Saturday, September 15, 2012

048. Non-Violence. Aldous Huxley Essay. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran

048.

Non-Violence. Aldous Huxley Essay. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

 

 
First published: 21st Aug 2012

When national policies conflict, there is war. It always has been so, in spite of the world’s nations’ attempts to settle things amicably. Violence is the sister of war and mighty nations are not shameful to unleash violence on their next door neighbours, next day brothers. Non-violence has been the cherished dream of mankind since the first sunrise after the dawn of civilization. Even then the realization of this dream is remaining far distant due to psychological settings of the world’s mind.

A row of successful non-violent struggles before us to imitate; still we are reluctant to adopt this proven principle. 

Thomas Arnold Teacher, a great grand uncle of Aldous Huxley.
Here and there a few humanitarians and philosophers have occasionally looked into the prospect of moulding a new world order based on the lines of non-violence. Novelists like Tolstoy, essayists like George Orwell, H.G.Wells, Arnold Toynbee, Aldous Huxley and many others have inculcated the principles of non-violence which is fit to be adopted in international crises management. We have the fine political examples of many mighty empires having been brought down by non-violent revolutions carried out by peasants and agricultural labourers as those led by Gandhi and his contemporaries in India. Still we are reluctant to accept the principles of non-violence as our political problems solving policy. It is due to the devious and treacherous basic traits latent in man as an animal that nations still resort to violence when they have to address a problem, social, political, economical or ethnical. 


Aldous Huxley was born into a family of generations of great intellectuals.
    
Thomas Huxley, senior brother of Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley was a British essayist, novelist and critic. He belonged to a family of distinguished scientists and thinkers. The celebrated scientist Thomas Huxley was his great grand-father and the famous educationalist Thomas Arnold was his great grand-uncle. Poet Matthew Arnold was his grand uncle. His mother was a distinguished educationalist and his father Leonard Huxley was a writer. The famous biologist Sir. Julian Huxley was his elder brother. The Burning Wheel , Chrome Yellow, Brave New World , Proper Studies and Music At Night are a few of his major works. Aldous Huxley was one of the chief intellectual driving forces of his times. His essays are gentle and imaginative. The present essay discusses how non-violence is applicable to individuals, groups, nations and the people of the new industrial age. 

Non-violence comes to prisons and asylums in the nineteenth century in England.
 

Bethlehem Mental Hospital in London in 1896.



Non-violence is the policy of passive resistance. Resistance indeed is there, only that it is not active. It has the power to overcome evil, anger and hatred. The principles of non-violence have been applied systematically in solving social and medical problems which were considered to be completely insoluble. In the past, violence prevailed over the handling of the insane, the criminal and the savage. It made the victim only incurable. Asylums and prisons were places where inmates were treated with cruelty and violence. Asylums were filthy places with dungeons, chains and torture chambers. The insane were subjected to violence as if they were criminals. In 1815 a committee of the British M.P.s investigated the state of Bethlehem Hospital in London and found it appalling. Sine then, non-violent treatment has been adopted, showing kindness and sympathy. Similarly, in prisons, torture made the innocents demoralized and the criminals more criminal. When John Howard began his investigations on prison life in the 18th century, the only decent prisons in Europe were those in Amsterdam, Holland being a country with lesser crimes. Since then, there have been many prison reforms. Thus Huxley adeptly proves that non-violence is applicable in relations of individuals with other individuals. 


Missionary gossip and the role of anthropologists in the practice of non-violence.
 

Torture Chamber in Spis Castle. By Dariusz Wozniak.

Anthropologists study the origin, development and social behaviour of mankind. In the past they depended on baseless news given by travelling missionaries, i.e. ‘missionary gossip’ to form their theories. Missionaries returning from foreign lands after failed missions won’t attribute reasons for their failure to their wrong policies but would portray people of those lands as brutal intolerant savages holding pagan beliefs who brought down the missionaries’ works. As a result, colonial administrations remained violent and cruel to their subjects in the conquered lands. But later, the anthropologists practically began living with the objects of their study and learned the realities in those lands. They discovered that intelligent and sympathetic non-violence is the best and most practical policy to be adopted on subjects by an administration. Thus the colonial rule of the Belgian, Dutch, English and French became more humane, non-violent and efficient. Only the Italian Fascist Mussolini remained aggressive. His hideous methods of bombs and poison gas employed in the conquest of Abyssinia were brought to light and condemned by all.



