Consciousness

Consciousness
IN MODERN SCIENCE AND JAIN PHILOSOPHY
The global relevance and implications of consciousness studies
By Nita Kapadia

ABSTRACT

Just the other day, my brother ambushed me during a normal conversation. He insisted that whatever I had learned in college, in the latter part of the 20th century, was obsolete! Was it? I do agree with the fact that scientists need to update knowledge more often in the 21st century, the era of knowledge. The pandemic has caused a major shift in the world, and we need to rethink our viewpoints, but the intellectual assault had so unnerved me, that I lost my equanimity.

Just then, by a happy coincidence, I read the email that called for this paper. It was just the thing. The research would help me understand whether consciousness studies were relevant. That included studies of both kinds-modern science and sacred science.

In Tattvajnana Dvatrimshika, Acarya Siddhasena Divakara, writes,

There are several extremely well written texts,
Free from internal contradictions and lacunae
Written by very sound scholars.
But biased, poorly read people reject them.
In fact they are not even willing to glance at them.
[[11]]

What fire can do, cannot be accomplished by water.
What deed can achieve, cannot be attained by thought alone.
Since dogmatic people read neither their own or others’ texts,
Why not develop a state of non-attachment to all texts?
( How can one be attached to that which is not known to one?)
One must therefore carefully consider the bias (or lack of it ) of one’s opponents.
[[12]]

Findings & Readings

What is consciousness? According to Jain Philosophy, consciousness ( chetanaa) is the defining characteristic of the soul (atma, or jiva). Whenever I hear the word ‘Jiva’, the first person that comes to my mind is Indrabhuti Gautam, the first, direct disciple of Lord mahavir. He wondered if a sentient being (jiva) existed?

Gandharvada | Shri Indrabhuti Gautam | Jivna Astitva Vishe Charcha | Discourse 1 - Part 1

So, let me first start with this first verse of Dravyasamgraha.

With my head I always bow down to the one who should be bowed down to by the multitude of gods, the one, the best among the excellent Jinas by whom the substances- sentient and non sentient-have been taught. [[1]]

It was lord Mahavir, who dispelled Indrabhuti Gautam’s doubts. So impressed was the latter by Lord Mahavir, that he immediately became his disciple

Lord Mahavir, who flourished almost 2,500 years ago, did not find a new religion but brought to the fore and developed the teachings which his preceding omniscient Tirthankars had already taught.So, Lord Mahavir was not the founder, but the propagator of Jaina religion which had been taught by Paarshva, and other omniscient teachers of this ever present and imperishable Jaina tradition.

I worship those Perfected beings (Siddhas)
Who have burnt their karmas in the fire of meditation
And having attained their own pristine, supremely flawless nature,
Relate this excellent work called ‘The Essence of the Reals’
Tattvasara [[1]]

Earlier preceptors have explained the reals in different ways
For the benefit of those who are capable of attaining liberation,
In order to keep dharma alive.
Tattvasara [[2]]

The reals may be categorised as
Own Real and Other Real.
The soul is Own Real.
The Five Supreme Beings (panca parameshti) are the Other Real.
Tattvasara [[3]]

Know that the supreme attribute of the soul
Is perception and knowledge, with innumerable divisions .
Despite being formless, the soul takes the form of the body it occupies.
Tattvasara [[17]]

Just because it cannot be imagined or described, do not doubt the existence of the self. It is not fictitious. It can be experienced by ascetics who have attained the insight.
Sadbodhcandrodaya. [[7]]

When the mind is still,
All wrong concepts are resolved and
The pristine, rational, unchangeable
Nature of the soul becomes constant.
Tattvasara [[7]]

The soul is composed of perception and consciousness.
The monk who reflects upon his soul attains supreme detachment
And the three flawless jewels
(Rational perception,knowledge and conduct).
Tattvasara [[44]]

The sentient ( substance) is characterized by the function of understanding, is incorporeal, performs actions, is co-extensive with its own body. It is the enjoyer, located in the world of rebirth (or) emancipated (and) has the intrinsic movement upwards. Dravyasamgraha [[2]]

From the conventional point of view the sentient (substance) is what possesses in the three times (past, present, future) the four principles of life: sense organs, strength, life-duration and inspiration-expiration. But from the absolute point of view it is that which has consciousness.
Dravyasamgraha [[3]]

The self has been described as the unblemished soul.
Free from anger, pride, deceit and greed.
Without desires that obstruct liberation, hues of the soul,
And free from birth, old age and death.
Tattvasara [[19]]

The unblemished soul has no shape or form.
It cannot be investigated or categorised on the basis of
Spiritual evolution ( gunasthana)
It has no special attainments or bondage or fruition of karmas.
Tattvasara [[20]]

I (the self) am pure consciousness.
Blemishless, without touch, taste, form,odour or sound.
So know me thus.
Tattvasara[[21]]

Soul cognises, or can cognise external objects by its cognitive power. It can cognise not only the external objects but also itself. So it is called self-revelatory-cum-other-revelatory ( svaparaprakaashak). All cognition, valid or invalid, always cognises itself, that is, it always reveals itself.

