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After reading this article you will learn about the western and eastern views on extrasensory perception.
Western View on Extrasensory Perception:
In the case of subliminal perception, the perceptual process results from sensory stimulation, though at the subliminal level. But there are perceptual experiences which have been shown to occur in the absence of any form of sensory stimulation. Such experiences have been reported by a number of people, both laymen and scientists. These experiences have been called extrasensory because they have been found to occur without any sensory basis.
They have also been called paranormal because they are not very common and also appear to defy the so-called normal laws of perception. In the late fifties, there emerged a band of psychologists with a spirit of adventure, who showed great interest and readiness to investigate this kind of perceptual phenomena called extrasensory perception usually known as ESP and precognition.
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Over the past thirty year research in this area has made great strides and today, a large number of psychologists are actively involved in investigating such phenomena. The most outstanding personality in this area of research was J.B. Rhine.
Precognition is a process of becoming aware or knowing an event or occurrence in advance without the mediation of any conscious process, sensory or otherwise. Various instances have been recorded evidencing such a phenomenon.
Some individuals reported becoming fully aware of the death of a family member or close associate a few days or months in advance in spite of being thousands of miles away from that particular person. Similarly, investigations have shown that some individuals could predict far in advance major disasters like plane crashes, earthquakes, fire accidents etc., without mediation of any kind, not even of the planets.
Eastern View on Extrasensory Perception:
Incidents of precognition recorded in the Eastern scriptures exhibit a superior and powerful perceptual capacities. For instance, sage Veda Vyasa dictated to Vinayaka, the Maha Bharat, one of the largest epics of the world. He dictated about past and future incarnations thousands of years after and before they really took place.
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Records show instances where rishis (Yogis) with their extra sensory powers could communicate with people belonging to different continents, with the inhabitants of different planets, create or destroy human beings and other objects by means of meditation, change the course of rivers, stop the winds, reduce the heights of mountains in a moment and so on. Such phenomena were explained on the basis of the process of vision (drishti) which implies a more active and complex process of perception compared to the sensory perception investigated by Western psychologists.
In contrast with the Western attitude to such phenomena, the layman of the eastern world has, probably, never been mystified by such experiences. Phenomena like ESP and precognition are not very strange to the Orientals because such phenomena have been very well recorded in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. Such records give a detailed account and also prescribe ways and means of acquiring such capacity from experience.
To the eastern mind such phenomena are neither paranormal nor super-normal but only something extraordinary. The capacity to experience these phenomena is the result of one’s actions and effort commonly known as Karma and Sadhana. It is worth mentioning here that the incidents recorded and described in the eastern texts on ESP and related phenomena are far more complex than what is studied and experimented on by the parapsychologists of today. Eastern psychology views Pratibha, jnana or extrasensory perception as intuition of future- events.
This capacity or knowledge is generally associated with sages, but common people are not totally excluded. For instance, when a girl has a flash of intuition that her brother will come the next day, this may be an ordinary thought but indicates the presence of precognition.
A renowned Indian philosopher Jayanta Bhatta asserts that though yogis can perceive all objects, past, present and future, ordinary persons are not entirely devoid of the power of perceiving the future. This is treated as valid knowledge because it immediately knows an external object or event independent of the sense organs and corresponds with an actual fact.
It may be pointed out here that some Western psychologists like Jung agree with this view. Patanjali, the pro-pounder of the yogic philosophy, considered ESP as synonymous to intuition, which is the result of the practice of meditation, and which precedes discriminatory knowledge of the self as entirely distinct from the mind-body complex.
When this kind of intuition dawns upon a yogi, he acquires immediate knowledge of all objects and gradually attains redeeming knowledge. He ascribes this knowledge of subtle, hidden, distant past and future objects to a super-normal power of the mind.
This supernatural power of the different sense organs born of meditation generates the perception of supernatural sounds, touches, visions, tastes, smells etc.. In addition to this, the practice of concentration of the mind for long periods helps in conquering grief and other distractions. When a person reaches this stage, his mind is said to become luminous and pervasive like a cloudless sky and an un-agitated ocean.
