A Mind
What is a mind and how is it different from a brain?
A
brain is a physical part of the body that can be seen or photographed and even
operated upon and a mind is not a physical object. It can neither be seen nor photographed
or repaired by surgery. The brain is not the mind but simply a part of the body
whereas the mind can be defined as an entity
that has the nature of mere experiences with a clarity of knowing the right and
the wrong.
No
part of the body can be identified our mind because our body and mind are
different entities. For example, sometimes when our body is relaxed and
immobile, our mind can be very busy, darting from one object to another. This
indicates that our body can relax but mind is working continuously.
States of Mind: It's self –explanatory,
simply meaning how one feels. It is the state of a person's cognitive processes that disturbs our inner peace, such as anger, jealousy, and delusions
are some of the disturbed states of mind which are the true causes
of all our sufferings and problems. Each of us
has a unique mind: unique thoughts, feelings, perceptions, memories, beliefs,
and attitudes, and a unique set of regulatory patterns. These patterns
shape the flow of energy and information inside us, and we share them with
other minds.
We may
think that our suffering is caused by other people or by society, but in
reality it all comes from our own deluded states of mind. The essence of
spiritual practice is to reduce and eventually to eradicate altogether our
delusions, and to replace them with permanent inner peace. Permanent liberation
can only be found by purifying our minds. Therefore if we want to become free
from problems and attain lasting peace and happiness we need to increase our
knowledge and understanding of the mind-set.
WHY DOES THE MIND MISUSE PEOPLE?
What do
we mean by mind misuse? A mind that is
ambitious, greedy, envious, a mind that is burdened with belief and tradition,
a mind that is ruthless, that exploits people—such a mind in its action
obviously creates mischief and brings about a society, which is full of
conflict. As long as the mind does not
understand itself, its action is bound to be destructive; as long as the mind
has no self-knowledge, it breeds enmity. It is therefore essential that we
should thoroughly know our selves internally as no book can teach us this self-knowledge. Any book can give us other information’s about self-knowledge, but it is not the same thing as knowing ourselves
from deep within. When the mind sees
itself in the mirror of relationship, from that awareness comes self-knowledge;
and without this self-knowledge we cannot clear up this mess of terrible desolation
which we ourselves have created in the world around us.
We can easily assess that without
this, people misuse and hurt each other and unknowingly promote psychological
pain in relationships giving birth to the cycle of never-ending cruelty. Because of our traditions our minds have been
imprisoned in thinking that blind conformity is the only way to live as a human
being and are too afraid to change.
People would rather accept pain, suffering, antagonism, vindictiveness,
etc. instead of growing up and taking the responsibility of learning how to
live in peace. Peace is only possible through self-awareness and knowledge that
can reveal our contradictions, hypocrisies and fear of standing alone.
The challenge to every caring
human being is being squeezed out of existence due to which a great deal of
intimidation is faced to become like the rest of society. This war-driven society wishes to absorb
every human being into a collective blob of conflict, fear, domination and
oppression. Why is it that a person who is doing something wrong or mischievous
wants a companion with him whereas a right person always stands alone?
“As long as the mind does not understand itself,
its action is bound to be destructive; as long as the mind has no self-knowledge,
it only breeds enmity.”
Why
do people misuse other people? Fear
is the evil that permeates the world, not just a particular country but rules
the world in abundance. This fear of facing reality dictates most people’s
actions and conduct. For
the same reason we prefer to live a brainwashed existence allowing this fear to
dictate our decisions.
As
our mind prefers to cover up reality with images, beliefs, conjecture,
supposition, speculation, etc. We can’t simply just stand to humble and accept
the fact that our feelings and thoughts frighten us. Instead of sticking with that fact, we look
around to find a scapegoat to blame and or attack either verbally or physically.
The Remedy to this problem:
The
real problem is our mind with which we are afraid to deal with. We try to overthrow or ignore the feelings we
don’t like which further ends up in strengthening those negative feelings more and
more. So it is the fear of our in
secured feelings or thoughts that tempts us to misuse other people. People
are hypocrites for they desire to live in peace and still they want to force
people into conforming to their beliefs or political agendas. So as long as people are looking at each other through the
rose-colored glasses of images, beliefs and ideas, they will constantly clash
People need to wake up and realize the truth that it is our own mind that has
to be controlled or else be a voluntary part of this destructive society by
being either a victim or a tyrant because of which peace cannot exist.
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