Monday, January 24, 2011

Of Sabarimala, Makara Vilakku and Rationalists.

Every disaster is followed by a cacophony of protests. Some of these sounds are those of legitimate, rightful anger, like the ones we have after the terrible Sabarimala tragedy. Nevertheless, I stubbornly insist on including them in the cacophony. Anger, though legitimate, blinds and blind anger usually causes discord rather than harmony.

The stampede at Sabarimala left us horrified. In my case, I just left me speechless. Disasters killing pilgrims has been a common thing. It defied all traditional logic from which we inherit the faith that those who seek the almighty will always come under the cover of His protection. In deep distress and silence I tried to find harmony in this cacophony – but failed. I read angry blogs cursing the State for its carelessness, for perpetuating the myth of Makara Vilakku. Numb with distress, I read furious blogs, letters to the editors challenging the very God concept.

Harmony, I guess, lies in the ears of the listener, and this listener, accustomed to another harmony failed in the effort to tune my ears to the medley of sounds. The notes that jarred most were in those angry tunes which thematised on the dismissal of the existence of God.

I only know one thing. God cannot exist within the rational jurisdiction of human thinking. One must exist outside this field to see God. To say what cannot be grasped by the faculty of human reason does not exist is both arrogant and foolish. To dismiss every phenomenon that does not lend itself to a rational explanation, as superstition and bullshit amounts to circumscribing life within boring boundaries. Life with all its complexities and gray areas and inexplicable phenomena cannot be demystified so rationally, so simplistically, for goodness sake! Only the instinctual man can have nirvanic glimpses into those areas.

Regarding the raging controversy about Makara Vilakku and Makarajyothi – it is ridiculous to claim that only the brilliant malayalees know that it is a man-made fire and that the non-malayalee pilgrims are idiots who foolishly believe that it is divine. What arrogance! The typical disgusting mallu conceit. We should make a survey of the pilgrims from outside the state before branding them as imbeciles with no common sense in their heads. During my commuting days, I used to have Sabarimala pilgrims from outside our enlightened state as travel companions, and I haven’t heard even one of them claim that Makaravilakku is the outcome of divine intervention. In fact, it is from a group of pilgrims from Andhra that I first heard about the “complicity” (as rationalists would have it) of the KSEB in creating the facilities for the burning of the camphor by tribals.

“Why do you still want to witness the Makaravilakku?” asked my friend.

‘What happens at all religious services – be it in Temples or Churches? Aren’t they executed by human agency in the form of priests? Aren’t priests human? Yet we believe in a divine presence and intervention, don’t we?’

That made sense.

Yes. That’s the truth of the matter. The divine presence and intervention happen in the human heart and mind, and not in the external event. It takes a gigantic leap of faith over and outside the Lakshman Rekha marked by the rationalists to experience God. Thus it is that man goes to Sabarimala and Tirupathi and Velankanni and Jerusalem and Mecca. It’s part of that search for God which man has indulged in from time immemorial, and continues and will continue to eternity despite Bertrand Russels and Tsunamis.

Blame the negligence of the state for the disaster. Or the commercialization agenda of vested interests. But not that quest for divine with which man was born.

If anyone thinks that all this hullabaloo about Makara Vilakku and Makara Jyothi will snuff out that lamp of faith in the heart of those who believe, they are mistaken. It takes more than a mere cacophony to terminate that quest for the Holy Grail.

20 comments:

