WISE HEARTS AND SHARP MINDS

By Sir Edwin D. Bael, KCR

“Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart.” – Dr. Jose Rizal

From September 3 to 5, 2010, Knights of Rizal from all over the world will converge in Las Vegas to attend the Knights of Rizal 3rd USA Regional Assembly, mainly to exchange ideas on the theme: "Proper Education: The Key To People's Freedom From Poverty And Ignorance”.

The theme leads us to ask: what is ‘proper education’ from Rizal’s perspective?

In a letter from Dapitan to his nephew Alfredo T. Hidalgo dated 20 December 1893, Dr. Rizal encouraged his nephews to study, thus: “Go ahead then; study, study and meditate well what you study. Life is a very serious thing and only those with intelligence and courage go through it worthily. To live is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But this struggle is not a brutal and material struggle with men alone; it is a struggle with them, with one’s self, with passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a smile on the lips and tears in the heart. On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart.” (Epistolario Rizalino, IV, No. 617, p. 184.)

In essence, this letter says that on the battlefield of life man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart; to be prepared, one has to sharpen, perfect, and polish the mind [reason] and fortify and educate the heart [passions].

It can also be added that this approach---impeccable logic under wise values---should straighten crooked ratiocinations as well as tame unbridled emotions running helter-skelter as knee-jerk reactions to various stimuli from changing environments.

From this understanding, it can be submitted that “proper education”, in the Rizalian perspective, has the dual and intertwined meaning of sharpened and polished reason (mind) as well as strengthened and educated passion (heart).

A closer look at this formulation would give us a new appreciation. It does not seem to imply that “mind directs heart” but rather “heart directs mind”. For a strong and wise heart propels and navigates, while a sharp and smooth mind cuts and pierces. Heart is force; intelligence is weapon.

Could Dr. Rizal have been on to something that our nation and educational system have overlooked or neglected, namely: equal, if not more, focus on strong and wise hearts, not just sharp and pointed minds? Could not the continuing problems of the Philippines like massive poverty, political corruption and environmental degradation be connected to too much mental sharpness exercised in the absence of heart wisdom?

However, we Filipinos are not alone.

Albert Einstein viewed mental faculties as intuitive and rational. He said: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." Einstein is also quoted as saying: “The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.” Furthermore, he wrote: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

I submit that a person with Rizal’s ‘educated heart’ would have an intuitive mind, wise thoughts and unlimited imagination.

The Holy Bible teaches that the heart is the first faculty with which to love and seek the Lord and wisdom; it is also a well from which so many not-so-good things spring forth.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) "... the wise man's heart knows times and judgments; for there is a time and a judgment for everything." (Ecclesiastes 8:5-6) “Happy are those who observe God's decrees, who seek the LORD with all their heart. They do no wrong; they walk in God's ways. (Proverbs 113: 2-3) “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 23:13) “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others…” (Colossians 3:23)

“Out of their stupidity comes sin; evil thoughts flood their hearts.”(Psalm 73:7) “... the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person …” (Matthew 15:16-20)

“I, Wisdom, dwell with experience and judicious knowledge I attain… Mine are counsel and advice; Mine is strength; I am understanding. By me kings reign, and lawgivers establish justice; By me princes govern, and nobles; all the rulers of earth. Those who love me I also love, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. (Proverbs 8:1; 12; 14-18) Thinking thus within myself, and reflecting in my heart that there is immortality in kinship with Wisdom, and good pleasure in her friendship, and unfailing riches in the works of her hands, And that in frequenting her society there is prudence, and fair renown in sharing her discourses, I went about seeking to take her for my own. (Wisdom 8:17-18)

With this insight of heart (wisdom, intuitive mind, passion, art) guiding mind (science, reason, logic, rational mind, intelligence, brains), it might be advisable to use them, respectively, as strategic approach and primary weapon for unleashing and discarding chains that stunt progress, like poverty and ignorance, as indicated in the second part of the 3rd USA Regional Assembly’s theme.

In a letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar from Brussels, dated 4 April 1890, Rizal said: “I am assiduously studying the happenings in our country. I believe that nothing can redeem us except our brains.” (Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 360, p. 8.), thus indicating that incisive intelligence should be the main weapon for Philippine redemption. Moreover, I hazard to submit in this case, that he must have been referring to both our intuitive and rational brains, long before Einstein coined those words.

In his poem “A La Juventud Filipina” Dr. Rizal wrote in the third stanza: “Baja, con la luz grata de las artes y ciencias, a la arena, juventud, y desata la pesada cadena que tu genio poetico encadena”. This stanza, translated into English by Nick Joaquin, reads: “Bearing the good light of art and science, to the battleground descend, o youth, and smite: loosen the heavy pound of chains that keeps poetic genius bound”

In other words, using art and science---or wise passion and sharp reason---our people (especially the youth) can unleash our own (poetic) genius for moral and material development!

Why moral and material development? Because it was Rizal’s magnificent obsession! His letter from Hongkong to the Governor and Captain General of the Philippines Islands dated 21 March 1892, in effect, says so: “...the thought of my whole life has always been love of my country and her moral and material development...” (Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 527, p. 306)

Perhaps we, the Knights of Rizal and like-minded souls, should also make this obsession ours, here and now, given that the dawn he saw at his death has not yet really turned into a bright morning for Inang Bayan. Let’s work, as Rizal paraphrased a more common expression in a letter to Mariano Ponce: “Ad majorem Phil. gloriam” [To the greater glory of the Philippines] (Epistolario Rizalino, II, No. 191, p. 46.)

The indicators for the realization of Dr. Rizal’s dream were immortalized in his poem Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell), thus: "to behold you one day, Jewel of Eastern waters: griefless the dusky eyes: lifted the upright brow: unclouded, unfurrowed, unblemished, and unashamed!" (Nick Joaquin translation). Based on this, I submit, his compelling vision was to see the Filipino respected by himself, by fellow Filipinos, and by the rest of the world.

We are still quite far from the fullness of that kind of respect. For, beholding our country today to include expatriates, do we see a majority of self-respecting, self-esteeming individuals and communities, respecting fellow Filipinos and respected by a majority of other peoples? I’m sure we all have varying answers, as the perception of truth according to Rizal, is like the different perspectives of a group of artists viewing a statue. But, may be, we can have the consensus that, at minimum, there is room for improvement in the areas of self-respect, respect by fellow Filipinos and respect by other peoples.

Right values and wise hearts with incisive, impeccable logic, all for Inang Bayan’s moral and material development---this, it is respectfully submitted, is a vision and recipe for education that translates to R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

On this score, perhaps the KOR 3rd USA Regional Assembly might want to pass a Resolution urging President Noynoy Aquino and our Congress to revise the emphasis of our educational system so as to give priority to the unfoldment of wise hearts among our youth even as the sharpening of minds continues.

Of course, other interested and patriotic parties are encouraged to freely take initiatives along these lines.