How Does Your Mind Work?
Corne van Nijhuis
How does our mind work?
Sometimes you think, “Why do I think so much, where do all these thoughts come from and why don’t I have real peace in my head for once?” When that thought occurred to me, I decided to find a clear answer for myself. I share that answer in this contribution, in which I will try to explain how the mind works.
Every conscious action, whether physical or mental, is prompted by a thought. However, every thought creates an imprint (samskara) in the mind. When a certain imprint is repeatedly applied, it becomes more explicit and a subtle latent desire or drive (vasana) arises. If such subtle desires are strong enough, they then begin to influence the thoughts in the form of thought patterns (vrittis). These thought patterns then help shape someone’s personality.
This whole can be seen as a cycle:
an action leads to a certain imprint (samskara)
the imprint leads to a certain drive (vasana)
the drive leads to a desire that manifests itself as a specific thought pattern (vritti; fluctuation in consciousness; thought)
a specific thought pattern leads to a specific action.
An ‘imprint’ is the plant that grows when the seed of an ‘imprint’ germinates.
A vasana is an imprint formed in the past and that (helps) guide one’s choices and behavior in the present. Approached differently, they are drives or latent inherent tendencies or subtle desires, which arise from our previous actions. This includes the actions in our current, but especially our past lives. They are subliminal traces, lying dormant in the causal body until their “input” is needed by the mind to make a decision about how to interpret and respond to a given stimulus. A vasana can be seen in ‘modern physical terms’ as quantum positions in our consciousness. Vasanas as such control the mind and as such indirectly determine our behavior and thus our actions. In this way they also partly determine the karma that we accumulate in our lives.
Thoughts are the waves that arise in the ocean of consciousness.
For example, when the opportunity to share intimacy arises, the vasana, formed by previous pleasurable experience, will “tell” the mind that intimacy is pleasurable and that you should continue.
So every time we engage in a particular activity or indulge in a particular vasana, we strengthen it. In this way, over time, vasanas take on a kind of life of their own. That is, instead of simply waiting to be consulted by the mind when it has to make a decision regarding an object with which the vasana is associated, the vasana begins to demand satisfaction, as it were. This phenomenon is the cause of our desires, attachments, habits and in extreme cases even addictions. A vasana that manifests itself as a thought pattern (vritti) can be seen in ‘modern physical terms’ as an ingrained neural connection in our brain, which influences the quantum positions in our consciousness (thoughts and therefore our actions).
In terms of the earlier example, instead of simply responding to opportunities as they present themselves, one begins to actively seek intimacy, for example by flirting or engaging in (online) dating.
So, because of our vasanas, our actions also move in fairly predictable ways. Because of our vasanas, we look for the same objects of desire, we avoid the same boundaries outside our comfort zone and we therefore react intuitively rather than consciously to situations. Sometimes, however, vasanas can become so strong that its binding nature not only affects one’s situational behavior, but becomes an aspect of one’s character or personality.
Vasanas that come to control mind and compel one’s actions, it is a binding vasana. At this stage the person believes that his or her happiness depends on the object of the vasana. He will then compulsively pursue certain actions all the time. A vasana is not bad in itself. It depends on the object of the vasana, the nature of the action it prompts one to do and the degree of attachment one has to it.
Due to all the desires we have in everyday life, we continually leave such subliminal traces in our consciousness. These traces also ensure that we live (in both waking and dreaming states) in a state of constant unrest: we are always busy planning the future and thinking about the past, or we are dreaming. This prevents us from living in the state of clarity that comes in deep sleep or when we are in pure meditation. So to find peace in our minds we will have to curb our vasanas, regulate our desires and let go of our burdensome attachments. Only then can we mentally reside in the universal BEING if we wish.
I hope that with this contribution I have provided insight into how I view the functioning of our thinking mind.
Good vibes!
Corné van Nijhuis
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Dhr Corne van Nijhuis is a Vedanta scholar. He contributes regularly to this magazine. He has written and translated books, and has travelled extensively almost all over the globe. His in depth study into Vedanta and other systems helps him express difficult ideas in a simple and easily comprehensible way.