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SUPERNORMAL PERCEPTION
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The Nyāya Vaišesika Schools maintain that the manas can get simultaneous cognition of objects past, future and distant with the help of dharma born of yoga. But the Jainas say that the manas, which is regarded as atomic in nature, can never enter into relation with all the objects of the world simultaneously. But it is contended that, if the mind of a yogi can apprehend objects not simultaneously but successively, yogic perception would not be different from ordinary perception. Therefore, the Jainas say, yogic perception in the sense presented by the Nyāya Vaiseșika is not possible. Perception of all the objects of the world can never be produced by the external sense organs or by the mind even though aided by the peculiar power of dharma born of meditation. The Jainas contend that it is the self which is responsible for such cognition. The self apprehends all the objects of the world independently of the sense organs and the mind when the veil of karma is progressively removed.
The Jaina View of Supernormal Perception
The Jaina account of supernormal perception is based on the Jaina metaphysics of the soul. In its pure state, the soul is perfect, simple and unalloyed. It is pure consciousness. But when it gets embodied, it moves in the wheel of saṁsāra and experiences the things of the world and its pleasures and pains. The sense organs are the windows through which the soul gets empirical experience. They are the instruments by which empirical experience is possible. But when the veil of karma is removed, the soul gets pure experience. The Jainas believe that the soul is inherently capable of perceiving all things with all their characteristics. But this capacity is obstructed by the karmas which obscure real knowledge. Because of such obstruction by the knowledge-obscuring and other karmas, it gets only an imperfect knowledge of the objects of the world. The nature and extent of the knowledge the soul gets will depend on the nature and extent of the obscuring veil. But the knowledge of the soul is never totally obstructed by the veil, even as the light of the sun or the moon is never totally obstructed even by the darkest clouds.10 There is always some glimpse of the external world however imperfect it may be. Complete destruction of the veil of karma gives perfect knowledge and omniscience.
On this basis, the Jainas divide pratyaksa into two kinds, (i) saṁvyavahāra pratyakșa, empirical perception which was originally called parokşa, and (ii) pāramārthika pratyakşa, transcendental perception. Empirical perception is what we get in every day experience. It is of
9 Prameyakamalamārtanda, p. 5. 10 Nandisūtra, 42.
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