The monuments of architectural skill, the symbols of human ingenuity- the Taj in India, Pyramids of Egypt, Hanging Gardens of babylon and the leaning Tower of Pisa-are subject to decay. Either the inevitable and inexorable time writers their epitaphs or man, blinded by the halo of this glory or consumed by the fiery passion for power, spells doom for them. For them, there is an impending catastrophe, may be slow, smouldering and withering into Hades or may sweep like an avalanche, or molten lava to drag to the shores of Lethe. Building with stone is not enough if man becomes stony, no use fabricating steel structures if it goes into our heart.
Till man learns, an Ruskin opines, to build well, not with stone but with flesh, not with cold white marble but with the warm and crimson blood, till he learns that temples are not made with bricks but are riveted with hearts, his magnificence will be meaningless. Are the 'castles in the air' eternal? Are such conceptions not deceptive, empty of content and meaning? Will not one, while blundering in the smokescreen of vague visions, be lost earthly castles are destroyed once in centuries, visions can be demolished any time. T.S. Eliot's prufrock with a sense of satisfaction considers a single moment sufficient to undo his decision.
Such 'castles' can be raised to the highest and razed to the lowest in no time. Still these visions are the props of human progress, are the bulwark for mental, emotional moral and spiritual life to serve as buttress for man's superiority over other creations of God.
Man struggles and strives not because he considers it his duty to struggle or his aim to strive. Generally there are two motives behind man's effort that is personal and impersonal. As far as personal motivation is concerned one is generally guided by one's progress in life and one's personal gains. Impersonal motivation may fall beyond the pale of personal prejudice and emotion but they do guide the activities. Sometimes ideals persuade the people to make an effort, at other times some emotional reactions are released by external impersonal influences.
Out of these are born ideals, which are tempting because they raise us higher from the earthly, narrow and mundane life. These haunt us and like divinity shape our ends. Ideals remove the fluffy, smothering haze of cant and catchwords. Declaration of Rights in America, Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Indian Constitution have been the political ideals whose influence on the course of history cannot be under-estimated .
Ideals in their budding state may be mere imaginative conceptions divorced from reality, but as man's thoughts gather round it ideals become the dynamic of human effort. They nibble away the foundations of worn-out beliefs and erect new supports from them. If old customary thought does not undergo any change, man is stuck up in the mire of times.
By building castles in the air one can give directions to one's thinking. it is wrong to think that imagination takes us beyond the orbit of reason. As man's mind works within the limitations of senses and physical existence it cannot be completely separated from the realities and the facts of life. Imaginative reality is purged of grossness, it does not cater to momentary wishes and transitory urgencies.
Take the case of artistic presentation of the tragic incidents of life. We may be depressed by the latter but are always elevated by a tragedy upon the stage. Tragedy in life has a debilitating effect on thinking , may clog action but dramatic presentation makes us wiser and spiritually enlightened. It can cover the ordinary, things with a celestial light.
[ Part 2 ] [ part 3]
Till man learns, an Ruskin opines, to build well, not with stone but with flesh, not with cold white marble but with the warm and crimson blood, till he learns that temples are not made with bricks but are riveted with hearts, his magnificence will be meaningless. Are the 'castles in the air' eternal? Are such conceptions not deceptive, empty of content and meaning? Will not one, while blundering in the smokescreen of vague visions, be lost earthly castles are destroyed once in centuries, visions can be demolished any time. T.S. Eliot's prufrock with a sense of satisfaction considers a single moment sufficient to undo his decision.
Such 'castles' can be raised to the highest and razed to the lowest in no time. Still these visions are the props of human progress, are the bulwark for mental, emotional moral and spiritual life to serve as buttress for man's superiority over other creations of God.
Man struggles and strives not because he considers it his duty to struggle or his aim to strive. Generally there are two motives behind man's effort that is personal and impersonal. As far as personal motivation is concerned one is generally guided by one's progress in life and one's personal gains. Impersonal motivation may fall beyond the pale of personal prejudice and emotion but they do guide the activities. Sometimes ideals persuade the people to make an effort, at other times some emotional reactions are released by external impersonal influences.
Out of these are born ideals, which are tempting because they raise us higher from the earthly, narrow and mundane life. These haunt us and like divinity shape our ends. Ideals remove the fluffy, smothering haze of cant and catchwords. Declaration of Rights in America, Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in Indian Constitution have been the political ideals whose influence on the course of history cannot be under-estimated .
Ideals in their budding state may be mere imaginative conceptions divorced from reality, but as man's thoughts gather round it ideals become the dynamic of human effort. They nibble away the foundations of worn-out beliefs and erect new supports from them. If old customary thought does not undergo any change, man is stuck up in the mire of times.
By building castles in the air one can give directions to one's thinking. it is wrong to think that imagination takes us beyond the orbit of reason. As man's mind works within the limitations of senses and physical existence it cannot be completely separated from the realities and the facts of life. Imaginative reality is purged of grossness, it does not cater to momentary wishes and transitory urgencies.
Take the case of artistic presentation of the tragic incidents of life. We may be depressed by the latter but are always elevated by a tragedy upon the stage. Tragedy in life has a debilitating effect on thinking , may clog action but dramatic presentation makes us wiser and spiritually enlightened. It can cover the ordinary, things with a celestial light.
[ Part 2 ] [ part 3]
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