Mind--Its Mysteries and Control - The Divine Life Society

MIND—ITS MYSTERIES AND CONTROL
DEGREE OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE THREE STATES
In sleep, some action or other is always going on in your mental or vital being; things
happen there and they govern waking consciousness. For instance, some are very anxious to perfect
themselves and make a great effort in this direction during the day. They go to sleep and when they
rise the next day, they find no trace of the gains of their previous day’s efforts; they have to traverse
the same ground once again. This means that the effort, and whatever achievement there was,
belonged to the mere superficial or wakeful parts of the being, but there were deeper and dormant
parts that were not touched. In sleep, you fell into the grip of these unconscious regions and they
opened and swallowed all that you had laboriously built up in your conscious hours.
Be conscious. Be conscious of the night as well as of the day. First, you will have to get
consciousness, afterwards control. Such of you as remember your dreams may have had this
experience that sometimes, even while dreaming, you knew it was a dream; you knew that it was an
experience that did not belong to the material world. Once you know, you can act there in the same
way as in the material world. Even in the dreaming state, you can exercise your conscious will and
change the whole course of your dream experience. And, as you become more and more conscious,
you will begin to have the same control over your being at night as you have during the daytime,
perhaps even more. For, at night, you are free from slavery to the mechanism of the body. The
control over the processes of the body-consciousness is more difficult, since they are more rigid,
less amenable to change than are the mental or the vital processes. At night, the mental and vital
parts of your being, especially the vital ones, are very active. During the day, they are under check;
the physical consciousness automatically replaces their free play and expression. In sleep, this
check is removed and they come out with their natural and free movements.
SUSHUPTI AND ADVAITA NISHTHA DISTINGUISHED
In sleep, the mind is in a subtle state. The Vrittis have also assumed a subtle state. But, in
Advaita (Vedantic) Nishtha, there is no mind. There is no universe. The world sinks down in
Brahman (Prapanchopasamam)—(Vide Mandukya Upanishad, II-1).
THE SUPREME SELF IN THE THREE AVASTHAS
The Supreme Self which has four forms, is inside the bodies of all living beings and is
known by the names Visva, Taijasa, Prajna and Turiya. The seat of the Visva is the right eye; within
the Manas dwells Taijasa, (Manasyantastu Taijasah —Gaudapada’s Karika on the Mandukya
Upanishad), while Prajna resides in the ether of the heart. The objects of enjoyment are of three
kinds—gross, subtle and bliss itself. Satisfaction is also threefold.
Jagaritasthano Bahishprajnah Saptanga Ekonavimsatimukhah Sthulabhuk Vaisvanarah
Prathamah Padah—The first foot of Omkara is Vaisvanara, whose region is the waking state, who
has objective consciousness, who has seven limbs 1 and nineteen mouths 2 and who enjoys gross
1 The seven limbs are: (i) Heaven (is His head), (ii) Sun (is His eye), (iii) Wind (is His breath), (iv) Akasa (is His
waist), (v) Water (is His pelvis), (vi) Fire (is His mouth) and (vii) Earth (is His feet).
2 The nineteen mouths are: Five Jnana-Indriyas, five karma-Indriyas, five Pranas and four Antahkaranas (Manas,
Buddhi, Chitta and Ahankara).
25