What does this mean? Take the example of a lamp. A lamp does not depend on any other thing to reveal itself. It is itself the nature of light. This is the only reason why it reveals the external objects. Similarly, cognition reveals external objects, only because it reveals itself. That which itself is not of the nature of light , and does not reveal itself, can never reveal other things.

The function of understanding is of two kinds: vision and knowledge. Vision is fourfold. It should be known as eye vision, non eye-vision, clairvoyance and absolute vision.
Dravyasamgraha [[4]]

I am a Perfected Being,
Pure, with endless knowledge, and infinite other attributes.
I take on the shape of the body,
(But) I am eternal, formless,
And have innumerable divisions.
Tattvasara [[28]]

Knowledge is of eight kinds: perception, scriptural and clairvoyance, as knowledge and non knowledge, mind-reading and also Perfect knowledge. Knowledge is divided into direct and nondirect.
Dravyasamgraha. [[5]]

The general characteristic of the sentient (substance ) has been told to be the eight (types of ) knowledge and the four (types of ) vision from the conventional point of view. From the pure point of view, however, pure vision (and) knowledge are its characteristics.
Dravyasamgraha [[6]]

From the absolute viewpoint,
Each soul is free from rebirth and death
And alike in spatial structure, attributes and knowledge.
Tattvasara [[38]]

The soul, which is of the nature of pure knowledge, is free from all the qualities and attributes of external factors. The soul is mine. Apart from my own soul,no other entity can play a role in my liberation. This is the basic axiom of the path of liberation.
Sadbodhacandrodaya [[25]]

One who has strung the bow of intellect with the string of scriptural knowledge and targeted the human fallibility of being distracted by external objects is certain to win the war of self-awareness by destroying karmas-the enemy within.
Sadbodhacandrodaya [[31]]

Earth, water, fire, wind, plants, the various immovable beings have one sense organ. Movable sentient beings, such as the conch and others, have two, three, four or five sense organs.
Dravyasamgraha [[11]]

Five-sensed beings (beings) should be known as (either) with a mind (or) without a mind. All others are without a mind. One-sensed beings are gross ( or ) subtle. All (are either) mature or its opposite (i.e. immature).
Dravyasamgraha [[12]]

All objects in the world have general as well specific characteristics.
Not directing its attention to the specific characteristics of a thing, when consciousness directs its attention mainly to the general characteristics of the thing, the form that the consciousness assumes is called perceptual consciousness (darshana). When consciousness directs its attention mainly to the specific characteristics of the thing, the form that the consciousness assumes, is called knowledge ( jnaana). The transformation of pure consciousness into cognition is called ‘Upayoga’.

Almost all systems of Indian philosophy maintain that in the genesis of knowledge, at first there necessarily arises a type of cognition that reveals the bare existence of a thing, without any particular. On the other hand, all our worldly dealings depend on our specific cognition( jnaana).

Darshana is indeterminate cognition.It is a non-conceptual cognition and is free from thought. Jnaana is called determinate cognition, or conceptual cognition. It is a cognition that involves thought. Both of them originate through the instrumentality of sense organs and mind. In other words, both general cognition (Matijnaana) and specific verbal cognition (Shrutajnaana) are dependent on both, the sense organs and the mind.

The specific cognition of external characteristics like-color, taste, smell, etc. generated by sense organs in contact with the mind is a ‘Matijnaana’ of the form of empirical perception (saamvyavahaarika pratyaksha). The experience of the internal objects like pleasure, pain etc. had through mind alone is also a matijnaana of the form of empirical peerception. The former is sense-perception, which is generated by mind alone, is mental-perception. Thus one division is empirical perception.

The other division of Matijnaana is indirect knowledge. This knowledge is not perceptual, even empirically. Cogitation, thinking, memory, recognition, inference, anticipation, which originate through the instrumentality of the mind alone, are matijnaana of the form of indirect knowledge.

The scriptures recognise four types of intellect, that are also classified as matijnaana. They are-instantaneous intellect, the intellect born of humility, service and culture, intellect developed through skills in arts and crafts and the intellect that matures through age.

