MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

First, we were introduced to the antaHkarana.
Second, we understood a little more about the ahangkaara.
Today is the turn of...

Manas - mind. Now, it might be appropriate to point out that in everyday usage, mind is the generic term for all that goes on within our personality. The ahangkaara might have prompted an idea for some activity, but the next question - often said aloud - is 'what do you have in mind?'

Image source: AOX

In other words, 'what are you thinking?' In terms of the antaHkarana, the mind is that constantly flowing river of ideas, concepts, images, parcels of information which we term as 'thinking'. It all happens at such a rate that we are inclined to think of it, like the water in the river, as one homogeneous item. However, just as water is made up of individual molecules, so mind/thinking is nothing but a long string of thought capsules. Under a microscope, we can see water molecules. The 'microscope' by which we can best 'see' our mind is meditation^^.

As thinking is the most active part of the antaHkarana, it is not surprising that it is the part most studied by science. When we are thinking, the brain is at its most active. It is, therefore, easy to understand why it has been considered that the brain itself is responsible for thought. Biochemical reactions, however, cannot account for abstractions which arise from thought. Thus, in recent times, science has been considering the possibility of mind existing independently of the brain. Again, these scientists could save themselves a lot of work if they studied Vedanta!**

For we little individuals, working with 'monkey mind' is sometimes a battle. Keeping thoughts controlled and focused is a requirement for the achievement of tasks. We all know someone *cough* who might be termed 'scatter-brained'. Day-dreamers, wishful-thinkers... letting the flow of thoughts meander down side-streams, into gulleys, sometimes raging torrents, unfettered and wasted.

If we apply the brakes of the buddhi, the intellect, we can harness the power of the thoughts and yield energy that may be boundless.

^^Meditation, in the truest sense, is to watch the mind. It is to see the individual thoughts and slow them right down - then seek out the spaces between those thoughts. The place of no-mind, but where existence still is. 

**Personal aside: it was one of the wonders and great attractions of the philosophy for me when I discovered that Vedanta contains everything from quantum theory to clinical psychology to business practice, social practice, ethics... and so much more. There is actually nothing in modern science that has not already been researched and experimented and explained in Vedanta. The terminology is different, of course; but the main difference is that Mankind is 'rediscovering' these things with physical instruments that are now proving what was seen only with the incredible minds of the Rsis. Yup, they even described the anu (atom) and tanmatras (sub-atomic particles) as the building blocks of the physical world. There is nothing that cannot be comprehended if we apply our minds fully!