IS IT NOT IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE MIND TO ATTAIN GOD?

Dear All,

We are now dealing with MIND and its functions in the blog posts.

When the blog was made open to all, it is clear that  the blog is for the world at large in the long run and  the need for the author to know who is accessing the blog is not there anymore, as the initial membership by invitation rule has been withdrawn.

However, Love flows incessantly for all of you and that is why this post.

Let us start with this Swami’s quote on Mind:

"Consider a cloth which has been made into a handkerchief. Its basis is cotton, which does not have any specific form. It may be considered as pure and unlimited. From this cotton, have come the threads. By joining the threads together a cloth has emerged. In the same way, from the pure and unlimited Atma the I-thought has emerged. From this, in turn, has come the mind. Therefore, your mind and the “I” have both originated from the pure, unlimited Divinity, the One Reality which is your true Self”. (Source -Peter trucker’s compilation of Swami’s sayings on mind and SELF - WWW.ATMAPRESS.COM).

So, Swami says Mind and SELF (our divinity) have originated from the same infinite/absolute divinity which you may call as God or Pure consciousness.

But, lo and behold, our mind does not seem to be all that divine as of now.

IS IT NOT THEN NECESSARY TO KNOW ALL ABOUT THIS MIND WHICH SWAMI SAYS, HAS ORIGINATED FROM GOD, BUT HAS GOT A LITTLE IMPURE AS WE PASSED THROUGH THE CYCLE OF BIRTH-DEATH-RE BIRTH??

Dear Ones, 

The present theme MANAS BUDDHI CHITA AHAMKARA is all about knowing this mind, which has to be ultimately exercised to reach God and merge with God.

Around 12 posts in this theme is already through and many more to follow.

We do not need to be scared about the above Sanskrit terms and instead, we just need to know the following initially, to get into the posts on the theme MIND.

·  We believe in the above Swami’s words that our MIND must have been initially pure and divine, as it has originated from divinity.

·  So, MIND by itself, left alone to itself, without influence of any other factor, has to be necessarily divine. Swami Says so and we believe each word off our SAI.

·  It follows then that there must be few other factors that influence our mind which then either sustains its divine nature or loses its divine nature.

·  The factors that influence our MIND, which are dealt in detail in the posts are:-

·   BUDDHI - Discriminative, Intellect.

·  AHAMKARA - the EGO which can be either pure ego (Aham, the pure I) or impure ego, (Ahamkara, the lower i). This Ahamkara again has 5 coloring which are dealt in detail.

·  CHITTA - mind Lake which stores various impressions of the past.

·  Now, these three factors can either singly influence our mind or they can join hands to influence our thoughts which go on to push our mind to act in a particular manner.

· With each action done, except for actions of realized masters or spiritual seekers at a very advanced stage, each actions of human beings result in fresh impressions getting stored in their mind lake which can also be easily referred to as MEMORY BANK.

So, the entire study of mind through the posts under the current theme in the blog is to understand the four functions of mind- MANAS, BUDDHI, CHITTA, AHAMKARA so that, with proper use of these 4 functions, with proper coordination of these 4 functions, with proper knowledge of DOs and Don’t DOs of these 4 functions of mind, we are able to restore, retrieve, re-trace the DIVINE NATURE OF OUR MIND and USE IT/ EXERCISE IT TO REACH OUR LORD, NEVER TO RETURN.

With Love, as Always,

Sathya

Manas Buddhi Chitta Ahamkara - Part 12

CHITTA

Chitta is termed as the mind-stuff or mental substance. It is the ground floor, as it were. From it proceed the three Vrittis, viz., Manas, Buddhi and Ahankara.

We sit and try to solve a problem and fail. We walk around, try again and again fail. Suddenly an idea dawns on us that leads to the solution of the problem. The subconscious processes were at work.

You repeatedly fail at night to get the solution for a problem in arithmetic or geometry. In the morning, when you wake up, you get a clear answer. This answer comes like a flash from the subconscious mind. Even in sleep, it works incessantly without any rest. It arranges, classifies, compares, sorts all facts and works out a proper, satisfactory solution.

Sometimes, you go to sleep at 10 p.m. with the thought, "I must get up at 2 a.m. in the morning to catch a train". This message is taken up by the subconscious mind and it is this subconscious mind that wakes you up unfailingly at the exact hour. Subconscious mind is your constant, trustworthy companion and sincere friend.

Memory

Smriti or memory is a function of Chitta (subconscious mind). 

If an experience is fresh, you can have a complete recall of your past experience through memory. 

How Does Memory Arise

Suppose you have received a nice fan as a present from your amiable friend. When you use the fan, it sometimes reminds you of your friend.

If your brother is a tall man, the sight of a similar tall man in another place will bring to your mind the memory of your brother. This is memory due to the similarity of objects.

Suppose you have seen a dwarf at Madras. When you see a very tall man or Patagonian, this will remind you of the dwarf whom you saw at Madras. The sight of a big palace will remind you of a peasant's hut or a Sannyasin's grass hut on the bank of Ganga. This memory is due to dissimilarity in objects.

When you walk along the road on a stormy day, if you happen to see a fallen tree, you conclude that the tree has fallen owing to the storm. In this case, the memory is due to the relation between cause and effect.

If you visit once the college wherefrom you received your education, ten years after you became an officer in the Government, all the previous memory of your college days will be revived now. You will remember now your old professors, old friends, old books and various other things.

Chitta is the memory bank: Chitta is the memory bank, which stores impressions and experiences, and while it can be very useful, Chitta can also cause difficulties if its functioning is not coordinated with the others.

Coordinating Chitta:  If Chitta is not coordinated with the other functions of mind, then the thousands, millions, or countless impressions in this bed of the lake of mind start to stir and arise. It is as if these many latent impressions, coming to life are all competing for the attention of Manas to carry out their wants in the external world. In the absence of a clear Buddhi, the competing voices of Chitta often drive Manas to take actions in the world that are really not so useful.

In the post on Karma, we touched upon the chain / sequence of Karma as under:-

  

In the next post, we will learn on the above sequence and also see how Chitta affects/gets aligned in the above sequence.

Love.

Paramhansa Yogananda