BHUMA-VIDYA 6

July 21, 2006

Om Namah Sivaya

The Chhandogya Upanishad

SANATKUMARA'S INSTRUCTIONS ON BHUMA-VIDYA

Section 3

Mind

Mono vava vaco bhuyah, yatha vai dve vamalake dve va kole dvau vaksau mistir-anubhavati, evam vacam ca nama ca mano'nu-bhavati, sa yada manasa manasyati, mantran-adhiyiyeti, athadhite, karmani kurviyeti, atha kurute, putrams-ca pasumsceccheyeti, athecchate, imam ca lokam amum ceccheyeti, athecchate, mano-hy-atma, mano-hi loko mano hi brahma, mano upassveti.

Sa yo mano brahmetyupste yavan-manaso gatam tatrasya yatha kamacaro bhavati yo mano brahmetyupaste 'sti bhagavo manaso bhuya iti manaso vava bhuyo'stiti tanme bhagavan bravatviti.

Beyond speech, and superior to speech, is the mind. Here is glorification of the functions of the mind, the capacity of the mind. Mind is superior, naturally, because unless the mind functions well, there would be no speech, no nomenclature and no learning. "Just as," says Sanatkumara, "two small fruits like mulberry or berry can be held together in the fist of the hand, just as the palm of one's hand folded contains within its fold two small fruits or objects, so does the mind contain within itself both speech and name." Speech and name are contained within the mind. This is the power of the mind. Whatever we do, we do only through the mind. We know it very well. We think first before we express ourselves in speech or utter a name. We think, "Let me do work," and then we start working. We think, "Let me have this, and let me have that," and then we put forth effort in that direction. We begin to perform various types of actions in this world, after thinking first.

So, thinking is prior to every other deed or effort.

Mind is supreme in life. It is well known to every one of us. The mind is practically our own self. When we refer to ourselves usually, in practical life, we are referring to the mind only. "It is me," we say. What do we mean by "me"? We are referring to the mind, nothing more than that. And mind has assumed the selfhood, by superimposition of characters. Selfhood really does not belong to the mind. As the mirror shines in sunlight, so does the mind assume selfhood by the transference of the character of the Self into itself. So, for all practical purposes in life, mind is the self and it is the individuality within us. The mind is responsible for anything that we achieve in this world or in the other world, because what we call world is nothing but the field of experience. The range of our experience is the world in which we are living. And all the experiences of our life are nothing but the expression of the actions that we perform, behind which there is the mind

that thinks. So, our world of experience is actually controlled and directed by the mind. Therefore we may say that, in a sense, mind is the world. "As the mind is yourself in this empirical realm, O Narada, meditate on mind as Brahman, the Absolute," says Sanatkumara.

Whatever the mind can think, that should be brought within the purview of the object of meditation. This is perhaps the last stage which ordinary people can reach in meditation. What can they do beyond the level of the thoughts of their mind? So, we should try to find out what are the possibilities of the mind, and bring all of them together into a stage of harmony, in an artistic manner. The pattern of thought should be beautiful. It should be complete. This is the meaning of the term 'absolute' here. We have to remember this again. The absolute is the completeness of any particular concept, whatever the concept be. So here, we have to reach the ultimate point possible by the mind. The arrangement of the conceptual objects should be such that nothing should be left out of purview. The reason for the movement of the mind away from the object chosen for meditation is the presence of a subtle feeling within, that there is something outside the object - beyond it,

above it, higher than it. The mind should include every blessed thing, so that there is no chance of the mind going away from the object. The mental object here is not any particular symbol of a physical object, but includes everything that the mind can think. This is the object of meditation instructed in this section.

"So, O Narada, here you are in the mental realm of meditation. Consider mind as all, and master it in such a way that it becomes one with your Being, and does not remain merely an external function of your outward living over which you have no control. It is yours. You are a master of your mind; it has become you," says Sanatkumara.

This generally does not happen in practical life. Though we say that the mind is "me", we are not masters of the mind. There are many occasions when it is revealed to us, to our surprise and sorrow, that the mind is not our self, though wrongly we do say, "my mind is me". If mind is "me", well, I should be a complete master of it. But it is not the case. As the wind blows, the mind goes in various directions, and we are drifted in the direction of the wind of the mind. So the mind acts as a master. It does not act as our own Self. So it is not true that the mind is the true Self. But it has to be absorbed into the Self in meditation in order that it gets controlled. Complete control of a particular thing is exercised only to the extent of the absorption of that particular thing into one's own Self. Anything that is one with us is controlled by us, and of that we are masters. We are not masters of anything that is outside us. So, in the realm of the mind, we should

be masters. We should control the mind completely and rule over it, by identification of our true Being with everything that the mind can think. This is one stage in the process of meditation.

"Revered Sir, is there anything greater than mind?" asks Narada, and Sanatkumara replies, "Yes, surely there is will, sankalpa, which is greater than mind."

---Sri Swami Krishnananda

Sivaya Namah

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