Mind and Ego.

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Objective knowledge is not possible by use of the physical senses and brain alone.Hence,side by side with the physical evolution,another instrument,the mind,had to evolve.Scientists believe that along with the appearance of life in physical form,mental activity also appeared.However it is only in man that this faculty has developed to the maximum.So mind is an inevitable consequence of life and it begins long before the complex nervous system is evolved. In our scriptures,unlike in those of the West,mind is considered as a form of energy or matter and referred to as the sixth sense organ.It is an instrument of Consciousness from which it arises.Lord Krishna says in the Gita 'mamai vamso jivaloke jivabhutah sanatanah/manah sasthani ndriyani prakritisthani karsati' ( A fragment of My own Self has become a living form,eternal in the world of life.It draws

to itself the senses,of which the mind is the sixth,that revels in the nature.).Just as the gross form has Consciousness as its source of origin thru the intermediate stages of energy patterns,the mind as well as intelligence arise from the same source.Again the Lord says 'Indriyanam manas ca'smi bhutanam asmi cetana (Of the senses I am the mind and among living beings I am Consciousness.).So mind energy,physical and material energy are various forms and stages in the expression of Consciousness.Thus the physical body consisting of the five senses,the mind and the intelligence arise from the same source,only varying in their grades of subtlety,the body having the maximum grossness.The Lord rides in the chariot of the body using intellect as the charioteer,the mind as the reins and the five senses as the horses. The

mind is one faculty in man that,being very elusive,has intrigued the physiologists,the neuorologists and the psychiatrists alike.An interesting story is that of a master and his disciple.Once a disciple came to the master and said 'Sir,I hv no peace of mind,please help me'.The master told him 'go home and bring your mind tomorrow and I shall pacify it'.The student returned the next day looking rather dejected.The master asked 'well,have you brought your mind?'.The disciple lamented 'Sir,I searched for the mind everywhere but could not find it'.The master said,'Ah,there you are.I hv pacified your mind'.The inference is that there is no point in the body where the mind can be located.Commonly people talk of the brain as the seat of the mind.But,on careful analysis we know that the brain is nothing more than an instrument thru which the mind and intelligence function. The spiritual teachers

deny the mind the status of a separate entity.and say that it is only a flow of thoughts that constitute the mind.This fits in with the view that the mind is a form of energy and only when it moves or flows it reveals its presence.Any type of energy can be known only when it becomes dynamic. As designed the human mind has very limited functions to perform.The first is to intrepret the information brought in by any one of the physical senses and the second is to coordinate the functioning of the different senses so that a composite objective knowledge can be gathered.In this process it makes use of the brain for storing and subsequent retrieval of the images.The brain itself is not the source of the principal thought.It is only an operating centre for the energies of life,mind and intelligence.If the life energy is turned off by the Consciousness the

brain will cease to function.Besides these two basic functions the mind is capable of two other phenomena,viz.projection into space and time.While the actual stimulation of the sense organ,like for instance the ear,takes place in the organ itself,the impulse may come from a place far away from the body.The mind is capable of not only identifying the sound but also able to locate the source ofthe impulse outsidethe body,where it comes from.So too it is capable of such a projection in time also.Mind is a priceless possession.It is God's greatest gift to man.The scriptures say that the mind alone is responsible either for man's bondage or for his liberation.It depends how one uses the same. Normally the mind shuld stop with these functions and when there is no need for its functionng,it shuld stop emanating and reside in its

source,namely the Consciouness.Such a mind is referred to as the whole mind.However the mind does not stop there but starts moving out continuously,forming ts own concepts. It jumps from place to place like a restless monkey.This everyone experiences atall times whether in work,doing prayer etc.The taming of the mind is such a fantastic job that it requires super human efforts in the ordinary course.Even when we read this our mind instead of concentrating on that must be moving to different things, abt the pending things to be done tomorrow,thinking at the ailing relatives etc etc.This development ultimately reaches such proportions that the mind gets out of hand and divorced from its source.Hence it is rightly said that Consciousness plus conceptual activity is mind and mind minus its concepts is Consciousness.The first concept is to split what is

otherwise whole and assume an individuality.This is the result of the mind identifying itself with a particular psychosomatic system.With the sense of individuality arises the 'me' thought and everything outside that particular form becomes 'you' or the other.Thus starts the functioning of the split mind.The sense of complete identification with a particular body creates an imaginary individual,the ego.This phantom individual has no real existence of its own.With the rise of ego the flow of thoughts become a never ending process.The thoughts now revole round the ego and its selfish activities.With this the 'atman' is ignored and even forgotten.Another mental concept that arises as a result of forgetting the indwelling Consciounss is to imagine the existence of a personified entity called God,outside oneself. With it comes the fear of God and attempts to please Him and beg for

favours from Him. Sage Ramana gives a beautiful picture of this attitude of the ego.'TheLord bears the burden of the world.Know that the spurious ego which presumes to bear that burden is like a sculptured figure at the foot of the temple tower which appears to sustain the tower's weight.Whose fault is it if the traveller,instead of putting the luggage in the cart,which bears the load anyway,carries it on his head to his own inconvenience?'.No doubt man has to live in this world with other persons and objects but as Swami Ranganathananda says,'a boat will be on the water, that is the right place for the boat.But water shuld not be allowed in the boat,that is the wrong place for it'.It is strange that the ego strutting about with its tossing hood does not realize that the body on which its very existence depends will come to an end sooner or later.The only solution is that the 'atma' being the subtlest of all,shuld hold sway over the rest.When one breaks a coconut in the temple it is symbolic that the ego is broken too.The offering is not made as if the same is consumed by God.It is a symbol of destruction of 'ahamkara' which has to split into two at one stroke,the stroke of wisdom.When can one get the effect?When the fibrous shell is removed.So too man must strive to remove the fibrous matter that encases his heart,lust,anger,envy,and the rest of the wicked brood.There lies the secret of controlling one's ego and mind. Hare Krishna, agraman.

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