11 Life is Action, Not Contemplation

The greatest religious teachers and philpsopners Qf tne world have always enjoined a life of action and service, condemning flight from the world or retirement in seclusion and self-isolation. The Quran has the same message to offer; the sair^ is a|SO tne lesson which philosophers and poets in all ages teach jn <jjfferent accents. Thou shalt work always, careless of the fruit of ^ \a^our is the teaching of the Gita; those vho believe and do good have a reward never to be cut off thus reads a verse in the Quran; an(j jn the bible we read; let us labour therefore to enter into thdt rest And yet both individuals and nations sometimes forget tne ideal of perpetual action and social service or consider jt as jnferjor to the ideal of contemplation and selfisolation from soCjety In the Middle Ages, there arose, as we all know, many monasterjes jn tne West as well as in East, where friars and nuns practisec) pjety jn seclusion. Monasticism is the general name given to an organjsecj |jfe of asceticism; it includes the further idea of a withdrawal from the world and a dwelling apart. As Harnack points out, Christianity, rightly understood, inculcates the spirit of social service ar)(j a |jfe Of useful beneficent action; but in the Middle Ages, Christ-j^ty was deeply influenced by Eastern religious, dogmas and developed asceticism of the most rigorous type. St. Bendict of Nru$ja/ so we read in history, established monasteries at several imPOttantplaces; they branched off, during the later Middle Ages, int0 abbeys^ priories, nunneries and convents. A large number of them exjsjeven

today in England as elsewhere in Europe. The members of these and similar other religious bodies live in cloisters and practise religious austerities. In India also, Hindu maths and Buddhist l///7a/a?arose in large numbers in the Medieval ages; some of them exist even today where saints and ascetics, drawing inspiration either from the Vedas and the Upanishads or from the teachings of Lord Buddha, lead a life of contemplation, far from the madding crowd. In Europe, the reaction against a life of contemplation divorced from action first began in the eighteenth century. In this century, Voltaire vehemently condemned superstition and unreason; he was the negative genius of the age. Goethe was the positive genius of the nineteenth century or the age that followed. A distinguished philosopher has truly observed that Goethes poetry and philosophy, as revealed in his Faust, contain the seed of all that we boast of as modern civilisation and culture. When, therefore, Goethe prefers a life of action to a life of contemplation, he merely puts on record the truly inward bent and temper of the modern mind. A scholar deeply buried in books in the British Museum and poring over rare manuscripts or a philosopher absorbed in abstract speculation on the problem of death and life-after-death is more or less an object of hatred and repulsion; it seems that he has no right to live in society or is at best a social superfluity. Even so would appear a Mathematician, conceiving in imagination /?-dimensional figures ir Geometry or a theoretical physicist, interested in abstract, speculative theories far removed from the practical problems of engineering or aeronautics. Humanism, a pursuit of ends that have a direct bearing on human affairs, as it is generally understood, is a product of the nineteenth century. This is also the religion of the present age; Goethe is its apostle as well as high priest. Some time ago Tagore, in the course of an article in The Modern Review, observed that the call of ancient Hindu culture was the call of the forest. Whatever truth there might be in the poets analysis of the ancient Hindu view of life, the appeal of the mind at the present day is the appeal of the machine. Though still in the main an agricultural country, Pakistan is fast being industrialised. Mills and factories are springing up in large numbers in many cities. In the various Universities of Pakistan, purely classical or philosophical studies are at a discount; and young undergraduates are drawn to subjects like Applied Physics, Chemistry and Engineering. The ideal of society service in some form or other appeals to the Pakistanis more than a life of pietism and contemplation. Tennyson, the Victorian poet, has written two beautiful poems, The LotosEaters and Ulysses in which he represents two contrasted moods. The Lotos-

Eaters of Tennyson follow a life of inaction and dreamful ease while Ulysses is the embodiment of the Victorian passion for knowledge, adventure and action. The chief lesson of Tennysons poetry is that man should not lead a selfcentred life; it is beautifully expressed in another famous poem entitled, The Palace ofArf.. In a life of action, the mind enlarges and the spirit abounds. Human life is a trust to be dedicated to the service of society. Detached from action, the highest impulses and the noblest aspirations of man weaken and wither; it is through action and service that the loftiest ideals given to man fulfil themselves, and man feel rich beyond the wealth of kings.