Non-violent non-cooperation successfully prevented in England a war with Russia in 1920.

Torture Rack in Spis Castle in Slovakia. By Podzemnik.

Non-violence is applicable in the relations of populations with governments. Gandhi’s non-violent mass movements in South Africa and India were brilliant successes. He effectively trained very large groups of people in non-violent non-cooperation and boycott, who courageously responded to brutal treatment. This impressed all and gained him favour of public opinion and support of the entire world. In England, in 1920, non-violent non-cooperation successfully prevented a war. Labour Movement declared War Boycott and refused to transport men and materials to war front. Faced with this ultimatum, the Lloyd George government abandoned its plans of war on Russia. 


Man leads a dual life as a private individual and as representative of a social group.
 
Spanish Boot in Spis Castle in Slovakia. By Podzemnik.


In relations of governments with other governments, non-violence is often considered impractical. Examples of genuine non-violent behaviour between governments are rare. This is because of the dual nature and behaviour of man as a private individual and as member of a group. He has two systems of morality. In private life, man is honest, humane and considerate. But as citizens of a nation, he thinks his nation can go to any extreme. We all do. The nation is personified in our imagination as a being, superhuman in power and glory, but sub human in morality.


Notes:


Standing on a land that is India where the first known poet and philosopher Valmiki wrote Ma Nishada, or You Never Kill, we can certainly speak to the world the gospel of non-violence and human love. The Father of the Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was, along with Rabindranath Tagore and Count Leo Tolstoy, and also George Bernard Shaw, was the greatest proclaimer of the gospel of human love to the world since the time of Jesus Christ. India through the ages disseminated the message of Gods' affection and consideration for man. Even though somewhat diminished in the rush for prospects and physical pleasures, the tendency to sacrifice one’s life for the welfare of others is still prominent and dominant in Indian lives, especially in the lives of the poor people of India. Gandhi also sacrificed his life for his ideal of embracing the divided Indians and the Pakistanis at the same time. When India spends billions on account of preparing a war and defense machinery against the nation of Pakistan and Pakistan diverts precious national revenue for purchasing missiles and war machines against sister India, Pakistanis think how natural the Indian film stars act and the Indians think how majestic and enchanting the Pakistani Ghazal singers sing. Governments in the modern day world no more reflect the will of their people. Objectives of people which could easily and quickly have been realized through art, literature, music, cinema, cricket and football are objected to by governments, for they wish there shall be two governments to rule, two parliaments to spend time in and two judiciaries to pronounce the same universal human law in two conflicting ways. Unification of the divided German nations is their lesson for the future. Why waste precious people's money for running two governments? The world is changing, and eliminating the evils of the ill famous Second World War one by one. Aldous Huxley's thoughts are more important than ever in the present times.


When we read the articles written by many philosophers like Bertrand Russell, Arnold Toynbee, Bernard Shaw, Aldous Huxley and H.G.Wells, we think how fortunate the world is for having tones of beautiful pages written by learned and tasty geniuses for us all to read without stop. We also will feel lonely at the thought of living at a time, with the total absence of such eminent thinkers and writers continuously conversing to us all around us in our society. It is our solace and luck they wrote profusely before they passed away, so that the intellectually impoverished we can read something refreshing, till the end our days. 


Writers like Arnold Toynbee, Robert Lynd, Aldous Huxley and Bertrand Russell produced excellent literature which captivated generations including mine. But the world now does not read them as frequently and regularly as before. I pay them respect in my simple way of reintroducing them in layman's terms, for the sole reason they inspired me, so that they will be continued to be read and read and read. No one shall have to leave them unread. The praise goes to those excellent authors who are now gone from among us. We can only keep the world's interest in them live. 


The concept of non-violence works when the concerned opponent is somewhat equal or sophisticated. It did work with the British in India when the British became convinced that India would become the country where the greatest number of dead British are burried if violence in India reached its full manifestation. The Irish Republican Army tried non-violence in British prisons by turning to non-eating fasts but found that they were only weakening their body. After the death of seven of their comrades in a days-long relay fast in Maize prison, they returned to guerrilla warfare and violence. 




