Ever since man has started the process of thinking , he has been intrigued by the problem of consciousness. The question as to how inanimate matter develops the ability to become self aware has puzzled most of the philosophers and now with development of brain sciences more and more scientists are also trying to figure out consciousness. Another interesting development in the last century has been the emergence of the field of quantum physics and increasing knowledge of fundamental constituents of universe and the process of knowing about them . The idea of observer being an inherent part of phenomenon or knower being an inherent part of knowledge has also evolved.This has led to almost complete turn of the cycle and the interest in ancient Indian ideas of consciousness is reawakening.
There is a basic difference in the approach of western minds and Indian sages in understanding consciousness. Indian thinkers have always considered consciousness as the primary principle, the root cause of existence of universe.
On the other hand western thinkers consider consciousness to be the emergent phenomenon . Their assumption is that consciousness is the property of brain or brain like matter where complex data processing can take place. So in their opinion it is the culmination of the process of evolution .
Swami Vivekananda in his commentary on Yog sutras has put forth a very interesting idea to bring about a reconciliation between these two diametrically opposite thoughts. In his opinion beginning and end are separated by just one step . So in an endlessly repeating cycle ,which comes first is immaterial. End causes a new beginning and every beginning has an end . But leaving that aside there are some very fundamental difficulties in explaining the idea of consciousness being a property of brain and the very first being the difficulty of defining consciousness.
Even if we leave that or do some complicated jugglery of words to define it we are faced with the almost insurmountable difficulty of the curious phenomenon of consciousness trying to explain itself or its self referential property. To explain it further consider how knowledge occurs. There are three components of knowledge the subject ie one who gains knowledge , the object ie about which knowledge occurs and the process of knowing ie how the subject and object are brought together. But with consciousness ,subject and object become one as the knower is trying to know about itself. This brings about a paradoxical situation and the instrument of words to gain knowledge becomes totally inadequate.
In indian thought ,however this idea of emergent property of consciousness is rejected outright. In Indian philosophy consciousness is very clearly defined so much so that there are books writing in detail about what is and what is not consciousness. This is known as,' आत्म अनात्म विवेक '.
There are various methods by which consciousness (आत्मा) can be differentiated from what is not consciousness(अनात्मा).
To overcome the problem of self reference ie consciousness trying to understand itself our sages very wisely taught about inadequacy of language . It said at the very outset that whatever you say about Aatman or in whichever way one describes it , is not true Aatman. Any method used is only a pointer towards its realization. So approximate examples are given , method of negation is used ,ie it is described as what it is not.
One basic tenet in the Indian system of thought is differentiation between inert matter (जड़ प्रकृति ) which makes the whole universe , and the consciousness ( पुरुष , चैतन्य , अथवा आत्मा) which animates or enlivens the inert matter and also is the experiencer of everything .
In this description one thing is often overlooked or poorly understood by people trained in western system of education. Prakrati in Hinduism is a very vast concept. It includes not only the gross matter ordinarily percieved by gross senses , but also the subtle energies which undergo transformation and intermingling to present as gross matter. These are known as सूक्ष्म महाभूत. The brain, which is the gross vehicle of consciousness, and the mind and self which is the inner world of a person are also part of inert prakrati. Ideas , thoughts emotions also are vibrations or waves in the inert Prakrati
There is detailed description of the layers of mind ( panch koshas) and how things are percieved and known.
The inner universe of a man( अंतःकरण) is also described in detail .These are all inert or जड़ . The perciever of all this , the one constant light which illuminates every act of perception and knowledge, thoughts ideas , emotions is separate from all of this. This is the light of Aatman or the consciousness . This Aatman does not need any instrument of perception. It is not illuminated by any other light. It is self illumined.
After this comes the truly startling and mind boggling idea about Aatman which has been propounded by our Rishis . This Aatman is one , in its whole manifestation known as' Paramatma'
It is one consciousness principle which pervades the whole universe and shines in inert Prakrati through the medium of living beings . In humans it expresses itself in its brightest form through the medium of mind and its gross vehicle ie, brain.
There is a basic difference in the approach of western minds and Indian sages in understanding consciousness. Indian thinkers have always considered consciousness as the primary principle, the root cause of existence of universe.
On the other hand western thinkers consider consciousness to be the emergent phenomenon . Their assumption is that consciousness is the property of brain or brain like matter where complex data processing can take place. So in their opinion it is the culmination of the process of evolution .
Swami Vivekananda in his commentary on Yog sutras has put forth a very interesting idea to bring about a reconciliation between these two diametrically opposite thoughts. In his opinion beginning and end are separated by just one step . So in an endlessly repeating cycle ,which comes first is immaterial. End causes a new beginning and every beginning has an end . But leaving that aside there are some very fundamental difficulties in explaining the idea of consciousness being a property of brain and the very first being the difficulty of defining consciousness.
Even if we leave that or do some complicated jugglery of words to define it we are faced with the almost insurmountable difficulty of the curious phenomenon of consciousness trying to explain itself or its self referential property. To explain it further consider how knowledge occurs. There are three components of knowledge the subject ie one who gains knowledge , the object ie about which knowledge occurs and the process of knowing ie how the subject and object are brought together. But with consciousness ,subject and object become one as the knower is trying to know about itself. This brings about a paradoxical situation and the instrument of words to gain knowledge becomes totally inadequate.
In indian thought ,however this idea of emergent property of consciousness is rejected outright. In Indian philosophy consciousness is very clearly defined so much so that there are books writing in detail about what is and what is not consciousness. This is known as,' आत्म अनात्म विवेक '.
There are various methods by which consciousness (आत्मा) can be differentiated from what is not consciousness(अनात्मा).
To overcome the problem of self reference ie consciousness trying to understand itself our sages very wisely taught about inadequacy of language . It said at the very outset that whatever you say about Aatman or in whichever way one describes it , is not true Aatman. Any method used is only a pointer towards its realization. So approximate examples are given , method of negation is used ,ie it is described as what it is not.
One basic tenet in the Indian system of thought is differentiation between inert matter (जड़ प्रकृति ) which makes the whole universe , and the consciousness ( पुरुष , चैतन्य , अथवा आत्मा) which animates or enlivens the inert matter and also is the experiencer of everything .
In this description one thing is often overlooked or poorly understood by people trained in western system of education. Prakrati in Hinduism is a very vast concept. It includes not only the gross matter ordinarily percieved by gross senses , but also the subtle energies which undergo transformation and intermingling to present as gross matter. These are known as सूक्ष्म महाभूत. The brain, which is the gross vehicle of consciousness, and the mind and self which is the inner world of a person are also part of inert prakrati. Ideas , thoughts emotions also are vibrations or waves in the inert Prakrati
There is detailed description of the layers of mind ( panch koshas) and how things are percieved and known.
The inner universe of a man( अंतःकरण) is also described in detail .These are all inert or जड़ . The perciever of all this , the one constant light which illuminates every act of perception and knowledge, thoughts ideas , emotions is separate from all of this. This is the light of Aatman or the consciousness . This Aatman does not need any instrument of perception. It is not illuminated by any other light. It is self illumined.
After this comes the truly startling and mind boggling idea about Aatman which has been propounded by our Rishis . This Aatman is one , in its whole manifestation known as' Paramatma'
It is one consciousness principle which pervades the whole universe and shines in inert Prakrati through the medium of living beings . In humans it expresses itself in its brightest form through the medium of mind and its gross vehicle ie, brain.
