Essay to read

Doing good in a material world

With the hold of religion gone, faith in god shaken and moral values
discarded, are there any incentives to goodness left?

Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-79) was a freedom fighter, social reformer and
political leader. The following post titled Is there any incentive to be
good? appeared in a 1952 issue of Freedom First and was published again
in November 1979.
*****
In days gone by men tried to be good, impelled by some higher moral
force in which they believed; and goodness means such things as
truthfulness, honesty, kindness, chastity, unselfishness. Men felt that
it was the highest moral duty to try to be good. Whether they succeeded
in their trial, or whether they tried at all, was a different matter.
The important point is that society provided every individual with the
motive to be good; it was the command of religion, of God; it was
necessary for one's highest growth, for self-realization; it brought
peace and supreme happiness; it brought salvation and freedom from
births and deaths.
In present society, with the hold of religion gone, faith in God shaken,
moral values discarded as deadweights of the dark ages of history; in
short with materialism enthroned in men's hearts, are there any
incentives to goodness left? Indeed, has the question any relevance at
all to present facts, problems and ideals of human society?
I hold emphatically that no other question is more relevant to us today.
In spite of what may be broadly described as the materialist climate of
present society, men everywhere are engaged, in their different ways, in
creating a heaven upon earth—in remaking, refining, perfecting human
society. These efforts, even the most idealistic and ambitious, such as
communism of its original conception, seem, however, to be shipwrecking
on one obdurate rock—human baseness. It is clearer today than ever that
social reconstruction is impossible without human reconstruction.
Society cannot be good unless individual men are good and particularly
those men who form the elite of society.
Here then is the crux of the modern problem. Men wish to create, if not
an ideal, at least a good society.
Modern science and technology make that task far easier than ever
before. But men lack the tools with which to make themselves. And the
ideas are forgotten, and they begin to fight for power, position,
spoils, bringing down the whole edifice of the new society.
Therefore, the problem of human goodness is of supreme moment today. The
individual asks today why should he be good. There is no God, no soul,
no morality, no life hereafter, no cycle of birth and death. He is
merely an organization of matter, fortuitously brought into being, and
destined soon to dissolve into the infinite ocean of matter. He sees all
around him evil succeed—corruption, profiteering, lying, deception,
cruelty, power politics, violence. He asks naturally why he should be
virtuous. Our social norms of today and the materialist philosophy which
rules the affairs of men answer back: he need not. The cleverer he is,
the more gifted, the more courageously he practices the new amorality;
and in the toils of this amorality the dreams and aspirations of
humankind become warped and twisted.
For many years I have worshipped at the shrine of the
goddess—dialectical materialism—which seemed to me intellectually more
satisfying than any other philosophy. But while the main quest of
philosophy remains unsatisfied, it has become patent to me that
materialism of any sort robs man of the means to become truly human. In
a material civilization man has no rational incentive to be good. It may
be that in the kingdom of dialectical materialism, fear makes men
conform, and the Party takes the place of God. But when that God himself
turns vicious, to be vicious becomes a universal code.
I feel convinced, therefore, that man must go beyond the material to
find the incentives to goodness. As a corollary, I feel further that the
task of social reconstruction cannot succeed under the inspiration of a
materialist philosophy.
It may be asked if any social conditioning is at all necessary for men
to acquire goodness. Is not man essentially good? Are not most men in
every society decent?
Yes and no.
Man is a socio-organic being: he is partly the product of "nature" and
partly that of society. What man is by nature cannot be said with
certainty. Indeed, the very concepts of good or bad are supernatural or
super-organic. There is nothing good or bad in nature. Human nature,
apart from the instincts of self and race preservation, is most likely
of a neutral character which acquires moral tones in accordance to
social conditioning.
It is true that in every society most men are decent and good. These men
go through life without being called upon to make any vital moral
judgements. Their routine of life runs within narrow circles and custom
and tradition answer for them the questions concerning right and wrong.
But, firstly, these harmless decent men are apt under social stimuli to
turn suddenly wild and vicious. Decent Hindus and Muslims, living
peaceably together, didn't hesitate, as we know to our cost, to fly at
each others' throats when the social passions were aroused.
Secondly, what is vital for the character of society, and for the
direction of its growth, is not so much the character of the inert mass
as that of the elite. It is the philosophy and action of this group of
the select that determine the destinies of men. To the extent the elite
become godless or amoral, to that extent evil overtakes the human race.
Let me hasten to remove a possible misunderstanding. I do not mean to
suggest that all those who profess a philosophy of materialism are
vicious nor that all non-materialists are good. But what I do assert is
that there is no logic in materialism for the individual to endeavour
deliberately to acquire and practice goodness. On the other hand, those
who go beyond matter will find it difficult to justify non-good.
Non-materialism—I am using this negative phrase because I have no
particular school in mind—by rejecting matter as the ultimate reality,
immediately elevates the individual to a normal plane, and urges him,
without reference to any objective outside of himself, to endeavour to
realize his own true nature end fulfil the purpose of his being. This
endeavour becomes the powerful motive force that drives him in its
natural course to the good and the true. It will be seen as an important
corollary of this that only when materialism is transcended does
individual man come into his own and become an end in himself.

