Life of the spirit

How can the mind comprehend that which is beyond it? The mind knows nothing except itself.

Let us take a lemon in our palm. We know it is a lemon by seeing its colour and form. We can recognise it by its smell. We can also cognise it by touching and tasting it. All physical objects are recognised by the sense-organs or by means, of touch, taste, colour and smell. But the colour and form are not the lemon. These are only modifications. Each sense-organ is capable of recognising only a modification of an object.

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Philosophers have also been looking for the basic substance of the universe for the last thousands of years but they have not been able to ascertain it.

The difficulty arises because of the fact that the universe is composed of waves. The universe is a modification of its original substance. This substance remains hidden behind the waves and modification. The sense-organs which catch the waves and modifications are themselves the modification of the substance or of its waves.

Like the human body, the mind and intellect are also a series of waves. Whatever we know through the medium of waves is composed of waves only. The medium of knowledge determines the nature of the things known. In comprehending the waves we do not comprehend anything which is beyond the waves. We do not comprehend anything beyond modifications with the help of the body, breath, sense-organs, mind and intellect. It is, therefore, not surprising if people have declared there is no basic substance like the soul. The mediums of knowledge mentioned above do not allow us to posit the existence of a substance beyond the comprehension of the mind, we will be wrong because such a substance is the creation of mind itself. How can the mind comprehend that which is beyond it? The mind knows nothing except itself.