By Matters India Reporter
Sanchi: A Catholic prelate has urged India’s leading philosophers to come to the aid of a trouble-ridden society.
“Plato had the phrase Philosopher-King, but what we need today are philosopher-friends,” said Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil while addressing the 91st annual congress of Indian philosophers.
More than 300 people attended the February 11-14 congress at Sanchi, a town in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, central India. The Sanchi University of Buddhist and Indic Studies hosted the event that traces its origin to Nobel laureate Ravindranath Tagore and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher and the second president of India.
The congress theme was “Philosophy as a Way of Life.” It heard presentations on Vedic thought, Buddhist insights, Vedanta perspectives, modern Indian contribution to world self-understanding, and diverse western philosophies. However, all speakers stressed that philosophy must not remain a mere academic exercise but must help solve social problems.
Archbishop Menamparampil, who was a special invitee to the congress, defined a philosopher-friend as someone who seeks to act as a positive force in society, influencing public reasoning, working for the common good, and bringing Dharmic values where they are needed most.
He continued: “Amidst diversity to cacophonous voices, a philosopher-friend brings a bit of balance into everything; he or she gives every creative human thought its due, but central attention to what is central to humanity. He throws new doors open to the rising generation, assists people on the move or those in distress in a variety of ways.”
Archbishop Menamparampil, former archbishop of Guwahati in Assam, reminded the gathering that a person committed to serving society has a mission to heal the memories of historic wounds at the ethical, cultural, national and even civilizational levels.
“This means taking remedies to a community’s psychological depths: to the world of collective emotions, attitudes, motivations, fears, suspicions, prejudices…and most of all to sustain people’s hopes.”
The prelate, who came to the congress after preaching a two-day retreat for 138 Latin rite bishops in Bhopal, some 50 km southwest of Sanchi, said a philosopher-friend seeks to persuade the leaders of the economy to make it more human and humane, and politicians to give a human face to the structures they head.
“People of all persuasions must come together and share their thoughts: those of different religions, secular convictions…in fact everyone,” added the prelate who now visits various universities to talk of peace and harmony.
The prelate, who has been engaged in peace mission among warring ethnic groups in northeastern India, stressed the need to accept social criticism. “Social criticism should not lead to violence, but to self-criticism, and greater commitment to Dharma,” he asserted and added the philosopher-friends have to return to people and help them reflect and understand issues and resolve them.
Other speakers included academics, scholars and religious leaders who helped sober thinking to address problems such as injustice, humiliation of weaker communities (castes), inter-ethnic conflicts, abortion and euthanasia.
They pointed out that the collective Indian psyche had always been sensitive to human suffering and it valued immensely human life, a fact modern society seems to forget. They stressed spirituality as a sense of responsibility to address social suffering.
Professor Ram Ji Singh, a former parliamentarian and renowned freedom fighter, jolted the audience when he said, “Today, patriotism is turning out to be ‘jingoism’, tribalism. That was not the mind of the freedom fighters of an earlier generation. They were open to all.”
The meet was preceded by one-day Asian philosophers’ congress inaugurated by Madhya Pradesh’s Minister of Culture Surendra Patwa. Scholars and delegates from Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the US and Vietnam attended the congress.
Tagore and Radhakrishnan started the first Indian Philosophers’ Congress 90 years ago. Gradually it has grown in participation and importance, with scholars from all Indian universities attending.
B. P. Singh, chief secretary of the Madhya Pradesh government who attended the meet, commended the Sanchi University for hosting the event.
The Madhya Pradesh government set up the Sanchi University in 2012 close to a world heritage site famous for the stupa and ancient relics of Lord Buddha. The University spread over 100 acres of land is on a hillock on the Bhopal-Sanchi highway surrounded by green fields and forest laden hills.