How do We
Come to Know the World
Divine Life Society Publication: - Psychological
Presuppositions- The Yoga System by Swami Krishnananda
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. 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.
We may compare these nerve-channels to electric wires, through which the power
of the prana flows. The pranas are not the nerves, even as
electricity is not the wires. The prana is an internal vibration which
links the senses with the mind.
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. Some psychologists hold that the mind is an
instrument in the hands of the intellect.
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. The intellect and ego exist inextricably, and human
intellection is the function of the human ego. The functions of the ego are
manifold, and these form the subject of psychology.
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, which is not easily translatable into
English. The term 'subconscious' is usually considered as its equivalent. That
which is at the base of the conscious mind and which retains memory etc., is
chitta or the subconscious mind. But the chitta in yoga psychology includes
also what is known as the unconscious in psychoanalysis. All this
functional apparatus, taken together, is the psyche or antahkarana, the
internal instrument. The internal organ functions in various forms, and yoga is
interested in a thorough study of these functions, because the methods of yoga
are intended to take a serious step in regard to all these psychic functions,
finally.
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. These are the themes of general psychology.
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.
Perception, inference and verbal testimony are the three primary ways of right
knowledge. 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. The system of
yoga makes a close study of the inner structure of man and envisages it in its
relation to the universe.
Excerpts from:
How do We Come to Know the World –
Psychological Presuppositions- The Yoga System by Swami
Krishnananda
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