[Advaita-l] The Foundations of Adhyāsa - 5.2 (The Siddhānta: The Self is not the Body) (Part II)

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post.)
 
 
If The Argument is still unclear, perhaps it can be better understood in terms of descriptions. Here is the full description of
Observation #1 by a Materialist:
 
  “Light strikes the 100-foot tall building, and it reaches the eye.
  The eye-lens focuses the light on the retina, where it gets converted
  to electrical signals. The optic nerve carries these signals to the brain,
  where they are processed.”
 
The problem with the above description is that nowhere is a “partly unfocussed 100-foot tall building” ever referred to. The
Observation #1 specifies “a partly unfocussed 100-foot tall building” is seen, but the description never makes a mention of this
“Seen (partly unfocussed) building”!
 
Perhaps an analogy with modern technology will be useful. Consider a Computer with a Monitor connected to a Webcam, all housed within
a 6-foot tall box (analogous to a Human Body), aimed at a 100-foot tall building. The analogy with a human being is:
 
    Human Body → 6-Foot tall Box (housing the Computer, Monitor and Webcam)
    Eye → Webcam (camera)
    Nerves → Electronic wiring
    Brain → Computer Processor
    Vision of the 100-foot tall building → Monitor displaying a small (less than 6-foot) image of building
 
Note the difference in the last part – the Monitor cannot possibly display a 100-foot tall building, but the HUMAN's VISION SEES ONE!
 
The gist of The Argument is that the “Actually Perceived Object” is not fully or accurately described by merely dissecting the
individual components that constitute material reality.
 
It may also be a good exercise to check if the following second observation can be explained by appealing to material entities alone,
in the case of a person with defective vision:
 
  Observation #2:  “Two overlapping 100-foot tall buildings are being seen.”
  (Note: there is still only one 100-foot tall building in front.)
 
This Observation #2 is evidently an apparition of sorts caused by imperfect vision. In any third-person description of the
material reality, the first-person Vision of “Overlapping images of two 100-foot tall buildings” will never appear at all.
 
Hence PERCEPTION (e.g. Vision or Seeing) cannot be explained purely by considering material or physical entities only.
If one has difficulty following The Argument, re-reading it or discussing with one who has understood it may help.
 
 
(To be Continued)