MIND

Mind very much resembles matter, both in its degrees of density and in its peculiarity of design. That's not surprising since the one derives from the other. We might also say that they are mirror images of one another. Just as matter varies in the size of its conglomerations, from the circumferences of giant stars and galaxies to the infinitely small subatomic world of its constituents, so mind ranges through the levels of experience infinitely above and below consciousness. There is no Not-Mind - not ever - except within the Ultimate Void itself.

Hypnosis sheds a faint light on certain levels of consciousness beneath the ordinary. By means of the intense concentration and focusing of attention that hypnosis evokes, we are able to accomplish feats of mind and body that otherwise only yogis know. Hypnosis works by forcing a thread of memory awareness deep into the mind labyrinth, which, however deeply it may penetrate the darkness, is always tied tightly to the ordinary consciousness at the top. Without that Ariadne's thread, the more deeply we were to concentrate on something, the more we would be lost to the world. The more attention we bring to bear on anything, the deeper into a simulacrum of sleep we proceed, as our surroundings and the outside world disappear into this darkness and outer sensations are walled off - presumably to prevent distraction. Since this state of concentration so much resembles sleep, in fact, the slightest lapse of the will sends us drifting towards unconsciousness. Ordinary sleep is a mirror-like repetition of the fragmentation of superconsciousness that we shall see results in abandonment of the self. However, as concentration proceeds ever more inward, the more the inner landscape is illuminated and narrowed. This "inner light" of laser-like consciousness is shared by the vegetable kingdom. (Its character can be recognized in psychedelic intoxication of various kinds). Finally, as we proceed into the unconscious itself we enter a quantum universe of our own. Here we find ourselves in the very "consciousness" of matter itself, with its links to everything in the universe. Presumably, death is but a deeper descent still, a proceeding into the actual heart of Mind, leading into the Void, which is the womb of all manifestations. Ordinary consciousness is obviously the link between higher and lower planes. It is a delicate balance between retreat into self-absorption and abandonment of the self to the sensory experience. It is maintained with great difficulty, for we have a tendency to drift out of it into one or the other of the two diametrically opposed realms of experience that it separates. These realms, of course, are infinitely more attractive than boring, old, routine mind. Within this narrow water-hole of ordinary consciousness, however, lie all the accomplishments and discoveries of human history. Indeed, it is this narrow and unreliable bridge that human society has learned to exploit as "civilization". Unfortunately, it has been examined but superficially and little has been done to stretch its dimensions or protect it from disintegration. Consequently we know almost nothing either of its limitations or its potential powers.

Heightened awareness is the opposed of focused attention or concentration. Attention becomes more and more generalized and cognizant of every petal on every flower in the garden, then every vein in every leaf. . . But now, as attention fans out, mind loses its coherency and begins to fragment. Under the influence of psychedelic drugs the attention is so fragmented that it merges altogether with the outer world and the inner self is abandoned to the chaos of the interface. The loss of the inner self, however, is usually accompanied by extreme panic as it attempts to jump from scintilla to scintilla.

For a time, the fragmentation of expanding mind can be kept under control by the use of amphetamines or cocaine in ever-increasing dosages. By means of these substances, alertness and intelligence are increased because attention is spread infinitely thin across a wider and wider spectrum of sensory experience coming in from the outer world. The "outer world" includes, of course, the consciousness of one's own body, as well as reflexive self-observation. At the same time, the inner self is being supplied with increased energy and speed too, so that it can maintain consciousness of itself and stave off chaos by racing back and forth around the ever-enlarging periphery of experience. As we are all very well aware, however, this path quickly comes to an end.

Fortunately, the heightening of externalized consciousness can be achieved without drugs, through mysticism. The sensory awareness can either be bypassed or used as the vehicle of its own transcendence. If the inner self is voluntarily released to heightened consciousness, which we sometimes refer to as leaving the ego behind in order to enter Nirvana, peace descends at once and chaos is transformed into the so-called "mystical experience." This process, once begun, can continue into such total absorption that the individual consciousness ceases to exist at any point and we could refer to that as a more or less permanent trance.

(See also: MIND, Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul, )

bodies: See: kosha, sharira, soul.

(See also: Bodies, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Mindfulness of the Buddha

Synonymous with Buddha Recitation. See "Buddha Recitation."

 (See also: Mindfulness of the Buddha, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

School of Mind (Hsin-Hsueh): Idealist-oriented Neo-Confucian school founded by Lu Hsiang-Shan which emphasized innate knowledge of the mind.

 (See also: School of Mind, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Non-Mind (wu-tsin): Taoist position that we should eliminate knowledge to allow us to live spontaneously.

 (See also: Non-Mind, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

mind.

(See also: mind., Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Buddha-mind: The mind of one who has been awakened to the desire for enlightenment. This is the intent behind the act of releasing Buddha-nature. It is also the inherent wisdom and enlightenment that exists in all sentient beings.

 (See also: Buddha-mind, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Bodhi Mind (Bodhicitta, Great Mind)

The spirit of Enlightenment, the aspiration to achieve it, the Mind set on Enlightenment.

It involves two parallel aspects:

i)               the determination to achieve Buddhahood and

ii)             the aspiration to rescue all sentient beings.

 (See also: Bodhi Mind (Bodhicitta, Great Mind, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

subsuperconscious mind: Anukarana chitta.

See: kala, mind, tattvas.

(See also: Subsuperconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

subconscious mind: Samskara chitta.

See: aura, conscience, mind (five states of mind), consciousness.

(See also: Subconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

superconscious mind: Karana chitta.

See: kala, mind (five states), mind (three phases), Satchidananda, tattva.

(See also: Superconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Mind The ancient wisdom taught that mind is one of the functions or innate attributes of the fundamental selfhood or consciousness of the monadic entity. There is the fundamental self, known from time immemorial as the atman, which in its self-unfolding or emanational activities produces the various attributes of itself, among which three almost indistinguishable attributes are what we call mind, intellect, and consciousness.

When manifestation is ended, these various qualities are rolled back into themselves and gathered up into the fundamental monadic self, upon which the monad begins its periodic enjoyment -- to use the Eastern term -- of its own selfhood, unadulterate, noumenal, and unitary. Thus, in its widest sense, mind is an attribute of the spirit side of being, as contrasted with the matter side, which latter nevertheless is intrinsically unevolved or latent mind; hence we speak of cosmic mind, of which there are innumerable limited aspects in the manifested worlds.

A somewhat different definition is, "Mind is a name given to the sum of the states of Consciousness grouped under Thought, Will, and Feeling. During deep sleep, ideation ceases on the physical plane, and memory is in abeyance; thus for the time being 'Mind is not,' because the organ, through which the ego manifests ideation and memory on the material plane, has temporarily ceased to function. A noumenon can become a phenomenon on any plane of existence only by manifesting on that plane through an appropriate basis or vehicle; and during the long night of rest called Pralaya, when all existences are dissolved, the 'Universal Mind' remains as a permanent possibility of mental action, or as that abstract absolute thought, of which mind is the concrete manifestation" (SD 1:38).

Here mind is consciousness in action, the phenomenon corresponding to a noumenon which, in the absence of vehicles for its expression, can only be described as mind in latency, or a possibility of mental action. The dhyani-chohans are the expressers of latent cosmic mind, who bring it into various degrees of manifestation. They are vehicles for the expression of divine thought and will, intelligent forces which give to nature its laws.

(See also: Mind, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

intellectual mind. Buddhi chitta, the faculty of thought and intelligence.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Intellectual mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Instinctive mind. Manas chitta, the seat of desire and governor of sensory and motor organs.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, five states of mind.

(See also: Instinctive mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

conscious mind: The external, everyday state of consciousness. See: mind.

(See also: Conscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

superconscious mind: Karana chitta, the strata of intuition, benevolence and spiritual sustenance. Its most refined essence is Parasakti, or Satchidananda, allknowing, omnipresent consciousness, the One transcendental, self-luminous, divine mind common to all souls.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Superconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

conscious mind: Jagrat chitta ("wakeful consciousness").

The ordinary, waking, thinking state of mind in which the majority of people function most of the day.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Conscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

subsuperconscious mind: Anukarana chitta.

The superconscious mind working through the conscious and subconscious states, which brings forth intuition, clarity and insight.

See: mind, chitta, consciousness, samskara, Satchidananda, vasana Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Subsuperconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

subconscious mind: Samskara chitta ("impression mind").

The part of mind "beneath" the conscious mind, the storehouse or recorder of all experience (whether remembered consciously or not) - the holder of past impressions, reactions and desires. Also, the seat of involuntary physiological processes.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Subconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Subsubconscious mind: Vasana chitta ("mind of subliminal traits").

The area of the subconscious mind formed when two thoughts or experiences of the same rate of intensity are sent into the subconscious at different times and, intermingling, give rise to a new and totally different rate of vibration. This subconscious formation later causes the external mind to react to situations according to these accumulated vibrations, be they positive, negative or mixed.

See: mind, chitta, consciousness, samskara, Satchidananda, vasana, Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Subsubconscious mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

inner mind: The mind in its deeper, intuitive functions and capacities- the subsuperconscious and superconscious.

(See also: Inner mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

universal mind: In the most profound sense, mind is the sum of all things, all energies and manifestations, all forms, subtle and gross, sacred and mundane. It is the inner and outer cosmos. Mind is maya. It is the material matrix. It is everything but That, the Self within, Parasiva, which is timeless, formless, causeless, spaceless, known by the knower only after Self Realization. The Self is the indescribable, unnameable, Ultimate Reality. Mind in its subtlest form is undifferentiated Pure Consciousness, primal substance (called Parashakti or Satchidananda), out of which emerge the myriad forms of existence, both psychic and material.

See: awareness, mind, chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world Three phases of mind, Five states of the mind.

(See also: Universal mind, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)