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SUPERNORMAL PERCEPTION
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Akaļanka interprets, in this case, manas as Ātman. In this sense, the Jaina view of supernormal perception is different from the alaukika pratyakṣa of the Naiyāyikas. The forms of alaukika pratykșa are produced by supernormal contact, alaukika-sannikarsa. In this, there is a special type of contact with the sense object. But the Jainas do not accept such a special type of sense object contact. The sense organs are limited in sphere. They do not have the capacity of coming into contact with supersensible objects. The sense organs have no function in the case of supernormal perception, as they cannot cognize the past, future and distant objects. Therefore, empirical perception signifies direct and immediate apprehension of gross objects produced by the contact of the organs with the objects determined in time and space and by merit (punya) and demerit (pāpa). Supernormal perception is direct and immediate cognition of all objects past, future and distant. Recent psychical research shows that those who are endowed with supernormal powers grasp the secret thoughts of other individuals without using their sense organs. They also perceive events more or less remote in space and time. In supernormal perception, trans-spatial and trans-temporal relations are apprehended. There is an 'elsewhere' in which the order of things would be different. We do not come across the 'elsewhere by means of empirical experience, because, in this, we become aware of the external world by means of bodily sense organs which have been specially developed to reveal it and nothing else. We may understand this when we realize that our organs of sense perception are narrowly specialized to serve biological and practical ends, and that our normal consciousness is also largely specialized. 14.
We have seen that the Jainas say that supernormal perception is really pratyakşa, or direct apprehension obtained by the soul when all the impediments are removed. Supernormal perception has been classified as (i) avadhi, (ii) manahparyāya, and (iii) kevala. The distinction between vikala and sakala pratyakşa has also been mentioned. The three forms of supernormal perception mentioned by the Jainas may appear, as Tatia points out, to be dogmatic. However, it may be noted that the vital source of the Jaina theory of knowledge lies in this conception. If the soul has the capacity to know, it must know independently of any external conditions. Distance, spatial or temporal, is not a hindrance to the soul.15
C. D. Broad says that forms of supernormal cognition may be classified as follows: We may divide them into (i) supernormal cognitions of contemporary events or of contemporary states of mind, and (ii) supernormal cognitions of past or future events or past or future things or persons. Under the first heading, we can include clairvoyance and
14 Tyrrell (G. N. M.): The Personality af Man, p. 265, (Pelican). 15 Tatia (N.): Studies in Jaina Philosophy, p. 62.
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