HOW THE MIND WORKS
HOW THE MIND WORKSAccording to Buddhism the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental properties and consciousness, these four form of the mind, and matter form of the body ; man is, therefore, a combination of mind and matter.
The mind of the man is compared with the current of a river, the Buddhist idea of conscious existence. To most people who might stand on the bank of a river, they will think that the river is all the same form beginning to end; due to the flow, though, not a particle of water which may be seen at any given point remains the same as it was a moment ago. And in just the same way as the beginning and end of a river receive the special names of source and mouth, even though they are composed of the same material as the body of the river itself, so also the source and mouth of the river of conscious existence are respectively termed birth and death, even though composed of the same water of conscious existence. This continuing process goes on without end until the cause which bring it about are removed.
In order to understand the working of the mind it is necessary to acquire some idea of the process of consciousness according to Abhidhamma. Abhidhamma teaching explains the process of consciousness in detail, and records in an analytical way how to the subject, consciousness, receives objects from without and within. When, for instance, a person is in a state of profound sleep his mind is said to be vacant, or in other words in a state of bhavana, the passive state when our mind do not respond to objects.
This flow of bhavana is interrupted when objects enter the mind, it vibrates and passes away. At the arising and passing away of next conscious state of the passive flow is checked, arrested. Then a state of consciousness that adverts towards the object arises and passes away. Following immediately, if the object is visual, visual consciousness arises and passes away, knowing but yet no more about the object. This sense operation is succeeded by a moment of reception of the object to seen. Next comes ye investigating faculty, or momentary examination of the object so received. After this comes the stage of representative cognition termed the determining consciousness, on which depends the subsequent psychologically important stage, that of active consciousness. It is important because it is at this stage that one does either good or bad action.
The process of cognition about the outside world takes place through the five sense doors, eye, ear, nose, tongue and touch, and is therefore called the course of cognition through the five doors. There is also a sixth door called the mind door, through which we cognize idea as in memory or imagination, when the object is not presented but represented. The process of the cognition is called the course of cognition through the mind door.
The former of these two, the process of cognition through the five sense doors, may be roughly explained by the smile of a man sleeping under a mango tree. A man, lost in deep sleep, is lying at the foot of a mango tree, when a fruit falls and rolls to his side. He is suddenly aroused from his slumber, wakes up and tries to find out what ha disturbed him. He sees the mango fruit nearby, picks it up, smell and examine it. Having ascertained that it is quite ripe and good he eats it.
Here
(1), the deep sleep, is compared with the passive state of mind when it is running its own course, undisturbed by any kind of impression.
(2), being aroused from his slumber, is like the disturbance of bhavana.
(3), waking up, is like bhavana being arrested.
(4), trying to find out what has distributed him, is like that hazy state of mind when the subject feebly tries to make out whether the stimulus came through the eye, or ear, nose, tongue or touch. This is called adverting, turning towards impressions at the five sense doors. (5), seeing the fruit, is like the arising of the particular sense involved, in this case eye consciousness. It is the pure and simple function of seeing, free from any reflection over the object.
(6), picking up fruit, is like the mind receiving stimulation from an independent object existing in the outside world. This is called 'receiving consciousness'.
(7), smelling and examining the mango fruit, is like the mind reflection on the object, and trying to understand it in the light of previous experience. This is call 'investigating consciousness'.
(8), ascertaining that the mango is quite ripe and good, is like the mind giving the object a definite place in its field of knowledge. This is called 'determining consciousness'.
(9), eating the mango, is like the mind tending to adjust the object according to its own suitability. This is most active state of consciousness in which the subject it fully conscious of itself, and determines its own attitude towards the object. This is called 'active consciousness'.
So one sees that the process of thinking can be divided into distinct functions, each thought moment being distinguishable from its previous an succeeding thought moments by the kind of function it performs.
Only by learning about the nature of our mental make up can we sift the dross from the gold, and thus, with practice and patience, achieve that purity of mind defined by the Buddha for the attaining of release from all suffering in any form.
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