Page 12 - Hinduism

Brahman, as in the experience of mystics like Nammālvār. It is Brahmadarśana and is the supreme end of knowledge. Thus darśana is going from the physical sense organ to the inner eye of reason and finally to Brahma-cakṣus or the direct realisation of Brahman. In this way knowledge leads to the more of itself; it grows from sense-perception or pratyakṣa to reasoning or anumāna. Reasoning develops into direct realisation of Brahman as given in Śāstra. All these three ways are interconnected and complementary and there is no contradiction in their relation. Veda is not blind faith as it is a spiritual verity verified by the Ṛṣis and other seers of God. The best test of Vedic knowledge is in our direct intuition of God with the guidance of the Guru who has seen Him face to face. In this way darśana as sense-knowledge becomes darśana or seeing with the inner eye of reason and finally as direct Brahma-darśana or experience of God by the Ṛṣis and other seers of God. Thus the term darśana applied to Hinduism is all-inclusive. It accepts the reality of matter or the world of nature as described by science, but rejects materialism as the final view of life. It accepts the importance of reason but rejects rationalism as the final view of life. It accepts the importance of scripture or sāṣtra but rejects theology as blind faith. Hinduism gives a place to science, philosophy, and theology and reconciles them. It says that the best proof of the existence of God is the experience of God.
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