MANAS- The Mystery of Mind
MIND and AYURVEDA
Concept of mind is broad in ayurveda. Acharya charaka while giving the definition of life, he says body, senses, mind and soul constitute body (cha.su.1/45). He adds that body, mind and soul are like limbs of a tripod and the life exists on it. Diseases can be based on either body or mind; no disease can exist other than these two.
Mind is a substance.
According ayurveda, mind has its own qualities and actions and hence qualifes to be a substance.
Synonyms of manas
- Swanta, hrit, maansa
- Mana, sattva
Mind as ubhayendriya i.e., dual organ
( Ubhayendriya - that which is both a sense organ and organ of action. )
Mind is a dual organ i.e.; it is both an organ of sense and action. it is also called as an extraordinary sense organ. In total, there are eleven indriyas. They are-
Pancha Jnanedriyas - five sense organs.
- Chaksurindriya - eye
- Ghranendriya- nose
- Shravanendriya - ear
- Rasanendriya - tongue
- Sparshnendriya - skin
Panch karmendriyas- five motor organs.
- Vagindriya - speech apparatus
- Pani indriya- hands
- Pada indriya- feet
- Payu indriya- anus
- Upastha indriya - genitals
Subjects of the mind
- Chintya - thinking about many things
- Vicharya - analysing between good and bad
- Uhyam - making guess and inference
- Dhyeya- focusing on something with concentration of mind
- Sankalpam - determination and decision on the basis of discrimination made between good and bad.
Identity of Mind (Mind)
(Oneness and Minuteness)
Oneness ( Ekatva ) and Minuteness ( Anutva ) are said to be the properties of mind.
The mind is only one i.e. Ekatva, but due to its association with many sense organs, it appears to be many. But the fact is that the mind can be associated with only one sense organ at a time and not many. But the quickness with which the mind shifts from its association with one sense organ to the other makes it appear many.
This quick shift of mind is only due to its minuteness( Anutva )
Trigunas of Mind
Trigunas (property triad) of mind are satva, rajas, and tamas are considered as manodoshas (vitiator).
The life itself is based on triguna. When these trigunas attached to panchmahabhuta, the life begins.
Satva - is the supreme quality of mind. If someone is very spiritual, righteous, truthful, he is said to be a 'Satvik' person.
Raja and Tama, two among the three great qualities are said to be the contaminants of the minds. Satva, the other one among the three great qualities, owing to its pureness is not considered as contaminant.
Clinical application of Mind
-Mind and body are considered as the ashrayatwa (base) of diseases. Either one or both will be involved in all the disesse conditions.
- Mind is involved in nidana (etiology), samprapti (pathogenesis) and chikitsa (treatment) of disease. Vitiation od mind is a direct cause for vitiation of strotas (channels of tisses )
Either physical or psychological disease, mind should be considered during treatment.
One among trividha chikitsa (three basic types of treatment), Satvavajaya chiktisa, is completely deidcated for mind.
Best remedies for mind disorder.
The three basic principles of treating the mental disorders are-
- Dhee - proper and skilful use of the intellect
- Dhairya - seeding courage in one's mind
- Atmadi Vijnanam - to make one to realize the importance of 'self-worth'.
The controller: MIND
A reference from kathopanishad tells:
The soul is a Rider, the body is the Chariot, the intellect is the Charioteer and mind is the rope which control the horse. The sense organs are the horses, and the sense objects are the pathways for those to move to and forth.
The sense organs always benefit the soul associated with the mind. The sense organs of the person who is always devoid of knowledge, i.e., one who has thoughtless and non-discriminating intelligence and an uncontrolled mind, will become equivalent to mad and intoxicated horses of charioteer.
Causes for the disease of Mind
In sense organs, if you underutilize (like not seeing at all, not hearing at all) or over utilize (like looking at very bright objects, hearing loud music) or miss utilize (looking at sharp objects, hearing to weird music etc.) causes sense organ disorders.
Similarly,
Under-utilization of mind- not thinking, not reading, not engaging in knowledge etc.
Over- utilization of mind- excessive thinking, guessing, analyzing etc.
Miss-utilization - thinking about unwanted, weird things etc. causes imbalance of doshas of manas.
(Rajas and Tamas) leading mental disorders.
Mind and Body
According to Ayurveda, the body is crystallization of the mind. So, just as impaired agni and indigestion are the root of all diseases, the mind also plays a critical role in our overall health. In fact, mental ama (toxins) and unresolved emotions can lead to disease in very concrete ways.
For example,
unresolved anger can accumulate in the liver and impair its functioning, unprocessed grief can disturb the lungs and chronic anxiety can upset the health of the colon. Beyond these, there are countless other ways that imbalances in the mind can manifest as physical disease.
How to maintain good mental health?
We have learnt that Satva is the supreme quality of mind.
More the Satva, means, more the mind power and qualities. This also means, well balanced Raja and Tamas.
Hence, all efforts should be made to improve Satva. This can be achieved by adopting spiritual, nobel and righteous lifestyle.
Examples;
-Bramhacharya
-control over sense organs
-Suppression of undesirable mental qualities ( Dharaniya vega - cha. su. 7)
-Lobha - greed
-Shoka- grief
-Bhaya- fear
-Krodha- anger
-Mana- variety
-Nirlajja- shamelessness
-Irshya- jealousy
-Atiraga- excessive desire
-Abhidyag- ill will, malice
Avoiding Ari shad varga:
Kama- lust
Krodha-anger
Lobha- greed
Moha- delusion
Mada-ego
Matsara- jealousy
Proper amount of sleep, good amounts of healthy foods, avoiding laziness and procrastination.
Getting up early in the morning etc.
Spiritual practices, yoga, pranayama, meditation.
These are a few ways empowering mind and maintaining good mental health.
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