[Advaita-l] The mind

[Mahesh Ursekar]

Pranams Sastriji:

Thanks for your reply. The analogy was very apt but helped to clarify
things. It is indeed interesting to see that schools like Jaina,
Nyaya-Vaishesika, Mimamsa associate feelings with the consciousness of the
soul while Samkhya-Yoga, Vedanta assign the same to the mind which has
'borrowed sentiency'.

This brings up another question that was bothering me with regard to the
Atman. If we consider two schools - Jaina and Samkhya - both regard the soul
as omniscient, then how is it that they differ in the above regard? Both
schools believe that a person can get omniscient knowledge (kevali jnana and
kaivalya mukti respectively) while alive so supposedly, their teachings
should have corroborated. Why this difference then?

Humble pranams, Mahesh



On 7/20/06, S.N. Sastri <sn.sastri at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Mahesh Ursekar  wrote:
>
>
> Can somebody let me know the Advaitic view on the locus of fleeling e.g.
> of
> pleasure and pain?
> Most authors assign it to the mind. But, I am facing the following problem
> with this allocation:
>
> The mind is constituted of the three elements of sattva, rajas and tamas
> and
> hence is essentially inanimate. How can one subscribe feelings to it? For
> feelings, conciousness is necessary and consciousness is the essence of
> Atman. But if we set the locus of feelings as the Atman, then everyone
> should be aware of everybody else's feelings since Atman is one!
>
> Can someone help?
>
> -------
>
> The mind is the product of the sattvic aspect of all the five elements. It
> is therefore like a mirror which can reflect light. Pure consciousness is
> reflected in the mind. As a result the mind itself acquires borrowed
> sentiency, just as the moon, which has no brightness of its own, appears
> bright because of the reflection of the sun's light on it. The mind is
> therefore able to experience external objects through the sense organs and
> also internal states directly. The mind with the reflection of
> consciousness
> in it is the knower, feeler, etc.  The Atma, which is pure consciousness,
> cannot by itself know or feel anything. The mind of each person is
> different
> and so one person cannot know another's thoughts though the Atma is the
> same.
>
> Death is the departure of the subtle body which is made up of the mind and
> the organs of perception and action, from the gross body. Therefore after
> death there is no subtle body within the gross body and so no sentiency.
> >From this also it s clear that it is the mind with the rflection of
> consciousness in it that is the knower, feeler, etc.
>
> S.N.Sastri
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