Yogic January 2020_Digital Issue | Page 43

coming from outside. The intellect is one of the four functional aspects of mind. The thinking mind, intellect, ego and memory are four functional aspects of mind. The Sanskrit word Buddhi means intellect and awareness. Without self-awareness, one cannot choose and decide. But when intellect is impure, it chooses what one likes, dislikes but not what is good. What is good is right. The right here means – real, eternal, inner peace, happiness, love and wisdom (that never changes in life i.e. our true nature). statement by the master makes easy for the seeker to take over the mind. It is like talk-therapy in today’s world. The mind needs to be educated to qualify by cultivating qualities of contentment, learning directly from the teachers of eastern wisdom, self-enquiry and regular practice of calmness. The master says there are two steps to secure inner peace, happiness, love and wisdom – regular practice with wisdom (here practice means approaching near to our true nature) and dispassion (leaving behind causes of miseries like leaving behind the house when driving to workplace). Do we practice eating, evacuating bowels, drinking water and other daily activities? The ‘I’ is not associated with these daily actions. But the moment we think of mindfulness- we start asking unnecessary questions: How long I should practice? How many days? When and where? The mind with these questions hardly succeeds in mindfulness. The practice of mindfulness becomes habit, and soon it conditions the mind to use the practice like taking pills for relaxation. The word practice in eastern wisdom is upaya meaning approaching near to true nature. When intellect declares, others (people, place, possession, event, and time) are responsible for miseries and suffering, the intellect is impure, mind is lazy, crazy, reactive and wandering and senses are deeply attached to objects outside. The mind is crazy, lazy, reactive because of the desire. The intellect when pure chooses what is good, real, eternal. The pure intellect purifies the thinking and right thinking perceives what is good. This enables the brain to change, what science says, ‘fire the brain to rewire it’. It is important to know that eastern wisdom has clear concepts about the mind and science is progressively becoming clear about the gray matter. The masters of eastern wisdom declare that the knowledge from any source are welcome that leads to discovery of our true nature. The practice in Eastern Wisdom is approaching near to the true nature, away from ‘I’ created by the mind. The mind suffers from self-inflicted wounds of stress, anxiety, pain and fear than anything Jan. 2020 www.yogicherald.com 41