Space, time and cause - The six darshanas

[Guest guest]

Namaste Shri Sunder,

 

Thank you for the scriptural references in your message #32229 of

July 29. I found the boloji reference

(http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/038.htm) to be apt and useful. But,

for some reason, I am unable to access the reference to Professor

Krishnamurthy's website

(http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/32.html). In fact, I

haven't been able to access the host server http://www.geocities.com

at all. Will have to try later.

 

Meanwhile, on the subject of scriptural references for 'Space, time

and cause', it may help to point out that there is rather general

correspondence here, with the traditional division of six darshanas.

 

Vaisheshika and Nyaya are intended to describe an external world of

space and structure. Vaisheshika analyses the construction of this

world, as it gets to be described through our outward faculties of

sense and mind. Here, knowing is conceived as an action that

proceeds from self, through mind and body, towards objects in the

world.

 

Nyaya starts out by essentially accepting the Vaisheshika analysis

of world as a constructed space in which our knowing is an act. And

Nyaya then goes on to elaborate and to refine the analysis, into a

formal logic that is used to cultivate the act of knowing and its

exposition through the art of reasoned argument.

 

Sankhya and Yoga are concerned with an evolving process that takes

place in time, as 'prakriti' or 'nature' manifests appearances

before the inspiring illumination of 'purusha' or 'consciousness'.

Sankhya accounts for the evolving manifestation by distinguishing

'purusha', as a purely witnessing illumination that itself contains

no changing act of body, sense or mind. All changing action is thus

taken into 'prakriti' or 'nature' -- which manifests itself

spontaneously, before the light of consciousness. This manifesting

is described as 'purushartha', which means that it is done 'for the

sake of consciousness'. Thus nature is conceived to act from within,

completely unforced by any intervention from outside, with all

energy arising as a living inspiration from the inner shining of

pure consciousness that thereby gets expressed.

 

The Yoga system makes use of the Sankhya accounting, so as to

develop Yoga-shastra as a systematic science of meditative practice.

This practice is meant specifically to control and purify the

mind -- by withdrawing the mind back from its changing states into

its underlying depth, where it becomes absorbed into unmixed

consciousness.

 

Mimamsa and Vedanta are concerned with underlying potency and cause,

from which come manifest effects. Mimamsa is specifically concerned

with the achievement of desired results, through the causal potency

of prescribed actions, as exemplified by ritual action in the vedic

texts. Here, vedic gods are not approached as supernatural persons,

to be worshipped with faith and devotion. Instead, they are invoked

as natural powers, which get directed by the vedic chants, for the

achievement of required results. In the Mimamsa system, words and

actions are conceived to manifest an inner potential, inherent in

their proper speaking and enactment.

 

Vedanta accepts that inner potencies appear to made manifest by

practical effects of words and acts; but this acceptance is the

starting point for a more radical enquiry. Vedanta asks for an

impartial truth, which is completely independent of all changing and

differentiated appearances that get produced by the variety of

partial descriptions and actions in the world. The questioning has

to reflect beneath all partial causality of any physical or mental

action that produces a correspondingly limited result. Whether such

a questioning can be successful is a matter for each living

individual to try out, for herself or himself, to the extent that

she or he is interested to do that.

 

Ananda

[Guest guest]

advaitin, Ananda Wood <awood wrote:

 

> I found the boloji reference

> (http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/038.htm) to be apt and useful. But,

> for some reason, I am unable to access the reference to Professor

> Krishnamurthy's website

> (http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/32.html). In fact, I

> haven't been able to access the host server

http://www.geocities.com

> at all. Will have to try later.

>

> Meanwhile, on the subject of scriptural references for 'Space, time

> and cause', it may help to point out that there is rather general

> correspondence here, with the traditional division of six

darshanas.

>

 

Namaste Ananda-ji,

 

Many thanks for the magnificent panorama of the ShaD-

darshana views of the Time, Space, and Causality.

 

Regards,

 

Sunder