ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 04

Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 217

values. The ultimate spirit is the "Real Thing". This spirit is nothing but the totality of existence and the unity of values. Thus, the external world is nothing more than the spirit as a unity of experience and unity of values. The Spiritual Idealism propounded by Bosanquet is monistic in character.
5. Idealism of Hegel
The fundamental question before Hegel was: What must be the nature and characteristic of ultimate principle of the universe in order to explain by it the origin, growth and development of mind and nature, their mutual relations, as well as the question of science, philosophy, ethics, art and religion. The world consists of both mind and nature, subject and object, self and not-self. Hegel seems to reserve for his Absolute an immutable and inexhaustible being which always transcends its heterisation or the world of becoming. [4] It shows that the Absolute Idealism of Hegel is monistic spiritualism i.e. in the shape of one spiritual reality as the source and foundation of all external objects as well as individual thoughts. In other words the absolute Idealism of Hegel may be called objective Idealism.
6. Idealism of Bradley
Bradley finds that the external relations are meaningless to the conception of the unity of reality and the internal relations. Bradley thinks that the proper organ for grasping the absolute Reality is not intellect but the whole of mental life, which is constituted by intellect, feeling and will. He, therefore, describes his Absolute as identified with experience. Human experience is a piece of transcendental experience and can approximate it when it has learnt to transcend the limitations of intellect. The Absolute of Bradley therefore, is to be felt, experienced or realized and not to be known by our simple intellect.
B. Indian Idealism
After giving on introductory account of Western Idealism, now come to the Idealistic schools of India. Buddhism and Ved nta are the most important schools of Indian Idealism.
1. Yog c ra school of Buddhism
According to it, as is generally believed, only momentary ideas are real. The reality, which is grasped by the four categories of thought, is only Phenomenal.[5] The highest reality is unchanging, calm and permanent. It is beyond the four categories of thought.[6] It is beyond the duality of subject and object.[7] By mere analysis we cannot grasp reality. Thus, it is indescribable and devoid of any explanation. [8] The external world is the creation, not of the individual consciousness, but of the absolute consciousness.[9] All except consciousness, is unreal. Consciousness alone is the established truth preached by the Buddha. All the three worlds are the result of discrimination or thought-relations. No external object exists in reality. All that is, is consciousness. [10]
2. Idealism of a kara
In the philosophy of a kara the ultimate reality is B hama or Self. He maintains that Self is the transcendental ground of experience. The self is not momentary, but permanent, not changing, but changeless, not finite, but infinite, not limited and conditional, but unlimited and unconditional. The existence of Self is self-proved (svaya siddha) and cannot be denied. It is always conscious. a kara recognizes three grades of reality.[11] The external object of our ordinary experience has only a vyavah rika satt (empirical reality), the objects appearing in dreams and illusions enjoy only a pratibh sika satt (illusory appearance) and B hama, i.e., the Absolute has the parm rthika satt (ultimate reality). The vyavah rika and pratibh sika existences are real from a lower standpoint. The Ultimate Reality is the highest reality, which is
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STUDY NOTES version 4.0