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Page 1 of 21906 · PDF PAGE 256
250 SCIENCE AND BUDDHISM Vil. THE RELATIVE REALITY OF CERTAIN STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Whether we adopt Herbert Spencer’s dictum that the primary testimony of con- sciousness is to the existence of externality, or no ;! whether or no we fly to the extreme idealistic position ; there is no question that, to our normal consciousness, things as they present themselves — apart from obvious illusion, if even we dare to except this—-are undisprovable to the immediate apprehen- sion. Whatever our reason may tell us, we act precisely as though Berkeley…
1906 · PDF PAGE 284
…Adyst. I wish your poet-martyr! (I do not refer to Chatterton) could hear us. Scept. To return, I would have you note the paradox that unconsciousness must be reckoned as a-form of consciousness, since otherwise the last state of consciousness of a dying person is for him eternity. That this is not so is-shown by the phenomena of anzesthesia. Myst. Is it, though? Is the analogy so certain? Is there nothing in the attempt of all religions to secure that a man’s last thoughts should be of triumph, peace, joy, and their like ? Scept. I have been r…
1906 · PDF PAGE 214
208 THE SWORD OF SONG thing called consciousness exists.”’ He denies the assertion of duality; he has no datum to assert the denial of duality. I have. Consciousness, as we know it, has one essen- tial quality: the opposition of subject and object. Reason has attacked this and secured that complete and barren victory of convincing without producing conviction.* It has one quality apparently not essential, that of ex- ceeding impermanence. If we. examine what we call steady thought, we shall find that its rate of change is in reality inconceivab…
1906 · PDF PAGE 283
…rsue our methods. Why doubt that they attained our results ? Scept. I never did doubt it. our philosophers have even imagined that ‘self-consciousness,”’ as they style it, is the very purpose of the Universe. Myst. They were so enamoured of the Ananda—the bliss Scept. Presumably. Far be it from me to set myself up against them; but I may more modestly take the position that ‘‘self- consciousness” is a mere phenomenon; a bye-product, and no more, in the laboratory of life. Afyst. Alas: I can think no better of you for your modesty : whoso would …
1906 · PDF PAGE 265
…nowledge be dangerous in unsuspected ways, what of bacteriology? I have obtained one result; a result striking “at the very condition of consciousness; which I may formulate as follows: ‘‘Tf a single state of consciousness persist unchanged for a period exceeding a very few seconds, its duality is annihilated ; its nature is violently overthrown ; this phenomenon is accompanied by an indescribable sensation of bliss.” Very well! but I want this formula verified a hundred times, a thousand times, by in- dependent investigators. I want it better …
1906 · PDF PAGE 176
170 THE SWORD OF SONG Recapitulation of principal cos- mic theories.. Bard check- mates himself. Consciousness and Christi- anity. , Dhyana and Hinduism. Sammasa- madhi and Buddhism. — You know for me the soul is nought “6 Save a mere phantom in the thought, That thought itself impermanent, Save as a casual element With such another may combine To form now water and now wine ; The element itself may be Changeless to all eternity, But compounds ever fluctuate With time or space or various state. (Ask chemists else!) So I must claim Spirit and ma…
1906 · PDF PAGE 177
PENTECOST I71 270 275 280 285 295 300 305 Such view our normal consciousness ! Tells us. VII quote you now if you list From Tennyson. It isn’t much; (Skip this and ’twill be even less) He says: “I am not what I see,§ And other than the things I touch.”* How lucid is our Alfred T. ! The Hindu, an Advaitist, Crosses off Maya from the list ; Believes in one—exactly so, Dhyana-consciousness, you know ! May it not be that one step further *?Tis lotused Buddha roaring murther !” ?” Nibbana is the state above you Christians and them Hindus—Lord love y…
1906 · PDF PAGE 254
248 SCIENCE AND BUDDHISM consciousness to consciousness by its eternity, while it fixes a great gulf between them by its changelessness. He states the knowable, states it accurately, and leaves it there. But there is a practical application of this analysis which I will treat of later. (See VIII. Maha- satipa¢¢hana.) We are told that the memory is a proof of some real “J.” But how treacherous is this ground! Did a past event in my life not happen because I have forgotten it? O the analogy of the river water given above is most valid! I who writ…
1906 · PDF PAGE 282
…o assert either that Subject or Object disappears in Dhyana to the advantage of the other. Scept. But at least this glorification of the consciousness is a proof that reality (as shown in Dhyana) is more glorious than illusion (as shown in consciousness). Myst. Or, that illusion Scept. Of course! We are then no further than before. Myst. Indeed we are. Glory, real or false, is desirable. ing ‘‘real or false,” by virtue of our previous agreement that the Subjective is the Know- able, and that deeper inquiry is foredoomed futile. Scept. Unless, a…
1906 · PDF PAGE 199
…lsters up by Stating that whoso should pretend to doubt it, would thereby but confirm it. Yet might it not be said ‘‘ (Something called) Consciousness appears to itself to exist,” since Consciousness is itself the only witness to that confirmation? Not that even now we can deny some kind of existence to consciousness, but that it should be a more real existence than ‘that of a reflec- tion is doubtful, incredible, even inconceivable. If by consciousness we mean the normal con- sciousness, it is definitely untrue, since the N