  1. “It’s part of that search for God which man has indulged in from time immemorial, and continues and will continue to eternity despite Bertrand Russels and Tsunamis”.Quite optimistic and plainspoken!
    So one has to infer that the search has not reached any conclusion, but will continue on and on in many minds.
    But why take pot shots at a Russell? Did he or other minds of his genre ever fret and fume when someone disputed their opinion and rational thoughts?
    Unfortunately it is only when a catastrophe visits us that we react and see why it happened and start digging out the direct causes and the collateral ones. In this case the canard of “makara jyothi” has been a marketing tool for the Devaswon Board. If you have ever heard the running commentary on Channels and radio you will recall how the sighting of this beacon lit by men is highlighted as by the divine spirits. The tragedy was in the making and the authorities aided its happening in various outlandish and stupid ways. As someone commented these one hundred people who perished are martyrs for the cause of revenue and development.
    And if only you make a visit to the Sabarimala during the season that you can see for yourself the thousands of people from Andhra and afar camping for the day of the “jyothi”. And not only the conceited “Mallus”.
    There are many temples and churches, not as famous as Sabarimala or Velankanni, but that are far smaller, and more tranquil and peaceful. Where if you venture, may feel the presence of god- at his/her caressing best. And a divine surrounding if you may want to term it so. But unfortunately miracles have not been attributed to them, nor marketed. Fortunately that is the precise reason why those places remain apart. Honestly don’t you think that you will find calm and peace in the “Veliapalli,” in Kottayam than in the din and commercial surround of the Vellankanni? But for a place of worship to be commercially successful, miracles have to be brought about and those miracles must feed on the “FEAR” of man. This is what happens at all these famous places of religious worship and pilgrimage.
    And certainly nothing will deter mans search for the holy grail, though he will never find one , because he will never look within him , to notice the seed of divinity or god as you may term is within him, but his myopia . his ego, his boorishness, his selfishness, will never let him realise that fact. And his fear of the uncertainties of life and the mystery of the day after - death will keep him frantically searching holding the twig of faith. But why must many perish in that search?

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  2. Superstitions will continue till the end of humanity. Fear is the key. Fear of the unknown and the unknowable. The educated will have their kinds of superstitions and the simple will have their own. And pilgrimages will continue under the banner of this religion or that.

    And it is the responsibility of the government to provide for safe conduct of the pilgrims at centres under their jurisdiction. The Kerala Government could have been a little more responsible in the Sabarimala case. Whether the Vilakku is man-made to appear like Jyothi is immaterial.

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  3. If we only listen to those who are around us we can learn amazing things, experiences, ideas, stories, anything, we just have to take the time to listen.Arguments never take us to where we want to. Or,
    To each his own: others leave me and my views to me and I’ll leave your views to you.Probably this attitude would save us lots of arguments.

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  4. (Comment unrelated to the post)
    Wonder how some words become acceptable for Malayalees (or Indian) but are considered offensive by native english speakers. 'Bullshit' is not a word that would feature in a polite discourse (you meant your blog to be one, did't you?). May be Suresh Gopi has something to do with that :-)

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  5. @ abhilash
    honestly i am beyond caring for what the native english speaker thinks about the way i use english. today it is my language and i intend to use it, manipulate it and change it out of shape if need be to express myself.guess that's the price the british have to pay for exploiting us and imposing their language on us.
    regarding 'bullshit' - well it came naturally - didnt want to replace it with a repectful expression. the privilege of the blogger, that :-)

    @ doctor antony
    agree fully with you sir.

    @ asarthose
    ' And pilgrimages will continue under the banner of this religion or that.'
    yes, since this is the case, the state should do its bit.

    @ anilkurup
    'Did he or other minds of his genre ever fret and fume when someone disputed their opinion and rational thoughts?'
    guess not - but then he is russel and me, an ordinary mortal.
    commercialising of religion. yes it's bad and i am dead against. remeber the only time Christ showed his anger was when he too a whip and chased the vendors from the precincts of the place of worship. but his followers dont seem to have got the message even after 2000 years! commercialisation of god happens bigtime today - particularly after the omnipresence of the visual media.

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  6. Mam, who is a larger mortal and who is a lesser mortal? Why do you belittle your experience, your life, and the noble profession you undertook? Russell, Christ, Gandhi, a Socrates or a Buddha were all thinkers, men who did not stay cocooned in the walls of conditioning. Don’t you think so? They dared to come out and question, ask why and why not? So, I guess you can be one of them too any of us, for that matter, if we dare to stand up.
    And I would disagree with Doc Antony that all these are arguments. It may sound so, but understand it as discussion. Opinions will vary, in the light of one’s education, experience, thinking etc. If everybody had the identical opinion on matters then the world will be a bit boring, don’t you see?

