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Mystery Of The Mind

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by Viswamitra, May 29, 2022.

  1. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    The mind is a cauldron of thoughts and nothing more. When I put them into actions, I create a strong impression in my mind that creates more thoughts and associated feelings and emotions. Human being is a social animal and keep gathering opinions on history, science, technology, geography, humanity, anatomy, physiology, religious beliefs, political philosophies, community, country, and the world. The mind analyzes these opinions and super impose them on its own belief, values, feelings, and emotions built from the friends, relatives, teachers, and guides and provide its analysis on each such subject. This eventually becomes the attitude, behavior, and character of everyone. I acquiesce myself to this strong entity without looking for the facts.

    Opinion becomes valuable only when it is verified by the facts that exist. When it comes to evaluating others around us, the mind applies all its discrimination and create a label for each person it interacts with and evaluate their actions based on this thesis. Whereas, when it comes to evaluating myself, the mind stands its ground and project myself as flawless and unambiguous individual. I often mistake this as self-confidence and self-belief. There is no anti-thesis when it comes to evaluating my mind and its beliefs.

    How do I change this benchmark approach of the mind? I should eliminate the mind’s clandestine approach to evaluation and its processes should be evaluated with care and diligence. One crucial step for this is to be open for change consistently without any hiccups. I need to incorporate that all my accumulated database and associated analysis are subject to change. I need to evaluate the processes of cognition and reconstruct it, as needed. The deference to the mind with full faith should be reviewed on a regular basis through introspection. Self-belief or self-worth becomes stronger only when this change is possible in cognition. I need to only standardize how I evaluate the cognition than standardizing the opinion of the mind.

    The mind is a mystery when it is considered totally as an entity and that is why it is important to divide them into thoughts, feelings and emotions and evaluate how and when it occurs and reasons for such occurrences. Sometimes, my dreams and even my thoughts during waking state are mysterious and unrelated to the occurrences in real life. The moment my mind is evaluated, it begins to defend itself. Therefore, it is imperative that I should pretend to make an otherwise magnificent mind from good to great to make it more effective in its decision-making. A disciplined mind is difficult to achieve unless I practice a) meditation, b) calming the mind exercises, c) avoid anxiety, d) mind-cleansing, e) attitude to take inputs as a data as opposed to finished product, f) willingness to change my own belief system.

    There is subtle difference between self-confidence and ego. To have confidence is to have faith in my own abilities and believe in myself, but the ego is something else, entirely. Unlike confidence, the ego operates out of self-interest. It seeks approval, accolades, and validation at all costs to be seen as “right”. It is resistant to feedback and assigns motive where there isn’t any. Therefore, when I evaluate the cognition methods with open mind, I should ensure I am not validating an existing theory of “how to” as opposed to willingness to change to a new method of cognition. I need to change my perception that having more data alone will help me overcome my plagiarism but truly it is my change of my cognition that would produce better results. The quality of my life is dependent upon my character built through my choice of what I decide to receive, how I process information I receive, and I put those outcomes into actions.

    That is how we become closer to the Truth and achieve self-confidence and self-satisfaction.
     
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  2. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Viswa,
    Wonderful article,more or less a consolidated version of all
    you have written about mind for so many years.
    The way you have explained makes it very intelligible. But to put it into practice is a marathon job. Our mind is busy making patterns always.The patterns are formed from the previous experiences.
    Sometimes the mind conjures patterns well before the entire subject comes to view having in mind the previous references.It sends its patterns through the brain to the little organ 'eye'.
    That is how sometimes we see what is not there. It is the made up
    pattern of our nerve centre.,the great analyst, the wonderful brain.
    Now we can realise" Kannaal Kaanbathum. poi. Kaathaal ketpathum poi.
    Theera visaariththu arivathe mei"( Whatever we see or hear is false.
    What we analyse and receive is the exact truth".

    Sometimes I feel tht we cannot rely on our brain ,the agent of our mind.The decisions we take during crisis may prove to be wrong because of the wrong guidance from the brain. I wonder whether
    our mind also is susceptible for what is known as 'Bramai',the imaginary realisations.
    If our voice mind goes wrong, whom else can we believe?


