�There is no way I can control the consequences. Life is an impersonal flowing and I cannot control either my life or anybody else�s life. This understanding is that I have no control, I am just a dreamed character and therefore all I can do is to function according to my natural characteristics. An even there, the understanding is that there is truly no �I� or �ME� except the body-mind organism as a reacting agent.� Ramesh S. Balsekar Consciousness Speaks Introduction These three items are not very well delineated, and confusion abounds in the usage of these terms. For instance, all these terms have been used interchangeably: brain, mind, ego, intellect, mental body, thought, memory, imagination, visualisation, concepts, analysis, mental projection etc. Then the term consciousness is equally muddled by loose usage of the term. These are some of the terms used pertaining to consciousness: subconscious, collective unconscious, super-consciousness, transcendental consciousness, personal unconsciousness, meditative consciousness, and transpersonal consciousness. It goes on and on. In fact, there are only three entities to be considered. These are the brain, which is the hardware; the mind, which is the software and Consciousness (pure Consciousness), the originator of the hardware and the software. The rest of the items mentioned above will fall into place at the end of this article. The least confusing term is that of the brain. The Brain The brain is the hardware that is part of the physical body. It contains all the hard disks, the floppy disks and all that go to form the personal computer and the monitor screen. This hardware comes as solid pieces that can be recognised and has a name from the manufacturer. The solid pieces represent the human body and the manufacturer�s name is equivalent to the name that is given by the parents. The brain (the P.C.) processes all the software instructions from the mind. These instructions go into millions per day. The efficiency of the P.C., the brain, is totally dependent on what the manufacturer (parents) put in (I.Q.). The parents also contribute to the physical, emotional and mental makeup of the offspring. A very important point to remember is that the hardware itself has characteristics of its own even before the infusion of the soul. This point would have been taken into account in the formulating of the G-plan. That means the hardware itself must contribute important features to the final product of the offspring, more than usually recognised. The soul is the not the only contributor to the body-mind complex. For instance, diabetes, myopia and even more serious ones like cystic fibrosis are well known inherited diseases. Most of the physical characteristics can be traced to the genes of the parents. Similarly, the parents may also contribute to some extent to the intellectual capacity of the product. However, most of the emotional makeup comes with the soul, although a small proportion may be inherited from the parents. Therefore before the infusion of the new soul, the hardware of the offspring already has its own characteristics to some extent. This is different from the real P.C. in which there is no trace of what the metal was before it goes to make up the new P.C. In other words, the physical body alone without the soul has already some tendencies and habits inherited from the parents. The following diagrams will indicate to you how intricate the brain comes prepared for its functions. It is much more than any giant computer can muster in the commercial world. One can see that all the functions of motor and sensory activities are all mapped out when born. The motor and sensory activities are very well delineated and any damage in a limited area would affect only certain motor, sensory, speech, auditory or visual functions. The versatility of the functional brain is astounding, but it is still hopelessly outstripped by the multifaceted, multidimensional and multifarious capabilities of the mind, which can process innumerable cognitive activities, memories, concepts, analysis and visualisations in one sitting! The Mind EGO There is no software in the world that can come near the scope and modalities of the mind. The mind is the most intricate and efficient and the greatest software in the universe. The mind is part of the ego, and the ego arises from Consciousness. In fact, everything emerges from Consciousness. In order for Cosmic Consciousness to function in the physical world a vehicle must be used. This vehicle is the ego. The ego is composed of the physical body, the emotional body and the mental body. Let us simplify these three instruments into two components, the body and mind. The mind represents the emotions, feelings, thoughts, memories, intellect, all previous conditioning, samskaras and concepts. Although we break them into two, they are really one psychophysical complex. When the body is inflicted with pain, it is the mind that suffers. The Parameters of the Mind Synonymously, the mind has been called the intellect and the organ of analysis. The parameters of the mind include memory, thoughts, concepts, visualisations, and projections of the future, intellect and learning of knowledge. There is also a wide range of emotional content like joy, happiness, sadness, depression, agitation, fear of loss, anxiety and worry. All these are the chief components of the mind. There are innumerable more facets to the mind. So with this tremendous amount of software content, it is no wonder that the person deems the mind as Self. The ego is merely a psychophysical robot, which is a convenient vehicle to travel the planet earth. Most of us mistake the body as Self. Self in this article denotes the soul, the atman, which is an offshoot of Cosmic Consciousness, whereas self is the ego, a necessary vehicle to function in duality. When one drives a car, the car is not the self, neither is the chauffeur. The true Self is the owner of the car and the employer of the chauffeur. The most disastrous consequence of taking the ego as Self is that the person thinks he is a separate entity. It is quite in order if he is in duality and has no idea of being separate, as in animals. However, if he assumes that he is a separate entity from the rest of humanity, then he is in dualism, and this is where the trouble begins. This is the greatest calamity. He has forgotten that he is part of the Absolute and has never or can never be separated from Cosmic Consciousness. Enlightenment is realisation of this fact. In one�s spiritual path, one has to reverse the behaviour of dualism to acting in duality. Once you deem yourself as separate, you begin to feel that you are special and superior or inferior. Then you start to accumulate and covet objects. This is the beginning of craving and suffering. If one is thwarted in the acquisition process, anger will arise. Both the craving and anger are the result of ignorance. Of all the �sins� in the world, ignorance is the greatest. The most important component of the mind is memory. Memory teaches us an experience from which we base our reaction to a recurrent incident. The child who has been burnt by fire will be very wary of the next fire he comes across. Similarly, the memory of the hot chilly will warn the diner to go slowly on the chilly in the next meal. By the same token, a string of memories gives us the false impression that these events are an actual chronicle of a true Self. Therefore although memory provides us with experience for future reference, it also falsely makes us believe that memories are the real activities of a true Self. Memories are components of the mind, which in turn are merely facets of the ego. All are not real. The ego is manufactured by pure Consciousness to experience and act in the phenomenal world. Consciousness is the only true Self. Intellect is another facet of the mind that is useful in the learning process. This is especially so with regards to structured education and research. Intellect is like an animal. The more you train the animal, e.g. a dog, the more efficient it becomes. So it is with the intellect. The intellect may be trained to be so efficient that it will expand its ingenuity to research extensively into all matters pertaining to a topic. However the intellect is only part of the mind. It is also ephemeral like the mind. Both these items are not there in deep sleep. Intellect and memory both deteriorate in certain diseases, e.g. Alzheimer�s disease. If these were one�s true Self, they will not deteriorate or disappear. Thought is the main comprehensive term, which include memories, concepts, visualisations, intellect etc. It is thoughts that delude us to believe that the mind is real. Thoughts arise from nowhere and vanish into nowhere. If thoughts are the true self, then where is the Self when one meditates until there are no thoughts? During these periods of emptiness of thoughts or voidness, there is still the presence of awareness. This awareness is the true Self. This awareness is also accompanied by bliss, which is the first covering of the soul. Therefore, when one clears the mind of all thoughts, a pure and empty mind will allow pure Consciousness, Self, to shine through. This happens in deep sleep, where there are no thoughts and only bliss prevails. The Self is present in deep sleep, in dreams and in the waking state. The problem is that in dreams and waking states, the ego blocks the presence of the Self. In deep sleep the mind is held in abeyance and the ego is absent. As the mind is absent, there is no memory of our merging back to our true Self during deep sleep. As the ego has falsely presented itself as a separate individual, one tends to protect that separate self with selfishness and acquisitions of objects. As a separate self, one would like to believe that the false s...
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