Consciousness Reflects the Mind, the Mind Reflects Consciousness
Mirror of Nature, Mirror of Self July 2, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197665510.003.0003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that Sāṃkhya and Yoga schools used the concept of mirror reflection to explain the illusory interaction between ontologically distinct consciousness and mind, with later philosophers like Vācaspati Miśra and Vijñānabhikṣu developing more complex reflection theories. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter explores the philosophical traditions of Sāṃkhya and Yoga, which developed a notion of mirror reflection to explain the illusory interaction between consciousness and the mind, regarded as ontologically distinct entities. These two schools made an implicit connection between mental representation of external objects by the mind and mental representation of consciousness. The chapter discusses early theories of external objects reflected in the mind, consciousness reflected in the mind, and the mind reflected in consciousness. It also sheds new light on the later Vācaspati Miśra’s (tenth-century) theory of reflection of consciousness in the mind and Vijñānabhikṣu’s (sixteenth-century) theory of mutual reflection of consciousness in the mind and then back in consciousness. Finally, it engages, for the first time, with the philosophically creative, but little-known interpretation of theories of reflection in Sāṃkhya and Yoga by Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya.