The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-01
RERGyON AND TAGORE.
Does East Meet West In the Philosophy
OF Creative Evolution?

Does East Meet West In the Philosophy
OF Creative Evoiuti0n7
To THE Editor OF THE SUN--Sir: Stu
dents Of Bergson will find curious confir-
nation Of important principles of the Gre
, Upanishad essays which. under the title of
''Sadhana," have been put into English
from his own original Bengali by Rabin-
dranath Tagore. the winner Of the latest
Nobel literature prize.
Attempting to md reality by means
OF science IL impossible, says Bergson. be-
| cause science must split things UP before
analysing them. while reality 10 not di-
visible and can be known only by direct.
intuitive knowledge. Tagore says the
same:
Our pursuit. Of truth IN the domain Of ma.
ture. therefore. 10 through analysis and the
gradual methods Of science. but our appre-
hension Of truth In our soul is immediate
ana through direct intuition. We cannot
attain the supreme soul by successive ad-
ditions OF knowledge acquired bit by bit
even through all eternity. because he
tBrahmal IL one, he 10 not made up Of
parts. page ~
Bersson regards intellect as an instru-
ment for dividing matter to permit un-
determined action, and intellectual knowl-
edge therefore ID partial and cannot tell
W Of reality. which 10 the unity of inter-
penetrating parts. Listen 70 Tagore:
4 knowledge 10 partial because our intellect
| Ia an instrument. II is only part of us. II can
| give US Information about things which can
| be divided and analysed and whose proper
| ties can be classified part by part.
| Intellect sets us apart from the things 20
| be known, but love knows its object by
fusion. Such knowledge 10 immediate and
\ admits no doubt. Therefore. as
the Cpanlshads say. mind can never know
Ne A. A. ~.
/ can only be known by our soul. by her Joy
In him. by her love. tPage 159)
/ The similarity to Bergson's thought IL
! remarkable. The two hold together, even
, to the idea of love being the great re-
vealer Tagore frequently emphasizes this
| character Of love. and Bergson has writ
! ten that the supreme Of all loves, maternal
love. may deliver us lifes secret. cCre-
alive Evolution" page 1921.
1 Tagore time and again links creative
| ness with Joy:
/ II individuality be demolished
the creative Joy which was crystal
liked therein 10 gone page 7o)
! only he has attained the Hnal truth who
knows tina, the whole world is u creation OF
! Joy. page es)
From the everlasting Joy do all objects
have their birth. page 1917
| The immortal being manfests himself IN
/ Joy form. His manifestation in creation IL
out OF his fuiness OF Joy. page 1919
| The freed soul delights In accepting bonds
- for In each does II feel the manifes-
tation of an infinite energy whose JOY is in
creation. page llyD
| Bergson, in the most spiritual part of
! his philosophy and the newest part. en-
phasizes the presence Of Joy with Gre
atveness. similarly
| She tnaturel has set up q sign which ap.
prises us every time our activity is In fun
l gia d. at.r a.
Joy IL always an emphatic sig
nal Of the triumph OF life. Wher-
ever Joy is. creation has been, and the richer
| the creation the deeper the Joy. Huxley
Lecture. from the H6bert Journal. October,
| 1911, pages ii-i2p
Bergson defines pain as;
An actual effort Of the damaged part 70
! set things TO rights an effort that is local.
| isolated. and thereby condemned TO failure
! In an organism which can no longer act
| except as whole. t'Matter and Memory"
page silD
Tagore has the same intuition. applied
| to a wider scale:
Whenever the part. spurnins the whole
tries to run separate course ~ It's own
the great pull OF the all gives It violent
| wrench stops IL suddenly and brings It to
the dust. Whenever the individual tries to
dam the evernowins current Of the world
force and imprison II within the area of his
particular use. II brings on disaster. page
co.
Substitute for world force" Bergsons
| vital impetus" and the sentence Is "A
pure ethical corollary of BerGsonIsn.
| Particularly interesting are these dupli-
Gates of thought. undoubtedly perceived
without collision because Tagore objects
To the fact that Western metaphysic has
now begun TO talk of the evolution Of
God himself. They will not admit that
| he Is they would have IL that he also is
becoming ,page 1850. This criticism
| doubtless is aimed at Rergson. who has
written that God has nothing of
| the already made tie is unceaslng life.
action. freedom ("Creative Evolution"
page 24s).
Tagore seems 10 accer, the Bergsoninn
idea Of becomins but only as a finite oh
jective tpages l5s-1j5) : aud in mystic
| exalta.ion he cries:
| am weary Of getting; an. whore is he
who 10 never to be soi' page 1919
BY this he repudiates a ceaseless be-
| coming, for ultimate rest In an immediate
| apprehension of Brahma through perfect
love- what Rergson might call nterpene-
tration by intuition.
| The difference between the two ideas Of
| omnipotence IL due essentially TO the fact
that Bergson regards God as the Creator
Of the universe. that is. rs the source.
| while Tagorc sees him as the ultimate
resting place Of the soul, that is. the end
Does Tagore. therefore. supplement Berg
| son? Is the most modern Of Western
PHILOSOPHERS to jon with the ag"worn
teaching Of the Upanshads, to form "A
| new mystic faith NJ the future the one
| telling of Omnipotcnce as Creator and
the other as created? Neither Bergson
nor Tagore. but only the creative future it
1 hat