Table of Contents
Mind Over Matter vs. Vedic Science Perspective
There is an English phrase “Mind over Matter”, which means that the mind is powerful and if used well, it can control matter and put it to better use. But this saying does not go well with the Vedic Scriptures which proclaim “Mind Is itself Matter”. This is the Truth and can be experienced by anyone who enters the domain of spirituality.
The Mind and Its Connection to the Brain
Mind does not exist within the body. Its connection with the brain has not yet been discovered by “modern” science. For example when somebody “sees” something which 100 others cannot see, it is claimed that “this man is hallucinating”.
Yes, hallucinations are true, but that is a psychological state in the domain of this world. If one starts falsely imagining something for a very long time, that person, after extended practice “shall hallucinate”, there is no denial.
However in the field of spirituality there are a million things which are beyond the scope of modern psychology or medical science, which science cannot approve of, but they do really exist.
Vedic Science and the Role of Food
Vedic science claims that “Mind is produced by food“. When one stops eating, depending on the fall of certain nutrients within the body, the brain parameters get disturbed and psychologically it can be claimed that hallucinations can result. Yet, it is also said that if the diet is good, the mind shall also be healthy.
When nutrients do no not reach the brain, the brain starts to disconnect with the mind and one enters the unknown territories of the mind. The fact of the matter is that the spirit is engulfed only by the mind, which is “subtle matter”, that is gathered from this planet.
7/8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this Quiz may or may not be absolute. There may be right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.
The Amplification of Thoughts and Emotions
Thoughts, emotions, feelings, opinions, all this start getting amplified, because the brain starts getting disconnected and grounding of the body is not happening. Only spiritual discipline by means of revival of the spirit through authentic Vedic processes can give one, true insight into what is happening beyond the brain and body.
The spirit is the father of the mind and the body and unless one unites one’s awareness into the spirit, the subtle operations of the brain, mind and the body cannot be grasped. This is essentially what medical science is ill-equipped to do or assimilate.
Medical Science vs. Spiritual Insight
Medical science only focuses on chemicals and the biological parameters, scores of various nutrients that gauge health. But it can never truly estimate why the body is disintegrating or stops responding to certain things, when the expectation, applying all logical means, is the otherwise.
Here is when spirituality is applied. It is not to say that medical science has no place. In fact medical science is a great tool to understand how the body functions and what chemical components keep the body in good shape.
What is required in addition to the power of medical science is “insight” on body, mind and spirit. Unless this “insight” is developed, medical science shall be like a body without soul. Spiritual insight is necessary so that one may be able to take full advantage of medical science in one’s life.
The Cellular Transformation and Spiritual Perspective
Medical science has rightly claimed that “Our entire body undergoes cellular level transformation, such that we will never have any cell within our system that existed in our system eleven months prior”.
This is an interesting point to discuss. Spiritual insight can be applied to how the cells are formed. This process has not been explored in the spiritual angle in the medical profession and rightly so. There is an old saying “You are what you think”. This is a powerful statement and it is a statement of Truth. Our cells have life and each cell draws life from the same life-source that makes our bodies and minds work.
The Impact of Negative Thoughts on Cellular Health
A cell has a cell body. The cell animates because of life; its body is composed of matter. When our thoughts are not in harmony or negative, it produces vibrations in our auric field; due to our body energy the newer cells attain a cell-body composed of negative vibes which our mind is constantly sending out.
Remember “Mind is Matter” and it also contributes to the formation of the cell-body; in fact the cell body itself is the negative vibe, in the current example. Thus if we are to continue polluting ourselves with evil, toxic thoughts for a continuous period of 11 months, the physicality that shall be available to us at the end of 11 months shall be a body that radiates negative vibes, because it is made up of those very vibes.
The Feedback Loop of Negative Vibes
If that were so, it would send radiation within our mind and encourage us to think more of those toxic thoughts, encouraging us to pollute the environment with our negative behavior.
The saying “Birds of the same feather flock together” is applicable here. This will create a negative feedback loop which propels us in the negative direction. But this shall also send those vibrations into space which gets recorded as negative Karma ready to rebound and attack us in coming times. Thus Newton’s third law of motion that “Every Action has an equal and opposite Reaction” becomes applicable here.
