Of mind

Science has peaked almost every phenomenon of our life with its empirical approach, questioning all aspects of human life and physical world. But one thing which science failed to portray a clear picture is the question of mind. It simply took refuge to what is called “brain” as the mind. Christians pointed an immaterial substance called “soul” as the mind. But apart from these two streams of thoughts, Buddhism holds mind as neither of them but a continuous existence of an immaterial thing. They call it synonymous as consciousness which has no trace of physicality but a beginning-less chain of consciousness. Being without beginning seems incongruously illogical but to speculate it deeply, isn't the same causal problem of chicken and egg?

Nagarjuna said, “Understand your mind, you understand everything”. One could that this is the essence of Buddha’s teaching where mind is this field of limitless potentialities. Mind is neither a biological factor nor it is a creation of birth, but imperishable and indestructible. It reminded me of an analogy by a Buddhist teacher, mind is like a clear glass of water. It is clear and clean in its true nature but polluted by delusional emotions. Our mind is like a glass of water shaking constantly and is never at ease; it is always disturbed by afflictive desires and emotions. The so-called Buddhahood is the capacity of all human beings to become fully awakened, to blow up all these perceptual or conceptual delusions.

Mind is the cause of all sufferings, because it is contaminated by emotions like hatred, jealousy, lust and greed. Our perceptions veil us from the reality. Therefore, it is our thoughts what we know or what we are. The more we know of how we are thinking and tend our thoughts through meditation, the more we become aware of the self or the consciousness which brings a light pure awareness. Our thoughts are the clouds and the mind infinite sky.