Dr. N.L. Kachhara
All-natural processes are complex, involving several variables and factors. To study such processes analytically, a simple model is usually made based on simplifying assumptions. The results obtained from this model are extended to predict the behavior of the original process. Such predictions, though approximate, are supposed to give a fair idea of the performance of the real process. If necessary, correlations can be established between predicted and actual results to minimize the approximation. I make such an attempt here to study the cognition process that takes place in the soul.
In the cognition process, the jnana and darshana potential energies of the soul manifest through the cover of the perception-deluding karma. This manifestation can be regarded as a flow of the soul energies that generates knowledge. Thus, this process of knowledge generation is similar to the generation of power in a hydroelectric power station. In this type of power station, water stored in a reservoir flows through a turbine generator system where a part of the potential energy of the flowing water is converted into electrical power. The remaining energy flows to the river sink through the discharged water. If P is the potential energy input to the system and W is the electrical output, then W=EP, where E is the efficiency of the system. The remaining energy, (1-E)P, is discharged to the river.
The soul is the reservoir of spiritual energy, which manifests under the influence of bhava karma. We assume that the soul energies flow out as streams defined by the various subtypes of karma. The psychical bhava karmas obstruct the flow of these energies, limiting the actual manifestation of the potential powers of the (pure) soul. The bhava karmas can be assumed to constitute valves in the flow of soul energies. In the case of sarvaghatin, or fully obscuring karma, the valve is either fully open or fully closed: there is no intermediate position. In the case of the desaghatin, or partially obscuring karma, the opening of the valve varies with the level of the psychical karma's ksayopashama. The flow of energy may also be obstructed by the rise or fruition of antaraya karma. Hence the manifested flow of energy M is given by M = Q K, where Q is the ideal flow of energy in a given situation in the absence of psychical bhava karma (i.e. in the omniscient state). It must be noted that in the omniscient state the jnana and darshana energies of the soul are infinite, but the flow of energy Q is finite and depends on the object to be known. That is, all of the infinite energy of the soul is not used at any one instant; only the fraction of energy that is required for cognition is used at one time. The value of Q shall vary with the complexity of the cognition in question. K is equal to the reduction in the flow of energy caused by the existence of corresponding bhava karma. The value of K depends on the ksayopashama level of concerned bhava karma: the more ksyopashama, the less the value of K. So, the value of M, the flow of energy that is actually manifested, increases with the ksayopashama level of the bhava karma. For example, M will be higher in human beings compared to animals and so on. In the omniscient state, K is zero and M equals Q.
Figure 1 shows the cognition process that takes place in the soul. There are five valves of jnana-obscuring karma and nine valves of darshana-obscuring karma, corresponding to the five types of jnana and nine types of darshana. We consider here the common case of matijnana and srutijnana. In this case, the kevalajnana karmas are on rise, i.e. the kevalajnana valve is closed and the avadhijnana and manhaparyayajnana valves are also closed. We also assume that the avadhidarshana and kevaladarshana valves are closed. The slumber valves are closed in the wakeful state and open during sleep. This is the general case applicable to all beings. It must be mentioned here that the karmas veiling mati, sruti, avadhi and manahaparyayajnana and caksu, acaksu and avadhidarshana are partially obscuring (desaghatin) and the karmas veiling kevalajnana, kevaladarshana and slumbers are fully obscuring (sarvaghatin).
In any cognition process, let
j1= manifested flow of matijnana energy
j2= manifested flow of srutijnana energy
d1= manifested flow of chaksudarshana energy
d2= manifested flow of achaksudarshana energy
at any time, t due to the ksayopasama of the corresponding karma.
Let J be the total flow of manifested jnana:
J = j1+j2
and D be total flow of manifested darshana:
D = d1 + d2
Both J and D together provide the energy for the cognition process. But before this process occurs, the darshana D passes through the filter of the rising darshanamohaniya (perception-deluding) karma and is coloured by this karma to form Dp. In fact, it is Dp and not D that participates in the cognition process.
