Archives

by Professor Siri Gunasinghe (Address made at the General Convocation (2002) of the University of Peradeniya)

Professor Siri Gunasinghe

On this occasion when we are celebrating half a century of history it would be meaningful to take a look back and reflect on what we have and have not achieved during those years.

We have a history of some sixty years of university learning, without counting those years when only a few privileged members of our society were able to benefit from higher learning abroad. The first 50 years of Peradeniya (which this special occasion marks), though not a very long time in the life of a university, is, nevertheless, long enough to assess what benefits we, as products of this institution, have reaped during those years. We have got our degrees. That is good. But we must ask ourselves if that is all we have got, and if we should be satisfied with that.

It is generally accepted that Peradeniya has been quite productive in the cultural life of the country. We have produced dramatic and literary works; we have written histories; done political, social and scientific studies; analysed the classics, the languages, the religions, and the philosophies. In short, we have done much that one would expect a cultural institution to do. However, all the poetry we have written, and all the bridges we have built are only symbolic expressions of a part of our culture. It might sound dogmatic and a cliche to say that culture is an acquired condition which should not be sought only in the material productions it nurtures. In addition, just as being cultured is not readily observable, not being cultured is also not readily observable.

This reality prevents us from recognising one major ethical aspect of personal culture that we should have acquired at the university, that is the ability to discern shame, when we see it.

There are those who believe that the degree we earn in the university gives us the freedom and the right to think that we are educated adults, ready to start the business of living. This is the view of those who see the university as a place just to get a degree from and then depart. It is, obviously, a very restricted view. A university is, above all, a centre of culture and culture goes far beyond anything that learning alone can provide. The culture that the university expects us to develop is the culture of the mind, and not the simple culture of the external appearance.

The culture of the mind is important because it shows us not only our strengths, but also our weaknesses. It can highlight deficiencies in our intellectual and moral make-up, including the inability to recognise shame and then to realise that shame is not the same thing as being embarrassed, which is only a public, face-saving device.

In our training to be socially responsible individuals, shame is one thing to which most of us pay little attention. We do not show as much enthusiasm for cultural and moral learning that would enable us to understand shame, as we do for book learning. As a result we fail to recognise the lack of shame as the root cause of many of the evils evident in our society. This, of course, is not a condition unique to our society. We do not have the monopoly of sinning against ourselves. Nevertheless it is important that we do not deny shame.

Culture or the lack of it is important more for the society as a whole than for the individuals in that society. An individual can hide in the society but there is no place for the society to hide in. As an individual one can lie to ones self with immunity; one can endure anger, hatred, intolerance etc. in the isolation of one's ego. But in an incorruptible society, such individual behaviour, whenever it becomes evident, will not be accepted with complacency.

Our society, however, regards such behaviour with indifference. As individuals, sometimes, we tend to forget that society is our own creation. It is our duty to help society endure the many hardships it will necessarily face and escape the pitfalls it will necessarily encounter. It is also our duty to see that conditions which are in the best interest of the society prevail.

Awareness of this responsibility is the hope for result of the years of labour to which we have subjected ourselves in the process of learning to be cultured. An essential part of that culture is being able to see shame as a means of avoiding evil. If we depart from the university without that vision, we would have laboured in vain. The inability to recognise shame for what it is leads us to become blind to the harm we do to our society and to our own conscience.

We become immune to accusations and allegations levelled against us, whether they are true or false. Unable to feel uneasy about others perception of us, we become lax with regard to the duties we should take upon ourselves as responsible citizens, the role for which we have been groomed in the university and other seats of learning.

It comes as no great surprise that in any society where understanding, let alone acceptance, of shame does not play a significant role, social consciousness becomes the first victim. As individuals living in such an unfortunate society we lose our sense of compassion towards each other. We cease to care for each other. In short, we tend to devalue each other.

It is unconscionable that in a country such as ours, with a sizeable sector of the population that does not know where the next meal is coming from, and an equally large segment that does not have a half decent roof over their heads, those in power can live lives of mindlessly luxurious abandon and lounge in princely comfort in their sprawling mansions, ruminating over their good fortune. Such blatant disregard for the well-being of one's fellow: creatures is possible only because the fortunate few, the ones who have political or economic power and are blinded by that power, do not recognise or understand shame; they do not even see the shame that dominates their little world.

So, leaders who should be visionaries capable of guiding us through our social conflicts, fail in their mission because shame has no control over their socially and politically unacceptable behaviour. They sanctimoniously hold out before us their ill-conceived ideals, and lead us on the path to destruction. If only they can foresee the disastrous results of their thought of grandeur, and recognise the shame that would be their lot in the end, they might perhaps act differently. Sadly, though, they have not understood the culture of shame. They have no qualms about creating more and more harmful philosophies to engage our attention. And we too are willing to be led deeper and deeper into the morass. This is when the wisdom we have discovered at the university must become our guiding light.

This is when shame, if we have learned to recognise it, should play a major role in preventing further moral erosion. We should not forget that learning and culture are two different acquisitions. The formal learning we get at the university and elsewhere could well be a part of our wisdom, but only a small part. As stated earlier, all our artistic and literary products and scientific constructions are, of course, the result of this learning we receive at the university. But they cannot, and do not, speak for all of what we call culture.

The culture that is most significant in the context of the society we live in is, of course, the culture of the mind. An essential part of that culture, as already suggested, is the ability to recognise shame. Shame is elusive by its very nature. By carefully concealing it from the public eye make it more so. If we learn to hold shame to the light of our wisdom we would have done right by ourselves and our society.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager