Added for English Reader 57 post on 27th Jan 2014  Abhanga a week of Sant Tukarama.
Blog address : http: // tukaramasteachings.blogsopt.in
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For Marathi Readers a separate post in Matathi has been added .

Working of the Mind ( Theory ) part 2 :-

Review of Previous Information in Part 1 Post.

We have seen that the process in the mind starts with some Inspiration. This inspiration triggers / makes wave in our Chitta. Our various memories of enjoyment , Pain etc are stored in the chitta. The general name given to this stored information is Seed of Desire.

Thus the seed of some desire germinates first after the inspiration happens.

.It may be noted here that whatever food( All the information received through our five sense organs can be called food.) we receive and eat also causes some more seeds to be generated and stored in the Chitta.

Mother of Pondechhery Aurobindo Ashram has said that “ The thoughts take the form and are always going in the world. Thus these thoughts are surrounding us. When our mind is receptive they enter our mind and then cause some desires to manifest. Probably this is the reason why in Patanjali Yoga sutras it is said the one should rather control the Chittavruttis ( the desires manifesting in the chitta).

The ultimate (final) appearance of the manifestation of turbulence is our Chitta takes the form of our feelings., which arise in our manas ( mind) .

In this part described below is the theoretical working of

3) Manas ( the mind) 4) Intellect 5) Ego ( Egoism)

1)Manas:- Manas is that part of our Atahkarana ( Mind) which is responsible for Sankalpa (mental resolve, intention, determination, will , desire) and Vikalpa . ( Uncertainty, Doubting, hesitation,suspicion) doubting. Besides this various feelings like Love, Anger, Hatred , pity , respect etc occur in our mind first .For every situation some of these feelings ll occur in the mind Because of these feelings, it is unable to take a firm decision what happens in the mind is described in the next paragraph here.

In fact our Manas( mind) is not able to decide what action we should take. Some times it feels like we should act like this or that,( this is called Intention, Mental resolve etc) . At the same time the mind also gets a doubt whether the mental resolve or intention is right or not. Mind is in fact incapable of taking a firm decision for the course of action. (This part of mind is therefore addressed as Mercurial mind for this reason in the literature.)

Therefore it simply presents the dilemma to the intellect to give the decision.

4. Intellect :- This is that part of our mind which is our power of Discrimination and Decision.
   There are three r categories of Intellect as per Sri Bhagavad Geeta.
   a) Tamasik Buddhi ( 2) Rajasik Budddhi 3) Satwik Buddhi . All our decisions and discriminating actions fall under one of these categories.

Late Lokmanya Tilak ( Author of Gitarahasya ) has named our Intellect as “ Judgmental Power” since it is the one which like a Judge in a Courthouse gives decision after weighing all the pros and cons. This decision is then transferred to the Ego to physically act on the same and thus the action is the result of implementation of the decision or Judgment.

५) Ego:- Egoism is that part of our mind, which produces the sense of “ I” and “ Mine”.
At the Individual level our Egoism is active during the time when we are in the Awakened state , or Dreaming. The Egoism causes the feeling of “ I am the doer or I enjoy the effects of any action”
When we decide to perform some act knowingly then it can be said that we are proud of doing the same act. This love for the act and its effects is generated because of Ego only. Ego can not be denied and will be present as long as we are alive.
It is our Ego which makes us feel that we are receiving the information ( sensations) through our five sense organs and the mind.

Because of the Ego we are having the sense of I , and others ( meaning that I am separate from others) and since we all are actually Immortal ( The Self residing within us the Atman is immortal); this is reflected in the mind and thus through the Ego . Thus every living being strides to preserve ones own body first..

Shri. Ramakrishna Paramahansa has said that “ Ego will be present as long as one is alive and hence it is better that it serves the Divine as His servant” This saying gives us the idea about the method to control our mind. It is up to us how to use it.

Now a simple example is given just to describe the above described process (in the Previous Post and the current post)

Summer has arrived and so there are advertisements in the Newspaper about the availability of Alphanso Mangoes.

a) The advertisement was seen ( Through the eyes the information entered the mind)

( Earlier I had tasted these Mangoes and it's taste, colour etc lingered in my Chitta )

b) Due to the trigger of the advertisement ; a desire arose in the mind that I should purchase the Mangoes to enjoy the same.

c) However the Physician has clearly warned me that “ Don't eat any Sugar including
Mangoes and sweet fruits. This memory got triggered after the desire to eat Mangoes came to the mind.

d) My mind could not decide whether to proceed to buy or stop Hence it approached the Intellect to give the decision.
e) Intellect thought and arrived at the conclusion that Though I am forbidden to eat the Mangoes the family members can at least enjoy the same. Hence the decision given is to buy the Mangoes.
f) “I” went to Market and purchased the Mangoes.

The details of various practical aspects , based on the above describes process in this and the last post will be presented in the next Post .

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