Books I have loved
This is the third in a series of articles on books I have
loved. I urge you to read my earlier two articles as well. If I
have already emailed them to you then do not delete those
emails and refer to those mails more than once.
Here are some more of the books have loved.
Sceptical Essays by Bertrand Russell
Russell is pure entertainment. And you will learn a huge
amount as you are being entertained. His vast learning, clarity
and intellectual honesty will make sure of that.
Russell was a life long unrepentant rationalist but he
himself had a mystical experience of a sort. He was not looking
for it. It just dawned on him. And it basically drove and
guided all his efforts for the rest of his life. He describes
his experience as factually as possible in his
Autobiography.
As far as Sceptical Essays is concerned I have read the book
more than once but only two chapters have stuck in my mind. The
first is the introductory chapter and the second is the chapter
on China titled Eastern and Western Ideals of Happiness.
This chapter on China – as far as I am concerned – is as
close to perfection as anything that it is ever possible to
achieve using the written word. I feel very strongly about this
chapter because as the time when I read it seemed to speak
directly to me and address my problems.
Just a few of the concepts that so changed my life and gave
me a completely new perspective. I am here quoting from the
book:
"Confucius was in all things moderate – even in virtue. He
did not believe that we ought to return good for evil. He was
asked on one occasion: "How do you regard the principle of
returning good for evil?" And he replied, "What then is to be
the return for good? Rather should you return justice for
injustice and good for good."
Contrast this with the statement in the Bible that advises
us to turn the other cheek. This advice might be useful for
person who are saints or who wish to become saints and spread
the word of God. It is not advice that is meant to meet the
needs of ordinary men and women who are just trying to survive
and bring up a family.
The books written by the Chinese have this characteristic
that all they ever wanted to do is to help you survive, help
you look after yourself and lead a happy life – to whatever
extent possible – while you are on this planet Earth. They
never did try to bullshit you, they never did. And they had no
ulterior motives. The Bible – if you look at it that way – has
an ulterior motive. It wants you to go and spread the word of
God. The Chinese seem to think that God can look after Himself,
you can't. And here is how you can get along and be happy while
you are on this Earth.
Here is a second quotation from the book Sceptical Essays
regarding the ethical systems of the Chinese as compared to
that of Western nations.
"It never occurred to the Chinese, as it has to all modern
white nations, to have one system of ethics in theory and
another in practice. I do not mean that they always live up to
their theories but that they attempt to do so and are expected
to do so, whereas there are large parts of the Christian ethic
which are universally admitted to be too good for this wicked
world."
What can I say about these sentences? Pure poetry. I feel
very strongly about these passages as they cured me of my own
naïve and hopelessly misguided idealism.
We were not meant to be angels. Not everybody is a saint and
almost nobody wants to become one. All most people want to do
is to get along and survive and be as happy as is possible
under the circumstances. And is that is the case then why not
help these ordinary folk to get exactly what they want. They
may not do much good but if they are thinking clearly and are
not misguided then at least they will pass through life without
doing much harm.
It is my own experience and that of others no doubt that if
we find ourselves to be deceived by people whom we trusted then
we lose all sense of what is good and become hopelessly
disillusioned and cynical. And we become so filled with hate
that it is difficult to stop ourselves from harming others. We
might find ourselves deceived by our family, our friends or the
books that we have read. In such cases most of us throw out the
baby with the bathwater and reject not only what is bad in the
ethic that we were taught but what is good in it as well.
I like things explained to me. I want to know what I am
getting into. And I want someone whose motive I can trust to
explain these things to me.
Bertrand Russell is that person. And so are the Chinese.
The Introductory Chapter in Sceptical Essays makes a
compelling argument in favor of skepticism. We – in India – and
no doubt in western countries as well under the Christian
influence are told to have faith and be obedient. Russell wants
us not to believe but to be skeptical. And he says that this
quality alone, if it became universal would turn our Earth into
a paradise.
Russell's description of how our unconscious malevolence
towards others leads us to find excuses for actions that lead
to our own ruin is incomparable. You will find that too in the
introductory chapter and that itself is worth the price of
admission. And the price of admission is meager. I picked up my
copy of Russell for the rupee equivalent of GBP 1.50 more than
10 years back. I still have the book with me. I don't think the
price has gone up very much since then.
From my own experience I would say that it is better to know
yourself as the Greeks advised, if you wish to be happy in this
world. For that books are only an aid. It is better to do
meditation or learn martial arts. But is you are of an
intellectual type, read Russell. You will not regret it.
It is best of course – as Osho Rajneesh advised – to be man
of science as well as a man of the spirit. Then you are
multi-dimensional, truly capable to taking on the world.
Anyway this article is about books I have loved. And I
certainly love Russell.
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful
to you.
Stay tuned for more in this continuing series.
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