Part IV - Knowledge is Continuous
Continuity of Knowledge: According to advaita vedAnta,
knowledge of an object perceived via the senses is considered
to be a 'vRRitti' or ‘mental state', which is
illumined by consciousness. In just the same way as
an external object is seen because of the reflection
of light falling on the object, the mental state is
also 'seen' , when it is illuminated by the light of
consciousness. These statements are made intentionally
in the passive voice, since consciousness while it is
self-luminous, does not actively illumine anything.
Instead, objects in its presence get illumined. It is
like the moon being illumined by the Sun, although the
self-shining Sun does not actively illumine anything.
Knowledge of the object 'out there' is complete when
the associated 'mental state' gets illuminated. That
constitutes ‘objective’ knowledge. When
we are knowledgeable, we say, 'I am conscious of the
object'. Hence, objective knowledge is defined as being
when we are (a) conscious of the object's existence
and (b) conscious of the attributes of the object that
are perceived through sense input. Objective knowledge
is only attributive knowledge since the senses can measure
only the attributes of the object and not the substantive.
The substantive for all objects, according to Vedanta,
is Brahman only.
Objects are only nAma and rUpa – name and form – (rUpa
includes all other sense perceptions) projected on Brahman.
In fact, it is important to recognize that the existence
of an object is also confirmed by the knowledge of its
existence. Until a conscious entity establishes the
existence of an object, the object's existence is not
established. An object is not a self-existent entity,
since it is not self-conscious. Does the object exist
if I am not conscious of it or if I have no knowledge
of it? Who is going to establish its existence if there
is no conscious entity who is conscious of it? Hence
we can say that the existence of such an object is anirvachanIya
(cannot be established) or mathematically an indeterminate
problem. The reason is simple. We have already defined
that knowledge of an object involves removal of the
ignorance that is coving it. Until the ignorance is
removed, the knowledge of its existence is also not
established. Ignorance is removed only when it is illumined
by the light of consciousness. Hence, a conscious entity
has to be there to recognize its existence and have
its knowledge. Ignorance is anirvachanIya or indeterminate.
It is like the pitch dark room – existence of
any object in a dark room is an indeterminate problem
until one turns the light on to see and establish its
existence.
Hence, the perception of an object external to the
mind is the same as the illumination of the resulting
'mental state or vRRitti'. The illumination of an object
continues until another object is perceived or its 'mental
state' is known. Perception of the next object brings
its associated 'mental state' into the light of consciousness.
Thus, the light of consciousness illumines the sequential
objects or more correctly the sequential mental states,
that come into its purview. It is similar to a light
shining on a stage continuously as the scenes continue
to change. The objects are in sequence but the illuminating
consciousness is continuous.
Knowledge and consciousness are considered to be identical
in Advaita. Knowledge is therefore continuous and hence
eternal too. If it became discontinuous, its absence,
for it to be known, would still have to be illumined
by consciousness. That is I have knowledge of the absence
of objects too. The last statement will have a bearing
when we examine the deep sleep state. When there are
no objects to be perceived, either darkness is perceived
(as in the case of the pitch dark room) or the ignorance
that covers the knowledge of the objects is perceived,
since we have already stated that knowledge of every
object is covered by ignorance. Knowledge continues
as knowledge of objects or knowledge of darkness or
knowledge of ignorance. Even when the objects change,
and the vRRitti-s associated with them change, the knowledge
remains the same and continuous. As discussed before
continuity is not a concept of time, it is beyond the
time concept. It is ever present, eternally 'NOW'. Knowledge
is ever existent Now.
Proceed to the next
essay. |
