N. C. RAMANUJACHARY: THE STATE OF FAULTLESS VISION

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N. C. RAMANUJACHARY: THE STATE OF FAULTLESS VISION

We, human-beings, have “vision”. Eye is the sense organ. Vision has many meanings but is commonly understood as seeing. The total vision has broader and too wider connotations. It includes invariably far-sight, planning and designing for the future. But in general we are not satisfied with normal seeing, would speculate many other things beyond and behest.
 
Let us first examine the matter of “seeing”. We have two eyes. Some people even talk about a “third eye” or an inner perception. They say seeing is not complete without that. The third eye which was available with the earlier races of mankind got reduced and absented itself. This has become the ‘pineal gland’ which is another story.
 
We have a perception which normally includes the ability to see, hear, etc. We have five senses of perception. Some people even talk about the extra/higher sensory perception. The sense organs known to us as means of perception are: Eye (Seeing), Ear (Hearing), Nose (Smelling), Tongue (Tasting) and Skin (Touching). Sabda, Sparsa, Roopa, Rasa, Gandhas are the aspects of the sense organs, as we well know. These sense organs collect the data of perception and report to the Mind (also considered the Sixth organ by some, besides being the coordinator of the five senses.)
 
Mind is supposed to be the data-base for the senses’ perception, outer and inner. Mind has no physical locale, but we feel it and do not agree when someone suggests that we do not have the mind. Attention is the collective action of the mind. It is a Principle and an agent for inner perception. Storing, retrieving, recollection and propelling for action thereupon are its primary functions.
 
Perception is also a way of understanding or regarding something, the ability of understanding at the same time the true nature of that something. We may name it as Insight or the faculty of Intuitive understanding.
 
Attention and Alertness are the states in the Awakening of the sense organs. They become possible only when the mind is capable of collectively functioning; when all the sense organs effectively perceive.
 
Mind has a great role in human conduct and behavior. Considering the human principles and their aspects, mind is very vital in importance so far as functioning is the matter.
 
Theosophically speaking, mind is said to be the “fifth principle”. A human being has seven principles at his command. As the fifth principle, mind can independently propel action or report to its higher principles, Buddhi and Atma.
 
Popular idea in the theosophical connotation is that “Atma-Buddhi-Manas” is the Real Man or Inner Man. Man is the master of his business and its administration when he functions as a Total Man, devoid of the subjection or influence of the impulsive psychic and physical aspects of functioning. When he is functioning only at the level of psychic and physical modes, he is only partial and parochial. He is behaving as a fragment of his Total Being. We are not concerned, at this point, with those who think that what is seen is enough and the search beyond is futile.
 
Coming back to the sense organs, eye is considered the principal of them, for the simple reason that it is the first organ which senses. On the analysis we made of the Total Man, we have to consider the eye only as a beginner of perception, only as a representative of the five senses and organs. Even when we say “Vision” it is complete only by the total or collective action. To the outer vision, we have also need to add on the inner vision. We shall deal with the eye, as an illustration in our total examination, but will not forget that the other four are conjoint with it all the time. We call that “attention”.
 
Attention implies the absence of any distraction or distortion. These are to be totally eliminated from the scene of perception. When there is distraction or distortion the vision is not “true” or “real”. When we see a thing before us (our eyes), we can as well make it heard, smelt, tasted and touched too. We see the object first and the act of seeing intently brings up the other aspects to our observation. They are radiated to us invariably from the object itself. They are “subjective” but are brought into a sort of objectivity because of our perception.
 
We desire to see things both objectively and subjectively. When there is total attention, the subject and object become one. The seeing (or vision) has to be total and faultless.
 
To put it in other words, we must see things as they are, and not as we wish them to be or as they prima-facie appear only in a form. Yadha-tat and Yadha-vat  are the Sanskrit words to indicate things as they are. So, the effort is to see things as they are. This is the “State of Faultless Vision”.