Memories are a double-edged sword. While some cherish them as treasures, others find them painful reminders of the past. For Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the esteemed Indian philosopher, forgetfulness transcends mere lapses in memory. It symbolizes ignorance and a disconnection from the soul’s true essence. In contrast, remembrance and realization represent the pursuit of true knowledge and the discovery of the divine within. This monistic view is a cornerstone of his seminal work, An Idealist View of Life, where he eloquently bridges Eastern and Western thought, uncovering a shared essence across various religious and philosophical traditions.
As an Advaitic philosopher, Radhakrishnan saw idealism as a harmonious integration of the individual soul with the ultimate Spirit. This union can only be achieved by overcoming forgetfulness and ignorance, leading to an awareness of the oneness that underpins all existence. Forgetfulness, in this context, isn’t just a personal failing but a spiritual disconnection that obscures the soul’s divine nature. Remembrance, however, restores the soul to its original state, allowing it to recognize its unity with the divine.
In Greek mythology, the river Lethe flows through the underworld and is associated with oblivion. The souls of the dead were required to drink from this river to erase their memories, severing them from their pasts and identities. Radhakrishnan contrasts this mythological oblivion with his belief that a wholesome memory—one that leads to true knowledge—enables remembrance and ultimately the realization of the person’s connection to the absolute. For him, the soul’s salvation lies in knowledge and remembrance of its original, divine state, where the shadows of dualities are unified in an ideal unity with the Spirit.
Idealism is a complex concept because of the subjective interpretation of what an “ideal” means. For Plato, idealism suggests that the material world is a mere shadow of a higher, perfect world of forms or ideas. The soul’s forgetfulness is linked to mistaking these shadows for reality. Plotinus extends this by proposing that the ultimate ideal is union with “The One,” transcending material forms and concepts. This perspective aligns with Radhakrishnan’s monism, which recognizes unity across religious and spiritual traditions. He believed that this unity is achieved through intuitive and mystical experiences, surpassing rationality and dogma. Such intuitive knowledge leads to the recognition of the divine within oneself.
A Christian mystic Meister Eckhart believed humanity’s estrangement from God stems from forgetting their divine origin. This estrangement happens when we overly attach ourselves to temporal things, leading to a condition of spiritual amnesia. Eckhart advocated for radical detachment from the material world for inner purification and to encounter God. In this state, the soul relinquishes everything that isn’t God, including the ego and personal desires. Such mystical encounters are central to many Eastern traditions, including Advaita.
C.S. Lewis, the Christian apologist, offers a view that both aligns with and diverges from Radhakrishnan’s ideas. Lewis envisioned the ideal life as one centred on God, marked by faith, hope, and love. He emphasized “joy” as a deep spiritual longing that directs the soul toward God, the true source of fulfilment. In Lewis’s view, the ideal life acknowledges the presence of divine glory within individuals and gives an open invitation to participate in the divine life. An individual finds true identity and purpose in communion with God. However, he maintains a crucial distinction between God and the individual, contrasting the monism of philosophical religion with the reverential faith of devotional religion.
From an Advaitic perspective, An Idealist View is a value system that integrates all realities into one, whereas non-Advaitic views maintain the duality between the individual soul and ultimate reality. Yet, in both, the soul moves from forgetfulness to remembrance, knowledge, and realization about oneself and the absolute.
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Written by Shubhra Christy
