In the East, the scientists of the spirit 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 the influence of its habitual patterns of thought, patiently studied its essential, inherent nature and its behaviour. 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. How many of the modern psychologists of the recent century or two can claim to have thus risen above the mind and gone beyond its irresistible influence and from that vantage point studied its behaviour as a master-witness and observer? The Yogic masters, scientists avowedly of the inner realm of man, did gain a supra-mental freedom and independence and were able, as it were, to “put the mind before them”; and then they carried on their study of its workings in an objective and masterful way.
When the observer is himself involved in the subject of his study, his results are bound to be incomplete and coloured, because he himself becomes a factor in that thing he tries to study. It is impossible to get a perfectly undistorted and distinct view of his subject unless and until he finds out how to study it in a totally objective way. So long as you have not developed a faculty other than this mind (in this case, the supra-mental faculty), so long as you have not disentangled yourself from the mind, you will be unable to conduct competent research in the realm of the mind. As the Indian expression has it: “You cannot see your own eyes”. For this, a mirror has to be placed before your face. Similarly, for studying the mind, objectification of the mind is required. Long ago, there were great seers who managed to reach the supra-mental state in which suitable methods for such objectification could be adopted, and out of their deep studies came the great discoveries which have given man powers which hitherto he was unable to possess.
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Next: Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 2.Mind is a Marvel
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Sri Swami Sivananda The Path Beyond Sorrow
Chapter 11
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, Glorious Immortal Soul! A great deal has been written in the West lately about psychological theories and investigations. The subject we are going to discuss, therefore, may contain several ideas already familiar to most of you. Nevertheless, so important and invaluable are the things which have to be known and remembered about the mind that frequent repetitions are necessary. These are facts which have to be carefully considered and properly assimilated, not once, but many times. If they ever happen to be forgotten, you should be able to remind yourself by such repetitive thinking. The knowledge about the mysterious mind is ancient. From the dawn of civilization, these truths have been expounded by the Great Ones. From times immemorial, man has been reminded of his true supra-mental nature by the revelation of the wise sages and illumined seers at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 1.The Mind as Seen from a Vantage Point
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 1.The Mind as Seen from a Vantage Point, In the East, the scientists of the spirit 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 the influence of its habitual patterns of thought, patiently studied its essential, inherent nature and its behaviour. 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 at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 2.Mind is a Marvel
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 2.Mind is a Marvel, Stones, trees, grass and sand, which might have been existing in a given geographical area for centuries, can know absolutely nothing about their physical environment, but the moment an intelligent man enters into the area, he gathers innumerable facts pertaining to the same. He correlates these facts and in this way acquires useful knowledge. He may, for instance, ascertain the composition of the soil, the elevation of the land, the quarter in which the sun rises, the directions in which the water flows and the wind blows. Stones and boulders are immobile and insentient. 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 at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 3.MindThe Barrier Between Man and God
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 3.MindThe Barrier Between Man and God, It is universally acknowledged that the mind is the only link between man and the body, and between personality and the external world. Right from childhood man learns everything about the universe through the mind. Senses just feed in data to the mind. It is the mind which actually correlates the data and produces knowledge. It therefore provides the most important factor in mans life. The importance of this factor is recognized by the East, but in addition to this, the East has something more to say about the mind that has been unsaid by the Western psychologists. The East says that the mind is also the greatest barrier lying between man and the true source of his being. It is the barrier which for ever denies him access to the experience of infinitude. It is the limit within which the human being is confined and cramped into the dimensions of a narrow individualised personality. Struggling to expand and go beyond this limited range of consciousness, man is strongly opposed by his finite mind at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 4.Origin of Western Psychology
