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Tribute
Dogma,
Science and Humility
The
spirit of dogma, I say with respect, has affected badly
the religious quest and made both minds and practices conform
too rigidly. Rigid and intolerant ideas, ideas which assert
in effect that "I am in possession of the truth, the
whole truth, every bit of the truth, and nobody outside
the pale has it," narrow men’s minds, shutting the
door against a tolerant and objective approach, where men
not only look up at the heavens without fear but are also
prepared to look down into the pit of hell without fear.
It seems to me that people in the Buddha’s time were more
advanced in tolerance and compassion than we are, although
they were not so advanced in technology and science. While
I was at Nalanda it struck me that quite apart from the
religious issues, there might be something worthwhile in
the pagan view of life, because it is a tolerant view of
life. While it may hold one opinion it respects the opinion
of the others, and allows that there may be truth in the
others’ opinions, too. It looks at the universe
and the mysteries of the universe and tries to fathom them
in a spirit of humility. It realizes that truth is too big
to be grasped at once, that however much one may know there
is always much else to be known, and that it is possible
that others may possess a part of that truth; and so, while
the pagan view of life worships its own gods, it also does
honour to unknown gods.
The
scientist is supposed to be an objective seeker after truth.
Science has grown because in a large measure the great scientists
have sought truth in that way. But I suppose no man today,
not even a scientist, can live in a world of his own, in
some kind of ivory tower, cut off from what is happening.
Therefore, science today has perhaps begun to cross the
borders of morals and ethics. If it gets divorced completely
from the real of morality and ethics then the power it possesses
may be used for evil purposes. But above all, if it ties
itself to the gospel of hatred and violence, then undoubtedly
it will have taken a wrong direction which will bring much
peril to the world. I plead with the scientists here and
elsewhere to remember that the scientific spirit is essentially
one of tolerance, one of humility, one of realization that
somebody else may also have a bit of the truth. Scientists
should note that they do not have a monopoly of the truth;
that nobody has a monopoly, no country, no people, no book.
Truth is too vast to be contained in the minds of human
beings, or in books, however sacred.
I
remember a deputation that went to Cromwell, the English
Dictator, and insisted that he should follow a certain line.
Cromwell replied — and his reply is rather well known —
"I beseech you gentlemen in the bowels of Christ to
consider whether it is possible that you may be in the wrong."
Let
us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not
perhaps be entirely with us. Let us co-operate with others;
let us, even when we do not appreciate what others say,
respect their views and their ways of life.
Let
us go back to an ancient age in India, Asoka’s period 2,300
years ago. This man who was infinitely more than an emperor
has left memorials all over this great land — memorials
which you can see today. Among the messages that he gave,
there is one which I think we should all remember not only
in this country but elsewhere. Addressing his own people
he said, "If you reverence your faith, while you reverence
your own faith you shall reverence the faith of others.
In reverencing the faith of others, you will exalt your
own faith and will get your own faith honoured by others."
If you apply that message of tolerance not only to religion
but to the other activities of human life such as politics,
economics and science, you will find that it puts things
in a different context. It is a context which is not very
much in evidence today in the world where differences of
opinion are not liked, where the tendency is to suppress
the view, the opinion, or the way of life that is not approved
of, where ultimately science itself becomes vitiated by
a narrow outlook. This would have been bad enough at any
time, but when we have the new weapons forged by the work
of scientists hovering above us, then it becomes far more
important and vital how people think today, how they react
to other people’s thinking, whether their minds are full
of hatred and violence and intolerance, or whether they
are growing in tolerance and in the appreciation of others.
Excerpts
from a speech of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Science Congress,
Calcutta, January 14, 1957
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