Philosophers From India

"Hinduism has come to be a tapestry of the most variegated tissues and almost endless diversity of hues.""

"[Radhakrishnan describes the state of dejection he experienced as a student at Madras Christian College:] 'I was strongly persuaded of the inferiority of the Hindu religion to which I attributed the political downfall of India.... I remember the cold sense of reality, the depressing feeling that crept over me, as a causal relation between the anaemic Hindu religon and our political failure forced itself on my mind.'"

"The East and the West are not so sharply divided as the alarmists would make us believe. The products of spirit and intelligence, the positive sciences, the engineering techniques, the governmental forms, the legal regulations, the administrative arrangements, and the economic institutions are binding together peoples of varied cultures and bringing them into closer reciprocal contact. The world today is tending to function as one organism. The outer uniformity has not, however, resulted in an inner unity of mind and spirit. The new nearness into which we are drawn has not meant increasing happiness and diminishing friction, since we are not mentally and spiritually prepared for the meeting. Maxim Gorky relates how, after addressing a peasant audience on the subject of science and the marvels of technical inventions, he was criticized by a peasant spokesman in the following words : "Yes, we are taught to fly in the air like birds, and to swim in the water like the fishes, but how to live on the earth we do not know." Among the races, religions, and nations which live side by side on the small globe, there is not that sense of fellowship necessary for good life. They rather feel themselves to be antagonistic forces. Though humanity has assumed a uniform outer body, it is still without a single animating spirit. The world is not of one mind. … The provincial cultures of the past and the present have not always been loyal to the true interests of the human race. They stood for racial, religious, and political monopolies, for the supremacy of men over women and of the rich over the poor. Before we can build a stable civilization worthy of humanity as a whole, it is necessary that each historical civilization should become conscious of its limitations and it's unworthiness to become the ideal civilization of the world."

"In emotional vibrancy experience is recollected not in tranquility... but in excitement."

"In this sense, we agree with Gomatam (1999) who argues for a revision of our notion of macroscopic objects in accord with quantum non-separability. Indeed, the key to progress in quantum gravity may lie in a willingness to abandon stalwart concepts of dynamism such as energy, momentum, force, and even causation at the fundamental level of modeling."

"I have benefited from… working with Ravi Gomatam on his ["Towards a Consciousness-Based, Realist Interpretation of Quantum Theory--Integrating Bohr and Einstein"](1998)"

"However, many applied optimization problems have not been considered yet. It is necessary to use optimization methods of quantum and bio-molecular systems, because of the practical importance of the implementation of physical processes satisfying the required quality criteria. Most of the attention is focused on the following problems: … 2. Mathematical modeling of controlled physical and chemical processes in the brain; [to] consider the brain as a quantum macroscopic object (Gomatam, 1999)."

"I was very interested in the talk by Dr. Ravi Gomatam… because he showed, by some nice arguments that the proper way to think of quantum mechanics is in terms of relationships… This is a new way of thinking, which is perhaps how we can get out of the confusions we seems to be in at present moment. It may be that this how we should be doing science."

"Quantum physicists today are reconciled to randomness at the individual event level, but to expect causality to underlie statistical quantum phenomena is reasonable. Suppose a person shakes an ink pen such that ink spots are formed on a white wall, in what appears for all intents and purposes, randomly. Let us further suppose the random ink spots accumulate to form precise pictures of different known persons' faces every time. We will not regard the overall result to be a happenchance; we are apt to suspect there must be a "method" to the person who is shaking the ink pen."

"The Schrödinger equation, which is at the heart of quantum theory, is applicable in principle to both microscopic and macroscopic regimes. Thus, it would seem that we already have in hand a non-classical theory of macroscopic dynamics, if only we can apply the Schrödinger equation to the macroscopic realm. However, this possibility has been largely ignored in the literature because the current statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics presumes the classicality of the observed macroscopic world to start with. But the Schrödinger equation does not support this presumption. The state of superposition never collapses under Schrödinger evolution."

"Gomatam has proposed a new approach according to which quantum theory ought to use the terms ‘statistics’ or ‘probability’ to refer only to the occurrence of observable events and altogether renounce the notion of probabilities when talking about quantum ontological states."

"Two features of QT are commonly taken to be fundamentally non-classical: the absolute randomness of single events in the atomic regime, and the need for a permanent record of the experiment obtained using a macroscopic experimental arrangement…QT can also be applied to the larger system consisting of the original atomic system plus the macroscopic experimental arrangement. In this case, however, the larger system needs to interact with another stage of macroscopic recording. Since this procedure can continue ad infinitum, and is decisively terminated only when the result of an experiment is interpreted by a conscious observer, some noted quantum theorists have promoted the view that the quantum theory has some nexus with the consciousness of the observer..."