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  7. I stubbornly insist on including them in the cacophony. Anger, though legitimate, blinds and blind anger usually causes discord rather than harmony.

    This is a logical fallacy known as 'appeal to emotion'.

    To say what cannot be grasped by the faculty of human reason does not exist is both arrogant and foolish.
    Therefore, god exists?

    it is ridiculous to claim that only the brilliant malayalees know that it is a man-made fire and that the non-malayalee pilgrims are idiots who foolishly believe that it is divine.

    Strawman.

    To dismiss every phenomenon that does not lend itself to a rational explanation, as superstition and bullshit amounts to circumscribing life within boring boundaries.

    Again 'appeal to emotion'.

    Life with all its complexities and gray areas and inexplicable phenomena cannot be demystified so rationally, so simplistically, for goodness sake! Only the instinctual man can have nirvanic glimpses into those areas.

    Argument from personal incredulity

    it is ridiculous to claim that only the brilliant malayalees know that it is a man-made fire and that the non-malayalee pilgrims are idiots who foolishly believe that it is divine.

    Both 'appeal to emotion' and 'strawman'.

    ‘What happens at all religious services – be it in Temples or Churches? Aren’t they executed by human agency in the form of priests? Aren’t priests human? Yet we believe in a divine presence and intervention, don’t we?’
    Reductio ad absurdum.

    It takes a gigantic leap of faith over and outside the Lakshman Rekha marked by the rationalists to experience God.
    Special pleading or ad-hoc reasoning. I suppose rational were burnt or hanged or put behind bars by some of the religions even today or until recently.

    What is the symbolism of the Lakshman Rekha, by the way? It was a protection. right? At least you agree that rationalists have only common people's best interest in their heart.

    But not that quest for divine with which man was born.
    Begging the question. Children aren't indoctrinated.

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  8. Sane words, madam. As you say, rationalism limits. Doesn't religion, in the sense that we understand and practice it (and faith too) prevent us from experiencing God? Again, as you say, only the instinctual man can have nirvanic glimpses into those areas.
    I have been a regular visitor to Sabarimala, in certain years going there several times. Over the last forty years or so, I have seen the changes happening there. After the 1999 stampede in which 53 persons were killed, I decided not to go there anymore feeling convinced that it does matter if even a single person can remove himself from the hysteria that is destroying the place.
    I have also been to Ponnambalamedu and I have seen the brick platform where they light camphor. Attending a seminar in Pathanamthitta after the 1999 stampede, I was foolish enough to ask the audience, which included representatives of all the Hindu organisations, in what way the man-made Makara Jyothi contributed to the holiness of Sabarimala. When the Jyothi is lit, the atmosphere is electric, with all the pilgrims around you in ecstasy. In any crowded place it is dangerous to introduce the element of excitement. I just escaped from being physically attacked by those in the audience when I mentioned this in 1999. I had to be whisked out of the auditorium. Swamy Saranam.

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  9. @ manju
    thoroughly enjoyed your response:-)
    but logic, as far as i am concerned is another discipline, another discourse.it's failed to impress as it discredits emotion and is prescriptive in its dismissal of emotions. isn't emotion part of the material that man is made of? any exclusionist discipline does not look at life comprehensively.
    my only complaint about rationalist is their dictum that reason is all.it doesnt appeal to unified sensibilities.

    p venugopal
    thanks fo your comments, sir.
    yes, rationalism limits. so too religion. anything dogmatic limits.individual evolution is the capacity to break free of these limits. just as i dislike religious leaders making dogmatic pronouncements, i dislike anyone telling us authoritatively what to believe or not to believe.let the known facts be put before us, and allow the individual to make whatever she can out of it.what is important is each individual should acknowledge the right of others to their own conclusions, and dont try to stick their conviction down others throats.
    needless to say, this is ideal only if does not infringe on the rights of others.
    admire your guts-raising sensitive issues before an audience of that nature.i have come to believe in diplomatic silence after a somewhat similar experience.

