Use Intellect As A Tool To Remain Joyful

In the Bhagwad Gita , 6:34-35, Arjun, the Pandav warrior, expresses his doubt to Krishn that human mind is like a tornado and thus, cannot be overcome. Mind acts as a major obstacle in spiritual progress. Krishn suggests abhyas, the path of continuous practice with a sense of vairagya, detachment, to make the mind subservient. At a deeper level, one should not try to control the mind by instructing dos and don'ts, which will not work anyway, but remain as an alienated observer of the mind's functioning. This will weaken the mind and help the practitioner to be free from its vagaries.

Mind is one of the most powerful mechanisms given to human beings. Using kaya, manas, buddhi - body, mind, and intellect, we experience the world around us. The body, mind and intellect, BMI , mechanisms regulate physical actions for the body; thoughts and emotions for the mind; judgment, and discrimination power for the intellect. These mechanisms function interdependently and affect each other.

Mind never allows us to remain in the present. It oscillates between memories and future imaginations. We end up with a begrudging life and remain unhappy. Future imaginations create fear and anxieties, which are non-existent in the present. However, we live and experience these non-real imaginations in the present moment. Hence, our mind is either in the past or in future; and the present moment is wasted unproductively. The same cycle perpetuates till death and then, we realise that we have not really lived our life.

On the other hand, a person, whose intellect commands power over mind, is likely to be more alert about the vagaries of the mental processes. Through the awakening of intellect, a person can stop the mind from its overwhelming thoughts of the past or future imaginations. Intellect acts like a supervisor and observes the functioning of the mind on a continuous basis. It filters and allows only those thoughts which have some relevance in the present moment. This filtering process helps conserve a lot of our energy, which can be fruitfully used.

The mind can be compared with the blue sky. Clouds are like thoughts floating in this sky. When we hook ourselves to any thought, we get dragged indefinitely till we become aware of it. Intellect should be developed and trained by a spiritual seeker to become an observer and remain watchful of the thought process. It should alert us to detach from any thought at an appropriate time. The more intellect becomes observant, the density of the thought stream subsides and at some point, the seeker can achieve a state of no-mind. The blue sky becomes clear without any thought. Bhagwad Gita describes this state as jagrat, awakened, state of a yogi.

All human beings suffer predominantly due to the mental processes, which consequently affect the physical processes, too. Our circumstances should not be held responsible for our suffering. We suffer because of our ways of reacting to situational stimuli. Our reactions are controlled by our mind. Thus, if we can liberate ourselves from our mind through continuous watchfulness, we can overcome the vagaries of mental processes and remain joyful. We can use our intellect, as one of the tools, to create this state of awareness and remain ever blissful.

Authored by: Abhimanyu Patil