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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Dear Reader,
If you cannot access all pages of P.S.Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum, kindly access them via this link provided here:
https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/wiki-nut-articles

To read about the life and people of Kerala, the author’s native land, visit KERALA COMMENTARY here.

For more articles of this kind, visit SAHYADRI BOOKS here or BLOOM BOOKS, TRIVANDRUM.


Tags

Active Resistance, Aldous Huxley, Bloom Books Trivandrum,British Authors, British Writers, Dual Nature Of Man, English Essays, Gandhis Mass Movements, Huxley Family, Incurable Victims, Inter Governmental Relations, John Howard Prison Reforms, Missionary Gossip, National Citizens, Non Violence,Non Violence In Industrial Age, P S Remesh Chandran, Passive Resistance, Reintroduced Literature, Resisting Brutality,Sahyadri Books Trivandrum, Torture Chambers, World Citizens

Comments

Sivaramakrishnan A
21st Aug 2012 (#)

Thought provoking post that is more relevant now. There are no victors in violence; even those who live to tell the tale of success carry heavy scars in their psyches - siva

PSRemeshChandra
21st Aug 2012 (#)

Thank you dear Sivaramakrishnan A, for your valuable comment, which supplements Aldous Huxley's observations well. 

Sivaramakrishnan A
22nd Aug 2012 (#)


Thank you indeed, RC! War is waged by selfish politicians and they use common citizens as their pawns. It is so easy to rouse emotions now, like it was from primeval times! We are easily used by all types of leaders for their ends! Modern technology has made us realise - we are one and the same, but we still go at each other' s throats at the drop of a hat! siva. 

A K Rao 

21st Aug 2012 (#)

Simply Superb Article Dear Ramesh Chandran Sir!

PSRemeshChandra
21st Aug 2012 (#)

Unfortunately I cannot convey your appreciation to Huxley. Thank you for your comment, dear A.K.Rao.

Madan
22nd Aug 2012 (#)

Excellent post. Deserved star page

PSRemeshChandra
22nd Aug 2012 (#)

Thank you dear Madan for the comment.

Buzz
23rd Aug 2012 (#)

Simply outstanding!

PSRemeshChandra
23rd Aug 2012 (#


Praise goes to Aldous Huxley really.

Md Rezaul Karim
3rd Sep 2012 (#)


Interestingly when you are equal, the concept of non-violence works. But if the competency or strengths and weaknesses are significant then coercion takes place and the ethics and morality wither away! 

PSRemeshChandra
3rd Sep 2012 (#)
 

Thank you dear Md Rezaul Karim for reading and the comment.
 
Meet the author  

PSRemeshChandra

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan : The Intelligent Picture Book.







047. Think Twice Before Publishing With Free Article Directories. Essay By P S Remesh Chandran

047.

Think Twice Before Publishing With Free Article Directories. Essay By P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum 

01. Article Title Image By Kropekk PL. Graphics: Adobe SP


First published: 2nd May 2012

Online publishing platforms are a great solace not only to those who seek up-to-date and current knowledge, but for those who wish to publish articles without complications also. Websites like Wikinut serve this purpose fine. One can also publish articles in free article directories like Go Articles and E Zine which would surely bring traffic to one's website. But once a sensible writer steps into this alien field, he would soon realize that he has actually stepped into a treacherous bog. 

A flood of inferior links comes as a deluge to search results, obscuring all your good links.

 

It is the wish of every writer who owns a blog or site to drive more traffic to his or her blog and site. Publishing articles in the articles data bases Go Articles and E Zine is the most advised way for attracting traffic into a site. The idea is, since these are reputed sites and by publishing in them your name becomes noted, clicks leading to your site will correspondingly increase and this increase of activity in your site will eventually lead to your site’s ranking going higher up with search engines. These data bases offer back links to at least four or five of your sites. You certainly will get more traffic to your site. But, no sooner you begin publishing your articles with these data bases than your digital world will become cramped and confused with hundreds of links leading to inferior sites, obscuring all good links which you have cherished for long. Therefore think twice, before publishing with them. 

If you are not interested in making money from your website, never publish in these free article data bases.

