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104
HERMANN KUHN
SUTRAS
Knowledge from external sources (sruti) offers far broader and deeper insights than sense-perception (mati).
It alerts us to experiences we otherwise would not notice. It connects new experiences to our existing concepts.
In the multitude of potential avenues life offers, it tells us how to recognize the optimal path to manifest the values and 'ideals we carry deep within.
Knowledge from external sources is obtained through verbal instruction and by studying books (or other media).45 Since we receive this information through material means - books or teachers - it is always preceded by sense-perception (reading, hearing).
Yet insight from external sources (sruti) does not automatically arise when our senses perceive written or spoken words. We obtain access to this type of insight only by making a conscious effort to understand what we have read or heard. Thus it is only our longing, our 'drive' to open unknown regions of our consciousness that makes us step beyond our present limits of comprehension.
The energy we invest in transforming this desire into action and the strength of our craving for knowledge determine how fast and to what extent our 'inner scope' expands.
We accelerate this process significantly if we open ourselves to new ideas and concepts. But though this sounds easy, it is much harder than we think.
Opening ourselves to new concepts does not mean to kindly listen to new ideas, consider them sympathetically and then - like a benevolent judge - decide whether we accept them or not. This is merely the intellectual) evaluation of sense-perception (avaya - sutra 15). Any insight we might gain this way remains on the level of sen
45 In ancient times the scriptures were handed down orally. Therefore this type of knowledge originally was gained by 'hearing' and not by
ng' the scriptures. The word 'sruta' that denotes this channel of knowledge is derived from the Sanskrit root 'shri' (to hear).
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