    Jayasala 42
     
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  3. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    Very logical analysis of mind by a 'mind'. It is rather impossible to understand mind. It is also very difficult to get away from preconceived thoughts. A child comes with an open mind but with growing years, the mind gets filled. Some unseen process cleans it and fills it with different thoughts and the process goes on.
    But I can say with certainty that some thoughts ingrained never leave. I have tried it and I feel that my mind gives a convincing reason not to get to rid of something I do not want to continue. This is true for those who believe in something spiritual and also those who are addicted to some drugs. Both find reasons to justify.
    I am however thankful that my mind is working.
    They say only 10% of our mind is functional and active. I wonder what if it was 100%?
     
  4. hrastro

    hrastro Platinum IL'ite

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    I dont know if I will go too much tangential @Viswamitra ji! Your understanding of life is so much more advanced than mine ...

    When I was reading your article I thought of "Humility" - the minute we put Humility in practice, we automatically will NOT use discrimination to the detriment of the truth.

    The more we know and learn and understand and process, the more we realize how much we DONT know.

    This sanskrit subhashitam tells you
    युक्ति युक्तं प्रगृह्णीयात् बालादपि विचक्षणः।
    रवेरविषयं वस्तु किं न दीपः प्रकाशयेत्॥


    yukti yuktaṃ pragṛhṇīyāt bālādapi vicakṣaṇaḥ।
    raveraviṣayaṃ vastu kiṃ na dīpaḥ prakāśayet॥

    A wise person receives and accepts wisdom even from a child, just as a small lamp illuminates places where the sun cannot reach!

    So Everyone we ever meet (or interact with) knows something that we can find worth learning.
    Keep smiling
    HR
     
  5. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    It would be mind-boggling. When a container or vessel filled continuously, it gets not only remain filled but begin to over flow.

    A preceptor says when mind is filled with more and more good and innocuous thoughts it purges the brain container of bad and toxic components which alone overflows and get diluted and disappear.

    Another strange think is that what I memorised some sixty or seventy years before p, still green in my memory whereas my sincere dedicated effort to memorise something new remains ticklish. I need to associate with so many known and popular things already stored in my mind . In young age without need of association I was remembering chaste thirukurals and other long poems. Now despite association at times I turned “tube light” meaning poor or late in grasping.

    In a discourse late Padmasri Kriupa Nanda warrier said about three four varieties of brain. That one instantly grasps equated camphor brain. The one without thinking or analysing blindly follow a group is equivalent to cattle brain and the one never able to catch or grasp anything is treated as ash brain as ash is already totally burnt.

    Brains can be spiritual. Brains can morons. Brains can be absentminded. Brains can suffer amnesia. Brain dead people can live in coma or comatose. Brains can’t be transplanted yet. One remembers Hitler for his set up researching transformation of brain to suit one needs.
    If a human brain is to be 100% duplicated, the size of the equipment estimated to be gargantuan but shorties of the world and leaders in miniaturisation might before next century produce artificial brain.
    Modern AI technology paved the way already.
    • A & B are twin prince of adjacent country and in love with Princess P of another country. However P loves A . A & B meets in kali temple and pray loudly seeking kali’s blessings for getting married to P. Having heard the other is villain, each draw their sword simultaneously from scabbard and behead the other. Heads severed from its body lying near the sanctum.
    • P arrived before A & B to the temple and watched from distance their praying loudly and beheading. Shocked of the scene, P prays to kali seeking kali to bring back a A alive.
    • But kali says “join the head of your lover with his body- He would turn alive. A & B Being twins, she perplexed in matching head with body.
    • Kali says that P connected heads and bodies but there was mismatch. I.e. A’s body with B ‘s head & B’s body with A’s head and P choose which one her lover.
    Vedal finish telling this story to Vikram and asks which combination of body-head P chose to marry - latter answers brilliantly.
     