Figure 1 Cognition Process of the soul
Both D and Dp are of the same quantity but differ in quality. In the wakeful state, both J and Dp participate in the cognition process. In the sleep state, J is absent, i.e. J = 0 and Dp consists of d2p only, i.e. D = d2p. The soul now perceives some part of the generality rather than the particularity of the object. It may be noted that in the matijnana process j2 is zero, and in the srutijnana process both j1 and j2 are non-zero. In both of these cases d1 and d2 are non-zero.
The efficiency of the cognition process E depends on the ksayopasama level of the darshanamohaniya and antaraya (soul energy-obstructing) karma. The active antaraya karma offers resistance to the utilization of cognition energies, which also reduces the efficiency of the process. This means that only part of the manifested jnana and darshana energy contribute to the knowledge output of the cognition process. The knowledge output Ki is E(J+D). We assume that the balance jnana (1-E)J and balance darshana (1-E)D each flow to some kind of reservoir in the soul and are reserved for future use. These energies remain unutilized for the time being (see delayed cognition below). The output knowledge is of the mati type if j2 is zero and of the sruti type if both j1 and j2 are non-zero.
The output knowledge Ki is subjective because of the color imparted by darshanamohaniya karma. Therefore, the output of knowledge from the cognition process is (1) only a fraction of what is possible with the manifested jnana and darshana energy and (2) subjective, i.e. perverted knowledge. The knowledge Ki passes through another filter of active charitramohaniya (conduct-deluding) karma before it is stored in the memory bank. A bias of the passions and quasi-passions in operation at that instant is imparted to the cognition output. We have separated charitramohaniya from darshanamohaniya in this model because the former does not participate in the cognition process. Note that the quality of knowledge is a function of darshanamohaniya karma, i.e. the knowledge of a mithyadristi, non-believer, and the knowledge of a samyakdristi, believer, is differentiated.
Cognition takes place in a continuous series; any cognition activity outputs elemental knowledge Ki that is changed to Ki' by conduct-deluding karma. This knowledge is additive and the total knowledge Kt generated till time t is the sum of all the knowledge elements generated till then. We have
i=t
Kt = ∑ Ki'
i=0
Here i = 0 must refer to the beginningless time that the soul has been in existence, and t covers all the life spans that the soul has had in the past, including the present one.
If Kt' is the knowledge eliminated by the annihilation of bhava karma, then the knowledge balance Kb in the memory bank at any one-time t is
Kb = Kt - Kt'
Based on the above model, we can make the following observations and inferences:
1. The matijnana energy j1 should represent the soul's faculty of creative or intuitive thinking. This is manifested in the body through the senses and mind and suffers from limitations imposed by them.
2. The srutijnana j2 is supposed to represent the soul's faculty of rational thinking, including deductive and inductive reasoning. This is supposed to manifest with the help of matijnana, i.e. j2 exists only when j1 is non-zero.
3. The faculties of creative thinking and rational thinking together must constitute the intellect. The intellect thus is J= j1+j2 where j1 is creative intelligence and j2 is rational intelligence. Intellect is manifested jnana and is the power of the soul to comprehend the details of an object.
4. The chaksudarshana (d1) represents the soul's faculty of awareness manifested by the sense of vision.
5. Achaksudarshana (d2) represents the faculty of awareness manifested by the other senses.
6. The total awareness faculty D of the soul is D=d1 + d2. The awareness coloured by darshanamohaniya karma, Dp, can be called perception, which is subjective.
7. What is buddhi? The buddhi or rational mind is the faculty of the soul that is supposed to jointly take stock of the rational, creative and perceptive abilities. This suggests that intellect and perception, taken together, constitute the buddhi. Thus, buddhi B is
i. B = J + Dp= j1 + j2 + (d1 + d2)p
8. The buddhi has a wide spectrum and includes a wide range of abilities and powers of the soul. Buddhi is the decision-making power of the soul and is biased by the active perception-deluding karma.
9. Buddhi is at a minimum level in one-sense beings, where both J and Dp are considered to be at their lowest level. The level of buddhi increases in higher-sense organisms with a higher ksayopashama of obscuring psychical karma. It is relatively higher in human beings, who have a developed mind, than in animals.
