{"id":1050,"date":"2013-07-13T01:32:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:32:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:15","slug":"09-opinion-and-comments-3-7-1909-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/02-karmayogin-volume-02\/09-opinion-and-comments-3-7-1909-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-09_Opinion and Comments 3-7-1909.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n


\n\tOpinion and Comments<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Volume I – July
\n\t3, 1909 – Number 3<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n The
\n Highest Synthesis<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

            <\/font>
\n\tI<\/b><\/font>n
\n\tthe Bengalee<\/i>‘s issue of the 29th June there is a very interesting
\n\tarticle on Nationalism and Expediency, which seems to us to call for some
\n\tcomment. The object of the article is to modify or water the strong wine of
\n\tNationalism by a dash of expediency. Nationalism is a faith, the writer
\n\tadmits; he even goes much farther than we are prepared to go and claims for
\n\tNationalism that it is the highest of all syntheses. This is a conclusion we
\n\tare not prepared to accept; it is, we know, the highest which European
\n\tthought has arrived at so far as that thought has expressed itself in the
\n\tactual life and ideals of the average European. In Positivism Europe has
\n\tattempted to arrive at a higher synthesis, the synthesis of humanity; and
\n\tSocialism and philosophical Anarchism, the Anarchism of Tolstoy and Spencer,
\n\thave even envisaged the application of the higher intellectual synthesis to
\n\tlife. In India we do not recognise the nation as the highest synthesis to
\n\twhich we can rise. There is a higher synthesis, humanity; beyond that there
\n\tis a still higher synthesis, this living, suffering, aspiring world of
\n\tcreatures, the synthesis of Buddhism; there is a highest of all, the
\n\tsynthesis of God, and that is the Hindu synthesis, the synthesis of Vedanta.
\n\tWith us today Nationalism is our immediate practical faith and gospel not
\n\tbecause it is the highest possible synthesis, but because it must be
\n\trealised in life if we are to have the chance of realising the others. We
\n\tmust live as a nation before we can live in humanity. It is for this reason
\n\tthat Nationalist thinkers have always urged the necessity of realising our
\n\tseparateness from other nations and living to ourselves for the present, not
\n\tin order to shut out humanity, but that we may get that individual strength,
\n\tunity and wholeness which will help us to live as a nation for humanity. A
\n\tman must be strong and free in himself before he can live usefully for
\n\tothers, so must a nation. But<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 42<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n


\n\tthat does not justify us in forgetting the ultimate aim of evolution. God in
\n\tthe nation becomes the realisation of the first moment to us because the
\n\tnation is the chosen means or condition through which we rise to the higher
\n\tsyntheses. God in humanity, God in all creatures, God in Himself and ourself.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n Faith
\n and Analysis<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n


\n\tBecause Nationalism is the highest synthesis, it is more than a mere faith,
\n\tsays the Bengalee<\/i>, it embodies an analysis, however unconscious or
\n\teven inadequate, of the actual forces and conditions of life. We do not
\n\tquite understand our contemporary’s philosophy. An unconscious analysis is a
\n\tcontradiction in terms. There may be a vague and ill-expressed weighing of
\n\tthings in the rough, but that is not analysis. Analysis is in its nature a
\n\tdeliberate intellectual process; the other is merely a perception of things
\n\tseparately or together but without analysis. And analysis is not
\n\tinconsistent with faith, but must accompany it unless the faith is merely
\n\tsuperstition. Every faith is to a certain extent rational, it has its own
\n\tanalysis and synthesis by which it seeks to establish itself intellectually;
\n\tso has Nationalism. What the Bengalee<\/i> means is apparently that our
\n\tfaith ought not to exceed our observation; in other words, we ought to
\n\tcalculate the forces for and against us and if the favourable forces are
\n\tweak and the unfavourable strong, we ought to move with caution and
\n\thesitation. Now that is a very different question which has nothing to do
\n\twith the philosophical aspect of Nationalism but with the policy of the
\n\tmoment. Our position is that Nationalism is our faith, our dharma<\/i>,
\n\tand its realisation the duty which lies before the country at the present
\n\tmoment. If so, it is a thing which must be done and from which we cannot
\n\tturn merely because the forces are against us. If we rely on an analysis of
\n\tforces, what is it we arrive at ? It was only yesterday that there was a
\n\tseries of articles in the Bengalee<\/i> which sought to establish the
\n\tproposition that the Hindus on whom the burden of the movement has fallen
\n\tare a doomed and perishing race. The writer arrived at that conclusion by
\n\tpatient and exhaustive analysis. What else does analysis<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 43<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n


