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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
It is our vehicle, our tool, our means for action. The mind is one but the states of mind can be many. All kinds of tendencies rise in the mind, each tendency termed as one mind. Hence the concept of many minds. The mind in itself is one entity. However, because of different mental dispositions, it looks as if there are many minds. Freud rightly compared the human mind to an iceberg. The greater part of the iceberg, lying under the surface of the sea, is invisible Only a small part of it is visible. The visible part is small but the invisible is very large. The known is limited, but the unknown is vast, unlimited.
Jung has compared the mind to a vast ocean. The conscious mind is just like an island in the vast ocean of unconsciousness, for it is the unconscious mind that constitutes the greater part. We analyse our conduct and behaviour with the conscious mind, which is for ever partial and therefore false. Only the collective mind, the conscious and the unconscious constituting one whole, can offer a complete exposition. Freud used depth psychology for interpreting the unconsious mind; not the conscious but the unconscious mind is the subject of depth psychology. Every action is explained in terms of the unconscious; it is the unconscious that dictates man's conduct, not the conscious mind. The exposition of the subconscious mind as given in modern psychology was undertaken in Indian philosophy on the basis of the karma-doctrine, consciousness and chitt. In modern psychology no distinction is made between the chitt and the mind, but in Jain philosophy, the chitt is clearly distinguished from the mind. The term 'mind' connotes the conscious mind, whereas the 'chitt stands for the sub-conscious. The ‘mind' constitutes the upper layer which, touched by the chitt is generally taken for consciousness. It is, however, the chitt which represents the whole of consciousness, the conscious as well as the sub-conscious mind. The unconscious or the sub-conscious may be called chitt; the 'mind' stands for the conscious mind.
The king was caught in contradiction; a part of his mind urged him to approach the mango tree; another part counselled abstinence. When two contradictory desires simultaneously assail a man, he stands puzzled and does not know what to do. One part of the mind says one thing, the second counsels something else, and the third still another. The conscious mind alone cannot comprehend such a situation. Deep in the sub-conscious mind of the king, there was attachment, desire, which made him long for the sight of the mango tree, to inhale its fragrance, to eat the fruit thereof. This longing originated from great depths. The conscious mind remembered the physician's injunction and said to itself, "No mangoeating for me! No point in approaching the tree!" The struggle continued for a long time. At last the unconscious won.
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