Spiritual Insight and Perception of Others
That is why, a person who has performed many years of scrupulous spiritual practice can easily detect the nature of the other being simply by looking at the person’s face or body. This is because he is able to detect the negative or positive vibes which the other person’s body radiates. This is the power of “spiritual insight”.
The Necessity of Work in Life
No living entity can exist without doing work. The objective of work is the very basis of our life. Without work, of some sort, life becomes a burden. There can be two objectives of performing work. The objectives are
(1) To get freedom from problems or sorrows.
(2) To attain happiness.
The Search for True Happiness
However the reality of everyday life is that we continue to be unhappy although we perform work to attain happiness in an attempt to free ourselves from sorrow. Even when we are smiling, the sorrows of our hearts continue to trouble us all the time. Yet, we do not stop performing work. The activities of the world go on unabatedly, although the sorrow continues, in the hope that someday, unhappiness shall come to an end.
The Role of Spiritual Happiness
Unfortunately that day shall never come since we are looking for happiness at the wrong place and are applying the wrong means. The fact of the matter is that no living entity can exist without performing work even for a moment.
Even if one is sleeping, work goes on in the form of dreams. Breathing happens involuntarily. This means that activities shall be done by the body or the mind; either voluntarily or involuntarily.
The Pursuit of Ananda
The summary of Vedic understanding is that man is only striving for the attainment of Ananda, spiritual happiness. That means that if spiritual happiness is attained, one will be relieved of sorrows automatically. When there is knowledge, automatically one shall be relieved of ignorance. One experiences “false” happiness or a shadow of the true spiritual happiness when one is in deep sleep, in the dreamless state, the Sushupti (सुषुप्ति) state.
The Importance of Removing Ignorance
This state is only realized after one wakes up, but is not cognizable in the sleeping dreamless state. It is the memory of the state that is realized on waking. However in this state happiness is not attained, although all worries had been forgotten.
This was because the mind was in abeyance in the dreamless sleep state. This is the same experience when one is unconscious. The end of sorrows does not automatically imply that one shall receive happiness, however the converse is true.
Worldly vs. Spiritual Happiness
The happiness of the world can never be considered as true happiness; it is happiness born out of matter, a semblance of happiness born out of our ignorance. That is the reason why, on attaining worldly happiness, sorrow continues to stay. Hence the most important task for man is to get rid of ignorance which is the primary motivation for man to look for happiness in the material world.
The Value of the Human Body
It should therefore be understood that the root of all suffering is ignorance alone. The Vedas warn man that unless ignorance is removed, having attained the rare human body, no other body in creation is capable of attaining knowledge, following the removal of ignorance. So this rare opportunity of removing the beginningless ignorance should not be wasted.
The Consequence of Wasting Human Life
If this opportunity is wasted, the living entity shall continue to re-incarnate in 8.4 million species with no respite from sorrow. Even the celestial beings or Devatas hanker for the human body because only human body has the capacity to perform activities and work for attainment of happiness. All other bodies are meant only to suffer or enjoy the fruits of their work which they would have performed in an earlier human birth.
The Unique Capability of Humans
The celestials’ bodies are meant for enjoyment, yet they cannot attain spiritual happiness. The lower beings like ghosts, goblins, insects, worms, birds etc undergo sorrow and suffering, with no scope for either enjoyment or happiness.
The human beings undergo both enjoyment and sorrows but they are given an additional capability of performing motivated work by which they can strive for spiritual happiness or redemption.
The Rare Opportunity of Human Birth
Once the opportunity of the human birth is lost, many millions of Kalpas (कल्प) pass on, but one is not guaranteed of the next time, when one shall receive the human body.
One Kalpa is a period of 4.32 billion years, which also represents 12 hours that constitute the day of Lord Brahma. Scriptures such as the Ramcharitmanas and the Srimad Bhagavatham exhort this truth that “A person is a slayer of his own soul, who, having attained the rarest of the rare human body, does not strive through spiritual practice and guidance to end ignorance.