10. Cognition is the intelligent activity of the soul and buddhi is the active force behind decision-making. The cognition output (knowledge) has been coloured by mohaniya (deluding) karma. As long as mohaniya karma is in existence, the knowledge of the soul is subjective and perverted.
11. Note that the value of J and Dp, and hence intellect and buddhi, are based on the ksayopashama of jnana- and darshana-obscuring karma and remain unchanged unless a change in the ksayopashama level takes place. In contrast to this, knowledge Kt increases with time because cognition is a continuous process. This is an important difference between intellect, buddhi and knowledge. Intelligence is an intrinsic property of the soul; it is beginningless and endless. Knowledge is acquired by intelligence; it has a beginning and an end and can be reversed. Intellect and buddhi cannot be acquired from outside; they can only be developed by the ksayopashama of intelligence and awareness-obscuring karma. Intellect and buddhi are not influenced by conduct-deluding karma.
The ksayopashama of perception-deluding karma improves the quality of perception by reducing the colour. This is possible in all human beings, whether they are laymen or ascetics. Ascetics' ksayopasama of conduct-deluding karma is also high, so their perception and conduct are purer than that of laymen and their knowledge is relatively un-biased.
12. Perception-deluding karma varies in the cognition process. This means that each Ki is associated with a different perception-deluding colour.
13. Perception-deluding karma acts independently of conduct-deluding karma. This implies that conduct should not be an essential condition for clairvoyance; rather, the essential condition for clairvoyance is the ksayopasama of avadhijnana and avadhidarsana-obscuring karma. This can happen with both ascetic and non-ascetic individuals. In the presence of perception-deluding karma, clairvoyance is biased and is called vibhangajnana. When perception-deluding karma is eliminated in samyagdristi jiva, clairvoyance becomes unbiased and is called avadhijnana.
14. What is mind (manah)? Mind is the faculty of the soul that performs the functions of feeling, willing, thinking and imagining. The other attributes of mind are memory, recognition and judgment. This suggests that the mind must be a composite structure consisting of three things: (1) rising conduct mohaniya karma for feeling and willing; (2) buddhi, B, for thinking, imagining and judgment; and (3) knowledge, Kt, for memory and recognition. This is the psychical mind. It has a counterpart in the physical mind that is made of manovargana. The physical mind works in conjunction with the senses and interacts with the external world. The two types of mind work in parallel and are related to each other by the rule of correspondence. The mind presents options and makes judgments; the decision is taken by buddhi. Buddhi, though part of the mind, is independent of the conduct mohaniya karma and ajnana of the soul and is in a position to make decisions free of their influences. This means that a soul that is not highly placed with respect to conduct and that lacks detailed knowledge of the world can also make good decisions in life. Education increases knowledge of the world and is supposed to enhance one's power of thinking and imagination, but education is not an essential condition for making good decisions. A less educated person can also make good decisions and may, in fact, lead a happier life than an educated individual. But buddhi usually follows the mind (manah), which is inclined towards worldly attractions; only wise individuals respect the decisions of buddhi. There is yet another category of persons who ignore the mind and buddhi and instead listen to the inner call, the antahapragya or intuitive faculty that motivates the soul to spiritual pursuits. Such individuals ignore worldly pleasures and decide in favor of the upliftment of the soul. This happens when the mind has been silenced so that the inner voice can be heard.
15. Jainism classifies living beings into two categories: those endowed with mind (samanaska) and those without mind (amanaska). All deficient beings, with up to 4 senses, are not supposed to have a mind. The level of buddhi in deficient beings is low, so they are not in a position to think and imagine. Because their knowledge is limited, their memory is negligible. However, they do have a faculty of feeling and willing. From this point of view, they have a mind, which in this form is known as instinct (or drive or urge) (samjna). Instinct is a natural faculty of all beings and is primarily the consequence of active mohaniya karma. We may regard instinct as an undeveloped mind. The mind in 5-sense beings has a higher level of buddhi, allowing for the development of knowledge; it can therefore be said that they are endowed with mind.
16. We see above some of the roles of intellect and buddhi in the activities of the soul. These faculties of the soul in fact have multiple descriptions, as was mentioned earlier.
