Montclair State College - La Campana Yearbook (Upper Montclair, NJ)

Page 5 text:

(P..f. ce Obvioi ' s. timf-shapei) symbols become seemingly meaningless because we find tbem regularly, and everywbere. it is easy to dismiss a familiar thing, and tiiereby, to lose its significance. Only when we stop to examine accustomed wa s. do we realize how deeply they twist, how completely they bind. ' liile approadiing our mutual end. we return to its beginning. Our minds need to explore, and to justify; they take from the past what we have put and kepi there. And if remembrances differ among us. none are less valuable than otliirs. nor nuire meaningful. Slight incidents, landmarks, meeting |)laces. tokens, phrases ihev shame us with their triviality, luiless the spirit underlying them be captured, identified, cherished. Think of Montclair, and think of stru tures. bells, colors, and eager minds. Think of India, and imagine a mystery, as carefully bidden as the veiled face of a woman who never speaks: bear temple bells in ball-sleep, or myriad beggars as.sailing the marketplace; [)icture deitii;s adorned with strange designs; feel serenity. Hut. these worlds are nothing ne . The pattern and the flavor, long accepted as India herself, disguise the true India, wiiere man fails to probe behind the curtain. There, centuries of devotion to wisdom lie. Kndurance and f;iitb. b imilitv and pride together, resignation, dignity, and intricate, iiassionale dreams have made this land. To perceive it is to become a disciple of all its best, in the spirit of the native vouth who dedicates his existence on earth to religion, fer- ventlv. without regret. the external character of India reflects the philo.-iopbies which are her structure. The ln li in mode of life is the religious one; rituals and traditions never change. .Ml thought directs itself to eternal matters. Vi ithiii the major systems of faith Hindu. Islam can be seen a basic similaritv. The path to a goal, what it is. where to find and how to follow it. renKiin the vit.il d -sire of the Indian makeup. fFreal weight i placed upon findin; the (iuide. lifeV wise protector. The teacher, in Indian belief. i he who has attained e er be l virtue, and ev.rv right road, lie ha- pa -ed from stage to stage, watching, absorbing, praying, striving after Infinite truths. ( )nly the teacher, then, at once immortal and nuirtal, having proved his aebievenu-nt. . can be trusted with the direction of human life. Now. gazing into ourselves, contemplating what ue have fashioned, and again testing the fine, tight weave of a distant ci iliz ilion. we w.ilch dissimilarities among men blow upwaril as easily as a veil tir b.fore breath. Here, or in India, today or a thousand vears ago. man nuist remendier his vouth. I.nnent misdeeds, choose his patli. and clindt toward another v orld. lanv glance back, even as they ascend, .ind some re.u h douii a compassionate band for the faltering brother who would siirrcndir il uritnuilied.