Mind Is a Marvel

Divine Life Society Publication: The Mysterious Mind and Its Control by Swami Chidananda

In the East, the Yogic masters, rose beyond the mind through processes of Yoga, and totally separated themselves from the mind and all its associated functions, and from that point of vantage, untouched by the mind, and entirely free from influence of its habitual patterns of thought, patiently studied its essential, inherent nature and its behavior. They beheld it in the light of a tangible and higher spiritual experience upon which they were established, and from where the mind was seen to be a distinct object apart from the seer, a thing to be observed and studied.

Mystery of the mind

Vegetation is entirely unconscious of itself and its environment, knowing nothing about the soil in which it grows, about the winds blowing above it, about the water soaking it. In man alone, there is some miraculous factor which gives him an immediate perception of his surroundings, and simultaneously gives him the ability to develop knowledge out of which new ideas are created for himself. This phenomenon is the mystery of human life. It is the mystery of the mind.

If you are in possession of this amazing mental faculty, wherever you go, knowledge opens its doors to you; whereas, deprived of this faculty, you are just like a pebble or a stone or a cabbage. When you go into sleep, and as soon as the mind is absorbed, you 'lose' all practical knowledge and become like a block of stone or a piece of wood. The moment the mind starts its activity once again, the whole miraculous motion involved in life begins anew.

Mind – a boon or a bane

What is this mysterious thing that makes so much difference to our being by its activity and its non-activity, by its projection and its withdrawal? Man is all too unconscious and ignorant of this inner marvel of his own mind. Who gives thought to thought? A total change is brought about in that personality in whom the mental functions go out of order. Such a person loses his importance and even his 'individuality'.

The faculty of the mind is the greatest gift that God has bestowed upon the individual soul. Human nature consists of the mind, but unfortunately, the mind can be the greatest single curse as well. Everyone knows from experience how the mind can plague man at the pinnacle of God's creation and is indispensable to his life in this framework of earthly existence.

The State of mind

Now, we see that happiness or unhappiness is totally a question of the state of mind. Passion, unlimited desires and uncontrolled impulses are the unmaking of an individual. They lower the state of mind, and total loss of peace, terrific agitation and intense restlessness are the result. All this is experienced as pain, sorrow and suffering. Such mental experiences make man miserable no matter what other benefits God may have bestowed upon him. There is, therefore, a purpose in trying to understand the mind and in making proper use of it. The mind is designed as an instrument. Thought is, itself, your happiness and misery; your heaven or your hell. Thought can either make you or ruin you. When the thought process is ultimately stopped, life comes to an end. Thus, thought is life.

Thought and Mind

Mind and thought are not two different things. If a person is able to stop thought temporarily or permanently, then temporarily or permanently, mind ceases to be for him. If this were ever to happen by itself, the person would be ruined, but if it were done deliberately and scientifically, then he would become the master of the whole universe. Total and complete stoppage of all mental activity by complete mastery over the mind immediately gives man the experience of his True Being. When the mind is totally eradicated, then the experience of what you really are becomes your very own. You rest and have your existence in your Self.

Mind is a powerful instrument

Man's consciousness is never as it essentially is. The mind clouds it over and acts as the barrier, as the obstruction, to the play of Pure Consciousness which is your true being. You should consider mind as an instrument, for when its behavior and its functions are understood, you can use it as the greatest power that God has given. When it is not properly understood, when nothing about its control is known, then you are just a plaything in the hands of the mind. You should recognize yourself as the master of the mind; otherwise you will fall into the error of regarding yourself as a thinking machine. You are not a thinking machine. You are the thinker - the independent director and controller of this thinking machine called mind. If you do not realize this, you become enslaved by the mind. As the mind is inclined, so are you propelled. You are not at peace. You are tossed like a piece of cork on the surface of stormy waters. Instead of using the mind, you become helpless. This must not be.

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