Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 18-2. SWAMI kRISHNANANDA

12/05/2019
18.  The Purpose of Philosophy-2.

The ultimate cause of any particular phenomenon has to be grasped in the context of its relevance to other phenomena as well. To appreciate the significance of any phenomenon in this world, one may have to give a definition, philosophically, of that particular phenomenon.

Every logician or philosopher who is intent upon giving a definition to any event or phenomenon would have to face the situation of referring to other factors outside the particular phenomenon that is to be defined, just as you cannot define a red object unless you make reference to things other than red.

The non-red automatically comes in, when we think of the red. 'A' cannot be defined unless you refer it to 'B'. Every definition has a relative significance. Definitions carry us beyond the area that we try to define. There is a transcendent element present in every particular phenomenon. This element is the urge or, in our academic language, we may say the nisus of that particular phenomenon.

There is a root-essence present in every relative which urges it to transcend itself, outgrow its limitation, expand its dimensions and reach beyond itself, so that it craves to come in contact with other aspects of reality and other phenomena of nature, forcing us to come to a conclusion that there is a relativity of references in every event or every phenomenon.

No definition is ultimate. We would find that we cannot give a final satisfactory definition of any concept or any given event or phenomenon. There is a reference of everything to everything else. Logic takes us beyond itself into a superlogical situation, where the inter-connection of phenomena compels us to widen our perspective or vision and grasp.

We are confronted by the whole universe in its completeness, as it were, finally – a situation to which we are driven gradually, even if we are to understand a grain of sand merely. The particle of sand will take us beyond itself into the whole world itself, if we are consistent in our logical approach. Everything hangs on everything else, so that to understand anything independently would be a futile attempt.

To be continued ....