When I was young, our school went on a trip to Belgium to visit former battlefields and cemeteries. The most striking thing was the realisation that easily I could have been born 100 years earlier and faced the prospect of going to war. I have always been grateful for being born in a time of peace and not have to face the challenges of that generation.

***

Once, I watched a long documentary about the First World War. One striking thing was in the first episode. They interviewed Bertrand Russell (a famous pacifist who was later sent to jail for later campaigning against the war) Russell noted that when war was declared he couldn’t help but notice and feel a wave of enthusiasm for the war sweep the whole nation – like an external force. He was shocked to be aware of and feel this enthusiasm in the air, even though his whole nature was personally against war. Perhaps the war was the unstoppable culmination from many years of inner aggression and striving for supremacy amongst the powerful nations.

***

Often I have thought – how would I respond if I was a young male in 1914? The over-riding feeling is gratitude I don’t have to make a choice. I am not a pacifist – there are times when it is necessary to fight – but also I do not believe you should fight simply out of patriotism or because your government tells you to.

I have never fully understood why in the Mahabharata great souls fought for the Kauravas – even though they knew the Kauravas represented darkness and the wrong forces. It seems the idea of conscientious objectors had not been born. People talk of dharma and moral duty, but is not the highest dharma to refuse to fight if you feel the cause is wrong? We praise the heroism of soldiers, but what about the heroism of those who refuse to fight in a wrong cause?

Regarding the First World War, Sri Aurobindo (an Indian nationalist leader who earlier had been seeking to free India from British Rule) – said:

“It was so difficult to have sympathy with either side. But it would have been a great disaster if Germany had won.” Purani, 156–7

If I had been born in Britain, there was a justification to fight because of the German invasion of Belgium and France. With a heavy heart, I would have joined up – even though I would have no pretence – the British were, at the very least, inconsistent in their application of democratic principles. The problem is that while there was a justification to the defence of France, trench warfare was a living hell. By 1917, many soldiers were increasingly disillusioned by a war that had got stuck in unending stalemate – with thousands of casualties for seemingly no point. It is possible to have sympathy both with the futility of war and the reasons why it started.

To complicate matters, it is one thing to fight in Belgium. But, it would have been a moral dilemma if I been posted as a member of the British army to India, Ireland or Palestine.

***

The one illumining development of the First World War – was the vision of President Woodrow Wilson and his idealistic ‘Fourteen Points’. This included the formation of a new “League of Nations.”

Amongst ordinary people in Europe, there was a tremendous enthusiasm for seeing Woodrow Wilson and this idealistic leader from the new world of America. On his European tour, he was surrounded by huge crowds who wished to gain a glimpse of the famous Wilson. Alas, his idealism was rejected by more narrow-minded political concerns and desire for retribution. His vision struggled to be born into reality.

As a great lover of the United Nations, Sri Chinmoy always valued Wilson’s initial vision of the League of Nations as being the precursor to the United Nations.

“There was a time when Heaven’s Vision was not manifested as reality. We called it the League of Nations. But then the League of Nations was transformed into reality, and became the United Nations.” Sri Chinmoy, The tears of nation-hearts

It was unfortunate, that many political leaders were unreceptive to Wilson’s noble vision.

Sri Aurobindo reflected on the lost opportunity of the First World War.

“If, indeed, developments had occurred before the end of this world-wide struggle strong enough to change the general mind of Europe, to force the dwarfish thoughts of its rulers into greater depths and generate a more wide-reaching sense of the necessity for radical change than has yet been developed, more might have been hoped for;”

Sri Aurobindo, The Ideal of Human Unity, Part One, Chapter 14

At the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the great economist John Maynard Keynes resigned in protest at the harsh reparations the Allies imposed on Germany. He predicted it would cause economic ruin and a resurgence in German nationalism. The pugnacious French General Ferdinand Foch, on seeing the treaty wrote – “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.”

Though perhaps this lesson was learnt in 1945 when America and the Allies flooded the defeated nation Germany with humanitarian aid.

