This is the fourth and final talk in a series titled “The Mind, Mindfulness, & Me”.
Here we examine the spiritual paradigm which should be foundational to how we live in and interact with the world.
You are an eternal spiritual being, the seer, the inhabitant of the body. Your presence makes it so that your body exhibits symptoms of life. When you leave the body, the true nature of the body manifests as dead matter. But you also have another covering, a subtle body, comprised of the mind, the intelligence, and the false ego or false concept of the ‘self’.
We all possess a wonderful higher faculty, the intelligence or Buddhi. This faculty empowers us to be able to step back from the mind, even at times when the mind is overwhelmed by heightened emotions, and effectively control the mind. Mindfulness means to use this faculty to control the mind rather than having the mind control me. When this happens (being controlled by the mind) the soul is considered lost. The Bhagavat Purana says:
“This uncontrolled mind is the greatest enemy of the living entity. If one neglects it or gives it a chance, it will grow more and more powerful and will become victorious. Although it is not factual, it is very strong. It covers the constitutional position of the self/atma.” BP 5.11.17
A wonderful verse from the Katha Upanisad paints the big picture:
“The individual is the passenger in the chariot of the material body, and intelligence is the driver. Mind is the driving instrument, and the senses are the horses. The self is thus the enjoyer or sufferer in the association of the mind and senses. So it is understood by great thinkers.” Katha Upanisad 1.3.3-4