"As science went further and further into the external world, they ended up inside the atom where to their surprise they saw consciousness staring them in the face!"

"Any high school boy or girl knows how to calculate the force with which a stone he or she throws will hit someone in the face, but nothing in those equations they use will tell them whether or not to throw it…To solve the problem of values we must know what is valuable. Consciousness is the most valuable commodity…To bring values into science, we need to connect science with what is valuable—consciousness."

"Scientific realism in classical (i.e. pre-quantum) physics has remained compatible with the naive realism of everyday thinking on the whole; whereas it has proven impossible to find any consistent way to visualize the world underlying quantum theory in terms of our pictures in the everyday world. The general conclusion is that in quantum theory naive realism, although necessary at the level of observations, fails at the microscopic level."

"Present an explanation of Gomatam's interpretation of Bohr's interpretation of quantum mechanics. You do not need to include your own interpretation of Bohr or evaluate whether Gomatam is getting Bohr's view correct. But you should articulate the conception of reality offered Gomatam's Bohr. In doing so, you should make clear whether Gomatam's Bohr solves the measurement problem and to what extent his account makes sense. Your paper should be approximately 1000-2500 words."

"aśaraṇaśaraṇa praṇatabhayadaraṇa dharaṇibharaharaṇa dharaṇitanayāvaraṇa janasukhakaraṇa taraṇikulabharaṇa kamalamṛducaraṇa dvijāṅganāsamuddharaṇa । tribhuvanabharaṇa danujakulamaraṇa niśitaśaraśaraṇa dalitadaśamukharaṇa bhṛgubhavacātakanavīnajaladhara rāma vihara manasi saha sītayā janābharaṇa ॥"

"kaḥ kau ke kekakekākaḥ kākakākākakaḥ kakaḥ । kākaḥ kākaḥ kakaḥ kākaḥ kukākaḥ kākakaḥ kukaḥ ॥"

"kākakāka kakākāka kukākāka kakāka ka । kukakākāka kākāka kaukākāka kukākaka ॥"

"madanamathana sukhasadana vidhuvadana- gaditavimalavaraviruda kalikadana । śamadamaniyamamahita munijanadhana lasasi vibudhamaṇiriva hariparijana ॥"

"dhanuḥsrugabhimedure bhṛgupakopavaiśvānare raṇāṅgaṇasucatvare subhaṭarāvavedasvare । śarāhutimanohare nṛpatikāṣṭhasañjāgare sahasrabhujamadhvare paśumivājuhodbhārgavaḥ ॥"

"lalāmamādhuryasudhābhirāmakaṃ lalāmamādhuryasudhābhirāmakam । lalāmamādhuryasudhābhirāmakaṃ lalāmamādhuryasudhābhirāmakam ॥"

"lolālālīlalālola līlālālālalālala । lelelela lalālīla lāla lolīla lālala ॥"

"trijagadavana hataharijananidhuvana nijavanarucijitaśataśatavidhuvana । taruvaravibhavavinatasuravaravana jayati viratighana iva raghuvaravana ॥"

"Masi kāgada chūyo nahīṃ kalama gahī nahiṃ hātha । bhṛṃgadūta mahaँ saba kahyo eka jānakīnātha ॥"

"rāmaprāṇapriye rāme rame rājīvalocane । rāhi rājñi ratiṃ ramyāṃ rāme rājani rāghave ॥"

"sa brahmacārī nijadharmacārī svakarmacārī ca na cābhicārī । cārī satāṃ cetasi nāticārī sa cāpacārī sa na cāpacārī ॥"

"Paṭhyatāṃ bhṛṅgadūtaṃ ca bhṛṅgadūtaṃ pragīyatām । cintyatāṃ bhṛṅgadūtaṃ ca rāmabhaktairdivāniśam ॥"

"śaśāṅke kutaḥ śyāmatā jātā । pṛcchati jananīmatikutūhalādbālastribhuvanatrātā ॥ kṛṣṇamṛgastava śarabhayādvidhuṃ yāto naitanmātaḥ । kapaṭamṛgaṃ praṇihanmi nāparaṃ tasya vimohakhyātaḥ ॥ daśamukhabhayādbhuvo yātā yā vidhuṃ śyāmatā dṛṣṭā । kathaṃ rāhubhītoऽsau pāyānmahī mūḍhatāspṛṣṭā ॥ tvamatha vīkṣya candramasaṃ nijadayitānanarūpasamānam । śaśini gato śyāmaḥ kila dṛṣṭaḥ kartuṃ tadadharapānam ॥ nahi mātaḥ pīye tava stanaṃ śrutvā manujendrāṇī । sasmitamukhī vismitā jātā cakitā giridharavāṇī ॥"

