Socrates, Swami Vivekananda, and the mango garden of meaning

The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates would often respond to a query by posing thought-provoking questions to guide the other person towards discovering the answer. His goal was to encourage critical thinking, self-reflection, and a deeper understanding of the topic by challenging assumptions, exploring contradictions and examining the logic behind one's beliefs.

Let's take an example and provide a Socratic response to the question, 'Do you think that a benevolent and omnipotent God exists?' A Socratic response could be - 'perhaps a more fundamental question is, 'What would change for you if the answer were a definitive 'yes'? What would change if it were a definitive 'no'? If you discovered tomorrow that such a God absolutely does not exist, would you still strive to be a good person? Would life lose its meaning, or would it gain a different kind of meaning? And if such a God does exist, what do you think that God would want from you? An ethical, pious way of living?'

A devotee was engaged in a philosophical debate with Narendranath, later Swami Vivekananda. The discussion revolved around a complex theological point: how a formless God could incarnate, or how achievers of divine concepts could remain grounded.


Ramakrishna interjected, not with a philosophical counterargument but by using a powerful metaphor: 'I say, O Podo, you have come to enjoy mangoes in this garden! What is the use of counting how many mango trees there are, how many thousands of branches, how many millions of leaves, and so on? You are here only to eat mangoes!'