Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol. 2

From the Known to the Unknown?

FROM the known to the unknown: that is a well-known principle of procedure in the matter of knowledge, of action and of life generally. It is a golden rule that one should never take a step forward unless and until the previous step has been held firm and secure. But after all is this counsel the supreme counsel of perfection or even in point of fact does this represent an actuality? We have our misgivings.

For may not the contrary motto - " from the unknown to the known" - be equally valid, both as a matter of fact and as a matter of principle? Do we not, sometimes at least, take for granted and start with the unknown number x to find out the solution to our problem? Why go far, the very first step that the child takes in his adventurous journey of life, is it not a veritable step into the unknown? Indeed, many, in fact most of the scientific laws - the Laws of Nature - are they strictly the result of calculation and deduction from known and observed data or are they not rather "brilliant surmises", "sudden revelations" that overwhelm by their un-expected appearance? Newton did not arrive at his Law of Gravitation in the trail of a logical argument from given premises towards unforeseen conclusions. Nor did Einstein discover his version of the Law in any syllogistic way either. The fact seems to be more often true that the unknown reveals itself all on a sudden and is not reached through a continuous series of known steps. Examples could be easily multiplied from the history of scientific discoveries.

For the fact is that man, the being that knows, is composed not merely of known elements, known to himself and to others, but possesses a hidden, an unknown side which is nonetheless part of himself. And even though unknown, it is not inactive,

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it always exerts its influence, imposes its presence. Man has a submerged consciousness which is in contact and communion with similarly submerged worlds of consciousness. Man's consciousness possesses aerials that catch vibrations from unknown regions. He has a secret sensitiveness that receives intimations from other where than his physical senses and his logical reason. His external mind does not always recognise such unorthodox or abnormal movements; he only expresses his surprise or amazement at the luminosity, the authenticity of solutions that come so simply, suddenly, inevitably, the unknown revealing itself miraculously.

In the spiritual field the unknown is a fact of primary importance and has to be given the first place, the foremost consideration. For the call is towards the Beyond and no amount of trafficking with the actual-the near and the known-can lead you out of it. There must be a sudden leap at one time or another. That is what is meant by saying that the deep calls unto the deep. For man has the power, the privilege to contact directly the thing that is unknown and beyond. There is an opening in him, a kind of backdoor, as it were, through which he can pass straight into another dimension.

That is why it is said constantly by the ancient sages that the truth cannot be found by much inquiry and much study, the truth is found only when it condescends to reveal itself to the inquirer. The true truth is not at our beck and call, you cannot get it as and when you like, it does not wait comfortably just at the terminus of your investigations and argumentations. This does not mean, however, that we remain helpless and hopeless until the manna falls from heaven. No, something lies in our power, a spontaneous and natural faculty, to create at least favourable conditions for the light to descend and appear. A quiet awaiting in the being, calm concentration and aspiration, a sincere opening are some of the conditions under which it is easier for the unknown x to reveal its identity.

It is not a blunder and it need not lead inevitably to a catastrophe if, for example, a child were given its first education not through his mother tongue, but through what is termed a foreign language. Would it, for that matter, harm a child invariably and necessarily, if he did not confine himself within

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the walls of his school in the midst of the known and the familiar, if he were to stir out and venture into wilds - how otherwise would Alice discover her Wonderland? A foreign tongue, a foreign atmosphere would often interest a child more than things known and familiar. The very distance and imprecision and even the peculiar difficulties exert a charm and evoke greater attention in the child. This is not to say that familiarity breeds contempt, but that unfamiliarity does not repel but attracts also.

There is some point in a system of education which seeks to pull out the child from its familiar old-world milieu and place him in the midst of conditions where he can grow freely unencumbered by ties of the past and the immediate. The Russians have been blamed for many of their revolutionary, if not scandalous changes in social life and pattern: the child not knowing its father and mother, but being brought up in a common, almost anonymous nursery where he loses his family brand but develops a consciousness that is cosmopolitan and widely human. It seems it is only when one is thrown into strange and unfamiliar and unknown surroundings that one gets the best out of oneself. If you wish to increase the stature of your being, that is the way-if not the way, at least one effective way.

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