Peace is not the absence of war

“Peace does not mean the absence of war.
Peace means the presence of harmony,
Love, oneness and satisfaction.
Peace means a flood of love
In the world-family.”

Sri Chinmoy, A heart of peace

This momentous utterance captures a new way of looking at and valuing peace. The only lasting peace is when we can see our fellow man and neighbouring countries – not as rivals – but as members of the same world family. If we have the inner peace and love towards our fellow man, we cannot have a situation of outer war.

Personal notes on remembrance

I take this 100th anniversary of the First World War in the spirit of trying to make a greater contribution to a peaceful world.

I do not feel a particular inclination towards wearing outer symbols. The really important thing is the inner attitude. But, remembering those who died in battle can be a meaningful and powerful act. However, the act of remembrance should be infused with a spirit of forgiveness and determination to create a new world of peace. The most poignant aspect of the First World War is that many of the soldiers who died were told they were ‘fighting a war to end all wars.’ This has not happened yet. But we can see the remembrance of the ending of the First World War in this spirit to create a peaceful world.

For Sri Chinmoy Centre, I wrote an article on the

• Inner Meaning of the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

I also posted similar article (with a few more selected photos at)

• Sri Chinmoy Races

In 1973, Sri Chinmoy visited Scotland and, after visiting Glasgow, wished to take a train ride to Balloch and visit the great lake of Loch Lomond. Sri Chinmoy was a great admirer of Swami Vivekananda (see: Swami Vivekananda at Sri Chinmoy Library), and after a short picnic with disciples, he went off on his own to try and find the spot where Vivekananda meditated several decades prior. Whether he actually found the spot or not is unknown; in truth there is a strong meditation presence all round the edge of the loch. (so long as you can avoid the midges, who could test all but the most advanced yogis)

***

This year, we went up to Loch Lomond for a weekend with the current members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre. A mix of disciples from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, America and quite a few other nationalities too.

I could try to pretend I had a long sunset meditation by the lake, but walking fast through the mini clouds of midges was as close as I got. However, we did have a good meditation in the safe environs of a local church hall. After the morning meditation, there were games, canoeing and other stuff, which was lots of fun.

I spent several hours on a train from Oxford to Balloch. I don’t often get to travel on the train these days, but do quite enjoy it. I could do a bit of writing and work, but also just relax – looking out of the window watching the British landscape rapidly change.

Unfortunately, modern train travel is not quite like the idyllic Hogwarts Express. The romance of steam and old-fashioned compartments – replaced by oppressive air conditioning and a family who played very loudly a video – “The wheels on the bus go round and round” – to their three year old child.

For the first minute it was kind of sweet, but after a few more minutes, I feared I would permanently have this children’s song go round in my head for the rest of eternity. Fortunately, the repetitive musical interlude was short-lived and they disembarked at Birmingham, giving a relatively trouble free run to Glasgow and Balloch.

But this time I was drawn to the rugged industrial towns and moors of Calderdale – the windswept moors above Haworth and the old industrial towns of Todmorden and Burnley.

Just out of living memory, this part of the world was at the heart of the industrial revolution – with cotton and steam transforming the world. Yet, this once brave new world now stands forlorn as industrial history; derelict buildings stuck in the wrong age; the odd chimney retained as a tentative tourist attraction for towns struggling to cope with relentless economic change.

Amidst the industrial decline and garish faux decor of modern commercial renewal, the Co-operative society stood proud on Todmorden High Street. Todmorden is just a few miles down the road from Rochdale where the co-operative society was born in 1844. A response to the injustice of the Industrial age – a recognition, we are stronger working together; a reminder that unfairness and inequality, can still bring out the best in man.

Steep hills

But, it wasn’t the melancholy of the run down mills that attracted me to Calderdale, it was the unending variety of super steep hills – perfect for hill climb training – if you are so inclined. ‘Dog House Lane’, ‘The Buttress’, ‘Shibden Wall’, all hills to elicit a small grin of masochistic delight. These roads don’t get clogged up with tourists; it is a very small clientèle who make a pilgrimage to these 25% hills, cobbles and all, to test every sinew and perhaps your own sanity.