  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Smt. Vatsala Jayaraman:

    Whan an invaluable feedback yours is! Indeed the mind uses previous experience to judge anything we see in this world. In a famous book, "The Holographic Universe" written by Michale Talbot explains how the vision works. I always believed the image of what we see falls in our screen through Retina which is converted into an image instantly. However, he explains in the book, after the image falls in the screen, it is processed by our brain, compared with our previous experiences, and then, provided information about what we see. All these processes takes less than fraction of a second and hence we don't see time delay. It definitely interpret things real time even before analyzing the full facts.

    There are two types of cerebreal capabilities. One I call is part of the system that is available for regulatory services in our body such as immune system, breathing, circulation of blood, cells, etc. on which we have no control and it happens automatically. There is another part we build from our interations and experiences and that is the part we can modify the process of cognition.

    It is indeed difficult to refine the mind as we can't do it without the help of the mind. We have to use its discrimination capabilities to evaluate itself which is an uphill task.
     
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  7. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Hari Sir,

    You are absolutely right. It is difficult to get rid of some thoughts and change how our mind processes information. It requires sustained effort to edit the way we process information as every new information is processed compared with its past practices. There is a movie taken a few years back called "Lucy" and you should watch it to learn what happens if the human cerebral utilization improves from 10% to 100%.
     
  8. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    @hrastro,

    Thank you for your feedback. I am still a novice in understanding life and the mind in particular. You are right about humility and the ability to think we are part of the whole that enables us to realize how little Jiva knows when compared to the knowledge that exists. In fact, 85% of what I know are learned either from the Rishis and Saints who spent their entire life time educating the humanity or from people who are younger than me. Even a new born child can teach something to us.
     
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  9. Thyagarajan

    Thyagarajan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear @Viswamitra
    A brilliant incisive analysis through the myriads of mind by a mind of quest.
    Your post reminded me of certain views read in 1960s from book ”Man The Unknown” written by Alexis Carel, a Noble laureate. I am sure you must have already studied this book. He compares mind process in telepathy & clairvoyance. Clinking the The link* below would take the clicker to the book. The introduction itself is a valuable study.
    *
    https://nige.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/alexis-carrel-man-the-unknown-1935.pdf

    At one place, in the book Alexis prophesies that in future world will have doctors/ physicians/specialists separately for each side of the human body - right side (of) organs distinct from those of left - A specialist for Right foot, a specialist for right eye, specialists for right side of head which controls left side of body ...and so on.

    How the mind was operating to give running commentary by Sanjaya to dhriddashtra of kurushthra war that was taking place at a far off vast open grounds? How demon Trijatha in His dream seen in his mind the fall of Ravana & Lord Rama’s victory?

    Mind is said to be not an organ but a process which can be refined and that is all about said in Vedas. I heard in discourse by an eminent Sanskrit scholar that All kind of thoughts are floating outside our body in cosmos. He compared it with communication tower and person receiving/sending signal. According to him, In deep sleep there is no mind and one is said to be near death.
     
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  10. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Thyagarajan Sir,

    Thank you for sharing the link for the book written by Mr. Alexis Carel, a Nobel Laureate. I have not read it before but would definitely like to read. Yes. There is a subtle difference between the mind and the brain. The Mind is all inclusive functions of our body including the function of a cell whereas brain refers to only one organ in the body. Even cells have mind to act and react to situations.

    Thoughts are not originated in the brain but it arises from the consequences of past actions encrypted in us. Based on prarbtha karma, experiences unfold for us and our individual free will can be used to encounter them with our discrimination. The Scriptures clearly defines Waking, Dreaming and Deep Sleep states. During Shusupthi (Deep Sleep) the mind ceases to exist (exception being the auto pilot motions) with no thoughts and that is precisely why we feel highly energetic and super active right after we wake up.

    I divide the mind into conscious mind, subconscious mind and unconscious mind. More we tap into unconscious mind, the waves we tap into are extremely powerful and could help us to lead an ideal and purposeful life. Please refer to a snippet I wrote on April 2, 2017 titled Tip Of The Iceberg
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2022
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