Brain-drains and Brain-gains: The Widening the Gap between the West and the East (Part I)
K.Wong
Introduction
However, the development gap between the countries of haves and the have nots in the world is widening year by year. The brain-drains from the east to the west have incessantly enlarged the cultural melting pots of the western countries. The west has been gleaning and absorbing human resources externally from the east to enhance the development of the western civilization of multiculturalism. They perceive cultural pluralism as a national asset. Brain gains increase the pool of talents creating economic affluence of the recipient countries. Conversely, brain drains reduce the human capital of the countries of their origins which had or have invested substantially on them in education. Paradoxically, the brain-gains to the west from brain-drains from the east create a logical paradox that the poor easterners help enlarge the GNP of the affluent western world. What constitute brain-drains from the east are brain-gains by the west which had or has invested nothing on them prior to their immigrations. This logical paradox has been occurring incessantly for a long time since time immemorial hitherto. It has been perpectuating for several centuries.
Brain Drains of Savants
Some developing countries have realized the losses of braindrains and early investment losses for their early education. They have taken appropriate measures to reduce the losses. They are offering attractive incentives to recall their lost talents to return and serve in their own countries. This is a very wise, pragmatic move as talented elites are hard to come by. Brain drains from the third world countries migrating incessantly to the western advanced countries do not occur only in terms of secular knowledge but also in religious knowledge of invaluable treasure. Many of the exemplary eastern religious gurus or scholars, especially those of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism had or have migrated to greener pastures in the West, such as United States of America, Canada and European countries, such as Germany, France and so forth. A multitude of them had or have also migrated to the Oceania, such as Australia and New Zealand.
Religious gurus or scholars are rare, precious and recondite human resource. Nevertheless, the discerning and illuminating gurus and brilliant, celebrated scholars are welcome anywhere as they are adept at opening Certainty Eye or Dharma Eye of the disciples or students. The open policies of the western countries and Oceania countries encourage the immigration of the eastern economic millionaires, financial billionaires, elites, savants, scholars, experts, intelligentsia of all fields, particularly in the sphere of religions and philosophy.
Western political system adopts the polity of a secular state. They welcome the migration of religious gurus and scholars so that religious culture or philosophy will enrich their secular state in which Christianity is on a fast decline with the passage of time. They like to see that the citizentry of their secular states are adorned and empowered with spiritual wisdom and values. Consequently, some of the finest religious gurus have settled down in the west for the sake of diffusing the message of Truth.
Eminent Religious Masters
The Holiness Dalai Lama the 14th is always welcome in the western universities, churches and Buddhist centres or monasteries because of his profound insight into Non-duality and Emptiness. Celebrated Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh has migrated to France where he is enjoying a large following of disciples, devotees, adherents or learners.
A multitude of Buddhist monks from Taiwan have also established, developed and diffused Dharma in the west and Oceania. Tawan’s Fo Guang Shan Monastery, spearheaded by Ven. Master Hsing Yun, has set up its affliliates in North America, South America, Europe and Oceania. Taiwan’s Drum Mountain Monastery, spearheaded by Chan Master Sheng Yen, has established Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association in New York and its 31 chapters throughout USA, and also a popular Chan Meditation Centre in New York. Ven. Master Jing Kong, a celebrated exponent of Pure Land Buddhism has migrated to Australia to diffuse Dharma there. He has been conferred by an Australian university with a Hon. Ph.D for his outstanding global Mahāyāna Buddhist Dharma diffusion and his global peace efforts to promote and foster the alliance of civilizations between the west and the east. Most importantly, he was conferred so that he could represent the Australian university and Australia to participate in a global peace conference in the United Nations Organization.
High Standards
The western civilization today is abundantly blessed and enriched with rich spiritual civilization conglomerated from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism expounded by the finest oriental religious gurus and savants who have migrated to the west. Religious lectures of the religious gurus, scholars and professors in prominent western Buddhist centres, temples, monasteries, colleges and universities are relatively of high standards in comparison with those teaching in the east. The reason is obvious and encouraging: The audience are generally better educated and are more receptive of new transformative philosophical doctrines. Western religious and philosophical literature composed by western religious scholars or leaders are relatively profound and insightful because religious and philosophical savants or elites flourish in the west because of market demand.