The dramatic climbs are matched by the dramatic views – from packed terrace houses and clogged up roads to priceless views of windswept green moors. Within five minutes the grime of the valley below is transformed into toy box houses submerged in the distance – a very different perspective from above.

***

Flatford – Constable country

From Yorkshire to Suffolk.

If Burnley stood at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, Flatford in Suffolk, stands as a quintessential snapshot of the English countryside. Hidden from the main roads, there is a timeless quality to this iconic spot. It was here, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, that Constable perfected his art. Capturing a romantic view of the English countryside that resonates with a dream-like mood. Constable’s world was still one of water powered mills, manual labour and an unspoilt green and pleasant land. Constable would probably have been unaware of the revolutionary steam powered looms in Burnley, which would soon be making redundant this bucolic agrarian society.

The building is still there, though nature and man have subtly encroached on the vision of Constable. But, mostly untroubled by modern life, it is still a wistful evocation of that country idyll. If Heaven is a place on earth, it would be hard to envisage much more.

Of course, a picture doesn’t tell the whole story. If you were a peasant or labourer, there was nothing idyllic about life in Constable’s age, but the picture paints the possibilities, and it’s still there today.

From Burnley to Flatford is quite a journey. Two seasons of Britain in one week. The drama of the moors and mills to the tranquillity of water-powered mills.

You wake up in the morning and new plants and old daffodils are mere shreds of their former selves, slugs greedily leaving a trail of their feasting.

It presents me with a dilemma – what to do about the slugs?

I’ve encouraged frogs and I’ve even seen a hedgehog, but it’s not enough.

I don’t really like killing animals. But, then I plants are sentient creatures too.

Some spiritual Masters, like Mahavira, (the founder of Jainism) and Ramana Maharshi take the approach of non-violence very strictly. For them, non-violence is a strict spiritual principle. And there is a good reason to follow this. In the highest consciousness, you can feel all living beings as part of yourself, you can feel tremendous oneness with all of creation. With this consciousness you see slugs as part of your wider self. Why would you harm part of your own self? It’s hard for the mind to grasp, but in meditation I have had a glimpse of how this overwhelming love for everything can be real.

That is one approach, the path of non-violence. But, the other approach is to think that there is no such thing as permanent death. Slugs are on the evolutionary scale. If a soul dies as a slug, it may reincarnate as a more advanced animal, like perhaps a frog, who likes eating slugs. This is nature, where there is an endless process of death and rebirth.

There is also the immortal teachings of the Bhagavad Gita where Sri Krishna tells Arjuna it is his duty to fight, and The Lord of the Universe has always decided who will live and who will die. “Be thou a mere instrument Arjuna.”

There is a wonderful line in Savitri “I wear the face of Kali when I kill” This could be misinterpreted, but it points to the underlying nature of the universe where, at one level, life and death are an inevitability.

But, then you have to be careful. At the Battle of Kurushetra, Arjuna was fighting evil forces. In my Oxford garden we are just dealing with a few shredded plants. Sometimes we can pick a spiritual philosophy to suit our personal needs.

But on the side of killing slugs is that plants are living sentient beings too. I feel a little pain when I see a beautiful flower shredded to smithereens. Maybe it is a selfish desire but maybe there is some empathy with the plant too.

The other thing would be to give up on growing plants in your garden and import them from Supermarket. But, you know the supermarket will have killed all slugs and snails very efficiently so that is just exporting the killing elsewhere.

Philosophy and reality

It’s one thing to justify killing slugs with philosophy, but having to do it is a different matter. The cheapest, easiest and least involved way is to scatter slug pellets on the ground. You don’t have to do any killing, but you just sprinkle the poison on the ground. The problem with this approach is that the poison may harm wildlife like frogs and hedgehogs – the wildlife I want to encourage to eat slugs. Also, it feels like cheating a little. If you’re going to kill, maybe you should do it yourself.

If you don’t like pellets there are different ways to kill a slug. One way is to pick them off a flower and dissect with a spade. This is not nice. You have a meditation in the morning, and then come out and bash some slugs up. It doesn’t feel quite right.

