Mind: Hindu - Hinduism Dictionary on Mind

By Himalayan Academy

five states of the mind: A view of the mind in five parts: conscious mind, subconscious mind, subsubconscious mind, superconscious mind and subsuperconscious mind.

Also about the three phases of mind: A perspective of mind as instinctive, intellectual and superconscious: individual mind, universal mind and instinctive mind.

A view of the mind in five parts. -

-       conscious mind: Jagrat chitta ("wakeful consciousness"). The ordinary, waking, thinking state of mind in which the majority of people function most of the day.

-       subconscious mind: Samskara chitta ("impression mind"). The part of mind "beneath" the conscious mind, the storehouse or recorder of all experience (whether remembered consciously or not) - the holder of past impressions, reactions and desires. Also, the seat of involuntary physiological processes.

-       Subsubconscious mind: Vasana chitta ("mind of subliminal traits"). The area of the subconscious mind formed when two thoughts or experiences of the same rate of intensity are sent into the subconscious at different times and, intermingling, give rise to a new and totally different rate of vibration. This subconscious formation later causes the external mind to react to situations according to these accumulated vibrations, be they positive, negative or mixed.

-       superconscious mind: Karana chitta. The mind of light, the all-knowing intelligence of the soul. The psychological term is turiya, "the fourth," meaning the condition beyond the states of wakefulness (jagrat), "dream" (svapna), and "deep sleep" (sushupti). At its deepest level, the superconscious is Parashakti, or Satchidananda, the Divine Mind of God Siva. In Sanskrit, there are numerous terms for the various levels and states of superconsciousness. Specific superconscious states such as: vishvachaitanya ("universal consciousness"), advaita chaitanya ("nondual consciousness"), adhyatma chetana ("spiritual consciousness").

-       subsuperconscious mind: Anukarana chitta. The superconscious mind working through the conscious and subconscious states, which brings forth intuition, clarity and insight.

-       See: chitta, consciousness, samskara, Satchidananda, vasana.

individual mind: At the microcosmic level of individual souls, mind is consciousness and its faculties of memory, desire, thought and cognition. Individual mind is chitta (mind, consciousness) and its three-fold expression is called antahkarana, "inner faculty" composed of:

1)    buddhi ("intellect, reason, logic," higher mind);

2)    ahamkara ("I-maker," egoity);

3)    manas ("lower mind," instinctive-intellectual mind, the seat of desire).

From the perspective of the 36 tattvas (categories of existence), each of these is a tattva which evolves out of the one before it. Thus, from buddhi comes ahamkara and then manas. Manas, buddhi and ahamkara are faculties of the manomaya kosha (astral or instinctive-intellectual sheath). Anukarana chitta, subsuperconsciousness, the knowing mind, is the mind-state of the vijnanamaya kosha (mental or intuitive-cognitive sheath). The aspect of mind corresponding directly to the anandamaya kosha (causal body) is karana chitta, superconsciousness.

See: ahamkara, antahkarana, buddhi, chitta, manas, mind (universal).

three phases of mind: A perspective of mind as instinctive, intellectual and superconscious.

-       Instinctive mind. Manas chitta, the seat of desire and governor of sensory and motor organs.

-       intellectual mind. Buddhi chitta, the faculty of thought and intelligence.

-       superconscious mind: Karana chitta, the strata of intuition, benevolence and spiritual sustenance. Its most refined essence is Parasakti, or Satchidananda, allknowing, omnipresent consciousness, the One transcendental, self-luminous, divine mind common to all souls.

-       See: awareness, consciousness, mind (five states).

-       universal mind: In the most profound sense, mind is the sum of all things, all energies and manifestations, all forms, subtle and gross, sacred and mundane. It is the inner and outer cosmos. Mind is maya. It is the material matrix. It is everything but That, the Self within, Parasiva, which is timeless, formless, causeless, spaceless, known by the knower only after Self Realization. The Self is the indescribable, unnameable, Ultimate Reality. Mind in its subtlest form is undifferentiated Pure Consciousness, primal substance (called Parashakti or Satchidananda), out of which emerge the myriad forms of existence, both psychic and material.

-       See: chitta, consciousness, maya, tattva, world.

.

.

For more articles related to Mind , see: Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Mind , Body Mind and Soul.

.

.

.

Courtesy to Himalayan Academy: An educational and publishing institution of Saiva Siddhanta Church founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in 1957. The Academy's objective is to share the teachings of Sanatana Dharma through travel-study programs, The Master Course, books and other publications- particularly the monthly newspaper Hinduism Today and Dancing with Siva, Hinduism's Contemporary Catechism- as a public service to Hindus worldwide. Please visit www.himalayanacademy.com for more information.