 

These sites are free article data bases, accessible to anyone. By publishing in them, you practically make your articles go public domain, which means anyone can use it anyway. Thousands of disciplined and legitimate readers use these data bases daily for gathering information on a wide variety of subjects. Students, teachers, writers, researchers, publishers, advertisers, all go there to find suitable articles, and they do find these data bases immensely helpful. It is true, this kind of exposure puts you on the main stream of publishing as regard to readership. And if you are interested in making money from your site, it is good again. But once you search, at times, where your articles are going, you will be horrified at the wantonness with which your articles are reused. There indeed are a few decent and imaginative websites which republish your articles as pages in the midst of which their advertisements are posted, doing it in a way that you will be thrilled at the beauty with which your articles are republished. But the most dreaded among them are indecent websites who download your articles from these data bases and use them for illegitimate purposes, in a way it would look that you have endorsed their activities. The end product will look horrible and make people think, who this wreck of an author is to have written such an insensible piece of writing.

02. Article Title Image By Glenn Carstens-Peters. Graphics: Adobe SP

The word ‘soil’ in your article will lead to some real estate firm and the word ‘money’ will lead to all kinds of hoary money making (loosing) techniques.


Suppose there is a website titled ‘Hundred Ways To Make Money’. They take your article on ‘A Walk In The Moonlight’. When they publish it, your article will not have the usual titles, sub titles, punctuation, lay out or justification. Almost all words in the article would have been made into links which would lead to their heinous advertisements. If you have the word ‘soil’ in the article, it would be made a link, which if clicked, would lead to some real estate firm. If you have put the word ‘car’ somewhere in the article, it will surely lead to some car financing company. The word ‘money’ will lead to all kinds of hoary money making (loosing) methods and financing. Links to your sites and blogs, when clicked, will lead to theirs. In search results, your name will be there, along with that ‘Hundred Ways To Make Money’ link, as if it is you who is running that site. Everything can be read, except your article which would be totally missing. A long list of such cheating sites can be added here for the care of writers: trivandrum locanto, bloglinez, shopturbo, infibeambooks, allvoices, lovepets, livinskiy, pageinsider, fashionbeautyonlinestore, rainoutfit, ebay, namepedia, bestpriceprobe, housesplans, 911pipl, milkandcream. This is just to show who can be there, using writers’ articles indecently. Do not please click their names and send more traffic to them from authors. But since the names of a few indecent sites are noted here, it would be inappropriate and inopportune not to mention the good and decent websites which reuse writers’ articles to the total satisfaction of those writers. They include heartattackforwomen, iraisedit, loudfeeds, blurbwire, pigroot, geliyoo and fearnowine, to mention a few. 

Soon your good links will disappear in an ocean of links leading to inferior websites.

Suppose you write for Wikinut and when someone searches on the internet for your name, Wikinut links will appear first. Once you publish in these data bases, it will change. These rogue websites which copy your articles will occupy the first, second, third and fourth pages, and if possible all the rest pages, of the search results. It is like they enjoying a free ride standing on your shoulders. They want pages for their web sites to run, which they cannot create themselves. They download and publish your pages their way, without observing publishers’ norms. A few writers will regularly type their names and see what results appear on internet searches. They will soon find that links to their good sites have vanished in a flood of links from rogue sites with their names, minus their articles. Many of them will make complaints to these data bases about how their articles were misused by many websites. They will get the following standard reply which is useless and impracticable to the writer anyway: 

“We do require publishers to follow our republishing guidelines: As most publishers simply need to be reminded that they must follow our guidelines for publishers, we first suggest contacting the owner of the site in question. If no response is received, you may then get into contact with the site’s web host (contact information can be found by going here: http://www.who.is and entering their website), requesting they enforce their Acceptable Use Policy. Please note, as you maintain the copyright to your articles, you are responsible for protecting that copyright.” 

It would not be as easy for the writer to disengage himself as it is to put his neck in the midst of this kind of a grinding wheel.

