Saturday, November 27, 2010

The mystery sparkle called human Reason: Part-B

Is Reason man’s mystery inner organ for sensing existential order?


The Source of gaining knowledge for man, it seems, have two distinctly different modes, or man lives his life with two distinctly different ‘reality making internal organs’. The primary among these two is his usual MIND, predominantly ‘the other oriented’, or the ‘world oriented’ organ. It is there to ensure momentum during his tenure of life. It is a means, not an end in itself. 

The function of the other seems exclusively to give man insight into the metaphysical aspects of life&existence. 

There is a precondition for Mind’s realities. Something gains the status of reality only when it is shared with others. In other words, mind’s realities are ‘external’ oriented. It first converts its unit of knowledge into ‘objects’. Known sense organs seems exclusively schemed to aid this external life. 

The other mode of knowledge does not belong to above referred category. It is, as said above once, exists exclusively to provide metaphysical knowledge to man, about him and existence.  Man sometimes calls inputs from this source ‘intuition’, but this mode of gaining knowledge deserves much more elaborate inquiry as there is no known theory as to what is intuition. It is not depended on subject-object modality as in the case of mind. This mode seems always remain linked,or united with its source of all knowledge, like a newborn baby remains linked with its mother, in entity and spirit.   

Perhaps it is similar to the tie between romantic LOVERS. At moments of extreme bliss in love, the separation vanishes for the love partners. Minds gets more richer from this source of knowledge than from the sense provided knowledge, hence science has to admit this source also as authentic, additional source of gaining knowledge for man. It is the  source of emotion for gaining knowledge.No one can deny that man's knowledge horizons gets more expanded  through this source than the sense centered knowledge.

Like man’s different external sense organs, it is logically possible to assume that he might be possessing more than one inner sense organs also,destined to give him different dimensions of reality, but of course, yet not identified by science.

Man’s so called ‘faculty’ of Reason is the most less understood by science . It is, in fact, a ‘sensor’ of the mysterious ‘order’ in existence, a mystery ‘sparkle’ within him.
It is probably the one aspect that links man with the mystery of his origin! Even a common man is usually capable of distinguishing between discords, and a properly played music. Even animals and plants said to enjoy melodies. Irrespective of age, race or gender, man admires art and beauty. His heart burns at injustice. Sense of beauty, morals, concepts of freedom and equality also have born from man’s inner depths. All these are plain manifestations of the said one and only seat of this mystery ‘order’ in man, his Reason. It is often felt like a distinct inner sense organ. This organ is what, it seems, gets activated during meditations, and when artists, writers and gifted speakers are at their creative best. 

Unlike mind, it seems to possess a spiritual predilection also. When activated, it instinctively carries man into a certain preset direction.  Hence every spiritual seeker travels in the same pattern and reach similar destinations of inner knowledge. This is very similar to such directives attached to man’s physical organs. Nose instinctively helps us to select what is edible and what is not. Similarly skin has a directive to judge as to how much heat or cold is bearable to its range. These senses, thus, have a built in physical directive to lead us its bio-centered destinations.     

Science may not be able to explain the landing or the existence of this mystery sparkle in man when they go deep into its such not yet fully realized functions and dimensions. How can such a ‘seat of order’ ever be a product of physical matter?

In the early tribal days of man’s history, man possessed only a single collective mind, a herd mind, for the entire community, like that of animal herds, as many psychologists now agree.  Later on, when the concept of individuality gained centrality in human thought, especially during the reign of Roman Empire, it seems man entered the stage of independent mind. Socio-political institutions suddenly emerged around this theme to cement this new organ. Even modern science and economics seems derived from this centrality of mind concept. Nothing was considered truth beyond what could be grasped by the newly defined mind of independent man, and of course, able to be shared with others.  Capitalism was its natural economic outcome with its stress on the freedom of entrepreneurs. Man become a captive of his mind organ from then on. It has become more a veil that blocks, than a lamp that illuminates. He wanted every knowledge to be brought down to its range and reach, to be accepted as part of reality.

Like a blind man gains extra range and reach for his other organs (like ears and nose) mind alone has thus strengthened over the other hidden inner organs referred in the beginning! Time and space seem to be categories attached to mind organ to present him with specialized realities as first observed by the great philosopher Kant. It is not realities in ‘itself’ that man grasps, but only its subjective pictures that mind make. The other part of reality beyond mind’s range and reach got abandoned by science as mere subjective imagination and superstition. But the existence of possible other inner organs for understanding such extra-sensory realities is yet to grab science’s attention. 

Like the newborn baby’s entity and spirit remain united with its mother without separation, it seems man’s spirit too remain united with the ultimate source of existence-call it God or Nature- at the level of this mystery inner organ. Every man also remains united with every other man, as one entity, at this level of existence.

Both Science and religions were the outcome of the same spirit of inquiry of man. But unfortunately both the pursuits stand stuck at their own sets of dogmas in between, without reaching respective destinations. Both the groups have to abandon their dogmatic positions about the nature of reality, by keeping the flame of inquiry ever open. The mystery sparkle called Reason definitely deserves much more probing into its nature and working. Science’s bundle of knowledge is not at all ‘objective’ in its true meaning but better understood as the collective subjectivity of mankind.

By Abraham J.Palakudy
He is an independent seeker&researcher into fields like Mind&Reason, self&world, Spirituality, metaphysics, and finally different forms of Polity
contact him: ajoseph1@rediffmail.com
Twitter: Voice of philosophy@jopan1
 His profile and other blogs: https://www.blogger.com/profile/14249415589712707293

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