The Art of Managing Your Mind

Swami Mukundananda

Swami Mukundananda is an IIT and IIM alumnus, being an exponent of the Material Managerial skills and having undergone a rigorous internship under the divine guidance of his Guru, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji, Learning the details of The Spiritual Science. By the Grace of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, Swamiji has been teaching this unique art of managing one’s minds across the globe for more than past twenty-five years.

An uncontrolled mind is the subject for the vagaries such as lust, anger, greed, fear, jealousy, vanity, anxiety etc. that torment a person endlessly. To curb this infirmity, many people practice the art of positive thinking through their will power, not knowing that a human mind is helpless to bear the past karma. The Vedas, however explain that without a proper spiritual insight and proper self-knowledge, all means practiced to conquer the mind are fruitless.

Meaning & Nature of the Mind

It has been revealed in the Vedas, It is the Mind only that is the Root-Cause of Physical-Mental imprisonment and Liberation (Amrit-Bindu-Upanishad Shloka 2). What is this Mind, then? The Scientists fail to penetrate to the subtle mind, as they consider the brain as the mind. Brain is only a central processing unit, hard-wired with the physical organs of the body such as hands and legs. Moreover, while the Psychologists do admit the existence of Mind, they refrain from admitting the existence of Soul, the neutral source of Energy, through which, the mind functions.

Mind has been revealed as a subtle (not abstract) machine, through which a soul experiences and interacts with, the external world. A soul’s likes, dislikes, desires, tendencies, instincts are all stored in a part of our subconscious mind. Mind, however, functions in various modes and stages.

Types of Mind

Primarily, the subtle human mind can be divided into Four Partitions. Mind you, it is the one single mind that enacts four different roles simultaneously, as revealed in Shreemad Bhagavatam Puran (3.26.14).

Mann (The Desire-Weaving Machine)

The mann instinctively makes sankalpas and vikalpas or desires of sense gratification. The mann is heavily affected by the surroundings and past karmas of a soul. This being mind’s inherent function, the mind cannot be deprived of making desires. There is not a single moment, where mind can stop making sankalpas and vikalpas. (Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta 3.5), knowing this well, instead of annulling the mind, the devotees try to diver the thought-flow towards the Spiritual Realm by constant remembrance of the Lord’s Names and Divine Pastimes.

Buddhi (Intelligence)

Once the mann decides a particular thing or hatches a particular desire, the data is further processed to the Intelligence, where it is weighed taking into consideration social viability, status, personal image and other material constraints.

Both Mann and Buddhi carry out their jobs with the alliance of the memory faculty, wherein samskars (neural-images) of past infinite births are stored in the mind.

Chitt (Contemplation)

Once the Buddhi weighs viability and feasibility of a particular desire, the more evolved or status-conscious individuals churn the application furthermore in this highly advanced and subtle machine called chitt. Most of Para-psychologists, yogis and munis fail to breach the code of this subtle organ.

Ahamkar (Ego)

Ahamkar is not ego but the inherent sense of I or ‘I’-ness. It is of two kinds, the unreal and the real. The material Ahamkar, that of considering one to be a body or a sense of belonging to a particular cast, nation, ethnicity, species etc., is false ego. Whereas, considering one to be a Pure Atomic particle of God’s Marginal Potency aka Atma is Real Ego.

Stages of Mind

Human Mind can be divided primarily into three stages based on the level of its consciousness about its own entity.

Conscious Mind: Conscious mind is the mind that one is conscious about. The habits that we know we have, our limitations, vices, infirmities etc.

Subconscious Mind: Subconscious Mind is that sphere of our mind that we know but we cannot express through words or gestures.

Unconscious Mind: This more than 99.99% of our mind. All the material aspects that we do not know are stored in the unconscious mind of a soul.

Super-conscious Mind: This is the mind of a turiyaatita yogi, whose consciousness is able to reflect its optimum capacity, but this also is limited to the relativity of the yogi. It would be indeed very incompetent to conclude that such an individual receives the cosmic consciousness.

Divine Mind: This is a mind of a pure devotee who has been impregnated with Pure Love of God by his/her Guru.