His articles going to the most wrong places is the dread of all fine writers. If you write an article ‘Advice against artificial baby feed’, it would promptly find its way into a site selling artificial baby feeds. If you write an article against keeping dogs in homes, it would be skillfully manipulated to promote a kennel. If your article is about one of your personal experiences, it will land in a book publishing website which was never connected with you, without any trace of your article there, your name still leading to them. It is unbelievable that many famous book publishing sites make use of this cheap trick ignominiously. Soon you would find that your articles are used for what you always have stood against and what you always have opposed. That would be a very disgusting experience for a writer. It would not be as easy for the writer to disengage himself as it is to put his neck into this kind of a grinding wheel because these links have come to stay, perhaps for ever, or till they get hold of another unawaring prey. A writer will normally wish to someday catch this website owner and present a thundering blow to his cheek or even break his neck. 

Be patient, wait and make your articles good. Fame will come your way.

It is advisable for the writer to wait, till traffic naturally finds its way to his website. If one’s articles are extremely good and he is good at devising apt tag words for his articles, readers will ultimately come to him, wherever his articles are posted. If there is a really good article on a particular subject in the internet, readers will eventually arrive at it some day, even if it gets buried in the last page of search results. If good articles cannot be searched and brought to readers, search engines also cannot thrive and exist in the long run. Therefore it is the duty of the writer to write, not spread. When it is his time or when it is the time of that particular article, it would sometimes be the only available article to be displayed on that specific subject, and how can it be excluded from being displayed? 

The virtue of Wikinut is (was) that there is no distinction between rich and poor writers. Really how much free are the free article data bases?

These directories are said to be free article submission directories. But there are two types of services they offer to writers: ordinary and premium. If you are rich and can afford paying money for sponsoring your articles, you can order premium services. Or, your articles won’t have headlines or bold sub headings. This arrangement is really something shocking, mean and ostentatious which does not fit the modern world and which no reliable publishing platform shall maintain. What change will money bring to the quality of an article, except in its look? Why should one submit articles to a directory which denies bold sub headings to a writer because he has no money? It suits only the barbarian times. It is something undignified for a writer to have denied such basic editorial services due to his having no money to pay. When viewed from these angles, Wikinut is the most generous articles data base and publishing platform in the world. There, there are no distinctions between rich and poor writers, and whatever online editing facilities and innovations are available there are allowed to all and shared by all. So, be patient with Wikinut and continue writing very good articles which nowhere else would be available. Someday it will be your day which is not far away.

03. Article Title Image By Glenn Carstens-Peters. Graphics: Adobe SP


Dear Reader,
If you cannot access all pages of P.S.Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum, kindly access them via this link provided here:
https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/wiki-nut-articles


Tags


Article Submissions, Articles, Columns, Driving Traffic To Websites, E Zine Articles, Essays, Free Article Data Bases,Free Article Directories, Go Articles, Manipulation Of Articles,Misusing Internet Articles, P S Remesh Chandran, Protection Of Writers Rights, Public Domain Pages, Rogue Websites,Sahyadri Books And Bloom Books Trivandrum, Treacheries In The Publishing Field, Violation Of Article Usage Norms, 
About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran: 

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single. 

Author of several books in English and in Malayalam, mostly poetical collections, fiction, non fiction and political treatises, including Ulsava Lahari, Darsana Deepthi, Kaalam Jaalakavaathilil, Ilakozhiyum Kaadukalil Puzhayozhukunnu, Thirike Vilikkuka, Oru Thulli Velicham, Aaspathri Jalakam, Vaidooryam, Manal, Jalaja Padma Raaji, Maavoyeppoleyaakaan Entheluppam!, The Last Bird From The Golden Age Of Ghazals, Doctors Politicians Bureaucrats People And Private Practice, E-Health Implications And Medical Data Theft, Did A Data Mining Giant Take Over India?, Will Dog Lovers Kill The World?, Is There Patience And Room For One More Reactor?, and Swan, The Intelligent Picture Book. 

Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/psremeshchandra.trivandrum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSRemeshChandra 

You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bloombooks/videos
Blog: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/
E-Mail: bloombookstvm@gmail.com
 
Post: P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam, Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.
 

Comments

Madan
5th May 2012 (#)

There are many good sites like Knoji, hubpages, suite 101 , Xomba that one can write on.