\n\tshow us ? <\/b>It shows us one of the most powerful Governments in the
\n\tworld determined not to part with its absolute control and aided for the
\n\tpresent by a large part of one of the chief communities in India. On the
\n\tother side a people unequipped, unorganised, without means or resources,
\n\tdivided within itself, a considerable portion of it inert, and even in the
\n\teducated class a part of it unsympathetic, afraid, insisting on caution and
\n\tprudence. Shall we then turn from our work ? Shall we deny God ? Rationality
\n\tdemands that we should. And if we do not, it is simply because it would be
\n\tto deny God, because we have ‘mere’ faith, because we believe that God is
\n\twithin us, a spiritual force strong enough to overcome all physical
\n\tobstacles, weaknesses, disabilities, that God is in the movement, that He is
\n\tits leader and guides it, that we belong to the world and the future and are
\n\tnot a spent and dying force. This faith we hold because we understand the
\n\tprocesses by which He works and can therefore see good in evil, light in the
\n\tdarkness, a preparation for victory in defeat, a new life in the apparent
\n\tprocess of disintegration.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n Mature
\n Deliberation<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\tThat the movement is from God has been apparent in its history. Our
\n\tcontemporary does not believe that God created and leads the movement, he
\n\tthinks that Sj. Surendranath Banerji created it and leads it. Only so can we
\n\texplain the extraordinary statement, "every step that has been taken in
\n\tconstruction has been preceded by mature deliberation". Is this so ? Was the
\n\tSwadeshi movement preceded by mature deliberation ? Everybody knows that it
\n\twas scouted by our leaders and, if it had been again proposed to them a
\n\tmonth before it suddenly seized the country, would still have been scouted.
\n\tIt came as a flood comes and swept away everybody in its mighty current. Was
\n\tthe Boycott preceded by mature deliberation ? Everybody knows how it came,
\n\tadvocated by obscure mofussil towns, propagated by a Calcutta vernacular
\n\tnewspaper, forced on leaders who shrank from it with misgivings, accepted it
\n\twith tremors and even then would<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 44<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\n\tonly have used it for a short time as a means of pressure to get the
\n\tPartition reversed. Everybody knows how it spread over Bengal with the
\n\timpetuosity of a cyclone. Was the National Education movement preceded by
\n\tmature deliberation ? It came suddenly, it came unexpectedly, unwelcome to
\n\tmany and still damned with a half-hearted support by the leaders of the
\n\tcountry. That is what we mean by saying that God is in the movement and
\n\tleads it. It is a greater than human force, incalculable, sudden and
\n\timpetuous, which has swept over the country shattering and recreating,
\n\ttransforming cowards into heroes, lovers of ease into martyrs, self-seekers
\n\tinto self-sacrificers, changing in a few years the whole outlook, temper and
\n\tcharacter of a nation.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n The
\n Importance of the Individual<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It
\n\tis not surprising that with these ideas the Bengalee<\/i> should deprecate
\n\tthe call for continued courage and self-sacrifice which has been made by
\n\tSrijut Aurobindo Ghose in his speech at Jhalakati, for to that speech the
\n\tarticle is a controversial answer. The cry for expediency resolves itself
\n\tinto an argument for individual prudence on the part of the leaders. "It
\n\tseems to us to be a fatal idea that for the progress of the nation
\n\tindividuals are not necessary or that particular individuals are not more
\n\tnecessary than other individuals." And the writer asks whether an organ is
\n\tjustified in cutting itself off for the sake of the organism, and
\n\timmediately answers his own question partially by saying, yes, when the
\n\tinterests of the organism require it. The metaphor is a false one; for the
\n\tindividual is not an organ, he is simply an atom, and atoms not only can be
\n\treplaced but are daily replaced, and the replacement is necessary for the
\n\tcontinued life of the organism. In times of stress or revolution the
\n\treplacement is more rapid, that is all. Whatever the importance of
\n\tparticular individuals, \u2014 and the importance of men like Sj. Aswini Kumar
\n\tDutta or Sj. Krishna Kumar Mitra is not denied by any man in his senses and
\n\twas not denied but dwelt upon by the speaker at Jhalakati, \u2014 they are not
\n\tnecessary, in the sense that God does not depend upon them for the execution
\n\tof His purposes. Our<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 45<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n


\n\tcontemporary does not expressly deny God’s existence or His omnipotence or
\n\tHis providence, and if he accepts them, he is debarred from insisting that
\n\tGod cannot save India without Sj. Surendranath Banerji or Sj. Aswini Kumar
\n\tDutta, that He is unable to remove them and find other instruments or that
\n\ttheir deportation or disappearance will defer the fulfilment of His purposes
\n\tto future centuries.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n The
\n Fatalism of Action<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\tOur contemporary does however seem to doubt these qualities in the Ruler of
\n\tall. He holds it to be a fatal doctrine "that we are none of us necessary,
\n\tthat everything that is happening or can happen is for the best, that God is
\n\tseeking His fulfilment in inscrutable ways, that He will Himself lead the
\n\tcountry when our prominent men are removed from the arena". This, he says,
\n\tis fatalism, and by flinging the word fatalism at Srijut Aurobindo, he
\n\tthinks he has damned his position. The word fatalism means usually a
\n\tresigned passivity, and certainly any leader who preached such a gospel
\n\twould be injuring the country. That would be indeed a fatal doctrine. But
\n\tour contemporary admits that it is a fatalism of action and not of inaction
\n\the is censuring, he blames the speaker for advocating too much action and
\n\tnot too little. All that the "fatalism" censured means is a firm faith in
\n\tthe love and wisdom of God and a belief based on past experience that as it
\n\tis His purpose to raise up India, therefore everything that happens or can
\n\thappen just now will tend to the fulfilment of His purpose. In other words,
\n\tthere is now an upward tendency in the nation with an immense force behind
\n\tit and, in such conditions, it is part of human experience that the force
\n\tmakes use of every event to assist the progress of the tendency until its
\n\tcontribution to human development is fulfilled. That is the idea of kāla<\/i>
\n\tor the Zeitgeist working, and, put religiously, it means that God being
\n\tSupreme Wisdom uses everything for His supreme purposes and out of evil
\n\tcometh good. This is true of our private life as every man of spiritual
\n\tinsight can testify; he can name and estimate the particular good which has
\n\tcome out<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 46<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

