Nature of Knowledge

We have seen that the atman (soul) is of the nature of transcendental awareness which is pure and content less. Since awareness is pure and content less, it cannot by itself know objects. If atman (soul) could directly know objects, then it would be almost the same as mind, and the atman (soul) would become changeable like the mind. It is clear that consciousness and knowledge are not one and the same.

What then is knowledge and how does it arise?

Knowledge is an empirical phenomenon. Atman by itself is content less consciousness and so cannot have knowledge; the mind is jada (Sanskrit) or unconscious and so it too cannot by itself have knowledge. Only when the atman and the mind come together in association, that knowledge arises as an emerging phenomenon

Realm of knowledge

Knowledge is inherent in the universe at all levels. In fact, knowledge is inseparable from being or existence. Every object in the universe has knowledge inherent in it. Every change, every movement, every transformation in the universe is sustained by intrinsic knowledge.