Cognition
- As Explained In the Ancient Indian Psychology
The
mental processes which includes attention, concentration, memory, judgment,
evaluation, reasoning, computation, problem solving, decision making,
comprehension, production of language is termed as cognition
Samkhya school
According
to Sāṅkhya account, cognition is a complex process. The senses cognize their
relevant objects through the physical organs. These senses also act as the objects
of cognition of the psyche, which is comprised of mind (manas), intellect (buddhi),
and ego (ahaṁkāra). The mind internally constructs a representation of objects
of the external world with the information it receives trough the senses. The
ego contributes to the creation of personal perspective of these objects in
turn leading a limited knowledge and the intellect contributes understanding of
the object at a higher level which leads
to the extension of the knowledge gained. The puruṣa of the individual self adds
consciousness to the result even though it is a mere witness of the
intellectual processes.
Cognition according to Pathanjali Yoga
sutra
According
to Patanjali's epistemology, cognition is possible only because citta (the direct perception of an object or
person, a thought or a memory, a feeling, even a dream) is coloured by
both the object and the mind itself. Our senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste
and touch are consistently bombarded by the sensory stimulus from the external
world. As the trividhaà mind defines the object, so the object defines the
mind. It is the role of the Manas to register the objects of cognition and
control the response. It does this by drawing information from the memory bank
of karma which is stored in the mind. The model of Cognition in Sāṅkhya and
Yoga is almost similar except for the fact that Buddhi in Yoga is represented
by Consiousness or Chitta.
Patanjali
also states Samyam is the process that can help in attaining the highest levels
of cognition. Samyam involves the combined simultaneous practice of Dharaṇa
(concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samādhi (union). The practice of
Dharana, and Dhyana helps in consistent systematic internal analysis of the
qualities of the material both tangent and subtle which leads to the
acquisition of deeper knowledge about the qualities of the object which
includes cognizing the real nature of the object, the individual outlook and
judgment related to the same, the specificity and the generality, and the functions
of the objects from multiple dimensions
Samyama
helps in gaining mastery over the sense organs and on their power of cognition.
When a person attains mastery of his sense organs, the indriyas he is able to
perceive anything within the domain of Prakriti without the help of any methodical
consciousness. In this stage the person can cognize without the aid of
instruments in perceiving anything in the manifested Universe. This perception
which is non-instrumental is direct and instantaneous.
Practice of samyama can help in attaining instantaneous
cognition can be attained without the use of any intermediaries. Complete
mastery over the original roots of the nature or the creative principles of the
nature can also be understood by performing samyama.
Vedanta school
According to Advaita Vedanta
the defining characteristic of cognition
is the directness of knowledge acquired through perception. Vedanta
cites pleasure and pain as instances of perception that are directly understood
without any sense object contact. Advaita terms perception as immediate of consciousness. It
is the knowledge which is not mediated by any instrument. The process of cognition has two phases
according to Vedānta Paribhāṣāv
and it formulates two criterian (Prayojaka), corresponding to the two phases of the process.
The two phases are
1. The determination of the perceptual character of cognition
(Jiinnapratyaksatva)
2. The determination of the perceptual character of the object (Visayapratyaksatva).
According to Advaita manas is a part of a complex,
unified inner-organ which is termed antahkarana, which literally means
the 'inner vehicle.' Adavita sometimes uses Manas and antahkarana interchangeably.
The connection of the senses to an object
results in perception. This perception when
it is similar to the same object that appears in the cognition
(tat) is the true (sat)
cognition. The perception is the knowledge, which one obtains through
his senses. In the case of continuous cognition there is no break
in knowledge but so long as
there is the cognition of a product, the mental state that assumes the form of the product is just one and not multiple, because
a mental state is stated to
last till another
state opposed to it arises.
The subject acquires perceptual knowledge through the inner organ or
instrument which is Antahkarana. The different aspects
or functions of antahkarana are the buddhi(intellect), ahamkara(I notion), citta (memory). Advaita states
that the antahkarana 'goes out' through the
respective sense-organs, penetrates the object on which attention
is focused. This deep penetration modifies the status related to the form of the object.
This transformation or modification
of the antahkarana is technically termed vrtti, meaning the wave of thought or
mental state. The 'transformation' or
modification of the manas (antahkarana vrtti) is the comprehending mental mode, which results in known the object.
Nyaya School
Nyaya
schools approach to cognition is that cognition can have several sources. The
classified theses sources follows:
1. Laukika:
Luakika is the ordinary cognition as attained through the perception of the
sensory inputs through sense organs and the mental perception which happens
through the mind.
2. Aluakika
or extra ordinary involves
a. Samanyalakçana Cognition attained through Generalization based
on the perception of a particular object
b. Jïänalakçana:
this is the cognition that happens through a sense organ which perceives the
quality on an object that is not attributable to it just like sensing the taste
from the image of a food.
c. Yogaja:
The cognition which happens in people
who acquire supernatural abilities, by practicing yoga, which helps them to perceive past, present and future )
A
perceptual cognition arises by the connection between sensory abilities and
object. This cognition is not dependent on words. Moreover it is non deviating,
and clearly defined
Nyaya
School explains the six kinds of connection or sannikarṣa to describe the fact
that whenever the sense organs come into contact with the object we not only perceive
the physical material, but also the properties that are present, the
proportionality in which these properties are present and the properties that
are absent which ultimately results in the comprehensive cognition. The six
kinds of connections described are
1. Samyoga:
Conjunction or , the connection between a sense organs and an object
2. Saṁyukta-Samavāya
The inherent properties runs alongside, the connection between the sense organs
and the property features which are
existing in the object
3. Saṁyukta-
Samaveta-Samavāya: The qualities of the matter in relative proportion which is
inhered from the properties of the object that runs alongside the sense –
object connection. This connection between a sense organs and the universal qualities
of the object, happens as or by an instance
in a property-trope or the things which are characterized as a kind of being abstract
particular or particular property.
4. Samavāya:
is the kind of connection which makes auditory perception possible based on the
Inherence or the qualities of matter,
5. Samaveta-Samavāya:
is Inherence of what exists essentially or permanently, in the connection
between the auditory function and universal qualities which exists within
sounds leads to the comprehensive cognition of the auditory stimuli.
6. Viśeṣya-Viśeṣaṇa-Bhāva:
the Qualifier-qualified connection which allows for the perception of the
presence of the qualities in relative proportion and absence the same in
objects. In all cases, the perceptual cognition is born of connection between a
sense and an occurring element or object.
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