, cultural assimilation is important not because it is new but because it is good. Such is that therefore, some of the obsolete values which prevent progress may be changed in favour of enlightened ideas. In our day-today life, we need wisdom which not only makes us to understand others but also to love them.
Happiness is the necessary but inevitable outcome of love; and love is the source of creativity and immortality, but the highest idea is the love of spiritual beauty according to Aristotle, the famous Greek political philosopher. Beginning from the beautiful things and moving step to step to beautiful bodies, beautiful practices, beautiful learning, beautiful works, one may reach the love of perfection of beauty which is the highest idea of beauty in God’s beauty. Without shadows a picture is not complete or wholly beautiful. If there is not the negation of good, the good loses its values. However, the people of small mind discuss about people; of average mind discuss about events; but the people of great mind discuss about ideas. Although we do not agree with their ideas, w e have to respect their rights of having so in some way. Darkness prevails in society only in the absence of light that when the light appears, the darkness will disappear by itself.
In conclusion, somethings which are common to all of us may be appreciated and cherished in congruence. Respecting others is respecting ourselves. As we consider ourselves to be as themselves, our concern for their life will surely value our life as we progress the journey together in life. In the whole, our achievements will be the achievements of the society which cannot die when we die. To this end in view, the educated, the wealthy, the rulers and the strong have a great role to play in transforming our society. Let the spirit of love once again penetrate into our hearts for a worthy life through disseminating the knowledge of adjustment and realization in God’s good time.
P. H. John
Kohima: Nagaland
Kohima: Nagaland
