Rev.Dr. Harold Panditaratne

The Philosopher Priest

"To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust." Waldon Thoreau ( 1854)

by Rev. Ft. Eolmo Dias

If one was looking for subtle thoughts in Fr. Harold Panditaratne, one could have found enough of them while talking to him or reading an article of his or attending a lecture of his. His thoughts were not only subtle but sublime, sagacious and sapiential. He may not have found a school of philosophy but he nurtured a whole Institute of Philosophy where hundreds of students, Sri Lankan and foreign, have been initiated into philosophical thinking, analysis and research so that they may live their lives searching for the truth of everything. That process led some of them to Baccalaureates and Licentiates and even Doctorates, in various universities of the world.

He searched for wisdom, loved it and led others to it. He once lectured on the difference between a philosopher and a non-philosopher. "From the time of Plato and Aristotle and onwards it is the distinction between knowledge and opinion that has served well to mark and make this differentiation. Knowledge is the reasoned ascent to the truth based on understanding and disciplined argument, whereas opinion is a state of mind, which is formed entirely by what others have said on the subject. The opinions of a non-philosopher are most often formed by what people say in the society in which he lives. The philosopher goes beyond this; he reasons to the underlying principle, causes and purposes of things. He too knows the opinions current in his time, but he is able to penetrate beneath them, to sift and evaluate, so as to discern the elements of truth they contain." ('Lectio brevis' on 'Philosophical Formation of Catholic Clergy' at the Inauguration of Academic Year of the National Seminary 1972)

That is how, he said, one distinguishes a philosopher from a non-philosopher who only expresses opinions of others. How true this is in our society and in the modern world and communities we live in today. One wonders whether the world is filled with only non-philosophers. Social web, facebook et al, while having a positive contribution to modern living and communications, are they also not just opinions that become viral often without recourse to any reasoning, knowledge and truth? Aren't our society and communities often guided by hearsay, gossip, half truths and prejudices and gullibly accept only opinions without searching in a reasonable manner for knowledge to have access to truth.

Late Fr. Panditaratne, lived according to the dictates of wisdom, a life of simplicity owning practically nothing but a valuable collection of books, and with a magnanimity and trust that won him admiration and love from his colleagues and students. In January of every year we at the National Seminary, Ampitiya, remember and honour this unassuming great scholar, silent sage and much loved Rector on Philosophers' Day, with an annual 'Harold Panditaratne Memorial Oration' delivered by an invited distinguished scholar. This year it will be by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke, who had been a student of Fr. Panditaratne at Aquinas University College, Colombo 8.

Rev. Dr. Harold Panditaratne, was the first Diocesan Rector of the National Seminary, while being the fourth Rector since 1955, of this 123 year old Institute of Formation of future Sri Lankan Catholic Priests. Incidentally it was this Seminary, functioning as the Papal Seminary then, "which in 1926 was empowered to confer degrees as far as the doctorate" in Theology & Philosophy for the first time in Sri Lanka. Thus it goes into history as "the first institution of university rank in Sri Lanka." ("'Historical Gleanings of Sri Lanka', Dr. W. L. A. Don Peter 1992, pg. 177)

A Catholic Major Seminary is a house of formation and a place of higher learning in Philosophy and Theology. The mission of a Seminary, in short, is to prepare young men in education, formation and servant leadership , so that they will offer their lives one day as Priests and serve God and man for the rest of their lives. It was with this task and responsibility that Fr. Pandit (as he was lovingly and fittingly called) was installed as the Rector in 1974, by late Thomas Cardinal Cooray, Archbishop of Colombo; while he was serving on the staff of the National Seminary, as the Dean of Philosophy.

The Student, Scholar and Guru

Born on March 3, 1926, he studied at Maris Stella College, Negombo and matriculated from University of London. In 1945 he entered St. Bernard's Major Seminary in Colombo in search of Priesthood and having been sent to Rome in 1946, he spent his time engaged in philosophical studies at Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome till 1953, obtaining a Licentiate each in Philosophy and Sacred Theology and a Doctorate in Philosophy for the thesis he wrote on 'Hegel's Concept of Indian Philosophy'. He spent his time between 1953 and 1956, attached to the Birkbeck College, University of London and obtained his second Doctorate in Philosophy on the thesis 'The metaphysical Problem of Existence as Involved in the Dialectical and Sense-datum analysis of Sense Experience'.

