Thursday, October 24, 2013

11.2 The Sense Organs, Or The Vital Forces, Comprise The Self

Others say that the body cannot do or enjoy anything without the senses, cannot know anything. Even the knowledge of "I am a man, I am a woman, I see and hear" etc. happen through the sense organs. Therefore the senses alone comprise the self.
 
Primarily, even this camp is Chaaravaaka oriented. But the senses are many, and the notion that the "I" is many is opposed to experience. This is the major flaw of this camp. It is common experience that the "I" which is speaking is the same "I" that is listening. The many senses are for the purpose of me alone. Therefore I am not these various senses. The agglomeration of all the senses also cannot be the self. This is because there needs to be an "I" which is different than the many, yet which ties together the many. Also, knowledge happens without the senses in sleep. Therefore, the senses cannot make up the stream of knowledge of the "I". Smiilarly, the vital forces cannot support knowledge since they are a scene. I am the vital forces - such a knowledge does not happen to anyone.

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