NITAAI Yoga Feed

Perception and the mind

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:55:42 -0600

Posted by krishnaprasadk in Articles - Perception and the mind

Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna

Jaya Gurudev Jaya Guruparampara

Perception and the mind
Strict empiricists think that perception is most accurate when the influence of
the mind on the senses is kept to a minimum. One should carefully observe and
not permit preconceived ideas to interfere with objectivity. Ridiculing this
notion in Conjectures and Refutations, Karl Popper tells of a lecture he gave in
which he asked his students to carefully observe, then write down what they
observe. The students naturally wanted to know what they should observe. In
other words, they asked for an idea to guide their observation. The idea, in turn,
has to be fixed to a perception: Watch what I do, or Watch what happens in the
window. Even the empirical truth that reality is limited to what our senses can
perceive is really just an idea fixed to perception. Vaiñëava Vedänta admits two
kinds of pratyakñabähya (external) and antara (internal). Bähya-pratyakña is the
contact of the bodily sense organs with external objects. But sense objects must
become objects of the mind for us to comprehend them. The mind, in the words
of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura, is the telegraphic center of the
senses.* From that center, the outflow of mental energy communicates with the
senses, the information-gathering outposts of the body. When stimulated by
contact with their objects, the senses transmit subtle signals to the common
sense, the mind. Mental consciousness then reads this sense data as sound, touch,
form, taste and smell. The mind's reading of sense data is antara-pratyakña. Thus
the boundaries of sense perception define the egoistic field (or, to put it another
way, the claimed territory) of mental functions (mänaso-våtti).* By its
attachment to sense data, the mind becomes agitated. Since egoistic attachment
is produced from the tamo-guëa (mode of ignorance), it is to be understood that
this agitation is a result of the mind's lack of knowledge about sense perception
especially, its lack of knowledge how sound, touch and the rest may be enjoyed
without problems. In its agitated state, the mind manufactures many ideas to
solve problems encountered in the field of sense perception. This is called manodharma,
imagination. Even the scientists themselves admit their method is a
combination of the functions of the senses with imagination.* The result
material knowledge then, is imaginary. To get a clearer picture of this, we may
consider a line spoken by Prahläda Mahäräja in Çrémad-Bhägavatam 7.5.31:
duräçayä ye bahir-artha-mäninaù. Dur means difficult, and äçaya is a person's
intention. Thus duräçaya refers to a contradictory intention, one that lands us in
difficulty. What intention of life does Prahläda consider contradictory? The
enjoyment of the material world, in which external sense objects (bahiù) are the
gain (artha). The contradiction here is that our claiming possession of sense
objects does not make us the enjoyers of the material world, because we don't
know how to enjoy matter without suffering. In our efforts to overcome this
contradiction, we let the imagination (mänina) do what it will with sense objects.
An example of that type of imagination is the empirical measurement of material
nature. Material nature is mahat, immeasurably great. But the intention of the
scientist is to gain control over nature. As a means to limit nature, to render it
manipulable, measurement is central to the empirical method. It is a systematic
attempt to define nature in terms of human duality: big/small, hot/cold,
heavy/light, bright/dark, fast/slow, positive/negative, successful/unsuccessful.
Such measurements are analogies of mind imposed upon matter. When ridden
home, they prove to be spectral, in both senses of the word. Instead of
representing the reality of things in themselves, they represent the spectra
(ranges) of human sensations. And we resort to them as primitives resort to good
and evil specters (ghosts), to make sense of the unknown. For instance, physicists
measure subatomic quantum objects as either waves or as particles. Whether an
object appears to be a wave or a particle depends in some uncertain way upon the
observer. Now, apart from the wave-particle duality in the scientist's mind, what
are quantum objects really? At present, at least nine schools of thought are in
disagreement. The debate about the existence of quantum objects is not unlike
the debate about the existence of ghosts. According to astrophysicist John
Gribben:
It is hard to see quantum physics as anything but analogy the wave- particle
duality being the classic example, where we struggle to explain something we do
not understand.*
Empirical measurement is a human enterprise and to err is human. The idea that
the measurements of science constitute well-verified facts is sheer imagination.*
Mäyä, the illusory aspect of material nature (prakåti), entices our imagination by
apparently confirming and rewarding it. In 1919, Albert Einstein rose to world
fame when Eddington's measurements seemingly confirmed the theory of
relativity. Since then, by mäyä's grace, scientists have used the theory to their
great profit. Today, relativity seems to be a well-verified fact. But this is just one
side of the story. The other side is that Einstein and Eddington are dead and
buried, overcome by the nature they attempted to measure and explain. Where
they might be now is unknown even to their most devoted followers. And, in
time, the theory of relativity will also pass away. It will be replaced by a new
theory that mäyä will confirm, reward, and then drop by the wayside of history.
The passage of time turns the cycle of duality; thus knowledge comes to us
followed by ignorance, happiness comes followed by distress, heat comes followed
by cold, honor comes followed by dishonor, and so on. The soul who achieves
great material success in this life is sure to be landed by time in the midst of
proportionate failure in the future. Therefore Çrémad-Bhägavatam 4.29.2b
concludes:
Everything happening within time, which consists of past, present and future, is
merely a dream. That is the secret understanding in all Vedic literature.
Now, this dream is not like that proposed by the sceptics who say the world is
entirely subjective, existing only within the human mind. Our senses do connect
with a substance that has a factual existence external to us. The dream of
everything happening in time refers to the transitory nature of our impressions of
that substance. The dreams we have in sleep are antara-pratyakña impressions of
subtle elements. Though subtle, they appear as solid as our wakeful impressions of
gross elements. We understand the dream-quality of our sleeping perceptions not
by how they look but how they vanish in time. And our wakeful perceptions also
vanish in time. The moment of death is very like the moment a dream breaks. It
is therefore sheer imagination to hold that either waking or sleeping perceptions
are ever-reliable concrete facts. Mäyä's reward of our imagination with profit,
adoration and distinction intoxicates the mind with pride and attachment. Kåñëa
does not intend for His parts and parcels to be immersed deeper and deeper in
such illusion. Time, Kåñëa's käla-tattva, breaks pride and attachment by force.
Time therefore represents Kåñëa's intention. As soon as the living entity gives up
his wrong intention and surrenders to Kåñëa, his intention becomes the Lord's
intention. Immediately his perception and knowledge are freed from the cycle of
time. But one who remains duräçaya (wrongly-intended) again and again takes
shelter of imagination. In history, there were famous empiricists who, stubbornly
intending to enjoy their senses forever, imagined death could be conquered
through science. There were famous sceptics who, imagining death to be a
creation of the mind, stubbornly intended to surpass it by mentally negating its
reality. Both positions, in time, proved hopeless.
The speculative argument of philosophers, This world is real, No, it is not real, is
based upon incomplete knowledge of the Supreme Soul and is simply aimed at
understanding material dualities. Although such argument is useless, persons who
have turned their attention away from Me, their own true Self, are unable to give
it up .(Çrémad-Bhägavatam 11.22.34)