Within the arena of ESP there are different types of perception called occult perception, yogic perception, the realised soul’s perception and divine perception.
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Occult Perception (Siddha Darsana):
Eastern scriptures ascribed occult perception mostly to the special merit of the occultist. Occult perception is valid immediate knowledge according to the Mimamsa School of philosophy (One of the Hindu philosophical systems). This is concerned with the perception of hidden and remote objects through the sense organs, facilitated by the application of herbs or unguents or by uttering incantations.(mantras or by taking a potent medicine or due to a special merit in the occultist).
In this context it should be mentioned that eastern thinkers have developed a very elaborate theory of perception totally different from the western view.
However, it is not totally extra-sensory perception but sensory perception of supersensory objects through the sense-organs strengthened and purified by incantations, herbs and the like. But this belongs to the family of extrasensory perception because it accords with the real nature of super-sensible objects. There are twenty-one occult sciences recognised by the scriptures. Some of the well- known occult sciences are palmistry, numerology, astrology, spirit sciences, auto-writing, etc.,
Yogic Perception (Yogipratyaksa):
This is again considered to be the perception of subtle, hidden, remote, past and future objects and events and considered to be of the highest degree of excellence in human perception. The minds of Yogis can have the immediate knowledge of all objects due to the repeated practice of meditation.
Our minds which become corrupt and impure by the taints of emotions like love, hatred, greed etc., cannot attain the highest stage of supreme knowledge, whereas the minds of yogis which are considered free of all impurities, acquire the power of perceiving all objects through concentration, without any distractions.
They also acquire the capacity to perceive all objects in all places through a single act of cognition. Yogis, through yoga and meditation, acquire the capacity to concentrate on various internal as well as external objects like sense organs, birds, animals, water, air etc. while literally experiencing what air is or what an animal is like by temporarily detaching their soul from their own body complex.
This is done in order to get a perfect and first-hand knowledge about various objects in the world. Thus, by the constant practice of concentration, the mind gets some extraordinary powers not only to create objects and events, but also to destroy them.
We often come across people demonstrating or narrating stories of how some individuals can create in their palms, within a flash of a second, things like flowers, vermilion, and sandalwood and even materialize objects like Swiss-made watches. Acquisition of these powers is the natural consequence of yogic practices, but very few real yogis exhibit or make use of such powers even if they possess them.
The Realised Soul’s Perception (Muktajnana):
When concentration is constantly directed to perceive one’s own self and isolate it from the mind body complex, what is generated is a discriminative knowledge of one’s real self. In this process of acquiring knowledge, there takes place eradication of all potential subconscious and unconscious actions, impressions and experiences, thus, leading the self to a state of pure consciousness, or a state of liberation (Satchidananda).
Nothing about the world or himself will ever disturb him or affect him at all. Another perception mentioned in the scriptures, divine perception, will not be elaborated here due to its abstract nature and description. It is considered as the perception of the infinite and the unlimited, the Supreme Being (God). Various philosophies call this ultimate perception by different names like. Brahman, Nirvana and so on.
What has been said so far is only a brief mention of the eastern view of perception. Fortunately or unfortunately, whatever was recorded by the ancient philosophers was not left in the pattern familiar to the modern researchers, i.e. in the form of hypothesis, data, statistical analysis and other criteria of present day sciences.
So, the reader has to exert himself a little bit to understand and appreciate these concepts which are couched in philosophical terms. One important factor which may be borne in mind is that one cannot discard these phenomena as ridiculous, mystical or phenomena which never happened or have never happened to you.
Proof of their validity is ‘experience’. Anyone can acquire these capacities with the practice of yoga (yoga in a wide sense, not merely physical and breathing exercises). The authors idea in discussing the eastern view of perception is to impress upon the reader that eastern scriptures are full of valuable information buried like uncut diamonds in an unexplored terrain.