Human Mind & Computers By Pujyaswami Atmanandaji of Vedanta Mission

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

I wrote to Poojya Swami Atmanandaji, the founder of Vedanta Mission

asking for his permission to post his well written articles from the

monthly magazine Vedanta Sandesh. I am happy to report that Swamiji

conveys his best wishes to all the members of this list and was

delighted to give me permission to post any article from Vedanta

Sandesh. First, I want to thank Swamiji for his blessings and I plan

to select and post the articles that pertain to ongoing discussions.

This excellent article compares the Human Mind with the modern

sophisticated computers.

(Source: http://www.vmission.org/vedanta/articles/index.htm)

 

warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

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Human Mind & Computers By Pujyaswami Atmanandaji of Vedanta Mission,

 

Human mind is nothing less than a super, super computer.

Its configuration has no parallel. It has a hard-disk of almost

infinite gigabytes of memory, the RAM also is too large to be

true, the potential of its processing power is also mind

boggling. Of course it has a highly sophisticated in-built

multimedia. Unlike computers, which are just cheap imitations

of the great original which we have, the field of its operation is

not limited to the line drawn by the software fed into its

system. It has creativity & capacity to tread the unchartered

zones, as though simultaneously creating and using the

software. It has intelligence and the greatest thing is that it

can feel, it has emotions.

The evolution of minds of various beings is seen from their

capacity to be self-conscious & the freedom to decide our

responses. In human mind this capacity is also developed to

the highest, and we are free to decide our responses too. Such

a great, incomparable computer has been gifted freely to all

humans by the great, benevolent creator. We carry on our

shoulders a highly potent & sophisticated instrument, but alas !

most of us are just not aware of our potential & faculties. The

outside computer is a great help and should certainly be used

to make our lives better organised & fast, but we should

remember it is a product of this human mind alone. We should

learn to use & program computers outside, we should try

developing better machines, but should we in the process

ignore the great portable one which we carry on our shoulders

all the time. The consequence of this ignorance is that today

inadvertently our systems have been infected by an almost

fatal virus. Today that which was supposed to bless our lives

and also the lives of everyone on this planet has literally

become a curse for all. All miseries are invariably creation of

human errors & misunderstandings. The personal & social

problems, wars, sufferings, pollution everything is a product of

some highly bugged, virus-infected super computer called the

human mind.

 

……… Books of Religion are basically instruction manuals for

properly using & taking care of this great machine. These

manuals with their do's & dont's basically aim to help bring

about the optimum usage of the whole machine, and also help

avoid potential bugs & viruses. On the other hand the secrets

of the system & also its funadamental truths are revealed in

the more fundamental philosophical treatises. Who is the

operator ? Who is the creator ? How did he create ? Why did

he create ? What was there before creation ? What were the

raw material with which he created ? What is it which is really

responsible to bring about its optimum usage ? etc. are the

subject matter of all philosophies the world over. Vedas contain

in them both these aspects- the philosophy & religion, revealing

the basic truths & the operating instructions respectively.

What hangs the system :

……… The thrust of the instructions is that all our

understanding should be based on facts and should never be

baseless presumptions. Vedas have an almost fanatic penchant

for right knowledge. Delusory understanding is an insurance to

shattered expectations, and this is what brings about all grief &

pain. The fundamental delusion pertains to mis-apprehending

the truth of oneself. This first erroneous conclusion leads to all

subsequent mis-calculations. Strangely enough a person who is

never tired of talking about his knowlegde of various things

outside never pauses to understand his own truth, and keeps

identifying himself with superficial things like color of skin,

profession, financial status, nationality, sex etc. At times his

understanding about himself is not even skin-deep. An almost

criminal use of a sophisticated gift. What can one expect from

people like these ? They dig their own graves and go & lie in

them much before they have to deaprt from here. They

deserve their pains & problems, for the simple reason that they

themself are their creator & sustainer. They can be their

destroyer too - but only with the right knowledge. Well ! talking

in terms of our computer language, everyone should basically

believe in the existence or maybe the potential of a highly

effective anti-virus program. Whatever be your problem always

believe that there is a way out, and as far as the fundamental

problem is concerned the way out is very simple. To begin with

have an enthusiasm to get over the problem, have thorough

belief in yourself that you can do it, and there after make it

your second nature to come to any conclusions only after

proper enquiry. Never conclude about anything, including about

yourself without proper factual thorough enquiry. Never believe

that truth is known by majority votes. Learn to observe,

enquire and then test your conclusions too. Learn to question

everything, even the very fundamental presumptions. Blind

belief should never be about anything, including about religion,

traditions, culture or even the so called modern things. Just

because some scientists say something somewhere should also

be not considered as the ultimate truth. Their continuing

researches show that they are still seekers of truth, and the

whole picture is yet unclear.

The greatest anti-virus program :

……… The test of right knowledge is not in the development of

new technologies but in the ability to be contended within

oneself, and also in the ability to directly apprehend the

transcendental truth as one's very self. The choking sense of

limitation can never co-exist with right knowledge. That is why

when Arjuna was apparently giving out philosophical reasons of

his not going ahead with the performance of his duties, and on

the other hand was mentally almost broken, then Lord Krishna

smiling at this contradiction started his divine lecture on the

battlefield of Kurukshetra. So one should begin from the

beginning, one should begin with re-examining ones conclusion

s about oneself. Self-knowledge is indeed the most powerful

anti-virus program to put this great portable in order once

again. Enter the portals of Upanishads, understand with an

open mind the truths as revealed by the great Rishis of Vedas

and redeem your self. It was not without any reason that the

well-known, great German philosopher Schopenhauer said that

"In the world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as

that of Upanishads. They are a product of the highest

wisdom... and are destined sooner or later to become the faith

of (all the) the people."