Shrutajnaana, is verbal knowledge generated through the instrumentality of words, signs or gestures. So, matijnaana, in the form of sense-perception is regarded as the cause of verbal knowledge. Matijnaana, does not require the aid of instruction for its origination, while shrutajnana does require it.

All beings, from the most subtle microbes to the five sensed, possess both, indeterminate cognition and determinate cognition.Through matijnaana and shrutajnaana can grasp all substances, but they cannot grasp all the modes of even one substance. The Jaina scriptures regard all forms of these two types of knowledge as indirect or non-perceptual (paroksha).

According to the Jaina scriptures, the transcendental perceptions are of three types. They originate without the aid of the sense organs and mind, on the basis of the capacity of the soul alone. They are extra sensory perceptions.

Clairvoyance is the direct cognition of physical substances alone, irrespective of temporal and spatial distance. The direct cognition of the modes of mind-substance is called Manahparyaayajnaana.

Beings of all the four classes, (celestial beings, human beings, animals and beings in hell) can have clairvoyance( avadhijnaana), but only human beings who totally abstain from violence etc. have the purity of mind to directly cognize the mind substance of other human beings.
Omniscience (kevaljnaana) directly cognises all the substances and their modes.

So, we now have a fair idea of consciousness, as in Jaina Ontology. Since we, humans, are five sensed beings with a rational mind, it is easiest to understand other five sensed creatures with a mind. We humans are the only beings with a ‘rational’ mind.

For each and every one of us, there are clearly two worlds with which we have contact. They are the human world and the animal world. The animals have contributed greatly to the progress and comforts of us humans. We owe them a lot. We have received a lot of benefits from the animals, so the least we can do, is to be kind to them.

I have added a few videos that show how animals are not very different from us.

What animals are thinking and feeling, and why it should matter | Carl Safina | TEDxMidAtlantic

Why You Should Pay Attention To Your Backyard Birds | Scott Taylor | TEDxBoulder

What Do Animals Think And Feel?

Top 10 Most Intelligent Animals

Animal Saves Others Animals | Try To Not Emotional Challenge 2017

Самый добрый ролик на Земл

Let me now, share with you the views of an expert, someone who has spent long hours working in the field. He is Anish Andheria, President, World Conservation Trust.
Dr.Andheria, is a natural communicator and is one of India’s leading motivational speakers. He has introduced thousands of people to the joys of nature and the rationale for nature conservation.
He is a large carnivore biologist with field expertise in predator-prey relationships.He is also a wildlife photographer of no small repute.
When I read about him on the website, I identified him as someone who lived by these words of St.Augustine. “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage; Anger at the way things are and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”
Q.1) What according to you is consciousness?
Ans: Consciousness according to me is divided in two parts.
The ability to understand and feel the surroundings through various bodily senses, either using a combination of senses, or just one of the available senses.
The ability to interact with the surroundings using the knowledge acquired through the analysis of information collected.

Q.2) From your experiences till now, what have you realised about animal consciousness?

Ans: We are animals too, so as humans, our understanding of the animal world including ourselves though pretty extensive, is limited by the biases and the tools we use to understand behaviors and actions outside of us humans. The fact that a species is alive on this planet, despite the pressure that humans have put on its natural resources and environment, speaks volumes about its ability to adjust to the rapidly changing times. This would not have been possible without that species' ability to understand these changes and consciously try to counter it or adjust to it. The DNA provides the inertia to not change, while the consciousness of that species/individual tries to counter that inertia as it constantly adjusts to its surroundings. We as humans are more capable of analysing species that are similar to us (eg. chimpanzees, gorillas etc.), however our understanding of even the 'so called' simple organisms (eg. viruses and other pathogens) is limited. So my analysis of animals is also governed by my interest in them and the fact that I am a human.

Like us, animals are opportunistic. However, unlike us, they don't have the tendency to hoard more than they need (except those species that have to survive extreme weather conditions eg. squirrels, woodpeckers, bears, pikas that live in extremely cold conditions). As a result most species live in the present and carry out bodily functions based on their mental and hormonal conditions on that day. They feel pain, happiness, anger, jealousy, etc. proportional to what it takes to survive the present and probably the near future (again, let us remember that we have coined these ‘expressions’ based on our own understanding, cognition and vocabulary, and this in itself is limiting when it comes to analysing other species). They are driven by the urge to reproduce and pass on their genes into the next generation and don't seem to be viewing sexual acts as a means of relaxation or recreation. There are exceptions to this when it comes to certain species who have a far more human-like brain - dolphins, bonobos, etc. I feel the brain is not the only factor that governs consciousness. It is one of the many factors that influence consciousness. Plants, fungus and pathogens are able to function more efficiently than us humans if we consider the sheer numbers and forms in which they are found. Studies have shown that the trees across several kilometers are connected with each other through the soil, through the mycorrhiza in their roots and through the breeze that blows across the forest.

