If life is a journey, and Yoga is a map, what is the point of departure?
That is Samkhya.
An inquiry into change requires an inquiry into what changes.
A recognition of what changes leads to a recognition of that which does not change.
Who am I? What is I? Who is asking?
… all that and more is is Samkhya.
Sāṃkhya is one of the ancient philosophical systems of India. It is the metaphysical foundation for arts like Yoga (a science of the mind) & Ayurveda (a science of the body). The Sāṃkhya Kārikā text presents Sāṃkhya as a collection of 25 principles. This is a journey through the text.
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COMPLETED
October 6th, 2021
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Verse
31
May 15th
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It is a response to the inevitable human experience of suffering.
An inquiry that discerns between the Manifest, Unmanifest & Knower.
By looking closely at my lived experience of causality.
Since causality emerges from cognition, I need to discern between right and wrong cognition.
Perception, inference and valid testimony.
Through inference and valid testimony.
Yes, if I am aware of their limitations.
Relying on causality, I Infer it from its effects.
I look around (with right cognition) and find evidence of it all around me.
The Manifest is that which is caused & transient and the Unmanifest is the opposite.
The Knower (Spirit) is without the three Gunas and is opposite & similar to the Manifest and Unmanifest.
They are the essential underlying qualities of the Manifest.
Together, the three encompass my entire lived experience.
Yes, because it has already been established that the effect (Manifest) exists in its cause (Unmanifest).
There must be something that causes the Manifest.
Diversity comes from different combinations of the three Gunas.
There is one Knower, but many Spirits.
Nothing. Spirit is an isolated and inactive witness.
Conscious choice is an illusion that arises from a co-presence of Spirit and Nature.
Mahat, a discerning intelligence.
It is mental effort that is affected by the dominant Guna.
Ahamkara – a center from which a notion of self arises.
Eleven special objects arise when Sattva is dominant and five special objects arise when Tamas is dominant.
Ten of the eleven are objects-of-sense.
The eleventh special object is mind – Manas.
Five of them perceive specific kinds of objects and five are active.
Mind functions alongside Discerning Intelligence and the I-Principle.
Cognition occurs when the three internal organs interact with the objects of sense.