17. Consciousness exists at many levels and the jiva's spiritual progress takes place from the lowest to the highest level. We exist at a level determined by our karma. The manifestation of a higher level of consciousness is prevented, according to Vedic philosophy, by ahamkara (ego). In the model presented here, conduct-deluding karma colours the knowledge that is output by the cognition process. The passions, of which ego is one part, included in this karma compares to ahamkara. Conduct-deluding karma therefore obstructs the attainment of higher level of consciousness. When ahamkara is eliminated or reduced to a lower level, higher consciousness manifests.
Active perception-deluding karma puts a label on the soul, in a way, so the soul considers itself branded. The worst brand is mithyatva, in which the soul considers itself to be only a material body and has no faith in a spiritual existence. There are two aspects of perception: perception of the self and perception of other souls. The perception of other beings is guided by the principles of upadaana, the main cause, and nimitta, the auxiliary cause. Our perception of another person depends on both our label and the label and performance of that person. So this kind of perception is a complex phenomenon that creates different perceptions of a given person depending on the person who is doing the perceiving.
18. The buddhi is heavily influenced by ahamkara. Ahamkara corrupts the buddhi and prevents it from taking intelligent decisions.
19. The thinking activity of the mind (manah) is affected by the ahamkara and ajnana. The thoughts of a common person are constricted by ajnana and biased by ahamkara and therefore describe only the relative truth. The soul cannot perceive the absolute truth with the help of the mind. It is only when the mind is absent, with the elimination of psychical karma in the omniscient state, that the soul perceives the absolute truth.
20. What is bhava? The term bhava is used in different contexts. It may mean mental feeling or refer to the overall state of the soul. Feelings are produced by the fruition of feeling-producing (vedaniya) karma. These feelings are influenced by passions, quasi-passions, and by vitality-obstructing (antaraya) karma. Therefore, bhava can be described as the psychic state of the soul that is produced by the combined effect of feeling-producing karma, conduct mohaniya karma and vitality-obstructing karma. In this case the bhavas are impure. When the conduct mohaniya and vitality-obstructing karma are eliminated in the omniscient state, the bhava are reduced to pure feelings. A liberated soul with no karma also has no feelings.
21. Citta (psyche) is another concept used in the psychological study of the soul. Citta is different from mind; it is supposed to be the controller of the mind. Citta is the consciousness of the soul working with the body; the mind is the instrument through which the consciousness of citta is manifested in the body. The mind is the working medium and citta is the working consciousness. The mind cannot be steadied, but citta can be in steady state. Different states of mind, such as concentration and unsteadiness, depend on citta. Citta is as permanent as the mundane soul, but the mind is temporary; the existence of the mind is need-based, so it is absent when not needed.
Citta is related to bhava karma; it is the state of the soul created by the incidence of bhava karma. Citta can be divided into three parts: adhyavasaya (spiritual vibrations), bhava, and buddhi. These three parts work jointly or individually, depending on the function that is being performed by the soul. The transitory state of citta is due to psychical karmas; once these are eliminated in the omniscient state, the citta becomes calm and tranquil. In the non-omniscient state, the citta can also be calmed temporarily through meditation and the suppression of passions and quasi-passions. The citta ceases to exist in the liberated state, when all karmas are absent.
22. The kevalajnana and kevaladarshana valves open when the deluding and jnana-, darshana and vitality-obscuring karmas are completely eliminated. This has two effects. First, there is no obstruction to the flow of jnana and darshana energies, which now flow at their ideal rates. This means that the intellect and buddhi can assume infinite proportions. Second, cognition takes place with full efficiency and without any colour, so that perception is pure, perfect and absolutely objective.
What happens to the earlier knowledge and memory bank in the omniscient state? Perhaps with the elimination of deluding karma this perverted structure is destroyed and the memory bank (ajnana) ceases to exist. The omniscient has no use of the previous memories: with its infinite intelligence, the omniscient soul cognizes any object instantaneously without any thinking or bias. It experiences the absolute truth, which is revealed intuitively and spontaneously in its conscious mind.
