The story of the Good Brahmin

Travelling through India, I met an old gentleman of the highest caste, a Brahmin, a very wise man, witty and learned. On top of that, he was rich, and consequently even wiser; for, lacking nothing, he had no need to deceive anyone. His family was well governed by three gorgeous wives who religiously studied the art of pleasing him. When he was not busy amusing himself with his wives, he philosophized.

His house had charm and beauty, was well decorated, and was surrounded by colorful and fruitful gardens. Nearby lived an old Indian woman, bigoted, stupid, and quite poor.

The Brahmin jolted me one day with this: “I wish I had never been born.” I asked him why, and he answered me:

“I have been studying for forty years...and that is forty years wasted. I teach others, but actually I know nothing. This situation makes me feel so much humiliation and disgust with myself that life is unbearable to me.

“I was born, I live in time, and I do not know what time is. I find myself at a point between two eternities, as our sages say, and I have no idea of what eternity means. I am made of matter, and I am able to think, yet I have never been able to find out how thought is caused. I do not know...Is my ability to think a simple faculty in me like that of walking, or digesting food? Do I think with my head, as I take with my hands? Not only is the explanation of my thinking unknown to me, but how I am able to move my body is also a great mystery.

“I don't know why I exist. Every day people ask me questions on all these points. I have to answer, but I have nothing worthwhile to say. I talk, talk, talk, and then I am bewildered and ashamed of myself after all that hot air.

“It is even worse when they ask me whether Brahma was produced by Vishnu or whether they are both eternal. Well, I don’t know a thing about it, and that's obvious in my pathetic answers. ‘Reverend Father,’ they say to me, ‘explain to us why evil floods the whole world.’

“I am in as much of a fog as those who ask the question. Sometimes I tell them that everything happens for the best, but those who have been destroyed and mutilated by war don't believe that for a second, and neither do I.

“So I retreat to my house overwhelmed with my curiosity and my ignorance. I read our ancient books, and they make the darkness even darker. I talk with my friends. Some tell me that we should just enjoy life and laugh at mankind. Others think they know a little something, and promptly get lost in ridiculous, pompous, empty ideas. Everything increases my feelings of doubt and misery. I am sometimes ready to fall into despair, when I think that after all my dedication and seeking I know neither where I come from, nor what I am, nor where I am going, nor what shall become of me when this life is over.”

I was greatly distressed by the mental condition of this good man. It seemed that no one was any more reasonable or honest than he. I could see that the more he came to understand, the more he came to feel, and consequently the more unhappy he was.

That same day I saw the old woman who lived near him. I asked her if she had ever been confused and upset not to know how her soul was created. She didn't even understand my question! She had never pondered for a single moment of her life over a single one of the points that tormented the Brahmin. She believed with all her heart in the changing forms of the Lord Vishnu, and, provided she could occasionally have some water from the Ganges to wash in, she considered herself the happiest of all women.

I was so amazed by the happiness and contentment of this impoverished creature, that I returned to my Brahmin philosopher and said to him:

“Aren't you ashamed to be unhappy when right at your door there is an old puppet who never bothers with thinking and who lives quite happily?”

“You are right,” he said; “I have told myself a hundred times that I would be happy if I were as stupid as my neighbour, and yet I would want no part of that kind of happiness.”

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:So my question is, who would rather be content and ignorant, or confused and always searching for the answers, given the choice?

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:You miss the point of the question, would you rather accept blindly what you are told to think and be content in being a robot, or would you rather always be looking for your own answers, and experience the frustration and sometime misery that goes with always striving to work it out for yourself?

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:alland that was a great answer. I agree, I would rather spend a lifetime searching. I have my answers but that doesn't mean I wouldn't listen to what somebody else has to say.

And you are right about ignorance. One of my favourite quotes by science philosopher Karl Popper is True ignorance is not the lack of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it. Well, he's right. You can not know much but still give a lot of thought to the mysteries of the universe. It is the lack of consideration (and where religion is concerned, the succumbing to emotional blackmail) or even suppressing your thoughts that is the true definition of ignorance.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:You miss the point of the question, would you rather accept blindly what you are told to think and be content in being a robot, or would you rather always be looking for your own answers, and experience the frustration and sometime misery that goes with always striving to work it out for yourself?

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:When you are talking about "what is there to lose?" you have double jeopardy though. If you choose a Christian life, and the Muslims are right then you will suffer exactly the same fate as I will, if not worse because of what the Koran says will happen to Christians.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:I agree and I realise that the more I learn, the less I truly know.

TexasBlue wrote:
But if Islam is right and we here are all wrong, i'll be having hot chocolate in Hell with all of you... and talking politics for eternity.

alland wrote:

TexasBlue wrote:
But if Islam is right and we here are all wrong, i'll be having hot chocolate in Hell with all of you... and talking politics for eternity.

There's a belief within Islam (although I don't know if all Muslims adhere to it) that if you're not Muslim, after you die a djinn will sit on your grave and scream insults at you for the rest of eternity.

TexasBlue wrote:If i choose to just believe in a higher power (as i do) but not practice religion at the same time and i'm wrong about it, then i haven't lost anything. You see? I don't practice religion but believe in God and his Son. But if i choose to be agnostic (like Dbl is) or an atheist (like you are) and i turn out to be wrong and there is a God, then you might be f*cked.

alland wrote:

TexasBlue wrote:
But if Islam is right and we here are all wrong, i'll be having hot chocolate in Hell with all of you... and talking politics for eternity.

There's a belief within Islam (although I don't know if all Muslims adhere to it) that if you're not Muslim, after you die a djinn will sit on your grave and scream insults at you for the rest of eternity.

MDanel93 wrote:Even though I suppose ignorance could be considered bliss, that never could or would be the case with me. From a very early age, the questions of eternity have haunted me, and have caused both stress and joy. So I am forced to pick being confused and always searching for answers, because I really can't imagine living any other way.