The Essential Sanātana-dharma - Fact and Value, Layers of Reality

Fact and Value

To understand truth from a different perspective, let us take a look at Fact and Value. Seers of ancient India cherished the implications of facts and values, which are both outside the purview of blind faith. On the one hand, they did not completely exclude faith from philosophy and on the other, they did not attempt to explain everything within the narrow framework of faith. They were intelligent and mature to approach fact and value from different angles: logical, intuitive, emotional, aesthetic, intellectual, realistic, mystical, idealistic, and spiritualistic. So their understanding of fact and value are universally applicable.^[1]

What separates facts from values?

We comprehend facts because they are perceived through the senses. There is not much to discuss or argue with regard to facts, except checking their veracity. Facts are objective.

We realize values through our experience and hence there arise several diverging opinions and views. Values are subjective.

Facts deal with the outside world whereas values are intrinsic. If facts are what we encounter, values are what we reflect upon. If facts are grasped by the intellect, values are internalized through experience.

Facts can be looked up or even made up but values are neither readily available nor possible to fabricate.

Facts are an ever-growing body of data from the world around us. We rarely gather facts for the heck of it; facts are often used for purposes other than themselves. Values, however, are pursued for their own sake. Once we know a fact, it need not concern us or relate to our life. That is not the case with values. Once a value comes within the realm of our understanding, it becomes part of our experience and so is concerned with our lives. If that is not the case, then we have not truly realized the value but instead have only a notion that we have grasped with our intellect.

Values transcend matter and so they are elusive in the material world. Values are not perceived through our physical senses but are felt in our consciousness. Take the example of a glass of water. Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen—this is a fact. Where the water came from and how it reached our hands are also facts. Drinking the water and quenching our thirst is the realization of the value.

Philosophy in India is primarily a study of values, so we instantly see the need for philosophy in our daily lives. If we understand the difference between fact and value, it will become easy for us to reconcile philosophy, ethics, art, and culture on one side with science and technology on the other.

Outside these two concepts of fact and value lies belief, which is related to our feelings. The intellect comprehends fact, emotions accept belief, and wisdom realizes value.

Layers of Reality

We have seen earlier the three states of consciousness and the dangers of being biased to the wakeful state. In a similar vein, our ancient seers realized the dangers of being biased towards material reality that is perceived through the senses. They have given us a fascinating framework of three layers of reality. We may call it the triple epistemology through which we perceive and understand the world.

Fact, Belief, and Value are the three layers of reality and the Sanskrit words corresponding to these levels are: adhi-bhūta, adhi-daiva, and adhyātma.

Adhi-bhūta pertains to the material world – matter, elements, and forces of nature. It is linked to the world around us (physical reality) and operates in the realm of the material universe.

Adhi-daiva pertains to the non-material world – mind, thoughts, and emotions. It is linked to the beliefs of people (emotional reality) and operates in the realm of human society.

Adhyātma pertains to the true Self. It is linked to personal experience (philosophical reality) and operates in the realm of the individual.

A fourth, connected idea is that of adhi-yajña, which pertains to ritual. Adhi-daiva is the faith of a person or a society and adhi-yajña is the practical manifestation of that faith. The metaphor of adhi-yajña serves as a bridge between adhi-bhūta and adhi-daiva and also between adhi-daiva and adhyātma. Further, adhi-yajña has the potential to lead to social service, wealth distribution, and division of labour.

This is better explained with an example. Now, consider the sun. We know that our sun is a star at the centre of our solar system. It is a sphere which is about a hundred times bigger than the earth—three-fourths filled with Hydrogen and the rest mostly made up of Helium. All these physical details, what we call ‘facts,’ come under the purview of adhi-bhūta.

The sun is worshipped as a deity and is called by different names – Āditya, Savitā, Sūrya, etc. He is hailed as the Light of lights, the Giver of energy, and the Father of the world. He grants us light and warmth. We see divinity in the sun. This system of belief, which was later codified in hymns and stories, comes under the purview of adhi-daiva.

