It is possible to discover God purely through the power of intellect. The philosophers of the theistic Samkhya studied the evolutive nature of prakrti but, more importantly, recognized its limitations. In this manner, they worked their way upwards towards spiritual personality.
One fatal mistake that seems to be all-pervading in the scholars' analyses of the Samkhya #philosophy is many of them seem to have succumbed to the erroneous view that the purusa (spiritual personality) is totally devoid of karma. This could also have been the view of some
of the original exponents of this school. This is a mistake of epic proportions and practically strips the purusa of any operative powers reducing him to some substance-like pure entity, albeit of a conscious nature. However, purusa is not a substance-like non-operative entity
at all. Purusa is pure personality, an ontological category that indeed initiates and drives all action and operation in the world. How can in the enlightened state purusa become "handicapped" when in the ignorant state he enjoys full powers of operation? This is a fatal mistake.
What (most of) the authors of the Sutras and the Samkhya expositions really meant was this:
The purusa does no karma in the manner of the constituents of the psycho-physical frame, the automaton, to which he is connected. The purusa is not a material entity to do "work" in the
The purusa does no karma in the manner of the constituents of the psycho-physical frame, the automaton, to which he is connected. The purusa is not a material entity to do "work" in the
manner of the material senses and organs (such as the neural entities) of the #microcosm. He is no neuron, he is not the brain. He is a spiritual personality removed from these (material) entities.
This only was the purport of the Samkhya teachings, its real meaning--one that
This only was the purport of the Samkhya teachings, its real meaning--one that
was unintentionally subverted by the scholars (modern and perhaps also the past) in their summarization and exposition of Samkhya theory.
Similarly love/pure devotion to God may not be something completely emotional or blind; it may also be the outcome of an epiphanic realization brought about solely through intellect--the culmination of a long & involved process of rational consideration & meditative contemplation
of some hard material
facts (such as ones pertaining to the nature of the body and so on and so forth). In fact, the "vedantic bhakti" contained in texts such as the #Bhagavata which consists in singing the glories of the immanent Lord may not be something anti-intellectual
facts (such as ones pertaining to the nature of the body and so on and so forth). In fact, the "vedantic bhakti" contained in texts such as the #Bhagavata which consists in singing the glories of the immanent Lord may not be something anti-intellectual
but may instead have, as the bedrock of its philosophy, a sound and thorough distinction between the tattvas. This kind of a devotion then would, in such (intellectual) light, represent the acme of the process of reasoning and making sound inferences championed by the Samkhya.
For, if our philosophy has a conscious personality at its core, then it must also accord due importance to feelings and conceptions such as compassion, empathy, joy and grace. After all, the consciousness of man is not the quiet whirring of a clock. It is alive and effervescent.
Therefore, if the conscious purusa is your core, then your philosophy must give full accommodation to these concepts. Consciousness is not bare thinking or merely the state of being alive (existing). It also means joy. Moreover, our human world also sways to aesthetic ideals.
Those may also be regarded as yet another facet of consciousness. Civilization progresses, nay is propelled by such motivations as the urge to secure equality and dignity and not just through calm, undisturbed consciousness. Therefore, the point is clear. A higher philosophy,
one that proposes to recognize consciousness in all its aspects, must give recognition and room to these (higher) conceptions. It is not anti-intellectual and contrary to logic. And this is precisely what the pure devotional philosophy of texts such as the #Bhagavata is all about
Here, the doing of pure devotion to God is an expression of the highest level of the intellectual, purusa-centred #philosophy. And this joyous experience is the highest aspect of #consciousness.
If we take the authors of the #Puranas such as the #Bhagavata as the intellectual heirs of the original Samkhya, then we will be looking at one unbroken intellectual tradition.
God and the doing of pure devotion to him, then, would be the culmination of a long intellectual journey, consisting broadly of the following stages:
1. Examining and understanding prakrti, its evolutive nature, character and limitations.
1. Examining and understanding prakrti, its evolutive nature, character and limitations.
2. Examining and understanding the conscious entity--the body of man and its various systems and organs. Understanding especially the nature of the neural entities and the brain. Are they of the same essential characteristics as the external (unconscious) matter?
Can the brain give rise to #consciousness ?
3. Purusa. Understanding the nature of pure personality, its interface with the brain and the body, the capabilities of purusa.
3. Purusa. Understanding the nature of pure personality, its interface with the brain and the body, the capabilities of purusa.
4. Relook at the programmed nature of the entities of the body such as the brain. Is their evolution (out of prakrti) possible in the absence of initiation and control by a (superior) conscious personality? Comparison with external world instances.
5. Supreme Purusa.
5. Supreme Purusa.
6. Reasons for purusa falling into prakrti. Motivations of the supreme purusa. Consideration of and full accommodation to the higher aspects of consciousness: compassion, grace, joy.
7. Devotion to the supreme purusa.
7. Devotion to the supreme purusa.
Of course, each of these stages are huge and could be divided into several sub-stages but this is only a general outline. The point is, God may be discovered solely through a (long and exhaustive) intellectual process without there being any need of any external revelation.