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Karkidakam

From the Hindu:

From special discounts on religious books to ready-made mix of
'Karkidaka Kanji,' a special gruel made during this season, the city
markets are all set for the 'panja' month, as it is popularly known.

Decades ago, 'Karkidaka masam' was marked by heavy rain, a time when
people prayed to the Gods to prevent nature's fury. Times have changed
and so have the prayers, but some traditions continue to be followed.

From special discounts on religious books to ready-made mix of
'Karkidaka Kanji,' a special gruel made during this season, the city
markets are all set for the 'panja' month, as it is popularly known.
This year Karkidaka Masam, the last month in the traditional Malayalam
calendar, starts on July 16 and ends on August 16.

The month, also known as the 'Ramayana masam,' is normally dedicated to
reading the Ramayana and following other religious rituals.

"The month represents a time when there is heavy rain and people read
the Ramayana to build self-confidence during the difficult times. It is
not always possible to complete the entire book, so mostly
'Sundarakandam,' the fifth book is read," academic M.G. Shashibhooshan
says.

In connection with the season, the State Institute of Languages is
organising a month-long 'Darshinika Pushthakolsavam,' starting on July
16.

"This is a month for reading as per tradition. Thirty new collections of
philosophical books and other religious texts will be available at
special discounts," M.R. Thampan, director, says.

Mr. Shashibhooshan says that in the Hindu tradition, it is believed that
the sage Valmiki completed the epic Ramayana during this month. It also
marks the season for a ritual dedicated to dead ancestors and relatives
that is performed on the Amavasi or no-moon day when people visit
seashores and riverbanks to perform the Bali ritual, he says.

Another age-old tradition of savouring the Karkidaka kanji, a spicy mix
of rice and medicinal herbs, remains intact among a few families even
today. While it may now have become difficult to find the herbs in the
courtyards of houses, branded 'Karkidaka kanji' ready mix is available
in the market.

"There is good demand for the product among people who want to follow
the tradition, but are unaware of the herbs and medicinal plants that go
into it. The special mix is already available in the market,"
Reghunandanan V. Menon, an official at Oushadhi, a public sector company
manufacturing Ayurvedic products, says.

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Gut bacteria spotted eating brain chemicals for the first time

Gut bacteria spotted eating brain chemicals for the first timeBy Andy
Coghlan

Bacteria have been discovered in our guts that depend on one of our
brain chemicals for survival. These bacteria consume GABA, a molecule
crucial for calming the brain, and the fact that they gobble it up could
help explain why the gut microbiome seems to affect mood.

Philip Strandwitz and his colleagues at Northeastern University in
Boston discovered that they could only grow a species of recently
discovered gut bacteria, called KLE1738, if they provide it with GABA
molecules. "Nothing made it grow, except GABA," Strandwitz said while
announcing his findings at the annual meeting of the American Society
for Microbiology in Boston last month.

GABA acts by inhibiting signals from nerve cells, calming down the
activity of the brain, so it's surprising to learn that a gut bacterium
needs it to grow and reproduce. Having abnormally low levels of GABA is
linked to depression and mood disorders, and this finding adds to
growing evidence that our gut bacteria may affect our brains.
Treating depression

An experiment in 2011 showed that a different type of gut bacteria,
called Lactobacillus rhamnosus, can dramatically alter GABA activity in
the brains of mice, as well as influencing how they respond to stress.
In this study, the researchers found that this effect vanished when they
surgically removed the vagus nerve – which links the gut to the brain –
suggesting it somehow plays a role in the influence gut bacteria can
have on the brain.

Strandwitz is now looking for other gut bacteria that consume or even
produce GABA, and he plans to test their effect on the brains and
behaviour of animals. Such work may eventually lead to new treatments
for mood disorders like depression or anxiety.

"Although research on microbial communities related to psychiatric
disorders may never lead to a cure, it could have astonishing relevance
to improving patients' quality of life," said Domenico Simone of George
Washington University in Ashburn, Virginia.

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