[Buddha-l] Re: buddha-l Digest, Vol 21, Issue 7

[Malcolm Dean]

> When one is able to withdraw his senses from their objects under any
> circumstance, just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs into the shell - his
> wisdom is firmly established.
> Bhagavad gita, 2.58.
> -------
> I wonder how one can accomplish withdrawing one's senses from objects.
> If one holds to the idea of the inseparableness of mind and body,
> considering these to be aspects of one biological process, it wouldn't seem
> possible as stated in this adage from the Gita. Would it not be more helpful
> to observe what happens in the thought process when one's senses apprehend
> this or that object?  Or would this claimed withdrawal be an aspect of
> concentration instead of insight meditation?

Joanna, an wonderful question. Without suggesting that this is the
intention of the original writer, a modern interpretation might be
that sense organs are constantly tuned to their particular inputs,
ready for the next surprise. Recent research at USC has shown that
visual attention circuits constantly operate as Bayesian surprise
calculators, confirming Shannon's famous communicaton theory formula.
Each sense has its own objects, that which it is capable of sensing
(although we moderns recognize cross-modality and that cognition
occurs downstream from the initial sensory input). Therefore, I
believe the writer is asserting that by withdrawing the senses from
their objects, the constant stream of environmental information is
interrupted, and higher states can occur. I believe the writer
therefore equates the knowledge and skill to accomplish this with the
establishment of wisdom.

Malcolm Dean
Los Angeles