Another option is to place trays of beer in the ground. The slugs then come in to drink the beer and drown, hopefully placated by the alcoholic beverage a hazy death.

This is a little more expensive and tricky, but it does keep a lid on the worst explosion of the slug population.

Conclusion

So these are the different philosophies. On the one hand I want to try and seek empathy with every living creature, which makes you want to avoid any suffering for any living animal. But, then I feel a certain duty to protect the plant kingdom of my garden from the explosion of slugs and snails?

I would have like to ask my spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy about the merits of killing slugs and snails. I would have been interested in his answer. I can only hazard a guess he would have taken a more practical view than a very strict approach of non-violence. But, at the same time, Sri Chinmoy values the fundamental principle of non-violence

“The Vedic commandment for the human vital is ahimsa. Ahimsa means non-violence — non-violence in the vital and non-violence of the vital. It is from non-violence that man gets his greatest opportunity to feel that he does not belong to a small family, but to the largest family of all: the universe. India’s philosophy of non-violence was first put into practice by the compassionate Lord Buddha and his followers. Gandhi’s non-violence was a most precious gift to the life-loving humanity of the present.”

• Sri Chinmoy The Song of the Infinite from: The Vedas: Immortality’s First Call, Agni Press, 1972

It was interesting to see and feel a book 259 years old – still in quite good condition. There is always a thrill to books, but especially hard-backed books that are quite old.

It is a book about the laws and customs of the time – a guide for justices of the peace who dispensed local justice. I was a little surprised about the content. The first page I opened was a big chapter on “Popery”. In those days, there were strict anti-Catholic laws. To say or hear Catholic Mass could lead to one years imprisonment.

On other pages, there were punishments for people who didn’t attend an approved Sunday Service.

There was also a big chapter on Vagrancy. It was kind of amusing how frequent the expression “Incorrigible Rogues” was. Less amusing was the fact ‘incorrigible rogues’ could face punishments like whipping and imprisonment – to discourage idleness and disorderly conduct.

It is quite a weighty book, and despite all the problems of modern society, you get a glimpse that at least in some regard we have made some progress. Certainly it was a harsh and authoritarian society, where a particularly form of worship (or lack thereof) could lead to imprisonment – and in the Eighteenth Century, imprisonment was no laughing matter.

A few decades after this books publication in 1778, the first of Catholic Emancipation acts was passed. The “Papists Act” allowed Roman Catholics to own property, to inherit land, and to join the army – subject to an oath renouncing Stuart claims to the throne and the civil jurisdiction of the Pope. Even this moderate emancipation was controversial. Reaction against this act led to riots in Scotland in 1779 and then the Gordon Riots in London on June 2, 1780. These ideological clashes over Protestantism vs Catholic are mostly forgotten in Great Britain. Though, of course, former intolerances and ignorance can take new forms.

We look back and are bemused at some of societies attitudes 300 years ago. But, perhaps sometime in the future, other people will look back at our newspapers and be bemused at what used to fill the newspapers in the ‘dark ages’ of the 2000s.

Since the Eighteenth Century we have largely seen improvements in the notion and practise of religious tolerance. A contemporary of the time Thomas Jefferson drafted one of the first bills for religious tolerance in his native Virginia, US.

“That our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends also to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who lay the bait in their way;” (1777 bill on religious tolerance)

However, religious tolerance is only the start because from tolerance we can come to an attitude where we see equal validity in different paths. Rather than seeing competitors, we see followers of other paths as equal brothers. The real change is not just about changing laws, but the change in inner attitudes.

“True religion has a universal quality. It does not find fault with other religions. False religions will find fault with other religions; they will say that theirs is the only valid religion and their prophet is the only saviour. But a true religion will feel that all the prophets are saviours of mankind. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood and the feeling of oneness are the signs of a true religion.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Age of Trees

Out of interest, I wonder if some of the trees – here, were planted at a similar age to when this book was published. It is quite possible.

