A Philosopher's Ruminations

  SCHOOLS OF INDIAN THOUGHT – PART 1 – RAMANUJA’S VISHISTHADVAITA VEDANTA APRITHAKSIDDHI : The central concept of VisishtAdvaita Philosophy is that Brahman alone is organically related to the soul (chit) and matter (achit) and is the ultimate reality. Chit and Achit are absolutely different and yet inseparable from Brahman. Though these two entities draw their very existence from Brahman. Brahman is independent of them just as the soul is independent from the body but remains the inner controller of both chit and achit. This relationship of inseparability is called Aprithaksiddhi. Empirically we find that a substance and an attribute though different yet are related to each other inseparably. Take for example a blue jar. The jar is different from the colour blue but both are referred to in the judgment, “This is a blue jar”. Perception reveals them to be identical but yet they cannot be identical, for jar is certainly different from the blue colour and not all jars are blue nor...

  There is conflict inner and outer when the world presents a challenge to an individual and demands a response. The mind in order to deal with an ever changing world imposes a certain pattern on it based on past experiences and which has a means – end structure. This gives direction to all human actions which are teleological i.e. they are always goal directed. How exactly does such a process arise? Three distinct processes can be discerned but these should not be seen in a chronological but in a functional sense: a)       Means – End Structure First there is sensation, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Memory records it and mind projects a future state where that same sensation can be either repeated or avoided. Thought arises parasitic on memory and allows the perpetuation or the continuity of the past. This is the beginning of psychological time – a past state seeking continuity in the future and conditioning response in the present. Thus JK says tha...