NATURE OF MIND

Mind is the most dynamic in the body, mind, and intellect complex. It is pervasive and ubiquitous in terms of its subtlety, speed, thought, quickness, capacity for cognition and idea production, and multidimensionality.  Mind is a bundle of thoughts, says Swami Sivananda. He goes on to say that of all thoughts, the thought 'I' is the foremost and root of all. It receives information from sense perceptions for storage, collation, and processing. It executes the process through the sense organs.

However, the greatest weakness of the mind is its attachment, as it cannot stand on its own. Attachment is a fundamental component of the mind. It develops a bond with external objects thanks to sensory organs. Once that perception has dissipated, it returns to a state of grief and suffering. It always requires some or any attachment to perform its function of thought and desire in rapid succession and with lightening speed. In that way, it is notorious to carry the impressions of objects. 

What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the Self, says Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He further says that the mind causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as a mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of the mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep, there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dreaming, there are thoughts, and there is also a world. Just as the spider emits the thread out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise, the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears to be real, the Self does not appear, and when the Self appears (shines), the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end, leaving the Self as the residue. What is referred to as the Self is the Ātman (inner-self or inner-spirit). The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body, the soul, or jiva (Who Am I?, The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, Translation by Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan, from the original Tamil, Published by V. S. Ramanan, President, Board of Trustees Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, 1982). 

Mind, according to  Swami Sivananda, needs to be purified of its three defects: mala, or impurity; vikshepa, or tossing; and avarana, or veil, through rigorous meditational practices. The contaminants in the mind must be cleared by yoga practice in order to realise the Self.

1. Outline

Mind is double wedged. It can be friend and also the enemy of the Self, states Srimad Bhagavad Gita. In one way, its propensity is to generate thoughts and insatiable desires to move outwards to appropriate the consumption of objects that are intrinsically ephemeral. Its intrinsic tendency is to move outward to relish the insatiability of the desire for objects. The mind that causes attachment gives rise to desires, feelings, and thoughts, and behaviours, and when any of them aren't satisfied, it might cause anger, which can then cloud judgement.

When a yearning or longing is intense and unquenchable, it is said that the desire is insatiable. No matter what one does, the overwhelming, unrelenting, and the persistent desire to give in to the desire never goes away. Depending on the person and the precise circumstances, its nature can vary drastically. It could appear in different facets of life's path, such as a desire for achievement, notoriety, adulation, prosperity, wisdom, power, love, etc. On the other, it may even progress past these to entirely new levels, such as self-realisation, enlightenment on a spiritual level, or the pursuit of Truth. That way, it becomes quiescent through the influence of Chit or Consciousness, and remains focused on the inward subject to realise the true nature of Self-Consciousness.When the mind is subjected to quiescence under the atmic influence, it becomes purified. A purified mind reflects the Chit-Shakti (Consciousness-Energy) of Brahmān (Supreme Being or Ultimate Reality). Consciousness verily impels movement inwards towards the subject to realise the Self previously concealed under the vagaries of its thought, "I"ness, and object consciousness. Shakti, or Energy includes: Iccha Shakti—the energy of will or desire; Jnana Shakti—the energy of knowledge; and Kriya Shakti—the energy of action. According to Swami Krishnananda, the mind is more powerful than all the weapons of the world put together; it can do and undo things in a moment, for it is consciousness in its essence. All yogic powers are due to the expansion of the mind in the higher and subtler regions, which are swayed over by it by being included within the domain of its activities. When the mind reaches the highest state of conscious expansion, or Brahmakara-Vritti, then the goal of thought is within reach. That is the glory of the majesty of the Self!

2. Scriptures 

The Scriptures make it quite clear that mind is a collection of Vasanas, prior impressions, or subtle desires. The six passions of mind or enemies of desire, kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (pride), and matsarya (jealousy), are the negative characteristics that prevent man from realising Atman, or his True Being.

They are responsible for all kinds of difficult experiences that we have in our lives. The cause of bondage is Vasana. Vasanas' destruction will lead to liberation. If the Vasanas are eliminated, the mind will reach a state of quiescence. Mind disappears into the eternal seat of Brahman when the Vasanas are destroyed with their seeds. According to the Upanishad, the highest state is when the senses cease to function and stand alongside the mind, and the intellect remains still. The Jiva's (being alive) daily selfish deeds increase the stock of these Vasanas, which causes the embodied existence to remain unbroken and the wheel of birth and death to continue turning indefinitely. The Jiva must take two different actions to counter the emptying of these Vasanas. The first is to prevent the construction of further Vasanas, and the second is to destroy those that already exist.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita proclaims that mind is fickle, restless, turbulent, strong, and obstinate. The Bhagavad Gita goes on to say that through practice and detachment, the mind can be controlled. It says that the essential virtues for mind control are: fearlessness, purity of mind, steadfastness in spiritual knowledge, charity, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of the sacred books, austerity, and straightforwardness; non-violence, truthfulness, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, restraint from fault-finding, compassion towards all living beings, absence of covetousness, gentleness, modesty, and lack of fickleness; vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, bearing enmity towards none, and absence of vanity.

The Mundaka Upanishad is also aphoristic on the purification of mind as well as mind elevation to become conscious of the Self consciously. According to Yoga-Vasistha (1.27.9), true bravery is the ability to control or conquer the mind. It says that those who fight bravely on the battlefields and withstand the war elephants are not as brave as those who withstand the surges of the mind among the streams of carnal appetites. The Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad also emphatically says that this being identified with the mind, because he is perceived there; also, he perceives through the mind; and resplendent, lit. having lustre as his real state or nature. Since the mind reveals everything and he is identified with the mind, He is resplendent, i.e., is realised by the Yogins.

3. Remarks

All the descriptions here are in relation to the individual mind and soul. However, no individual can exist without some relationship with a cosmic source. According to Swami Sivananda, Hiranyagarbha, otherwise known as Karya Brahmān and Sambhuti, is the cosmic mind. He is the sum total (Samashti) of all the minds. The individual mind is connected with the cosmic mind. Cosmic mind, Hiranyagarbha, superconscious mind, infinite mind, and universal mind are synonymous terms. Hiranyagarbha is cosmic Prāna (life breath), too. He is the Sutratman (thread-like Self). 

Sri Krishna says in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita that you should elevate yourself through the power of your mind and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be both a friend and an enemy of the self. We, according to the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, must use the mind to elevate the self, which means we must use the higher mind to elevate the lower mind. In other words, we must strive to make the intellect resolute enough to control the mind. The Bhagavad Gita delineates that those with limited understanding get attracted to the flowery words of the Vedas, which advocate ostentatious rituals for elevation to the celestial abodes and presume no higher principle is described in them. They glorify only those portions of the Vedas that please their senses and perform pompous ritualistic ceremonies for attaining high birth, opulence, sensual enjoyment, and elevation to the heavenly planets.

-Asutosh Satpathy