What is mind? How do you define mind?

If one discovers how the mind has arisen, I will call him a scientist. Everyone says ‘the mind is mine, the mind is mine’, but what is mind? Why has it arisen and what is it made of? How has its creation come to be? One will not find the answer. The mind’s creation is constantly changing, and thus no one can say how it came to be.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan has answered all these questions and revealed the nature of mind. The following excerpts about what is mind have been added from an actual spiritual discourse with Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan.

Questioner: What is mind?

Dadashri: Yes, you are the first person who has asked this. The mind is our stock. Just as all these shop owners take a stock of twelve months, the mind is the stock of the whole life. What do shop owners do every twelve months? (They take inventory). Similarly, this is the stock of the previous life that rises to bear result in this life and gives you further instructions. Right now, the old mind which is there is getting discharged and a new one is being created (charged). The mind goes on discharging. Therefore, it will continue to scream as much as it has to. Another word for discharge is that it is being exhausted (emptying). You understand the word ‘exhaust’, right? This mind keeps exhausting.

What is the nature of the mind? It is only to think. When the work of thinking is going on, know that the mind is in action. The mind has no other function than of thinking. Remorse is not its function either. To repent is not its function; its function is only to think. Currently if it is in the role of thinking, tangled knots of thoughts is what is called mind. And the poor mind is naïve; it simply keeps on twisting entanglements on its own from within, that’s all. This (explanation) is not easily understood. That is why the whole world is trapped in confusion.

Questioner: But, this is not something that can be easily understood.

Dadashri: People have no awareness whatsoever of this!

Reference: Book Name: Aptavani 10 (P) (Page #130 – Paragraph #4 to #6, Page #131 – Paragraph #1 to #3)

The Nature of the Mind

Questioner: But you have given a gross (sthool – overall) explanation. It is the emerging thoughts that need to be distinguished.

Dadashri: That is indeed what I am talking about. That is exactly what I will talk about!

Our antahkaran (inner functioning complex) has four parts (mind, intellect, chit and ego). There is only one antahkaran. But whichever part is functioning at a particular moment, it is considered the whole antahkaran. Whenever it is involved in thoughts, at that time the entire antahkaran is under the control of the mind. So when the mind is functioning, a person will be bombarded by thought after thought after thought. He will be immersed in a total chaos of thoughts.  When there is nothing but thoughts, it (antahkaran) is called mind. The mind does not wander outside the body.

When people say, 'My mind wanders off to Bombay; it goes here it goes there'. The mind does not wander this way. That which does not wander (out of the body) is called the mind. They are wrong there. Have you not heard people say that their mind wanders off to their homes when they are in their office? What is that? Do you understand what you call the mind?

Questioner: But the thoughts that arise, there is so much chaos from within, I do not understand whether it is an incoming thought or an outgoing thought; whether it is a wandering thought or a non-wandering thought.

Dadashri: Thoughts are not outside at all. They are indeed within. The mind is such that it never wanders outside the body. And if it were to wander outside, many scientists or yogis would close the door to it permanently (once it wanders out). They would not let it enter within. But the mind never leaves the body, does it? Therefore all it does is create thoughts within. It is constantly involved with thoughts of all kinds. This is its boundary. It has no other function. Its function is to bring forth thoughts; that is its inherent property.

The function of the mind is to think only. And during the process of thoughts, it is exhausting (being used up) and during this time there is nothing but a tangled chaos of thoughts. In its dormant state, it remains as ‘tubers’. These can be any variety of tubers. When it is only thinking, then know who is doing the thinking. That is why it is called the mind.

When there is only thinking going on, there is nothing else going on, at that time only the mind is working. At that time whole antahkaran is functioning as the mind. Do you understand this line of demarcation?

Reference: Book Name: Aptavani 10 (P) (Page #3 – Paragraph #2 to #5, Page #4 – Paragraph #1 & #2)