Mind, intellect and your real Self

The mystics of the East did a lot of analysis of the inner world to gain the understanding of the subtle faculties of the being. Inner faculties of the being are also called as ‘Antah-Karan’. The ‘Antah-Karan’ consists of the mind, the intellect, the Chita and the ego. It is very helpful for the true seeker to gain proper understanding of the inner faculties in order to progress on the path of inner happiness.

Most of the seekers try to do meditation and meditation for them is controlling the mind only. Even the Yogis define Yoga as 'Chita Vriti Nirodha' - meaning the 'Suppression of the tendencies of mind'. For a true seeker, it is important to gain the wisdom of Self after attaining which one can differentiate between mind, intellect, chita, ego and the real Self. Because of the ignorance of the inner world, all the efforts of controlling the mind prove futile. The truly blissful saints, who gained the wisdom of the Self, insist that the goal of the true seeker should be to purify the intellect rather than controlling the mind. Before going deep into the subject, let’s try to understand the inner faculties of the being.

Life is not meant to be a race

If you stop one of the rats that are running around all over in a farm-house and ask, “What are you running for?” The rat will probably give you a bizarre look and probably reply, “I don’t know. I am running because everyone around me is running.”

Similar is the story of contemporary man. Most of us are running around without any pre defined goals – in an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit of wealth, power and happiness. Moreover, the car in which contemporary man is riding is terrific. It runs great, but at the same time, you can only push the pedals in this car. There is no direction of wisdom and there are no brakes of self control. You can imagine where such a car would lead to?