    @ anilkurup
    heavens! i cant ever fool myself that i'm anywhere near all the greats you've mentioned. what movements /revolution/new thinking have i set afoot? i am but a response to what these people and many other like them taught and said.
    life has its inequalities.
    it's only in blogsphere i can take potshots at russel and his ilk and get away with it:-)

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  10. but logic, as far as i am concerned is another discipline, another discourse.it's failed to impress as it discredits emotion and is prescriptive in its dismissal of emotions. isn't emotion part of the material that man is made of?

    Incorrect and a complete misinterpretation of logic.

    Logic doesn't 'discredit' emotions it only points to invalid/unproven premises to 'invoke' emotions and argue a point.

    it doesnt appeal to unified sensibilities.

    What are unified sensibilities? Could you please elaborate?

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  11. @ manju
    key in Unified sensibilities + T S Eliot.

    'Logic doesn't 'discredit' emotions it only points to invalid/unproven premises to 'invoke' emotions and argue a point.'

    implied in your statement is the idea if the invalidity of emotion and whatever appeals to it.

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  12. key in Unified sensibilities + T S Eliot.
    Appeal to authority

    I have gone thro' some of the articles.
    - Eliot endorsed unification of feelings and thoughts based on his interpretation that 19th-20th century English became dry because of dislocations or one-side specializations

    Anyway, I have come across many criticism and his own admission that Shakespearean era English was better than the 'Metaphysical poets'.

    But now the main point how do you connect them to your arguments. At a first glance it appears to be 'false analogy'. But on the other hand it appears to be misunderstanding of 'unified sensibilities'.

    You arguments favour complete dislocation of rationality and emotions.

    implied in your statement is the idea if the invalidity of emotion and whatever appeals to it.

    Wrong (if I understood your statement correctly). Emotions are not invalid per se. The anger of a Crusader or a Jihadist is not invalid but the premises that invoke it are invalid.

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  13. @manju

    in the argumnts of a logician, it's reason that has upperhand. emotions are treated as something thatlead to fallacies. i believe that our thinking should provide for both reason and emotion. think with the heart and feel with the brain.exclusion of either causes imbalance.

    your last para - i have much to say about the example u quoted but i'd rather keep away from certain issues. but cannot help remarking on the uncompromising dogmatic tone of a logician who allows no space for a another position.

    no offence, ok? :-)all i mean is sometimes one must think and analyse with the heart. then perspective changes.no premise is absolute. all are discourses.

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  14. but cannot help remarking on the uncompromising dogmatic tone of a logician who allows no space for a another position.

    Logical fallacies are there to break the dogmatic tone in arguments. Therefore, a logician is least dogmatic of all.

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  15. All issues begin with bureaucratic corruption, negligence and ineptitude. Government ownership and control of Hindu temples in Kerala is the root cause. Col. Munroe grabbed Hindu temples in his missionary zeal. There is no logic, fairness or justice in continuing the Munroe avarice.

    While Catholic churches are permitted to be owned and controlled by the Pope in far away Vatican, Hindu temples are not owned and managed by Hindu believers, but by a 'secular' government. This defies logic.

    An orderly queue system can be implemented anywhere in Kerala only if you put up a Beverages Corporation Board there.

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  16. Dear KT,

    You say: "To say what cannot be grasped by the faculty of human reason does not exist is both arrogant and foolish."

    But was not the whole concept of God belief born out of the same quest for rationalism? In man's quest of where he came from?

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  17. @ cris
    yes cris, it was a quest for rationalism which, ironically, took him outside the bounds of rationalism. what reason could not handle, instincts did.

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  18. Interesting post.Some questions
    Why then there is so much secrecy about the lighting of fire at Ponnambalamedu? Why media persons are not allowed there when it is lit? Why the fire is lit by Govt officials and Police and not by Priests?

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  19. @ charakan
    i do not know the answer, but i do know that a lot of pilgrims who go to witness the makaravilakku are aware of this.
    guess one must research into this contradiction.

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  20. I cannot but smile and endorse " manju's" last observation. Well said and apt.

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