{"id":2789,"date":"2013-07-13T01:43:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2789"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:43:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:43:50","slug":"12-ethics-east-and-west-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/06-07-bande-mataram\/12-ethics-east-and-west-vol-06-07-bande-mataram","title":{"rendered":"-12_Ethics East and West.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n
\nEthics East and West <\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n[….. if the] natural disparity which is so confidently asserted by
\nEuropeans and reasserted in echo by not a few Anglicised or revolted Hindus, be a truth and not a fiction of racial pride,
\nthe national movement in India becomes a blunder and a solecism. For this movement proceeds on two assertions which the
\nEuropean position directly traverses, the natural equality of the Asiatic to the European, which justifies us in aspiring to liberty
\nand the control of our own destinies and the immense superiority of our own religion, ethics and social ideals to the Western.
\nIn traffic with the West we seek only to import the scientific knowledge, the mechanical apparatus of war and communication and the method of efficient organisation in Government which have made it so eminently formidable, but we wish to
\nbar out, if may be, all that disease of the intellect & social constitution born of individualistic materialism which makes it
\nso eminently miserable. If we are right, our spiritual and moral strength without which material greatness cannot endure lies
\nin the use and development of our own religion and ideals. Otherwise, our whole aspiration is an unhealthy dream and
\nthere is no reason in Nature why we should not remain for ever the subjects and servants of European races with an occasional
\nchange of masters as our sole relief in the long monotony of servitude. It is therefore essential for us to know the truth. In
\nthe following pages I have sought to provide the materials for a correct judgment, aiming chiefly at a right presentation of the
\nspirit and truth of our ancient philosophy, religion and ethics, which have hitherto been presented to the world by European
\nexpositors who show at every step their imperfect and often
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nA fragment from the opening of a proposed work of political philosophy.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 93<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nutterly erroneous understanding of what they pretend to explain. It is necessary to understand aright before we praise or condemn; and the ethical aspect of Hinduism is like everything
\nHindu so much a part and a thing of itself that it is only those of whose blood & bone it has become a part who can be trusted
\nto put it before others from a right perspective and in the true proportions. Only then can the issue between the East and West
\nbe justly decided.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nCHAPTER I
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nTHE ETHICAL BASIS IN EUROPE <\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nMorality is like all else in this world of perceptions, phenomenal
\nin its nature; it is neither eternal nor unchanging, but depends on two things, that in which it lives & moves and the conditions
\nthat surround & work upon its receptacle. It is true that certain virtues, purity, humanity, truth, self-sacrifice are at present
\nvaguely recognized as moral standards by all civilized peoples; but they were not recognized at all times & places in the past
\nand there is no guarantee that they will be recognized at all times and places in the future. Moreover the definite meaning
\nand extent of these names and the limits within which men are willing to honour them in practical life, varies immensely in
\ndifferent countries. The standard of morality is determined not by the profession of the community, but by the actual though unwritten code of actions which the community as a whole strives to practise and which, even if it does not succeed in attaining, it
\nhonestly approves & honours in those who do attain it. Indeed the extraordinary variations & flat contradiction of the ethical
\nstandard as determined by place and time, has become so much a commonplace that it is hardly worth while to dwell upon it.
\nThe no less extraordinary variations and flat contradictions of the ethical standard as practised in the same place and the same
\ntime, have not received so much attention, and yet they are of even greater psychological value.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nDetermined by time and place<\/i>. All things move indeed in space and time and are to a certain extent conditioned by them;
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 94<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tbut they are not determined by these mental abstractions. The
\ndetermining forces are always two, the adhara or receptacle or field and the conditions which act on the receptacle. The field
\nof morality is triple, the individual, the collective mind of the community, race, nation or body of nations that profess it and
\nthe collective mind of all humanity, the latter attaining especial importance in these days when all parts of the world are in some
\nsort of touch with each other. The conditions which act on it are the various physical and other influences which have acted or
\nare now acting on the individual and collective mind and most of all its spiritual history.
\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\tPage \u2013 95<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethics East and West   [….. if the] natural disparity which is so confidently asserted by Europeans and reasserted in echo by not a few…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-07-bande-mataram","wpcat-54-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789","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=2789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}