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| IIT and IIM alumnus Swami Mukundananda |
An
uncontrolled mind is the subject for the vagaries such as lust, anger, greed,
fear, jealousy, vanity, anxiety etc. that torment a person endlessly. To curb
this infirmity, many people practice the art of positive thinking through their
will power, not knowing that a human mind is helpless to bear the past karma.
The Vedas, however explain that without a proper spiritual insight and proper
self-knowledge, all means practiced to conquer the mind are fruitless.
Meaning
& Nature of the Mind
It has been
revealed in the Vedas, It is the Mind only that is the Root-Cause of
Physical-Mental imprisonment and Liberation (Amrit-Bindu-Upanishad Shloka 2).
What is this Mind, then? The Scientists fail to penetrate to the subtle mind,
as they consider the brain as the mind. Brain is only a central processing
unit, hard-wired with the physical organs of the body such as hands and legs.
Moreover, while the Psychologists do admit the existence of Mind, they refrain
from admitting the existence of Soul, the neutral source of Energy, through
which, the mind functions.
Mind has
been revealed as a subtle (not abstract) machine, through which a soul
experiences and interacts with, the external world. A soul’s likes, dislikes,
desires, tendencies, instincts are all stored in a part of our subconscious
mind. Mind, however, functions in various modes and stages.
Types of
Mind
Primarily,
the subtle human mind can be divided into Four Partitions. Mind you, it is the
one single mind that enacts four different roles simultaneously, as revealed in
Shreemad Bhagavatam Puran (3.26.14).
Mann (The
Desire-Weaving Machine)
The mann
instinctively makes sankalpas and vikalpas or desires of sense gratification.
The mann is heavily affected by the surroundings and past karmas of a soul.
This being mind’s inherent function, the mind cannot be deprived of making
desires. There is not a single moment, where mind can stop making sankalpas and
vikalpas. (Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta 3.5), knowing this well, instead of
annulling the mind, the devotees try to diver the thought-flow towards the
Spiritual Realm by constant remembrance of the Lord’s Names and Divine
Pastimes.
Buddhi
(Intelligence)
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| Swami Mukundananda revealing on the mystery of mind. |
Once the
mann decides a particular thing or hatches a particular desire, the data is
further processed to the Intelligence, where it is weighed taking into
consideration social viability, status, personal image and other material
constraints.
Both Mann
and Buddhi carry out their jobs with the alliance of the memory faculty,
wherein samskars (neural-images) of past infinite births are stored in the mind.
Once the
Buddhi weighs viability and feasibility of a particular desire, the more
evolved or status-conscious individuals churn the application furthermore in
this highly advanced and subtle machine called chitt. Most of Para-psychologists,
yogis and munis fail to breach the code of this subtle organ.
Ahamkar (Ego)
Stages of
Mind
Human Mind
can be divided primarily into three stages based on the level of its
consciousness about its own entity.
Conscious
Mind: Conscious mind is the mind that one is conscious about. The habits that
we know we have, our limitations, vices, infirmities etc.
Subconscious
Mind: Subconscious Mind is that sphere of our mind that we know but we cannot
express through words or gestures.
Unconscious
Mind: This more than 99.99% of our mind. All the material aspects that we do
not know are stored in the unconscious mind of a soul.
Super-conscious
Mind: This is the mind of a turiyaatita yogi, whose consciousness is able to
reflect its optimum capacity, but this also is limited to the relativity of the
yogi. It would be indeed very incompetent to conclude that such an individual
receives the cosmic consciousness.
Divine Mind:
This is a mind of a pure devotee who has been impregnated with Pure Love of God
by his/her Guru.
