Book Title: Reals on the Jaina Metaphysics
Author(s): Harisatya Bhattacharya
Publisher: Shatnidas Khetsy Charitable Trust Mumbai

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 249
________________ 234 Reals in the Jaina Metaphysics SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE ELEMENTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS Mind: It may be admitted that all experience is ‘internal in the sense that it constitutes a part of an individual's conscious existence. On the other hand, all conscious experience has something for its object which is, at least for the purpose of its objectivity, somewhat distinct in existence from the individual's consciousness; in this respect all experience is "external'. The distinction between the internal and the external experiences thus appears to break down. Yet the distinction has been recognised from very ancient times and is even now wide spread and persistently maintained. And it is not wholly unjustifiable. Our perception of a chair is essentially different from our recognition of a chair as one previously perceived or our feeling of joy at the sight of the chair. In the former case, our experience refers to the object which has an existence and intrinsic nature of its own, outside and independent of us. It is our peripheral sense-organs that in most cases come in contact with this object which is external to us and the experience of which is thus in a very real sense, external. “External experiences”, as Professor Stout points out, “are experiences which have for their object whatever is taken to be distinct in existence from the stream of individual consciousness or any part of it”. In the case of our feelings and emotions, of recognitions and reasoning, our experiences are entirely different. Our feelings of joy or sorrow are purely subjective and so are the processes of reasoning and recognition, if 'TEFEUIFT FOT" F# farglfe ------ TEHTHTT-37194TUE श्लो-१६६ as the author of Gommata Sāra says. Thus although the Jaina's contend, 'ईसन्ति एक्कमेक इन्दा इव इन्द्रियेजाण'। गोम्मटसार-जीवकाण्ड श्लो-१६३ 'In the upper regions just as one Indra is completely separate from and independent of another Indra, each of the five sense-organs is to be known as distinct from the other, the doctrine of the fundamental and primary character of the organ of touch seems to be somewhat hinted at in their own theory about the simplest onesensed animal being possessed of the sense of touch. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430