The human mind is a puzzle, a mystery, a paradox, a quandary, intractable to analyse; or it may be regarded as a supercomputer, though that would be facile. Sages, seekers, savants all have since the inception of the universe made valiant attempts to understand this riddle called the mind.
A close friend called up, highly animated. He had finished reading a book about life after death and various laws pertaining to the spirits. That the book had impacted his mind was quite discernible and he was keen to share the purported esoteric knowledge.
This friend had lost his mother sometime back to abdominal cancer and had been distraught in the aftermath of the tragedy. Given his mental state, he pored over literature on life after death and began penning his thoughts on the subject. As he was deeply attached to his mother he was planning to write a book – In Pursuit of my Mother.
He solicited my opinion on where spirits dwell and the laws governing spirits; and on what can be construed as an explanation to the question of life after a person has cast away his mortal self. Medical science and various scientific theories would trash any such presupposition or hypothesis. Such a supposition would find validation if and only if scientists discover solid evidence to support the argument.
A couple of years back he underplayed, in fact scoffed, as I narrated my experience while I underwent CST (Cranial Sacral Treatment) at the dexterous hands of a qualified Art of Living teacher. I could visualise a halo and the images of Jesus and Guru Nanak during the process.
Several seekers have had visions of Lord Krishna and other divine figures and Avatars while performing the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique. Sceptics do dross such claims. This is yet again an enigmatic state of mind. But a true seeker embraces such experiences with detachment and humility.
There is no plausible explanation of these experiential moments. Scientists and psychologists would treat them as mere hallucinations or a testimony of residual emotions in the human mind. However, a genuine seeker can attribute such experiences to the grace of the Guru, Sadhana, past life impressions or the Karmic cycle. But nevertheless, the human mind can be explored in both the conscious and subconscious states.
What then differentiates science from spirituality to understand the enigma that is the mind? The bedrock of science is the existence of proof. Proof that a particular medicine cures a pestilence enhances our belief in the curative power of the drug administered or in the line of treatment adopted. However, it is the reverse in the case of spirituality. The faith in a technique reinforces the belief. Faith transcends belief and is then acceptable to the seeker.
For instance, the seeker in pursuit of peace first develops faith in the practice of yoga, meditation, pranayama and breathing techniques to harness the potential of the mind, body and soul. And this supplements our belief.
The human mind should well be trained to follow the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) to become aware and wakeful rather than being despondent, constrained and cocooned in claustrophobia. In the former case seekers are in the vanguard state to peel the onion and discover the enigmatic condition of the mind.
Practising breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya and the diligent practice of yoga, pranayama and meditation entrenches the mind in the first category and makes it robust and sharp. It enhances our alacrity to appreciate various colours, textures and variegated thought processes of the human mind.
Are we aware that our solar plexus is just the size of an almond? The solar plexus can also be called the second mind. We can develop our intuitive abilities through the regular yogic practice of Surya Namaskar. The size of the almond then expands to assume the size of our palm. In such a scenario the gut feeling, our instincts and hunches magnify enormously and we perceive several extraordinary events seamlessly. But these practices should be done faithfully and unflinchingly, maintaining harmony of the body and mind. More importantly, the seeker needs to observe utmost Swachya (purity of thought, deed and physical cleanliness) while undertaking these practices.
The practice of Ashtanga Yoga accompanied with meditation and mindful breathing and consumption of Sattvik food energises the individual to examine the complexities prevailing in the human mind.
Through relentless Sadhana of Yogic practice, tapas and meditation the Kundalini Shakti in a seeker gets awakened and he can understand the enigma of the human mind – the wonderful creation, besides the meaning of the eternal truth. Such a person becomes clairvoyant.
There are some blessed souls who are born with such an awakened state of mind that they can plumb the purpose of life. In pursuit of truth and spirituality we find several cases of godmen, godwomen and clairvoyants getting maligned as they fall asunder and go astray. Why and how does this happen? They are unable to maintain the equilibrium of the energy levels that are to be harnessed by the awakening of the Kundalini Shakti. This too is an enigmatic condition of the human mind. It requires enormous patience, perseverance and equipoise to maintain the energy levels as even a clairvoyant can fall to emotions such as attachment and entanglement, lust and obsession, greed and jealousy, anger and arrogance.
This is a paradoxical condition where the world could have remained in the oyster, but slips out through the butterfingers of arrogance and ignorance. Angels who would have otherwise squirmed and wriggled on the appearance of those evolved in their domain and fiefdom, end up chortling and sniggering.
“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken away from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell,” said Buddha.
-Excerpt from my second book, ‘Make the Mind Mt.Kailasa’; published by The Write Place
ravivalluri 