In your Service
Krishnaprasad

Post Reply

Photos of Virar Rathyatra

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:17:24 -0600

Posted by Lorien23 in Photos from the Preaching - Photos of Virar Rathyatra

Pranams:bow:

The chariot/float for their Lordships - Jagannatha - Subhadra and Balaram is very beautiful :rose:

Thanks for sharing the pictures

Post Reply

Photos of Virar Rathyatra

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:16:35 -0600

Posted by Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami in Photos from the Preaching - Photos of Virar Rathyatra

Post Reply

Photos of Pardi Rath Yatra 2012 by Gajanan Parivar

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:48:08 -0600

Posted by Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami in Photos from the Preaching - Photos of Pardi Rath Yatra 2012 by Gajanan Parivar

Post Reply

Ekachakraa on Nityananda Trayodashi 2012

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:54:30 -0600

Posted by Vedant Shadbhuja Das in Realizations from Sadhu Swami - Ekachakraa on Nityananda Trayodashi 2012

Facebook Comments

Dhanistha D Buiatti ‎~~~~jaya Nityananda !!!~~~~

Swarnadeep Bandyopadhyay Jai Nityananda....jai Gurudeva.....

Ameyatma Das Jaya Nityananda Rama !

Sandeep Sanyal Jai Nityananda.......

Sunīl Kṛṣṇa Dās Jai Nityananda Ram Jai Ekachakra Dhaam

In the bus kirtana of Nitaai Nitaai Nitaai Nitaai Gauranga, I could see how Lord Gauranga and the Associates were very ecstatic and encircling Lord Nityananda on His appearance day. Lord Nityananda was wetting the devotees around Him with His incessant divine tears. Oh may that vision remain in my heart always! I sang Nitaai Nitaai Nitaai Nitaai Gauranga kirtana for a very long time in the bus before reaching Ekachakraa since waves of this vision and lila were manifesting spontaneously in my heart. I cannot describe all that I saw and experienced with every Name of Nitaai and Gauranga.

Another vision which grew stronger with today's Yatra was that every entity in Ekachakraa is crying in separation from Nitaai in the manifest pastimes (prakata lila) and every entity in the unmanifested pastimes is serving Jahnava Nitaai at the Yogapith Nitaai Janmasthan. The results of the maha-patita-pavana tithi Nityananda Trayodashi vrata are multiplied millions of times by observing it in the maha-patita-pavana Ekachakraa Dhaam.

One devotee group passing by was chanting Hare Krishna kirtana in a modern tune but I personally could not give up the chanting of "Jaya Nityananda.. and Nityananda Raam.." even for a moment since it was Trayodashi in Ekachakraa. Nityananda's Name has so much nectar and causeless mercy. Eventually I sang the Mahamantra in Pandava Tala remembering the dream in which Lord Baladeva appeared to Yudhishtira Maharaj there and foretold him about His advent as Nityananda!

Post Reply

Nimaai Das Prabhuji singing Nityananda-Gauranga on Guitar

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:11:22 -0600

Posted by smbharthaniya in Videos by Other Devotees - Nimaai Das Prabhuji singing Nityananda-Gauranga on Guitar

I want to see this video. Where can I find it ?

Post Reply

12 Names Of Lord Nityananda

His Holiness Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:05:19 -0600

Posted by Jagannatha Gauranga dasa in Share Your Nectar - 12 Names Of Lord Nityananda

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!

Thanks for posting Prabhu.