Psychological Presuppositions
Divine Life
Society Publication: The Yoga System by
Swami Krishnananda
Yoga is not magic or a feat of
any kind, physical or mental. Yoga is based on a sound philosophy and deep
psychology. It is an educational process by which the human mind is trained to
become more and more natural and
weaned from the unnatural conditions of life. In yoga we study ourselves, while
in our colleges we are told to study objects. Not the study of things but a
study of the very structure of the student is required by the system of yoga,
for the known is not totally independent of
the knower.
How do we know things at all?
There is a mysterious process by which we come to know the world, and life is
an activity of such knowledge. A study of the mind is a study of its relations
to things. The instruction, 'Know Thyself', implies that when we know
ourselves, we know all things connected with ourselves, i.e., we know the
universe. In this study we have to proceed always from the lower to the higher,
without making haste or working up the emotions.
The first thing we are aware
of in experience is the world. There are certain processes which take place in
the mind, by which we come to know the existence of the world. There are
sensations, perceptions and cognitions, which fall under what is known as
'direct perception' or 'direct knowledge' (pratyaksha)
through which the world is known, valued and judged for purpose of establishing
relations. These relations constitute our social life.
A stimulation of the senses
takes place by a vibration that proceeds from the object outside. This happens
in two ways: (1) by the very presence of the object and (2) by the light rays,
sound, etc., that emanate from the object, which affect the retina of the eyes,
the drums of the ears, or the other senses. We have five senses of knowledge
and through them we receive all the information concerning the world. If the
five senses are not to act, we cannot know if there is a world at all. We,
thus, live in a sense-world. When sensory stimulation is produced by vibrations
received from outside, we become active.
Sensory activity stimulates
the mind through the nervous system which connects the senses with the mind by
means of the prana or vital energy. Sensations,
therefore, make the mind active and the mind begins to feel that there is
something outside. This may be called indeterminate perception, where the mind
has a featureless awareness of the object. When the perception becomes clearer,
it becomes determinate. This mental perception is usually called cognition.
Beyond the mind there is
another faculty, called the intellect. It judges whether a thing is good or
bad, necessary or unnecessary, of this kind or that, etc. It decides upon the
value of an object, whether this judgment is positive or negative, moral,
aesthetic or religious. One assesses one's situation in
relation to the object. Manas is the
Sanskrit word for mind, which is
regarded as the karana or instrument, while buddhi is the Sanskrit term for intellect, which is the karta or doer. The intellect judges
what is cognized by the mind, and makes a decision as to the nature of the
action that has to be taken in respect of the object in the given
circumstances.
The intellect is associated
with another principle within, called ahamkara or ego. 'Aham' means 'I', and 'kara' is that which manifests,
reveals or affirms. There is something in us, which affirms 'I am'. This affirmation is ego. No
logic is necessary to prove the ego, for we do not prove our own existence.
This is an affirmation which requires no evidence, for all logic proceeds from
it. The ego is inseparable from individual intellection, like fire from its
heat.
There are certain ways in
which the psychological instruments begin to function in relation to objects.
The ego, intellect and mind perform the functions of arrogation, understanding
and thinking of objects. There is also a fourth element, called chitta. That which is at the base
of the conscious mind and which retains memory etc., is chitta or the
subconscious mind and also includes what is known as the unconscious in psychoanalysis. All
this functional apparatus, taken together, is the psyche or antahkarana, the internal
instrument.
Now, how does the internal
organ function? The psyche produces five reactions in respect of the world
outside, some of them being positive and others negative. There are five modes
into which the antahkarana casts itself in
performing its functions of normal life. These modes are called pramana, viparyaya, vikalpa, nidra
and smriti.
Pramana
or right knowledge is awareness of things as they are. This is the main subject
of the studies in logic. Perception, inference and verbal testimony are the
three primary ways of right knowledge. How do we know that there is an object
in front of us? We acquire this knowledge through direct sensory contact. This
is perception. And when we see muddy water in a river, we suppose that there
must have been rains uphill. This knowledge we gather by inference. The words
of others in whom we have faith, also, convey to us true knowledge, though we
might not have actually seen it with our eyes. All these methods together form
what goes by the name of pramana or direct
proof of dependable knowledge.
Viparyaya
is wrong perception, the mistaking of one thing for another, as, when we see a
long rope in twilight, we usually take it for a snake, or apprehend that a
straight stick immersed in water is bent. When we perceive anything which does
not correspond to fact, the mental mode is one of erroneous understanding.
Vikalpa
is doubt. When we are not certain whether, for example, a thing we are seeing
is a person or a pole, whether something is moving or not moving, the
perception not being clear, or when we are in any dubious state of thinking, we
are said to be in vikalpa.
Nidra
is sleep, which may be regarded as a negative condition, a withdrawal of mind
from all activity. Sleep is nevertheless a psychological condition, because,
though it is not positively connected with the objects of the world, it
represents a latency of the impressions as well as possibilities of objective
thought. Nidra is the sleep of the antahkarana.
Smriti
is memory, the remembrance of past events, the retention in consciousness of
the impressions of experiences undergone previously.
All functions of the internal
organ can be brought under one or other of these processes, and subject of
general psychology is an elaboration of these human ways of thinking,
understanding, willing or feeling. It does not mean, however, that we entertain
only five kinds of thoughts, but that all the hundreds of thoughts of the mind
can be boiled down to these five groups of function. The system of yoga makes a
close study of this inner structure of man and envisages it in its relation to
the universe.
Excerpts from:
The Yoga System
by Swami Krishnananda
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