What is the Mind? - I

The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and various other important spiritual books present a comprehensive analysis of the mind and its nature. The mind is generally defined as a continuous flow of thoughts. Just as a bucket or even buckets of water is not a river, the mind is not a thought or a group of thoughts, but a constant flow of thoughts. It is very important to understand this point, as one often mistakenly attempts to ‘stop’ the mind during meditation. A ‘stopped’ mind is not a mind; it is mere suppression that could, if continued for too long, result in a backlash, manifest as a revolt against the values one previously held, or complete apathy towards matters spiritual, or even added neuroses(on top of whatever hangups or emotional baggage one already carries).Another interesting thing is that it is the texture of our mind that regulates our experiences in life. The great observers and masters of the mind have found that our faculty of thought is subject to essentially three moods – sattva (purity), rajas (activity) and tamas (dullness, inertia). Unfortunately, there are no words in the English language that can succinctly capture the full import and nuances of these Sanskrit words, sattva, rajas and tamas. In any case, the fact remains that when the mind is pure, everything appears beautiful; when it is impure, everything feels muddy. A mind full of sattva is considered a pure mind, whereas one full of rajas or tamas is said to be impure. Readers who are new to Vedanta or spiritual philosophy will note that the words ‘pure’ and ‘impure’ here are not at all used in relation to sensuality, but rather, in terms of their deep philosophical connection with the concepts of singularity and integrity, versus fragmentation and disintegration of mind.