GREAT TO READ- SESSION 3

A.We know now that all materials are fundamentally made up of electrons, protons and neutrons. But we still distinguish food from garbage, even though we know that fundamentally they are made of up of the same fundamental units, which are just assembled differently.

B.The observed object depends on the observer, but the observer does not depend on the observed. That is, the consciousness of the observer is unaffected by the observations.

C. (a) Brahman and the world – both are infinite; 
(b) The world consists of objects which are finite and space containing the objects which is infinite; 
(c) Brahman is both the intelligent and the material cause for the universe; 
(d) Brahman is pure consciousness. Therefore consciousness has to be infinite. 
(e) The world is an inert or unconscious entity.

D.Only through its attributes can an object be distinguished from other objects. Without its attributes even the existence of the object cannot be established. The precise definition of an object therefore rests on the precise definition of its distinguishing attributes.Brahman being infinite cannot have attributes, just as space does not have any attributes.Consciousness is not an attribute of Brahman as some philosophers assume.

E.Brahman being infinite, it cannot be defined since whatever can be defined becomes an object, and thus limited by other objects. Object is different from the subject and that which is objectified can only be an inert entity, jadam. We now know that without consciousness, the existence of the world cannot be established. The world has two components – one is the finite objects and the other is the subtler one, space, which is infinite. There is also a third one that is part of the universe which arises with the interaction of Universe with the mind – the time concept. Understanding the Universe therefore involves not only understanding the objects, but also Space and time. Einstein showed that both space and time are relative or essentially related. Movement in space creates time and movement in time creates space. Space and time somehow are interlinked with the mind.

F.Existence of the object is intimately related to the knowledge of the object. I cannot talk about the existence of any object without knowledge of its existence, if not physically at least conceptually.

knowledge and existence of an object go together. They, in fact, are essentially the ‘chit’ and ‘sat’ aspects of Brahman.

G.Knowledge devoid of objects cannot be defined! Knowledge devoid of objects is nothing but the knowledge of the ‘subject’, I, which cannot be defined. Why can ‘I’ not be defined? Because, any definition is objectification, and ‘I am’ is the subject that cannot be objectified. At the most one can define ‘I’ only by means of a negative statement; ‘I’ is NOT that, which is not subject to objectification’.

H.Knowledge can only take places in the intellect. Let us examine closely the mechanics of how this knowledge takes place. Objects have attributes that can be measured by our five senses. Eyes can only see form and colors, nose the smell, tongue the taste, ears the sound and skin the texture (soft or hard etc). These are attributes only and not the substantive, which is the locus for these attributes. None of the senses can grasp the substantive of the object (substantive is the matter that the object is made up of).Perception involves sense input to the mind. The mind gathers the input from the senses, integrates all the input and projects an image in the mind with all the attributes it has gathered (form, color, smell, texture, etc). This is the cognitive process that occurs in the mind. The cognized image is then compared with the previous images stored in the memory by the intellect. If there is match, then the object is recognized (re-cognized).

Reference & Courtesy: An Introduction to Vedanta by Dr.Sadananda