I earnestly recommend that educated Asian religious adherents should learn their respective religions through articles published in the religious journals through the cyber world of internet. Electronic Wikipedia encyclopedia is one of the most ideal electronic encyclopedia for intensive studies, research and development of almost any field or discipline under the sun. It is the largest and free electronic library housing intensively researched and collected findings of data and information. The resource materials have been contributed and gleaned collectively by a large team of altruistic compassionate experts and intelligentsia. All thos backyard ‘bodhisattvas’ are indeed true gifts to the world. The world indeed appreciates those backyard ‘bodhisattvas’ working behind Wikipedia. Internet research education should be introduced in all universities as an integral portion of any university curriculum. The works, findings or reports of countless global scholars, savant, intelligentsia or elites are rich nutriment for mental illumination. They serve as active catalysts for human personal development and reengineering. The Internet is the greatest alliance of human civilizations between the west and the east and between the north and the south.
Hinduism
After the arrival of Hindu guru, Rev. Vivekananda in the west, many more eminent past and present Hindu gurus had and have settled down in the west to establish Hindu philosophy derived originally from Vedic or Upaniṣadic philosophy. Some of the most influential Hindu or Yoga gurus who had or have influenced western thoughts are Swami Ramana Maharshi, SwamiPrabhupada, Swami Sri Ramakrishna, Yoga guru B.K.S.Iyengar, scholar Ananda Coomaraswamy and many others.
Vedic religion is the earliest divine revelation in human religious civilization. The growth of the commentarial literature on Vedicism culminated in the Principal Upaniṣads or Vedānta. Whoever comprehends Upaniṣads or Vedā̄nta is able to comprehend Buddhism and Monotheism with relative ease. Modern Hinduism is rooted in Vedic philosophy and Upaniṣads. Hindu philosophy is a gift to the world in terms of inter-faith understanding because of its exposition of the eternal Truth (sanātana Dharma) of God through the concept of Brahman. The Indian religious term ‘Guru’ means ‘ A teacher who dispels ignorance’. Hence, Hindu gurus therefore are gifts of Truth (Dharma) to the world of willful ignorance and wishful thinking. All esoteric religions convey the communal message of Truth in different ways.
The world conceives that Buddhism has already not vanished from India. No, it has not. For instance, Mahāyāna Buddhism is fully incorporated in Vedānta philosophy. The tenets of Mahāyāna, Vedānta and Sufism are esoterically and philosophically identical. Their esoteric identity is not perceived by many because it is veiled by respective exoteric practices of diverge ritualism. Countless Hindu religious classics have been translated into English language in the west. They have either directly or indirectly influenced or produced eminent western religious scholars, savants, intelligentsia, elites, or gurus in the western universities in other religious disciplines, such as eastern Christianity, Buddhism and Islamic Sufism, besides Hinduism.
Sufism
Sufi scholars, whose philosophical and Sufi literature had and have impacted the muslim as well as non-muslim scholars in the west, are Ibn ‘Arabī, Jalāl ad Dīn Rūmī, al-Ghazālī, Fakhr al-Din Ibrāhīm ‘’Irāqī, Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī and others. The impact is significant because it rectifies the general wrong view of Islam. Religious scholars can play an effective influencial role in inter-faith understanding contributing to the stability and peace of the world.
Logical Positivism
The voracious westerners respect knowledge and love intellectual philosophy. Like Buddhism and Sufism, the various Hindu yoga or meditation techniques are expedient devices to unravel the Truth of God or the fathomless mysteries of the cosmos. The Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi yogis are logical positivists who seek and vindicate empirically the communal religious Truth of Wisdom. The Truth of Brahman, Tao, Buddha, God or Allah is to be seen through man. Man is the microcosm through which the macrocosm is seen. Man is the medium by which ordinary people can perceive the Truth of the Absolute. Hence, Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi philosophy are able to penetrate the minds of the westerners because oriental religious philosophy is consonant with the western scientific philosophy of logical positivism, the process philosophy, the perennial philosophy and the philosophy of Theosophy.