"mahāghoraśokāgninātapyamānaṃ patantaṃ nirāsārasaṃsārasindhau । anāthaṃ jaḍaṃ mohapāśena baddhaṃ prabho pāhi māṃ sevakakleśaharttaḥ ॥"

"mere giridhārī jī se kāhe larī । tuma taruṇī mero giridhara bālaka kāhe bhujā pakarī ॥ susuki susuki mero giridhara rovata tū musukāta kharī ॥ tū ahirina atisaya jhagarāū barabasa āya kharī ॥ giridhara kara gahi kahata jasodā āʼncara oṭa karī ॥"

"vīkṣya tāṃ vīkṣaṇīyāmbujāsyaśriyaṃ svaśriyaṃ śrīśriyaṃ brahmavidyāśriyam । dhīdhiyaṃ hrīhriyaṃ bhūbhuvaṃ bhūbhuvaṃ rāghavaḥ prāha sallakṣaṇaṃ lakṣmaṇam ॥"

"Mānavatā hī merā mandira maiṃ hūँ isakā eka pujārī ॥ haiṃ vikalāṃga maheśvara mere maiṃ hūँ inakā kṛpābhikhārī ॥"

"kausalyāsuprajā rāma pūrvā saṃdhyā pravartate । uttiṣṭha naraśārdūla karttavyaṃ daivamāhnikam ॥"

"kiṃ dṛṣṭavyaṃ patitajagati vyāptadoṣe'pyasatye māyācārāvratatanubhṛtāṃ pāparājadvicāre । dṛṣṭavyo'sau cikuranikuraiḥ pūrṇavaktrāravindaḥ pūrṇānando dhṛtaśiśutanuḥ rāmacandro mukundaḥ ॥"

"uttiṣṭhottiṣṭha bho rāma uttiṣṭha rāghava prabho । uttiṣṭha jānakīnātha sarvalokaṃ sukhīkuru ॥"

"tahaँ basa basumati basu basumukhamukha nigadita nigama sukarama dharamadhura । durita damana dukha śamana sukha gamana parama kamana pada namana sakala sura ॥ bimala birati rati bhagati bharana bhala bharama harana hari haraṣa harama pura । giridhara raghubara gharani janama mahi tarani tanaya bhaya janaka janakapura ॥"

"Māghe kirāte nanu naiṣadhīye raghau kumāreऽpi ca ye viśeṣāḥ । tebhyoऽdhikāḥ jāgṛti rāmabhadrācāryodbhave bhārgavarāghavīye ॥"

"Unless I understand the Cross, I cannot understand why my commitment to what is right must be precedence over what I prefer."

"Humor aside, I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him."

"A good questioner should always have a follow-up question."

"Love is a command, not just a feeling. Somehow, in the romantic world of music and theater we have made love to be what it is not. We have so mixed it with beauty and charm and sensuality and contact that we have robbed it of its higher call of cherishing and nurturing."

"In his book Modern Times, the historian Paul Johnson referred to Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini as the three devils of the twentieth century. Interestingly, Nietzschean dogma influenced each of them."

"With no fact as a referent, what is normative is purely a matter of preference."

"Then he said something that was absolutely defining for him: "Write this down and never forget it: Love is as much a question of the will as it is of the emotion. And if you will to love somebody, you can.""

"Truth by definition excludes."

"Historic figures have homes to visit for posterity; the Lord of history left no home. Luminaries leave libraries and write their memoirs; He left one book, penned by ordinary people. Deliverers speak of winning through might and conquest; He spoke of a place in the heart."

"In other words, truth is not only a matter of offense, in that it makes certain assertions. It is also a matter of defense in that it must be able to make a cogent and sensible response to the counterpoints that are raised."

"Truth has been relegated to subjectivity; beauty has been subjugated to the beholder; and as millions are idiotized night after night, a global commune has been constructed with the arts enjoying a totalitarian rule."

"Teaching at best beckons us to morality, but it is not in itself efficacious. Teaching is like a mirror. It can show you if your face is dirty, but it the mirror will not wash your face."