S K Ditta
Welcome
Welcome to the website of S K Ditta. I explore ideas. In these explorations, there are flashes of light and there are times of darkness. While having an admiration for those who claim to have found the absolute truth, I find it reasonable to remember the limitations of human understanding and experience. Rather than pretending to have found all the answers, which no man has ever done, it is better to search.
This, as you would understand, is a philosopher’s way of looking at things. At such a time as this, it is appropriate to recall the words of Richard Feynman: “I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here. I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell.”
At the same time, I wouldn’t make the mistake of absolute agreement with Richard or anyone else. There are things we do have tremendous certainty about, especially when there are predictable results from deliberate, systematic actions. This we find to be true in the inanimate, but seemingly alive world, of technology. Calling a specific mobile number reaches only that specific phone, an IP address relates to a specific machine, a website URL directs to a specific page among the billions on the World Wide Web. So, with all the uncertainties that we come to see especially in human thought, emotions, and behavior, we also are in contact with a world of technology that presents a picture of near absolute certainties in the given environment of today. Yes, if the larger environment we live in undergoes changes that affect these technologies and how we live our lives, we will then be reminded of the instability of our existence; something humble men rarely seem to forget, if ever!
People give up searching very soon in life. Why? At a very early age, we somehow get attached to objectives, beliefs, and ideas. These could be influenced by a culture, religion, family, or some other authoritative source. Despite not having found satisfaction, we are willing to commit our lives to those. In recent times, there seems to be an added and growing insistence on becoming integrated into the system – a system which itself has grown larger than anyone’s control or understanding. The system with its many parts – be it government, economy, religion, or even technology – is prone to rapid changes, all of it fueled by the human element, if not also by something beyond what is obviously human. What comes to mind at such a time are the words of Socrates: “Gnothi seauton”, meaning, KNOW THYSELF!
Amid all these uncertainties when no one can say with absolute certainty what the future holds, Life, I know, is THE great reality just as death is. The time we have in between birth and death – our life – is an opportunity unlike any other. Don’t you agree? All certainty seems to return to certain dependable and unchangeable basis. And so far, we are only absolutely certain in the physical realm of the start and end of a human life – our own and that of every other human we know of.
Now, is it so small a thing to be a human? Wouldn’t we rather confess it to be the greatest visible miracle in the known world to behold and truly appreciate a human being in its entirety – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? To be a human being is to taste divinity, to have a realization of such, and yet have the longing to fulfill yet more. In our limited, finite existence, amazing as it is to ourselves and seemingly meaningless from the standpoint of a universal vision, there is an undeniable miracle right here before us. You see, as a human, there is always this realization of being not able to fully do as one can wish. The imaginations and thoughts of us have always exceeded the actual abilities to fulfill. In this, there are the longing and the humiliation; there are also the pursuit, the prayers, and the dreams.
As it is, there is simply no end…so please join me on a journey that never ends. I believe, this is what life was always meant to be! In saying all these things, I am mindful of an Ultimate Reality – A First Cause, The Sacred Intelligence, The Original Designer and Creator of life and all there is in the known and the unknown realms. There is an ultimate truth and within every human there is the potential of that ultimate truth. It simply is buried deeper and deeper, it seems, now and that immortal portion of the Divine is receding into an unawareness the more we seem to get distracted.
Finally, let me welcome you one more time to my website. It is my hope to keep on adding content to this site. Perhaps, a day would come when there are very clear answers to anything and everything. Of this, I remain optimistic, however, based more on destiny and the Divine Will than on my own endeavors. I am reluctant to have absolute clarity and a state with no uncertainty, as I have experienced in my life, and fear that every time there has been such certainty in the mind of an individual (or a community) it has led to great upheavals. There are indeed times when it is more desirable to have peace than the prospect of certainties that will create irremediable disturbances. To stay on a path that is constructive and creative seems a very great accomplishment today. We seem, however, to be headed for more trouble than stability. For as long as possible, let us appreciate the value of peace – a peace closely linked to humility. Peace gives an opportunity for life and to the growth of individuals and societies. As long as peace has a chance, the chance must be preserved. In turn, we ourselves will be preserved, not having to invest our energies to thoughts of the end of the world or relocating existing humans to other planets. We could foresee the continuation of life – sustainably and peacefully – for as long as possible. Of this, some certainty needs to be maintained, even if through faith.
