________________
338
Epistemology of Jainas
e. g. supernormal hearing of sounds and voices, both
human and celestial, the distant become near. (iii) Thought reading and thought transference or telepathy
(cetopariyasana or para citta vinnāna). (iv) Hypermnesia (pubbenivasanusatti) or reminiscence of
the past history of former lives. According to Jainism there are three planes of supernormal consciousness. The first plane known as avadhi-jñāna is limited to the material objects. It resembles the Rūpacitta of the Buddhist. It is limited to the cognition of rūpins or material objects. The second plane is known as manaḥparyaya jñāna, where one can know the other's mind. It is subtler than the previous plane. Moreover, the avadhijñāna is not necessarily connected with the spiritual aspiration. It is found in the beings with right faith as well as wrong faith (mithyadrsti). The second and third planes are based on the spiritual development. The second is confined to the monks only who have eliminated the third stage of Mohadlya-karman (attachment) and revealed the natural virtues found in the sixth step of the spiritual ladder.
But, the Jainas do not hold that the consciousness of the lower plane is eliminated in the higher plane. On the contrary the knowledge of lower plane gets further development in the higher stages.
In the third plane one knows the arūpin (immaterial) objects also. The Jainas do not admit any order of objective appearance, in this stage. All the objects material or immaterial, conscious or unconscious are apprehended simultaneously. The Jaina Theory of Direct knowledge
According to Jainism transcendental perception is produced by the self alone; it is assisted by neither sense-organs nor the mind. It is a natural quality of the soul, lying inactive on
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
