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THE NOTION OF GROWTH
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mana. Partial sights and details are certainly taught, but in real life we use pramana - and this is the very origin of the great discrepancy between individual life and science26.
Once we begin to consciously employ pramana, it unfolds new levels of experience within us that are far more interesting, intense and fulfilling than a life mainly directed towards the accumulation of objects and bodily comfort.
SUTRA 7
निर्देशस्वामित्वसाधनाधिकरणस्थितिविधानतः ॥ ७ ॥
Nirdesha svamitva sadhan adhikarana sthiti vidhanatah (7)
26 The cause of the almost exclusive concentration of the West on
partial sights is science. Science splits the reality it perceives into small parts and examines these parts in the light of limiting conditions. Many of the scientists engaged in this type of research are idealistically motivated that this approach will produce verifiable and valuable information about features and behavior of the examined objects.
There is basically nothing wrong with this approach. No doubt, science helped to make the physical conditions of life more comfortable and this also explains the popularity of this particular trend of thought. Yet unfortunately this success caused science to demand that all of reality should be explained by mechanisms that are valid only in the partial field of matter.
The propagation of this dogma is so successful that by now the majority of people accepts statements about the world only as true, when they are explained by the mechanics of matter. Thor daily life we constantly experience and use entirely different - nonmaterial - mechanisms, this claim of science blocks the serious and systematic development of our far more comprehensive, intuitive and innate capabilities already at the very start.
This overvaluation of the partial, analytical sight (naya) diverts our attention from our ability to effortlessly comprehend and handle the most complex situations. It ignores the value and potential of pramana and thereby impedes our growth.
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