1906 · PDF PAGE 260
… in saying that the idealists are bewildered by their own terminology; the fact is that idealist conclusions Are pre- sented directly to consciousness, when that consciousness is Dhyanic. (Cf. Section XI.) Nothing is clearer to my mind than that the great difficulty habitually experienced by the normal mind in the assimilation of meta- physics is due to the actual lack of experi- ence in the mind of the reader of the phenomena discussed. I will go so far as to say that perhaps Mr. Spencer himself is so bitter because he himself has actual ex- p…
1906 · PDF PAGE 251
…t, but an essential constituent of the Cosmic Process.’’ And in the same essay, though he is disposed to deny more than the rudiments of consciousness to the lower forms of life, he is quite clear that pain varies directly (to put it loosely) with the degree of consciousness. Cf. also ‘* Animal Automatism,” pp. 236-237. (2) SorRow’s CauseE.—The cause of sorrow is desire. I take desire here to include such a phenomenon as the tendency of two molecules of hydrogen and chlorine to combine under certain conditions. If death be painful to me, it is …
1906 · PDF PAGE 253
…rahm. They then distinguish between Jivatma, the soul-conditioned; and Paramatma, the soul free; the former being the base of our normal consciousness; the latter of the Nirvikalpa-Samadhi conscious- 1 ‘The Buddhist position may be interpreted as agnostic in this matter, these arguments being directed against, and destructive of, the unwarranted assumptions of the Hindus; but no more. See Sabbasava Sutta, ro. ‘‘In him, thus unwisely considering, there springs up one or other of the six (absurd) notions. ‘**As something real and true he gets the…
1906 · PDF PAGE 217
…on x.°’— Vide supra, ‘* Ascension Day.” 710, Steel-tired °8— For Dunlop people did not know Those nineteen hundred years ago. 723. Super-consciousness.°°—The Christians also claim anecstasy. But they all admit, and indeed boast, that it is the result of long periods of worry and anxiety about the safety of their precious souls: therefore their ecstasy is clearly a diseased process. The Yogic ecstasy requires absolute calm and health of mindand body. It is useless and dangerous under other conditions even to begin the most elementary practices. …
1906 · PDF PAGE 200
194 THE SWORD OF SONG Dhyanic consciousness includes it and denies it. No doubt ‘‘something called” acts as a kind of caveat to the would-be sceptic, though the phrase is bad, implying a ‘‘ calling.” But we can guess what Huxley means, No doubt Buddha's scepticism does not openly go quite as far as mine—it must be remembered that ‘‘scepticism” is merely the indication of a possible attitude, not a belief, as so many good fool folk think; but Buddha not only denies ‘‘ Cogito, ergo sum"’ ; but ‘‘ Cogito, ergo nonsum.” See Sadsasava Sutta, par. 10…
1906 · PDF PAGE 182
…hristian snig- gers. Let him beware, For I speak subtly. Resultsof prac- tice. ‘The poet abandons all to find ‘Truth. Known as I know my consciousness, That all division’s hosts confess A master, for I know and see The absolute identity Of the beholder and the vision. How easy to excite derision In the man’s mind! Why, fool, I think { am as clever as yourself, At least as skilled to wake the elf Of jest and mockery in a wink. I can dismiss with sneers as cheap As yours this fabric of my own, One banner of my mind o’erthrown Just at my will. How…
1906 · PDF PAGE 188
… our Saviour’s word) That all the Saints at Pentecost Received the gift—the Holy Ghost ; Such gift implying, as I guess, This very super-consciousness.TM Miracles follow as a dower ; But ah! they used that fatal power And lost the Spirit in the act. ‘This may be fancy or a fact ; At least it squares with super-sense Or “spiritual experience.” You do not well to swell the list Of horrid things to me imputed By calling me “materialist.” At least this thought is better suited To Western minds than is embalmed Among the doctrines of Mohammed, The d…
1906 · PDF PAGE 184
…so foolish as to pray. “So much for this absurd affair ” About ” validity of prayer. But back! Let once again address Our minds to super-consciousness ! You weary me with proof enough That all this meditation stuff Is self-hypnosis. Be it so! Do you suppose I did not know? Still, to be accurate, I fear The symptoms are entirely strange. If I were hard, I’d make it clear That criticism must arrange 550 655 560 aN =I Co 580 A85 590
1906 · PDF PAGE 280
…; but you are perfectly right, and I do wrong to smile. Since we agree to abandon the mechanical device of the astronomer, all states of consciousness are single units, or time-marks, by which we measure intervals. That some, no longer than others, are more notable, just as the striking of a clock emphasises the hours, though the escapement maintains its rate, is the essential fact in counting. Myst. And what is the test of vividness? Scept. I should say the durability of the memory thereof. Tyst. No doubt ; it is then of importance to class th…
1906 · PDF PAGE 285
… whether sight and taste persist. And the answer is unhesitatingly ‘* No.” Afyst. Yet the mystic may still reply that the association of consciousness with matter is as incredible as the contrary conception. Cause and effect, he will say, are if anything less likely (@ prtorz) than concomitance or casuality. Even occasionalism is no more improbable than that the material should have a manifestly immaterial function. Scept, Yet it is so! Myst. Ah! would it serve to reply that it is so! Butno! the materialistic position, fully allowed, is an admi…