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HERMANN KUHN
SUTRAS
SUTRA 6 YAITFUR FENTH: & Pramananayair adhigamah (6) We obtain insight into18 reality either - by Total Perception (pramana)19 - where we comprehend the to
tality of the appearance of the elements (i.e. their forms, features and interactions) as they manifest in the present, or - through partial sight (naya) - where we perceive manifestations of the elements from a limited perspective. (6)
In the Western hemisphere we generally maintain the idea that knowledge is something separate from us, something that needs to be laboriously discovered by either experience, research, reflection or ingenious intuition.
In stark contrast to this the Tattvarthasutra regards knowledge as a fundamental and inseparable feature of individual consciousness. According to this understanding we always carry the totality of all knowledge within us, and it is only our limited capacity to perceive this that prevents us from becoming fully conscious of it.
Since the West adheres strongly to the concept that knowledge can only come from the outside and needs to be acquired, and since we almost never come across alternative models, the thought of carrying all possible knowledge in latent form within us, may appear utterly absurd. Yet the pride the West takes in the data accumulated during the last three centuries, overlooks entirely that we really have no idea how all these fragments could possibly fit into one coherent
18 and knowledge of 19 Since Western languages have no term for this type of comprehensive
insight and perception, this book uses 'Total Perception' parallel to the Sanskrit term prainana mentioned in the sutra.
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