Further reading

• Time line of religious tolerance – at Biography Online
• Quotes on religion by Sri Chinmoy

I am reading a book – Platform Souls ‘Trainspotter as 20th Century Hero” by Nicholas Whittaker

Whittaker was a train-spotter when growing up in the 1960s. He tells of his fascination in watching steam trains and also how the decline of the railways and steam, completely changed the view of train-spotters, from a young hip hobby – to be the butt of jokes, eventually immortalised in a film about heroin addicts.

“A person who collects train numbers as a hobby.”

Preconceptions

My own relationship with railways is that I like trains, there is something about a busy station, which is more aesthetically and emotionally pleasing than a motorway and car park. I often look at maps and lament all the old railways torn up in the name of progress.

When I was young, I would sometimes go on ‘rail rovers’ where you would spend all day travelling on as many different lines as possible. It was great fun, though I rarely get the chance to do anything like that today.

The interesting thing, is that although railways had a certain allure, I unconsciously accepted the prevailing derogatory image of train-spotters. Any love of railways is always hedged by the fact that I’m not a train spotter! Sometimes, you see people standing at the edge of platforms, with notebook / camera in hand.

To me the interesting thing is how the prevailing derogatory view of trainspotters, subtly influences your view of these middle aged men. We all like to think we are free of prejudice, but a ‘trainspotter’ definitely creates  pre-conceived ideas.

Platform soul made me realise the strength of unconscious association towards this particular minority group.

Rose Tinted Spectacles

The problem with trains and railways, is that the modern cost-cutting railways have less soul, than the days of steam engines. The heady days of steam were the 1930s and 1940s. This is when railways were still the dominant form of transport. There was a romance and instinctive soul to the steam train era. It is very different with the modern, quieter electrics and diesels. It seems a shame that progress has lost some of the magic of railways.

Yet, at the same time, the 1930s, and 40s, were decades of depression, war and austerity. I wouldn’t swap modern life for a bit of dirty steam and more air pollution. Steam engines also went out because no-one wanted to work on such a hard and dirty job. Though ironically, when steam left the network, there is a flourishing business in heritage railways, where volunteers give up time and money to run steam trains up and down one miles of line to no-where in particular. When these lines were getting for A to B, they lost money. But, now that they run no-where in particular – only for the experience, people drive (by car) in their thousands to heritage railways to have the experience of the 1950s, sanitised without the austerity of past years.

Railway Enthusiast

I keep meaning to go to a heritage steam railway, but I’ve never been on one. The truth is I like railways, if there is point to it. I love getting the Eurostar from London to Paris. But, I don’t see the point of getting a train to go around in a circle.

Contradictions

There are so many contradictions with railways and train-spotters. I’m aware of the unconscious prejudice towards them, yet I still don’t see the point in collecting train numbers. I feel a certain longing for the steam age, but at the same time, I’m glad I wasn’t born in 1930. Railways are great, but also frustrating. We love to lionise the past, but the trains were often gloomy and grimy, dirty and late. I’d like to travel on the Orient Express, first class. But, I wouldn’t want to have to work at a steam engine – too much like hard work.

There is something intangible about trains, which makes it the best form of transport. I was quite interested to find my spiritual Teacher, Sri Chinmoy loved steam trains. When he was young, his only ambition was to be a ticket collector, like his father. Yet, at the same time, he was a practical person. He travelled by plane and car. Occasionally getting a heritage steam train when on vacation. A summary of the modern age – you can have the romance of steam, but not for practical purposes.

Would you want your kid to be a trainspotter?

I’m not a great fan of video games. Young children can spend hours killing imaginary people on a computer screen. If I had kids I feel it would be more healthy standing on a platform edge looking out for express trains. Even ‘bunking’ sheds is healthier to an addition to computer games. But, in the modern era of health and safety, the authorities would probably manage to bad mass train-spotting and keep children locked inside.

Review of book

As a railway enthusiast, it’s quite interesting for bringing up the range of issues around railways and train-spotters. Next time I see a lone figure at the edge of the platform edge, I will check those pre-conceived notions which spring into the mind.

I might even make it one day onto a heritage railway, camera in hand.

Related

Platform Souls ‘Trainspotter as 20th Century Hero” by Nicholas Whittaker

Full Steam Ahead – at Sumangli.org