To summarise, depending on the niche a species occupies, and the complexity of the body it possesses, it is equipped to use tools that are uniquely, its own to make conscious decisions about its day-to-day activities and reactions to members of its own species and/or to members of other species it shares its space with.The fact that so many millions of species have been on this planet much longer than us humans, is proof enough that they know what they are doing. I have no doubt in my mind that, while we humans are capable of outcompeting many extant species because of the technological tools that we use, countless species will easily outlive us.

3) Do you have any advice based on your idea of animal consciousness?

We must respect every species that coexists with us and learn from its ways. We must unlearn our anthropogenic ways, which are largely focused at achieving control over our environment through limitless generation of wealth. I am a strong believer of the fact, that anything we use, that was not originally present in nature will destabilise this planet's life-giving fabric. We should go back to the basics to reshape our strategy of survival on our planet. Biological fitness is nature's way of constantly removing weakness from its system. We need to move away from our short-sighted system of 'financial fitness' towards the one that uses 'biological fitness' as the propeller of life on Earth - the system that other species have so successfully employed for time immemorial. What has worked for them will certainly work for us. We need to allow nature to communicate to us rather than trying to unravel it's secrets.

Conclusion

Let me start with Dr.Anish Andheria’s advice.

He says that we need to allow nature to communicate with us.
So what is nature’s message?

UN chief on World Environment Day 2020

It is important for us to spell out our heinous crimes against nature, without which we will not survive( nature,not heinous crimes). Purva Variyar, describes them in detail in a blogpost on https://www.wildlifeconservationtrust.org/rise-in-wildlife-crime-pandemics-inten... The title is, Rise in Wildlife Crime: Pandemic’s Intensifying Collateral Damage.

So, now there is no doubt that we are not the victims, but the perpetrators of horrific crimes against nature-the very nature that sustains us.

So, do we really want to make reparations? How do we proceed? How would consciousness studies help us, if at all?

I personally feel that consciousness studies lets us take the first step in the right direction. Being aware of who we are, and being aware of the animals who are in contact with us, can help us take the right path, because, microcosm, is the part that reflects the whole-macrocosm, and vice versa. This theory was conceptualised by Pythagorus who saw the cosmos and the body as a harmonious unity. Microcosm-macrocosm is also a key element to systems theory.e.g. The DNA of every creature is contained in every cell, which in turn can be used to determine the genetic makeup of the whole being. This concept is used in cybernetics.

From Jain philosophy, we learn that every being, from the amoeba to humans, have both indeterminate and determinate cognition. Both of these need the sensory organs and the mind, so however rudimentary the mind in a one-sensed creature, the mind with its function of understanding exists. The degree may be different.

No soul, or sentient being, in whatever stage of evolution, can be totally bereft of perceptual and verbal cognitions. In plants, they are present only to the smallest degree. The presence of feelings and sensations in the plants is a scientifically proven fact.

Now let us hear ‘What It Really Means To Be A Sentient Being’.Bruce Lipton and Gregg Bradon, scientifically and philosophically, deconstruct sentience.
So, whenever I get a tweet from NASA, showing the Rover on Mars, I will shake my head, and say to myself, “I am the Earth Rover.” I love Bruce Lipton for this imagery!

What It Really Means To Be A Sentient Being... Gregg Braden & Bruce Lipton

So, they empower us by helping us to overcome our fear. We know that fear can cause animals and humans to attack those who they imagine to be dangerous to them. Bruce Lipton and Gregg remind us of our unique quality and the way we can manifest it.
Gregg Braden believes that both science and mysticism describe a force that connects everything together and gives us the power to influence how matter behaves-and reality itself,simply through the way we perceive the world around us.

According to Gregg Braden, when the facts are clear, the choices become obvious. We are never the victims of our past, unless we choose to be defined by our past.

So, when the world seems to be falling apart, and the sky seems to be falling on your head, remember St.Augustine’s words. “ The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it lose; it will defend itself.”

REFERENCES

1] Tattvajnaana Dvatrimshika by Acarya Siddhasena Divakar. English translation by Manish Modi.
2] Dravyasamgraha by Acarya Nemicandra. English translation by Nalini Balbir.
3] Tattvasara by Acarya Devasena. English translation by Manish Modi.
4] Sadbodhacandrodaya by Acarya Padmanandi. English translation by Manish Modi.





























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https://youtu.be/nPXl2gDKsfY
https://youtu.be/nPXl2gDKsfY