of every apparent evil in his life. The same
\n\ttruth applies to the life of the nation.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n God’s Ways<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\tWhen it is said that God’s ways are inscrutable, it is simply meant that
\n\tman’s reason, on which the Bengalee<\/i> lays so much stress, is not
\n\talways sufficient to estimate at the time the object He has in a particular
\n\tdispensation of calamity or defeat. It seems to be nothing but calamity and
\n\tdefeat and it is only afterwards that the light of reason looking backwards
\n\tis able by the illumination of subsequent events to understand His doings.
\n\tTherefore we must have faith and an invincible faith or else the calamities
\n\twill be too great for our courage and endurance. Is this a false doctrine or
\n\ta fatal doctrine ? Will the country be injured by it or helped by it ? Srijut
\n\tAurobindo never said that God would step in to fill the place of Srijut
\n\tAswini Dutta or others removed from the arena. His position was that God has
\n\tbeen driving on the movement from the beginning and was always the leader
\n\twhen they were with us and remains the leader when they are taken from us.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n Adequate
\n Value<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n\tThe Bengalee<\/i> insists however that individual life is quite as sacred
\n\tfor its own purposes<\/i> as national life for its higher purposes, that
\n\tthe nation must get adequate value<\/i> for each sacrifice that the
\n\tindividuals make, and that great men must protect themselves from danger
\n\tbecause their removal at a critical moment may mean incalculable injury. We
\n\tdeny that individual life is as sacred as national life; the smaller cannot
\n\tbe so sacred as the greater, self cannot be so sacred as others, and to say
\n\tthat it is quite as sacred for its own purposes is to deify selfishness. Our
\n\tlives are useful only in proportion as they help others by example or action
\n\tor tend to fulfil God in man. It is not true that my ease is sacred, my
\n\tsafety is sacred, or my self-interest is sacred. This if anything is "a
\n\tfatal doctrine". We do not deny that sacrifice cannot be an<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 47<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\n\tend to itself; no one is so foolish as to advance any such proposition. But
\n\twhen the Bengalee<\/i> argues that the individual must demand adequate
\n\tvalue for every sacrifice he makes on the national altar, it shows a
\n\tcomplete inability to appreciate the nature of sacrifice and the laws of
\n\tpolitics. If we had acted in this Baniya spirit, we should never have got
\n\tbeyond the point at which we stood four years ago. It is by unhesitating,
\n\twhole-hearted and princely sacrifices that nations effect their liberty. It
\n\thas always been so in the past and the laws of nature have not altered and
\n\twill not alter to suit the calculating prudence of individuals. A great man
\n\tis valuable to the nation and he should guard himself but only so far as he
\n\tcan do so without demoralising his followers, ceasing from the battle or
\n\tabdicating his right to leadership. He should never forget that he leads and
\n\tthe nation looks up to him as a fountain of steadfastness, unselfish
\n\tsacrifice and courage. Expediency means national expediency, not individual
\n\texpediency. Even so it must be the larger expediency which makes great
\n\tsacrifices and faces great risks to secure great ends. Statesmanship is not
\n\tsummed up in the words prudence and caution, it has a place for strength and
\n\tcourage.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n Expediency
\n and Nationalism<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We
\n\thave met the arguments of the Bengalee<\/i> at some length because we hold
\n\tthe teaching in this article to be perilous in its tendencies. There is
\n\tplenty of selfishness, prudence, hesitating calculation in the country,
\n\tplenty of fear and demoralisation in the older generation. There is no need
\n\tto take thought and labour for increasing it. Steadfastness, courage, a calm
\n\tand high spirit are what we now need, wisdom to plan and act, not prudence
\n\tto abstain from action. Nationalism tempered by expediency is like the
\n\tFrench despotism tempered by epigrams. The epigrams undermined the
\n\tdespotism, the expediency is likely to undermine and in some quarters is
\n\tvisibly undermining the Nationalism. More "incalculable injury" is likely to
\n\tbe done by teaching of this kind at this juncture than by the removal of any
\n\tgreat man, however prominent and inspiring his greatness.<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 48<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opinion and Comments Volume I – July 3, 1909 – Number 3   The Highest Synthesis               In the Bengalee‘s issue of the 29th…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-karmayogin-volume-02","wpcat-23-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}