Having described the Elements both at the individual and macro level,Sankaracharya, now goes on to describe the qualities/attributes.
Ramana Maharishi
One can not separate the qualities or attributes of an object from the Object.
If for example, we strip of all the qualities of a Rose by which we identify a Rose, we are left with nothing to conceive of a Rose!
In Advaita, qualities are inherent in the objects and in Reality they are not separate from them .
And we are the Reality.
The Reality is reflected in us because of our ignorance,called Avidya, Nescience.
Once this ignorance is removed our original State dawns.
न मे द्वेषरागौ न मे लोभमोहौ
मदो नैव मे नैव मात्सर्यभावः ।
न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्षः
चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहम् शिवोऽहम् ॥३॥
Na Me Dvessa-Raagau Na Me Lobha-Mohau
Mado Naiva Me Naiva Maatsarya-Bhaavah |
Na Dharmo Na Ca-Artho Na Kaamo Na Mokssah
Cid-Aananda-Ruupah Shivo[a-A]ham Shivo[a-A]ham ||3||
Meaning:
3.1: Neither do I have Hatred, nor Attachment, Neither Greed nor Infatuation,
3.2: Neither do I have Passion, nor Feelings of Envy and Jealousy,
3.3 I am Not within the bounds of Dharma (Righteousness), Artha (Wealth), Kama (Desire) and Moksha (Liberation) (the four Purusarthas of life),
3.4: I am the Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness; I am Shiva, I am Shiva,
The Ever Pure Blissful Consciousness.
On can not reduce everything to chemicals and numbers.
However note the point that they have found a zone which exists that perceives and records individual with reference to Space.
But nobody has defined Space, they have described it.
Consciousness is beyond Mind. Activity of the Brain is Mind.,which is like a CPU, for storing information. Higher level is Intellect which sorts out, discriminates and adds judgements ,Right or Wrong. Still higher level is Chitta which directs the intellect, which is determined by Dispositions that are inborn.
Note that in all these activities and whatever we do, including what I write now, I am aware and observing what I am doing. This awareness at all levels of activity, whether physical or mental is beyond these states. Also we are aware of dreams in Dreams and in some cases we recollect. In these experiences we observe and participate as well Consciousness is a part Human activity in all human behavior ,yet beyond it.
Story:
A new study uses creative engineering to unravel brain mechanisms associated with one of the most fundamental subjective human feelings: self-consciousness. The research, published in the April 28 issue of the journal Neuron, identifies a brain region called the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) as being critical for the feeling of being an entity localized at a particular position in space and for perceiving the world from this position and perspective….
“Our results illustrate the power of merging technologies from engineering with those of neuroimaging and cognitive science for the understanding of the nature of one of the greatest mysteries of the human mind: self-consciousness and its neural mechanisms,” concludes Dr. Blanke. “Our findings on experimentally and pathologically induced altered states of self-consciousness present a powerful new research technology and reveal that TPJ activity reflects one of the most fundamental subjective feelings of humans: the feeling that ‘I’ am an entity that is localized at a position in space and that ‘I’ perceive the world from here.”
Psychology and neuroscience have made major progress in explaining many kinds of thinking such as problem solving, learning, and language use. But many people still have the intuition that, no matter how far cognitive science progresses, it will still be unable to deal with the mystery of consciousness. On this view, we all have a basic understanding of conscious experience from our own episodes of perception, sensation, emotion, and reflection. But there is an unbridgeable explanatory gap that prevents science from drawing consciousness within its scope.
The Physiological /Neurological explanation of consciousness is nothing more than that has been stated in philosophy, adding strength to the ditctum’The more you seem to know the less you know’.
The problems cited in the article are the questions raised in Philosophy and answers have been attempted.
We have sense organs,eyes,ears,nose,tongue and skin.
We also have five organs of awareness(loose translation of Gnana,which really means Knowledge), namely the sense of seeing ( as distinct from eyes),hearing,smelling,tasting and touching.
We also have mind which is the activity of the brain,
Intellect which distinguishes between correct and the incorrect , between Right and Wrong.
We also have Chitta that guides Intellect.
Beyond is ‘ I’ or Ahankaara..
Self or Atman is the embodiment of Being, Chitt and Bliss.
The Universal Chit is present is present in every being and is reflected as individual Chit in the individual because we are conditioned by Space and Time.
Rene Descates calls it proof for the existence of the Self.
Spinoza calls is Substance, defining it as’ that which does not need the existence of anything or which does not need the conception of anything else in order to be conceived’
Mimasa of Indian Philosophy calls it the Karma or action reaction cycle and Kant as categorical Imperative.
Consciousness is an attribute of Reality;Reality is not conditioned by it.
The difference between Mind and Matter is one of degree not of kind.All things are made up of vibrations,lesser the vibrations grosser the object becomes; greater , it becomes subtle or mind.( Miamsa and Buddhism)
Story:
The young women had survived the car crash, after a fashion. In the five months since parts of her brain had been crushed, she could open her eyes but didn’t respond to sights, sounds or jabs. In the jargon of neurology, she was judged to be in a persistent vegetative state. In crueler everyday language, she was a vegetable.
So picture the astonishment of British and Belgian scientists as they scanned her brain using a kind of MRI that detects blood flow to active parts of the brain. When they recited sentences, the parts involved in language lit up. When they asked her to imagine visiting the rooms of her house, the parts involved in navigating space and recognizing places ramped up. And when they asked her to imagine playing tennis, the regions that trigger motion joined in. Indeed, her scans were barely different from those of healthy volunteers. The woman, it appears, had glimmerings of consciousness.
Try to comprehend what it is like to be that woman. Do you appreciate the words and caresses of your distraught family while racked with frustration at your inability to reassure them that they are getting through? Or do you drift in a haze, springing to life with a concrete thought when a voice prods you, only to slip back into blankness? If we could experience this existence, would we prefer it to death? And if these questions have answers, would they change our policies toward unresponsive patients–making the Terri Schiavo case look like child’s play?
The report of this unusual case last September was just the latest shock from a bracing new field, the science of consciousness. Questions once confined to theological speculations and late-night dorm-room bull sessions are now at the forefront of cognitive neuroscience. With some problems, a modicum of consensus has taken shape. With others, the puzzlement is so deep that they may never be resolved. Some of our deepest convictions about what it means to be human have been shaken.
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