Philosophy of the Mind
"Bhoomir-apo analo
vayuh kham mano buddhirevacha, Ahamkara itiyam me bhinna
prakritirashtadha." According to Sankhya cosmology, mind is the fourth
principle that has emanated from the self-asserting principle Ahamkara or
egoism or Asmita. Prakriti or Avyaktam (matter in an unmanifested state) is
styled as ‘Ashtangi’ or eightfold Prakriti (Prakritirashtadha). Mind is one of
the eight limbs or Ashtanga. Mind is itself a word whose meaning is extremely
vague, one incapable of being clearly defined except in terms of some
questionable and speculative hypothesis. No one can point to a mind and say:
"That is what I mean the word mind shall denote."
Mind consists of a bundle of
faculties, as the faculties of cognition or perception, volition or will, imagination,
judgment, reason, understanding, memory, etc. Character concerns the affective
or conative (natural tendency or impulsive) organism of the mind. Knowledge
concerns the cognitive organism. There are different channels of communication
through which the cognitive and conative faculties are directed. There is only
one mind which has diverse names according to the plane on which it functions,
viz., the subjective mind, the objective mind, the universal mind (cosmic
consciousness), or the superconscious mind, the subconscious mind, the
instinctive mind, the spiritual mind. The Vishaya or function of the mind is
cognition (Sankalpa-Vikalpa or will, thought, doubt).
The ‘doubting mind’ is
collective aggregate of all Jnana-Indriyas or organs of sensation or
perception. Mind is below Will and above Prana or energy or matter.
Mind is a relative manifestation of the Absolute. Mind is positive to
Energy and Matter, but negative to Will, which is again positive to mind, but
negative to Atman. Mind when purified becomes your real Guru. You will hear the
voice of silence. You will get answers for your unsolvable problems. A
pure mind is no longer subtle matter but the Brahman itself. The original home
for the mind is Omkara in the Sahasrara or thousand-petalled lotus. Mind has
become impure by your own desires. How the pure Brahman has become the
impure Jiva is a life problem that has baffled all human efforts for a
clear, correct and satisfactory solution. This is a quest which has no answer.
This is the mystic side of nature. You cannot solve celestial, divine problems,
that belong to supramental planes, with the finite intellect of the
physical plane. Develop intuition. Acquire transcendental wisdom. Look within
through cosmic consciousness. Then you will get a real, solution.
Through the searchlight of the
concentrated mind, you will have to behold the treasures of the soul or Atman.
Just as rays permeate solid bones or blocks of wood, the concentrated mental
rays of a focused mind will pass through the different forms of matter and
reveal their real nature.
During cosmic consciousness,
you are aware of the oneness of life. You will find that there is no such thing
as dead matter, but that all is alive, vibrating and intelligent. You will see
the universe as all-Atman, which is the essence or background of this sense
universe, of this world of Dvandvas or opposites, of this world of mere
conceptions or ideas, of this world of names and forms.
In Svarga or paradise or
heaven, you are in the ‘thought world’. You feel or experience no pain. Why?
Because you get whatever you think or imagine. Your desires are immediately
gratified. Your thought matter instantaneously materialises, crystallises and
precipitates before you. You are satisfied. But this is not real.
The science of Raja Yoga or
mental Yoga deals with the methods of controlling the ever oscillating mind
under the command of the will, which is in the center of Atman. Manoyama
(control of the mind) is superior to Pranayama (control of the breath); but the
Adhikaris or qualified persons for practice of Manoyama should be very
intelligent with bold understanding and tremendous will. Sit on Padma or Siddha
Asana facing east or north. Make Trataka or Dharana (concentration) on Trikuti,
the space between the two eyebrows with closed eyes. Control the force of
thought by meditation on Pranava or Om and its meaning. Practise regularly from
1/2 to 2 or 3 hours daily. You will become a Yogi and an Atma Jnani soon.
Excerpts from:
Philosophy of
the Mind by Sri Swami Sivananda
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