JAPAN SHOULD REVIVE SWAMI RAMA TIRTHAR

“Parliamentary democracy has taken deep root in Japan, among the countries in the Far East. Towards the close of 1945 Japan was laid low by two Atom-Bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which took a toll of 2,10,000 lives in the course of just two days; but the land of the Rising Sun emerged from ashes to become world-leader in Business and Industry in the course of four decades, challenging the potential of the super-power USA. More than that, it holds intact the institutions and infrastructure of mass-based democracy (while still remaining technically a monarchy). What is the source of this maturity of temperament on the part of the Japanese as a nation?

“Swami Rama Tirthar could be said to have answered the question in advance when he visited Tokyo in the year 1902. ‘Because the Japanese are practising-vedantis’. He stated further that what was required was the grasp of theory underlying the practice. A laboratory-attendant cannot be a chemist although he handles test-tubes and pipettes; a fireman of a steam-engine cannot be an engineer and a para-medic cannot be a doctor.

“Did not the Astro-physicist Dr.S.Chandrasekhar say at a later date that Applied Science cannot flourish if Pure Science were to be neglected or ignored? ‘A starving man needs food of course, but he also requires water without which solid food will not travel down his gullet.’

“The mis-application of priorities was what led Japan to mindless militarism culminating in the crumbling of their cultural ethos. From 1910 to 1945, Japan was actually hurtling down an abyss while intoxicating and hypnotising itself that it was rising towards supremacy of the world. The price having been paid for the delusion, the nation has ascended to its real material height inch by inch from bended knees.

“What are the factors contributing to Japan’s progress today? They are:

(i) Patriotism, total and unabridged.

(ii) Cheerful discipline even while in a traffic-jam where there is no honking.

(iii) Pre-emptive social habit to guard against curses from outside.

(iv) Respect and care for elders in the family thereby earning their blessings.

(v) Security of service to workmen.

(vi) Bureaucracy untainted by corruption.

“The Science of living underlying this success has to be articulated in Japan so that the gains may be consolidated and secured. This could best be done by intellectuals in Tokyo if they revive the memory of Swami Rama Tirthar who was in that land a hundred years ago when he declared himself their friend and teacher.”

Extract from the Pages of ‘Practical Philosophy…’

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