Complex knot of conscious and unconscious substance

The Sages of India, thousands of years ago, beautifully described human consciousness as a complex knot (or combination) of conscious (Chetan) and unconscious (jad) substance – Chit-Jad-Granthi. We are all spiritual and conscious beings having worldly human experiences. On the same thought, there is a famous quote by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin – “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

The conscious component of our Being pulls us towards the Divine and inspires us to engage ourselves in helping others, paying reverence to Saints, listening to Self-realized ones, read holy scriptures, remember God, be peaceful and blissful while conducting in the worldly affairs. Whereas the unconscious, earthy component of our psyche drag us towards enjoying worldly momentary sensual pleasures, being selfish, over sleeping, over eating, being restless, being angry, hurting others and all other sorts of negative emotions.

The goal of the true seeker is to identify the conscious component, and then blossom it with the help of meditation and remembrance of the Supreme Conscious Being, the God. In this manner the true seeker resist the dragging of the unconscious component on its own.   

In Katha-Upnishad, during story of Nachiketa, there is another wonderful analogy described about our inner being that can help you to gain understanding of our inner Self. Assume a King travelling on the Chariot driven by the Charioteer. It is described that:

“If the body be the chariot, the mind (or the mana) is the steering cord of the horse, the intellect is the charioteer and the owner or traveler is the Jiva or the Purusa. Understand it to be so.”

“The horses, driving the body chariot, are the sense organs and the materialistic desires or things of worldly interest are the paths it travels by. The wise ones call the Jiva, which comprises of the body, the mind and the sense organs as ‘Bhoktha’ (or Enjoyer).”

“Just like the wild horses cannot be tamed by a charioteer, the sense organs will be uncontrollable by the one who has no control over his mind. He will continue to wander in this world through further births.”

“Similarly, the sense organs will be fully under the control of the one who has complete control over the mind and has the distinguishing power of intellect. This is comparable to the control of a trained charioteer over tamed, good horses.”

“The one who has the pure intelligence as the charioteer and a controlled mind as the steering cord, travels the long way and ultimately reaches the end of the tedious path of samsaara (the materialistic world). That is the state of blissful union with the all-pervading Divinity.”   

The Saints also give further extend this analogy by telling that the goal of the Being (the King) that is travelling in this chariot is to reach his own Palace. One the King reaches the Palace, only the King or the Being can enter the Palace of bliss. The charioteer, the horses and the Chariot remains outside the Palace. So, the intellect and mind can only experience the outside of the Palace, but the Being himself enters into that blissful union with the Divinity. That beautiful state is beyond intellect or mind and cannot be expressed in words. That state of the goal of a true seeker of inner happiness.