I. Radhakrishnan's concept of "integral experience" or whole-person knowing is a valid form of epistemology.
II. Radhakrishnan's four domains of epistemology - ordinary senses, emotive intuition, rational intuition, and spiritual intuition - closely correspond to Patanjali's four categories of human personality.
III. These domains of knowing can be strengthened over time through compatible yogic practices, such as karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, and raja yoga.
4. The Process of Philosophy…
The Grand Lines of Philosophy…
and their Related Questions
University of Maryland
University College, Asia Division
J.K.K. Herndon, Assistant Professor
6. In a Nutshell…
I. Whole-Person Knowing – what Radhakrishnan calls
integral experience – is a legitimate form of epistemology.
II. These realms of knowing categorized by Radhakrishnan
bear a striking correspondence to the fourfold elements
of the complete human personality identified by Patanjali.
III. It follows that these
associated epistemological domains
can be further developed and even
strengthened over time by employing the
appropriately compatible yogic practices.
7. ““May our study impartMay our study impart
that inward light!that inward light!
May it grant us the powerMay it grant us the power
to stir the soul to effort!”to stir the soul to effort!”
Motto, Andhra UniversityMotto, Andhra University
((Upani adsṣUpani adsṣ ))
9. The heart has its reasons,
that reason can never know.
Blasé Pascal - L 423/S 680
10. Blasé Pascal
“We know truth,
not only by the reason,
but also by the heart,
and it is in this last way
that we know
first principles…”
11. “The two operations of our understanding,
intuition and deduction…
on which alone we have said we must rely
in the acquisition of knowledge.”
Rene Descartes
12. The Epistemic Two-Step…
1. Intuited Spark
Effortless
Involuntary
Enjoyable
2. Rational Development
Arduous
Intentional
Daunting
13. Aldous Huxley – Perennial Philosophy…
“Human beings are capable not merely of
knowing about the Divine Ground by inference;
they can also realize its existence by a direct
intuition, superior to discursive reasoning.
This immediate knowledge unites the knower
with that which is known.”
Huxley goes on to explain that this knowledge is
“of the heart – a super-rational intuition – direct,
synthetic and timeless.”
Introduction, Bhagavad-Gita, pp. 13-15
14. “The only real valuable thing is intuition.”
Albert Einstein
24. Nothing we use or hear or touch
can be expressed in words
that equal what we are
given by the senses.
Hannah Arendt
25. Karma Yoga – The Path of Action
“…no one can remain
even for a moment
without doing work;
every one is
made to act…”
Bhagavad-Gītā 3:5
26. ““The eye cannot choose but see,The eye cannot choose but see,
We cannot bid the ear be still,We cannot bid the ear be still,
Our bodies will feel where’er they be,Our bodies will feel where’er they be,
Against or with our will.”Against or with our will.”
WordsworthWordsworth
27. “Some offer hearing
and the other senses
into the fires of restraint;
Some offer sound
and the other objects of sense
into the fires of sense;
Some offer all the works of the senses…
into the fire of the yoga of self-control…”
Bhagavad-Gītā 4.27
Offering The Works of the Senses
28. “…a sincere person
controls the senses…
and engages the
organs of action
in the path of work…”
Bhagavad-Gītā 3.7
The Senses & Karma-Yoga
29. ““May our study impartMay our study impart
that inward light!that inward light!
May it grant us the powerMay it grant us the power
to stir the soul to effort!”to stir the soul to effort!”
Motto, Andhra UniversityMotto, Andhra University
((Upani adsṣUpani adsṣ ))
30. …is most suitable
for him who is
neither very tired of,
nor very attached to,
the world.”
Bhāgavata XI.20.7
Bhakti Yoga – The Path of Devotion
31. “…the wise one,
who is ever in constant
union with the Divine,
whose devotion is
single-minded,
is the best.
For I am
supremely dear to him,
and he is dear to Me.”
Bhagavad-Gītā 7.17
32. (samādhi can be attained)
…by devotion to Īśvara.
Yoga Sutras 1:23
Bhakti Yoga - The Path of Devotion
33.
34.
35. knowledge of
the ultimate reality…
is born of realization
Yoga Sutras 3:53
Jñāna Yoga – The Path of Knowledge
36. “Ignorance can be defined
as regarding the perishable
as the imperishable,
the impure as the pure,
unhappiness as happiness,
and the non-self
as the self.”
Patanjali
Yoga Sutras II:5
37.
38. The Path of
Spiritual Vision
as the master’s head
is crowned with light
…spiritual vision is
gained.
Yoga Sutras 3:33
41. “When the five senses of perception
together with the mind are at rest,
when even the intellect
has ceased to function…
that, say the sages,
is the supreme state.”
Katha Upani ad 111:10ṣ
45. All you have been, and seen, and done and thought,All you have been, and seen, and done and thought,
Not you but I, have seen and been and wrought…Not you but I, have seen and been and wrought…
Pilgrim, pilgrimage and Road,Pilgrim, pilgrimage and Road,
Was but Myself toward Myself;Was but Myself toward Myself;
And your arrival, but Myself at My own door…And your arrival, but Myself at My own door…
Come, you lost Atoms, to your centre draw…Come, you lost Atoms, to your centre draw…
Rays that have wandered into darkness wide,Rays that have wandered into darkness wide,
Return, and back into your Sun subside.Return, and back into your Sun subside.
Super Man – Nietzsche
Gnostic Man – Aurobindo
Toolmaker Man – Marx
Rational Man – Kant
Metaphysical Man – Schopenhauer
Pilgrim Man – Marcel & Tagore
Perfect Man – Holy Qu’ran
Universal Man – Brown
Monkey Man – Darwin
Just Man – Plato
Metaphysical Man – Hobbes
Religious Man – Heschel
Transcendental Man – Aquinas
Divine Man – Radhakrishnan
Social Man – Aristotle
Political Man – Machivelli
Economic Man – Mill
Vitruvian Man – DaVinci
Superfluous Man – 19th Century Russian Literature
Mechanical Man – Materialistic Model
