Programming Your Mind

God has blessed us with an remarkable instrument which is responsible for our actions. Mind is described as the seat of the faculty of reason. Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj says "Mind alone is the cause of both bondage and liberation". Kripaluji Maharaj further says "It is the inherent nature of the mind that it cannot remain still even for a fraction of a second/ And the consequence of our devotion depends on the attachment of mind/ It's our mind that has to devotion not our physical senses". Even Albert Einstein said "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift". This leads me to my question "Why is mind considered so important?"

Before we even try to understand the importance of mind we have to define it in simple words. An uncomplicated definition can take us farthest in our quest. Mind is comprised of intellect, memory, imagination, emotion etc. (www.wikipedia.org) There are various philosophies which tell you about the attributes of mind and there exists an on-going debate on mind-body dualism. But most of the philosophies agree on couple of things:

1. Mind control our actions.


2. Mind affects our knowledge & emotions.

However my purpose is not to propose a new theory on mind but rather understand how mind can be used to our advantage.

Our mind is like a programmable instrument which can be programmed to our advantage or disadvantage. If it can be programmed then it is controllable unlike otherwise which most of us consider it. But how can we program our mind? Most of our actions can be divided between involuntary actions and voluntary actions. Similarly psychologists have proposed a conscious mind and a unconscious mind.

A conscious mind is like a binary variable (a variable which can either take a value of zero or one). It gives an output based on inputs provided by our senses. It is more logical in its approach towards a problem. It helps you decide on actions and provide you with choices.

While an unconscious mind is like a sponge which absorbs all kind of information without our knowledge. It doesn't necessarily provide us with an "answer to our problem". But it does provides you with a shrouded motivation behind the options that were laid forward by a conscious mind. It develops qualities/abilities which will define you as a person.

It is easier for us to develop our conscious mind through by learning and spending time on things. But a subconscious mind just keeping absorbing information without our knowledge. So there is not a method to teach your subconscious mind. But the activity of thinking helps to sharpen our subconscious mind. We always say "I'll give you some food for thought". As our intestines digest the food similarly our subconscious mind digests information. It gives you the reason behind the significance of a event, person, place or just a feeling. So to give all rounded diet for subconscious mind it requires thinking; lot of it! The more we think the more we understand the significance of existence.

In this electronic age we have been inundated by information in all forms. We feel an urge to be connected to the outer world through emails, phone etc. But somewhere along the line we disconnected ourselves from ourselves. We lost touch with who we are and began conceiving notions based on opinions. The activity of thinking brings us back in touch with ourselves. It provides us with means to realize the significance of our existence. Moreover it would provide data on ways to improve ourselves. So thinking helps us to "program" our mind and provide it with inputs that can help to get right outputs at right time. Thank you for reading.