PSRemeshChandra
6th May 2012 (#)

Yes, dear Madan. There are many. But I was targeting on Go Articles and E Zine, according to my nature. The original title I intended for this article was 'Think Twice Before Publishing With Go Articles and E Zine. But I changed it to suit Wikinut's modesty. With these two sites, most observations noted above are true, I think. Those legitimate and decent customers of these sites who read and make use of articles posted in them certainly are outside the purview of this article.They are never responsible for this cluttering of search results. In fact, they do not even appear there. I did not know about Knoji. If it is Knol which is mentioned, it is sad Google retired the good Knol. Thank you Madan for the added information. 

Buzz
7th May 2012 (#)

Engaging and insightful article, PSRemesh with great advice. Very pleased to meet you, by the way. Thanks for sharing.

PSRemeshChandra
7th May 2012 (#)

I was only sharing my observations and personal experiences, so that my fellow writers, if they already do not, shall know in advance a few things. Thank you Buzz. 

Rebecca E
10th Aug 2012 (#)

a very interesting article, and some great points

PSRemeshChandra
10th Aug 2012 (#)

It is articles written by several good writers like you, Rebecca that caused me to think and write about the disappointments many writers feel about the publishing practices of a few famous article publishing sites and the after ill effects of publishing with them. Your article 'The Things You Will Learn Publishing A Book' which you published in April 2012 was informative and a good read. Why no similar articles since then? 





Sunday, September 2, 2012

046. Belief In God. Dr. A J Cronin Essay. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran


046.

Belief In God. Dr. A J Cronin Essay. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran 

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum 


 
First published: 18th Feb 2012

Whether God exists is a question people have been trying to answer through the ages. At least once in our life we are asked this question and have to answer. One interesting fellow once observed that if we are asked this question it is always safe to answer that He does exist, because if he does not exist we have nothing to fear but if He does exist, then we will have to fear his wrath and retaliation for denying him. It is interesting to note here what a famous doctor wrote in this regard. 

Citadel, the first attack on the evils and corruption in the medical profession by a lone doctor.
 

Decades back a novel written by a doctor shook the conscience of the world and shattered the misconceptions about the infallibility and judgment of doctors. The novel was ‘The Citadel’ and its author was ‘Doctor A. J. Cronin’. He was literally attacking the fort of medical profession which was considered invincible and impregnable till that time. How a young doctor suffers to establish his practice, how and by whom the first patients are brought to his little consultancy, how misjudging and mean the health authorities are, how wicked a few among them are to sacrifice human lives for riches and personal gains, how prosperity, academic brilliance and recognition in the medical world affects a good doctor’s view points- everything that were considered as a taboo and something unspeakable in human speech and writing- was dissected and made open by this doctor in this famous novel. If someone wishes to read this novel to learn what is in it, it is also good to know in advance about the only drawback of this novel. It will have a very good and optimistic ending if we simply tear away the last chapter. This doctor later in his life had a turning point in his career, of undergoing treatment for a disease and recuperation during which period he wrote a novel to escape from the boredom of leading an uneventful life in a quiet village. The novel became a great success. Then the world saw him settling himself as a writer. All his literary creations are simple, lucid and thought-provoking. This essay is a chapter from his book ‘Adventures In Two Worlds’.
  
Western science and eastern philosophy meet in closed quarters, to discuss the existence of God. 



From a time when doctors were gods. 1942.

In the past century, when the individual achievements of science found its peak in the personality of Albert Einstein, after establishing the theory of relativity and gravity, this great scientist startled the world by hinting about the probability of the existence of a God as a Force of Super Intelligence. He once met the famous Indian philosopher and poet Rabindranath Tagore with whom, it is believed, he made a long and deep discussion in this matter in closed quarters, the details of which both these dignitaries kept private till the end of their lives. The world would have very much thrilled to read what this world scientist Einstein discussed with the world philosopher Tagore in the matter of the existence and properties of God. The matter of this discussion is still unknown to the world. 

Searching for a soul inside the human body in the coal districts of England. 

Many things to learn from nurses. 1942 picture.