The sun gives us light but to see that light, we must have the light of vision. We perceive the sun with our physical eyes but unless we invoke the light of our intellect within, we cannot perceive the greatness of the sun nor can we cultivate the value of gratitude towards it. To become aware of the consciousness of the sun, we need to awaken our own consciousness. Consciousness can be identified by consciousness alone. This personal experience comes under the purview of adhyātma.^[2]

The ritual of sun worship – sandhyā-vandana, for instance – is the physical expression of the system of belief. It gives an opportunity for the experience to percolate to the level of facts. By comprehending the metaphor, it affords us an opportunity to transcend the adhi-bhūta and adhi-daiva to enter the realm of adhyātma. This bridge of ritual is adhi-yajña.

Science comes under the purview of adhi-bhūta; philosophy deals with adhyātma; adhi-daiva provides wonderful raw material for art. Both art and religion have imagination in common. While Art requires the willing suspension of disbelief for a short period of time, Religion* expects ignorant adherence to belief forever. Art provides the opportunity to dissolve the ego while religion holds the potential to boost up one’s ego. And this makes art greater than religion.^[3] Further, great art takes us to the vicinity of philosophy.^[4]

Far from being mindless, the willing suspension of disbelief for a short period gives us the chance to enjoy art. Take the example of watching a movie. If a person is unwilling to believe what he sees, he cannot enjoy it—if he says, Oh, this is all make-believe; that’s just an actress shedding tears, she’s not really sad. And the actor is not really trained in martial arts and he’s not actually fighting with the goons attacking him… how can he possibly enjoy the film? If a person truly believes what he sees on screen, if he deems it to be a recording of true events—instead of enjoying himself, he might break down when a character dies. One must stand in the middle ground between obstinate rationality and blind belief to enjoy art. This middle ground is the place where belief has been tempered by universal experience, a basic principle that our ancient seers apply to human life as well.

Hinduism recognizes different levels of truth –

i. the truth of Facts, which is related to the world

    of transactions (that which is known),

ii. the truth of Embellishment, related to art

     experience (willing suspension of disbelief),

iii. the truth of Illusion, which operates in the

      realm of religion (that which is believed), and

iv. the Absolute Truth of the Self (that which is

      realized).^[5]

Let us now consider two beliefs that are widely held by millions of Hindus around the world – karma (‘action’) and punar-janma (‘rebirth’).

Karma is the belief that noble acts we undertake help us accumulate puṇya (goodness, virtue) while ignoble actions will pile on us pāpa (evil, crime, sin). Depending on the amount of puṇya or pāpa we have gained in this life, we attain svarga (roughly translates to ‘heaven’) or naraka (roughly translates to ‘hell’). After the accumulated puṇya or pāpa is exhausted, we are reborn on earth. Good karma ensures good rebirth.^[6] Mokṣa is the liberation from this eternal cycle of birth and death.^[7]

At the level of belief, karma and rebirth are useful because they motivate the common man to lead a life of purity, be honest, and do good in the world. It serves two purposes – a. it makes people accountable for their actions and b. it protects people from emotional turmoil and offers solace. Adhering to these beliefs is a safe bet for most people. A man who staunchly believes in karma and punar-janma will not lose heart easily. A person who has complete faith in the Supreme lightens his burden of life.

We may treat these beliefs as artha-vāda, which refers to ‘praising good actions.’ It is like patting the back and telling a story to encourage good conduct. For instance, when a child refuses to eat his food, the mother tells him that he will grow as tall as Rāma or as strong as Bhīma if he eats his food. Of course, she doesn’t mean it literally but intends to encourage her child.^[8]

However, like all other beliefs, these are double-edged swords and we must be careful in propagating them.

The danger lies in wrongly equating belief with fact or opinion with value.

The care that we must take is the tempering of the belief in the light of universal experience. Karma – the belief serves a purpose but finally it should elevate to Karma-yoga (selfless action) – the realization.^[9]

The various modes of science, beliefs, mysticism, rituals, and spirituality are included in Hinduism. This is why Hinduism does not clash with modern science or even with any of the other religious or spiritual systems of the world. This three-fold frame-work of reality naturally makes Hinduism (and the Hindus) very open-minded and tolerant.