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JAINA PSYCHOLOGY
this type of objection would be valid if both the perception of the omniscient and the entire world were annihilated in the following instant. But, really speaking, both of these are ever-lasting. Hence, it is not an absurdity to hold that the omniscient perceives all the objects of the universe by a single cognition. With respect to the objection that the omniscient would be tainted by the attachment, etc., of others in cognising them, and consequently, he would cease to be omniscient, the reply is: Mere knowledge of desires, aversions, etc., is not sufficient enough to make a person tainted unless the self is transformed into that very mode. The omniscient cannot be affected by desires, etc., in the least. He cannot be tainted by the attachment, etc., of others by merely knowing them. Besides, desires and aversions are produced by our impure mental states, and not by the self which is pure and perfect. The omniscient self is pure and perfect, hence, it cannot be tainted by the imperfections of sensory and mental cognition. It is further urged that the omniscient is not capable of perceiving the past and the future, inasmuch as they are non-existent. On the other hand, if they are perceived as existent, the perception of the omniscient is illusory. This objection can be easily turned aside. The past and future are perceived by the omniscient not as present, but as past and future. Hence, no question of illusion arises. The past things are as much existent and real in relation to their own time as the present things are existent and real in relation to the present. To put it in another way, the past objects as much exist in the past as the present ones exist at present. The same argument can be applied to the future. The omniscient knows the past as existing in the past and the future as existing in the future. Because of the complete destruction of the obscuring veils of karma, the cognition of the omniscient is not produced by the senses and mind, but it is derived directly from the self. Hence, the omniscient directly perceives all the objects of the past, present, and future. In other words, the limitations of space and time are only for sensory and mental comprehension. They cannot obstruct the perception of an omniscient being. To summarise: An omniscient being prehends directly and immediately all the objects of the universe, past, present, and future, subtle and remote, by a single ever-lasting cognition independent of any assistance of the media of the external senses and mind.
