Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Rabindranath in Japan (contd-18)

Rabindranath admired  Japan on many points. But he was critical about the imitation of West by Japan. He remarked;
" Survival of the Fittest is the social ideals of Europe. The moral law which is the greatest discovery of man, is the discovery of this wonderful truth, that man becomes all the truer, the more he realises himself in others ,,,,, And nations, who sedulously cultivate moral blindness as the cult of patriotism will end their existence in a sudden and violent death.
Expeditions in foreign countries occurred in earlier times but that were the ambitions of a person it did not touch the mind of the general public. But now, where the spirit of the Western civilization prevails, the whole people is being taught from boyhood to foster hatreds and ambitions by all kinds of means -- by the manufacture of half truths and untruths in history, by persistent misrepresentation of other races and the culture of unfavourable sentiments towards them, by setting up memorials of events, very often false, which for the sake of humanity should be speedily forgotten, thus continually brewing evil menace towards neighbors and nation other than their own. This is poisoning the very fundamental of humanity.
Rabindranath had seen personally the exhibition of victory over China in Tokyo museum which used to vitiate the minds of childrens. He said that the West are afraid of the exploration of the East. Because that is the power of the evil -- so long as this power is in their grief, they will remain free from danger and others will tremble with fear. The present civilization of Europe are eager to preserve this power of evil and are directing all their energy, physical and technical,   in this respect.
But these costly rituals for invocation of the evil spirit lead through a path of prosperity to the brink of cataclysm.Japan had all round virtues but as not recognized by Europe until she proved the bloodhounds of Satan are not only bred  in the kennels of Europe but can also be domesticated in Japan and feel with man's miseries. They admit Japan's equality with themselves , only when they know that Japan also possesses the key to open the floodgate of hell-fire upon the fair earth whenever she chooses, and can dance, in their own measure, the devil dance of pillage, murder and ravishment of innocent women, while world goes to ruin.
He also said high of Europe. ;
" Above all things Europe has held high before our minds the banner of liberty, through centuries of Martyrdom and achievement, -- liberty of conscience, liberty of thought and action, libety in the ideals of art and literature.".