Mind

Look at the way human minds have evolved. I view the mind as a very large database of facts... well more or less facts. It builds the database based on the inputs from sensory organs. This is too simple a statement, but the way mind builds facts are a little more complex and have been described in Vedas and philosophies of east and west.

So, we kind of know that the mind is built up of facts - to use a better term - information. It is good for us, right? Not always. So, what's wrong? As the mind got strong with more information, we stop experiencing. All inputs from the sensory organs are directed to the big program called mind for more processing and for more information.

So, when we see a flower, we don't just see it. The mind takes over - and goes through its database for its color, family, the people you can associate with the flower, the ones who gave the flower, the ones who crushed a flower and so on and so forth. This is a simple example that all of us can understand.

Here is a complex one. See if you can relate to it. Your boss or the client yells at you for a mistake you have committed. In the absence of mind, we will experience it, feel miserable etc., With the mind, we reason it like - 'Yeah, I made a mistake so what?', 'It wasn't my mistake.', 'Didn't he / she do the same thing some time back?', 'I should of get out this company where people don't have respect for others.'

The point is, it is the mind that takes you through these kinds of thoughts hoping that it will make you feel better. Unfortunately, it is true for a short time. Like any other event, this is also added to the huge database along with the associated emotion and is there for checking whenever a similar situation comes up, causing trouble as long as there is mind.

So, what is the option? Do I mean to say that you are supposed to feel miserable? Yes and No. Experience the feeling and accept the situation. It also means you accept yourself as what you are - someone who messes up tasks. It takes away the conflict on who you really are and who you want to be. Plus the event is not stored with the emotion. The next time you remember the event, it is likely that you will not get the same old feeling.

It isn't easy to stop the information from automatically flowing to the mind. But it is possible.