Introduction

Hello friends,

After a long sabbatical (also known as "intern year" to those in their medical training fortunate enough to have experienced it already) I have decided to return to the world of writing. My purpose now, as then, is to discuss those issues closest to my heart through the twin lenses of liberalism and Hinduism. To my mind, and in my own understanding of them, the two have always been of one piece. Kindly allow me to explain.

Liberalism, to me, means an estimation of reason and rationalism, both as ends in themselves and as means to achieving a state of minimal suffering and greatest overall happiness within the domain of their influence. Liberalism in this wise can be credited with (1) conceiving projects with the purpose of improving the lives of people and (2) thoughtfully executing such projects so as to achieve that purpose. Liberalism stands in marked contrast to projects conceived with other aims, such as profit, punishment, or maintenance of the status quo, and also in marked contrast to projects executed without respect to reason or reality. These other aims and philosophies may at times be in lock-step with liberalism. However, when they are not, my personal aspirations and loyalties lie with the latter.

Hindu philosophy has been historically concerned with similar ideals. A despicable lack of clarity exists among many, including many practitioners, regarding the basic foundations of our great religion, but I think it can fairly, and creditably, be summarized as follows: Hinduism is a spiritual search for truthful ends by least injurious means and a moral search for least injurious ends through truthful means. In other words, an ideal Hindu is one who seeks truth passionately, but with an active desire to avoid hurting anyone in the process, and also one who seeks to help people and other beings through well-informed kindness at every level of human endeavor.

As you can see, Liberalism and Hinduism share their two most important values: compassion and truth. These values have generated, in no particular order, such powerful consequences as a peaceful pluralism of viewpoint and dogma, the scientific method, the remarkable success of very diverse nation-states, and the great social programs of industrialized nations. These values are my deepest aspirations as a doctor, as a citizen, and as a human being. I hope to continue to bring them to bear upon my life, and I hope to explore them and their implications in our world today in the course of this blog.

I will end for now with a quote:

"Medicine is a social science and politics is a medicine on a large scale."--Virchow

Many thanks for reading this! A warm welcome to all of you, and, for now, a good night.

Raman