Imperfect Senses
Mon, 01/28/2008 - 17:20 — admin
TEACHER: In the first place, knowledge received through direct sense perception can't be trusted because the senses are limited and imperfect. Perfect knowledge cannot be acquired through imperfect instruments.
That the senses are imperfect is not very difficult to understand. The eyes, for example, are not all-seeing. With your eyes, you cannot see what is going on behind your back, nor can you see what is going on in another city or country. Even within your own house, you cannot know by the strength of your eyesight what is going on in another room. Your eyes cannot see beyond the walls.
The field of vision available to a person by the grace of his own eyes is obviously not an all-encompassing one. For example, on a full-moon night, my eyes tell me that the moon is the same size as a dinner plate. It appears to be no more than 12 inches in diameter, yet it is actually billions of times that large. Similarly, when we stand on the shore of the ocean, our eyes tell us that the world is flat. In fact, until the time of Columbus, many eminent scientists and scholars actually believed the world to be flat, because that is how it appeared to their eyes. The eyes can be wrong.
Our other knowledge-acquiring senses are also imperfect. The ears, for example, cannot hear what is going on across town or even across the street. Although modern technology has made it possible to extend the range of the senses, by the strength of our senses alone we cannot come to know everything about God, or anything else.
Unfortunately, a person who is materialistic, greedy, and self-worshiping wants to take the place of God. He sees himself as the center of the universe. He sees everything and everyone — the world, people, his family, animals, plants, the environment — as revolving around him. He sees everything and everyone as meant for his enjoyment. The world is full of such exploitative people, and they cause so many problems.Imperfect Senses
Science of Identity Foundation – Siddhaswarupananda
TEACHER: In the first place, knowledge received through direct sense perception can't be trusted because the senses are limited and imperfect. Perfect knowledge cannot be acquired through imperfect instruments.
That the senses are imperfect is not very difficult to understand. The eyes, for example, are not all-seeing. With your eyes, you cannot see what is going on behind your back, nor can you see what is going on in another city or country. Even within your own house, you cannot know by the strength of your eyesight what is going on in another room. Your eyes cannot see beyond the walls.
The field of vision available to a person by the grace of his own eyes is obviously not an all-encompassing one. For example, on a full-moon night, my eyes tell me that the moon is the same size as a dinner plate. It appears to be no more than 12 inches in diameter, yet it is actually billions of times that large. Similarly, when we stand on the shore of the ocean, our eyes tell us that the world is flat. In fact, until the time of Columbus, many eminent scientists and scholars actually believed the world to be flat, because that is how it appeared to their eyes. The eyes can be wrong.
Our other knowledge-acquiring senses are also imperfect. The ears, for example, cannot hear what is going on across town or even across the street. Although modern technology has made it possible to extend the range of the senses, by the strength of our senses alone we cannot come to know everything about God, or anything else.