Notion of Growth

Author(s): Hermann Kuhn
Publisher: Crosswind Publishing Germany

Page 86

THE NOTION OF GROWTH
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Sense-perception also includes the processing of the information gained by our mind, e.g. recollection, deduction, etc.
The clarity with which our senses and our mind perceive objects, depends on the karmic blocks that obstruct the functioning of this channel.
Sutra 13 to 19 explain the features of sense-perception in more detail.
- Knowledge from external sources (sruti) - we gain by obtaining and reflecting information contained in the scriptures and other storage media, as well as through verbal instruction.
Knowledge from external sources encompasses far greater parts of reality than pure sense-perception. External knowledge makes us aware of experiences that otherwise would have escaped our conscious understanding. It offers us concepts how to choose from the multitude of alternative experiences those paths that bring us nearer to the realization of the values and ideals we feel deep within us.31
Knowledge gained from external sources always originates in sense-perception. Sutra 20 deals more exten
31 The difference between sense-perception and knowledge from ex
ternal sources becomes clear when we consider the fleeting moments of intense awareness during which we leave the dense hypnotic envelope of level one and feel like waking up from the deep dream that life weaves around our consciousness. As long as we remain solely on the level of sense-perception, these moments remain brief and fleeting because we do not know what to do with them. Once external knowledge gives us a concept how to understand and to work with these experiences, we can extend their duration and transform this vibrant wakefulness into a stable foundation of our life.