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 4.Origin of Western Psychology, Western psychologists have studied the mind in terms of characteristic action and behaviour. This approach is due to the way in which their attention was first drawn towards the mind. Western psychologists were primarily doctors. They started to work in the hospitals where treatment of various ailments and diseases was being studied and improved upon, but they found that certain diseases could not be cured by all the medical and therapeutic measures and, in this way they stumbled across the fact that the causes behind many of the diseases were mental. From this discovery, they proceeded to investigate the mental functions and found that there were certain clear connections between the functions of the mind and those of the body. Right from the start, the investigations of these Western psychologists centred around sick peoplepeople whose illnesses defied medical treatment. We could say, therefore, without exaggeration that the study of the mind in the West originated in a sort of morbid psychology. The diseased mind was the focus of the psychologists attention at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 5.Characteristics of the Mind
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 5.Characteristics of the Mind, The prime characteristic of the mind is externalization. The sages found that the flow of the mind was outward and not centred inward. That is the law of life: everything spreads outward from its centre. But there is a force which is trying to draw everything back towards their source and centre. When the externalizing force is overcome, man is able to release that re-integrating force, and in this way finds his Centre. When this is done, his search is over. Life is mastered. The second characteristic of the mind is constancy of activity. Never for a single moment is the mind still. The third characteristic is wideness in the range of its activity. Not only in one direction is it active, but in many directions. Now it is here, now it is there and now it is everywhere at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 6.The Primal Root Thought
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 6.The Primal Root Thought, Why does the mind not abide in its centre? What causes it to emerge again into external consciousness? The first answer is that by its very nature the mind tends to be externalized. Secondly, it is prevented from abiding in its centre by the irresistible momentum of the primal root thought I. This root thought I forms the very basis of your limited, false separatist individual personality and it is this root thought which mysteriously induces you into the error of identifying yourself with the body, the senses, the mind and its moods, and with names and forms at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 7.Operation of Subtle Impressions
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 7.Operation of Subtle Impressions, Just as a seed is sown in the soil, so the impression of every experience is made on the mind. These impressions of experiences are alive. They have in them the direct power to recreate the entire experiences which caused them in the first instance. (In fact, each impression seeks a repetition of the corresponding original experience.) at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 8.How to Transcend the Mind
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 8.How to Transcend the Mind, Now, the problem has been clearly stated. What is the solution? The solution lies in the complete reversal of this process. First you must try to control the externalization of the mind by overcoming desire. Very easy to saybut, how can desire be overcome? This is not too easy. Right thinking and discriminative reasoning hold a key to this solution. Various methods have been given. The great thing is to know yourself to be distinct and different from the desires. YOU are entirely separate and apart from all desire and thought at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 9.The Raja Yogic Technique of Selective Thinking
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 9.The Raja Yogic Technique of Selective Thinking, Patanjali, the expounder of the most complete science of mind-control, has said that if you want to get rid of any particular thought, then you should instantly raise a counter-thought of the opposite nature. If, for instance, you have a certain negative thought of fear, then introduce a positive thought of courage. If you have a negative thought of hatred and hostility, create immediately in your mind a positive thought of love, friendship and brotherhood. Fill yourself with the feeling of cordiality. If you are overcome by a thought of prejudice and intolerance, raise thoughts and feelings of sympathy, understanding and oneness. This can be done at any specific instant, with reference to any specific negative thought. This practice can also be undertaken as a complete course of psychological self-transformation with the technique systematically practised day by day. It is an invaluable inner discipline for your ethical unfoldment and progress. It can help you even in your spiritual awakening at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 10.Hatha YogaAn Aid to Mind-control
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 11: The Mysterious Mind And Its Control, 10.Hatha YogaAn Aid to Mind-control, In addition to these positive methods of overcoming the mind, you may also know that the mind is played upon by the three inner vibratory states, or movements, called (in Yogic terminology) Gunasmeaning qualities. They are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva implies purity and light. Rajas implies passion and activity. Tamas implies inertia, darkness and grossness. Purity tends to steady the mind and make it go inward, whereas passion and impurity throw the mind into a state of unsteadiness and turmoil and take it outward, away from its centre. The mind which is rendered Sattvic is beautifully balanced. Purity of life, in all its departments, is thus a great requisite for the refinement of the nature and the heightening of the being at energyenhancement.org
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