He returned to Ceylon in 1956 and was serving on the tutorial staff of St. Peter's College, Colombo till 1961, when he returned to London and having attained the Associateship of the Library Association of England, he served as Assistant Librarian at the University of Sheffield, England till 1967. Then in the same year he came back to St. Peter's College, Colombo, and after serving for five years there he was appointed to the National Seminary Staff in 1972 where he served as Dean of Philosophy, Lecturer, Librarian and from 1974 to 1981 as its Rector.

Fr. Pandit did not author any books except many articles, some of which have been compiled into a book in his honour when he reached 70th milestone in life. When he was lecturing in the class he carried no book. His mind was the book. When he opened that book it was knowledge that poured out at a lecture. His forte was, that he could present complex concepts in a simple language to his students who otherwise found them difficult to grasp. Recognized as one of the best philosophers Sri Lanka has ever produced he authoritatively would reason out and highlight the fallacies of any claim, thought or issue and lead his audience on the path of truth.

He had "a capacity to delve into the inner core of truth." When confronted with truth he upheld it and without fear or favour presented it to others. He was endowed not only with "reason that makes us all qualify for the title of rational beings, but he had the ability to reason more than most of the rational beings."

As a student of his, we loved to attend his Epistemology classes even though it was a tough subject. "How do we know?" is a question that had been asked from ancient times, and should be asked now even more than before.

He took pains to teach us how to distinguish what is true and false, by determining a proper method of evaluation. This was how the future priests were empowered to teach and share with logical reasoning and proper evaluation one's faith and faith experiences. His unforgettable saying, (referring to the books in the library and the need to promote the reading habit among students) that "Books are ink and pulp, unless they are read", shows the sharp way with which he convinced his students. He spoke, taught, and wrote with authority analyzing even the greatest of thinkers of the past and of his time.

When he was studying at the Propaganda University in Rome, it is said, that he was called "il filosofo" - 'The Philosopher' - for his thorough search and grasp of the truth of anything at its deepest level. Late Fr. Joe de Mel, his friend, contemporary in Roman University and succeeding Rector at the National Seminary, in 1996 wrote of him, "Fr. Harold Panditaratne, I soon discovered had made a name for himself as philosopher. A student with an outstanding speculative intellect ... when he finished his Doctorate, could easily have been a Professor in any Roman University. ... Great Italian Philosopher Professor Fabro, had a high regard for this exceptional student. ....This Professor remembered Fr. Harold from the thesis he submitted over thirty years earlier, when Fr. Harold met him......When he was working on his thesis, he would take a break and come out for a stroll in the garden of the College. On one of these strolls he told me 'I think I will dissolve, if I go on thinking like this.' And a thinker of that calibre is not satisfied until he gets at the core of the truth." That was the rare calibre of scholar in Fr. Panditaratne.

Priest who searched for God through Philosophy

Fr. Pandit believed that it is through philosophy that one can come to the correct understanding of religion and God. In an article titled 'Beyond Theism and Atheism in G.W.F. Hegel', he analyses Hegelian thought; "It follows then that there is both continuity of truth and distinction in presentation of it between religion (experience, faith theology) and philosophy. This is the most important reason why Hegel felt entitled to make the claim that he is continuing the program or the task of St. Anselm and other mediaeval theologians, the program of 'faith seeking understanding' - 'fides quarens intellectum'; this is also why he thinks himself justified in making such statements as that philosophy 'only unfolds itself when it unfolds religion, and when it unfolds itself unfolds religion'.

He was a small made man, a giant of a philosopher and an uncommon priest who searched for truth till the end. In 1955 during his scholarly sojourn in London, he wrote in his unfinished diary, "The priest, as Christ, is the ideal of the Christian call to a life of infinity. If the finite is suffering, there must be some sort of the infinite in visible proximity for support of its finite reality. Such a reality is, in principle, the priests' life, for although he is finite, his functions are infinite."

Remembering a Rare Human Being and a Scholar

For us who knew him as a Rector, remember him more as a caring father than an accomplished philosopher. His human qualities were for us stronger than his philosophical theories. He scrupulously dedicated his life to his responsibilities, which included teaching, forming, guiding and preparing the future priests. He shunned honour and recognition, embraced humility and simplicity. In a last note he wrote to the writer, he requested in a childlike manner, " Please remember me, an ageing past Rector, in your prayers now a little more than before." That was Fr. Harold Panditaratne in the evening of his life.

(The writer is Rector, National Seminary, Ampitiya)