Celebrated Savants
The cyber world of the internet has vastly opened the eyes of the global villagers. For instance, renowned Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī, the author of Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, is more well-known in the west than in the east. Like Nāgārjuna (the author of Mūlamadhyamakakārikā), Ibn ‘Arabī was not only a towering Sufi philosopher but had developed the spiritual Eye of insight (Ayn al-Baṣīrah). Both of them were the perfect images of the eternal Truth. Man can place 100 % faith in any genuine Gnostic who has discerned the Truth. A discerner of Truth is one who has intuitively discerned the divine message thus: God sees Himself through the body of man. A discerning man ought to attain Anattā (No self) or al-Fanā’ (Destruction of self) in order to see the Truth through himself. Seeing Anattā or al-fanā’ is parallel to seeing the God which is the ultimate Truth (Sans.: Satya;Tattva; Ara.: Ḥaqq) of Reality. A Gnostic sees Non-self which is the God. God is the Truth of Unity or Non-duality. Unity or Non-duality is Anattā. Seeing is being saved. Non-seeing God, one is ignorance. Being ignorance, one is doomed to failure. The turmoils in the currently imperiled world are arisen from wilful ignorance and wishful thinking.
An ordinary worldling sees something other than the God. That something other than God is self, ego or individuality. The wise sees himself other than himself. What is other than oneself is God (Brahman, Buddha or Allah). Thus, a Gnostic is the most ideal commentator on the religious scriptures. Without their exegetical literature, the one and the only Truth in the religious scriptures remains obscure and is too abstruse for us to comprehend. Ib ‘Arabī and Nāgārjuna are the perfect images of the Prophets and Tathāgatas respectively. The attributes of God or Buddha can be perceived through their enlightened minds respectively.
Migrations
One of the most significant impacts of the brain-drains is that countless superior religious masters or gurus of all religious denominations have migrated to the west and oceania to set up religious institutions on foreign soils. A multitude of the exemplary religious masters or gurus originate from the poverty striken developing and underdeveloped countries. They have moved to greener pastures in the west or oceania because they face less restrictions and enjoy more religious freedom to establish and preach their religious Doctrines. Furthermore, they enjoy foreign local financial supports in their religious propagation activities in the western religious centres or universities.
Most importantly, the local westerners or foreign immigrants in the west are more highly educated to ready for their religious instructions. They appreciate more what the religious masters or gurus have preached and benefited from them. Relatively, the economically and educationally depleted easterners in impoverished underdeveloped nations do not ready to absorb or appreciate the esoteric religious ministries. Besides, the poorer eastern devotees are not wealthy enough to support their more ambitious religious masters or gurus who aspire to contribute more for the wellbeing and happiness of a large following of devotees through religion. Therefore, it is not astonishing to ascertain that the standards of religious discourses in Islam, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism conducted in the west and oceania are relatively higher in the west than those propagated in the east. In this way, the migrated religious masters or gurus can contribute more of their religious knowledge to the world at large.
I also ascertain through the cyber research that spiritual leaders and religious scholars or intelligentsia in prominent western universities and colleges are brilliantly professional and expert. The migration of religious brain-drains is a key factor contributing to the imbalance in human resource development between the west and the east. Owing to the dire global phenomenon of brain-drains, generally, the exemplars almost in all disciplines or spheres of studies including Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, and Vedānta or Hinduism flourish in the west currently. The west and oceania have gained tremendously from the brain-drains from the developing and undeveloped countries in the east. This widens the gap further between the west and east in terms of GNP (Gross National Product) as religious wisdom raises the standard of human capacities which upgrade (TQM Total Quality Management) and productivities of commercial goods and services.
Business ethics and individual integrity correlate intimately with religious wisdom and virtue. Knowledge of Theosophy improves the relationship between the phenomena and the principle. Business enterprise is a phenomenon; the Buddha-nature or God-head of the human resources is the principle. The principle of Buddha-nature is Emptiness or Dependent Co-arising from Buddhist perspective. From the Islamic perspective, the God-head is the Premordial Potentialities (isti’ dād aṣlī) of Man. Emptiness (Śūnyatā) conglomerate the necessary contigent conditions; Premordial Potentialities condition the possibility the becoming of all the necessary existents. Though different doctrinal terms are used in Buddhism and Monotheism, they convey the communal Truth of the One creating the many and the many supported by the One. The relative-Absolute relationship is the core of esoteric religion. |