Human body is a wonder but who created this wonder and what intelligence went into the making of it is still a thing of speculation. Like all medical students, Cronin was a non-believer in the Super Intelligence. The human body seemed to him only a complex machine. As he dissected the formalin-impregnated bodies in the anatomy room of his medical college, he searched for the existence of a soul inside the bodies but could not find any. Therefore he used to deny the existence of God. He says that this might have been due to the various distractions and diversions of his mind in the young age. After graduation, when he went out into the world to work in the Coal Districts of England, he saw very poor people suffering hard, but at the same time believing in God. New spiritual values were made apparent to him through slow but regular experiences in his life. He realized that the compass of existence held more than what his medical text- books revealed. The shortness and brevity of his younger outlook was lost with time. He lost his feeling of superiority and became a humble human being, which was his first step towards finding God.



Rich significance of the lowly life of a nurse and the emptiness in the life of a dignified physician. 


An invisible hand behind every creation of beauty.
Dr.Cronin’s working with the District Nurse Madame Olwen Davies brought him many theological experiences. She was dedicated to serve the poor but was a low-paid employee. Cronin once pointed out this to her and said she actually deserved an increased salary and that God knew she was worthy of it. Then with a smile she replied that if God knew she was worthy of it, then she was satisfied. This revelation made Cronin nearer to God. The rich but humble significance of the District Nurse’s life was revealed to him. And he sensed the emptiness in his life also. 


One word of challenge from a simple-minded school boy, and the ignorance of a distinguished zoologist is shattered. 


One half of the world believes in God whereas the other half is peopled by non-believers. No one is certain whether God exists or not. Man denies God in the light of science, but the beauty of the starlit night skies underlines the existence of a primary creator who is very intelligent, imaginative and aesthetic. A Latin tag says ‘Ex nihilo nihil’ which means ‘nothing can come of nothing.’ Dr.Cronin illustrates this in a fine example from his experience. In London, he had once organized a Working Boys’ Club where a distinguished zoologist was invited to give a lecture. ‘The Beginning Of Our World’ was the subject of his speech. In brilliant oration he explained to the boys how the first protoplasmic cell took form from the pounding pre-historic seas Aeons and Aeons ago. The lecture ended in applause. Then one innocent boy asked him how the first sea came there. Nothing can come out of nothing. This suggests that there might have been a primary creator. The orator could find nothing in answer. The logic of this test-tube scientist was crumbled by one word of challenge from a simple-minded boy. 


I see my cherry trees in bud, and then in flower, and then in fruit, and then I believe in God. 

Cherry trees in full blossom.
We often see many good people suffer in this world. This makes us doubt the existence of a God. There has to be an explanation for this injustice. Cronin says that evil and pain in life in this world is justifiable. It is part of the plan of the primary creator. He asks us to refer to the Book of Job in the Bible. Life is not a pleasure-hunt but a preparation for the other world, whether it would be life or anything else for us there in the next existence. Cronin’s meeting with an old man in an Italian church near Fiesole clarified this. Cronin asked the poor old peasant whether he believed in God. His answer was: “I see my cherry trees in bud, and then in flower, and then in fruit, and then I believe in God.”


‘When we talk with God, it is prayer. When God talks with us, it is schizophrenia.’


[Prepared in September 1990]

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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Bloom Books Trivandrum, British Health Services, British Novelists, Coal Districts Of England, Corruption In The Medical Field, Discussions Behind Closed Doors, Discussions Unrevealed To The World, Does God Exist, Dr A J Cronin, Einstein And Tagore, English Writers, Essays Reintroduced, Evils Of The Medical Profession, Ex Nihilo Nihil, Existence Of God, How The First Sea Came There, Is There A Creator, Nothing Comes Out Of Nothing, P S Remesh Chandran, Reintroduced Literature, Sahyadri Books Trivandrum, Super Intelligence, The Beginning Of Our World, The Creator Was Intelligent And Imaginative, The Life Of A Doctor, The Life Of A Nurse, Theological Experiences

Comments

Funom Makama
20th Feb 2012 (#)

I love this piece...
Thanks for the share.


PSRemeshChandra
21st Feb 2012 (#)

Mankind has the companionship of God alone in his long voyages through agonies, sufferings and miseries. He stands just behind those who pine in their hearts and those who sing in their mirth. The designer and creator of this universe certainly was a very imaginative person, a being whose mind was given to supreme conceptions of beauty and harmony. Thank you Funom Makama for enjoying this doctor's observations on the existence of God. 


Meet the author
PSRemeshChandra

 
Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan : The Intelligent Picture Book.