Mysteries of Mind

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Book Agency

Page 20

SEARCH FOR EXISTENCE: RIGHT VISION
To understand breath is the first stage in the process of sādhanā which culminates in the perception of the soul. To understand the body is the second stage. To understand the thought-processes is the third stage. To understand the aura is the fourth stage. To understand the vital force is the fifth stage. Self-realization is the end of these stages.
When I speak of seeing the soul through the soul, I mean proceeding from the gross to the subtle. Nobody who has not understood the gross can comprehend the subtle. Every stage of our pilgrimage is a stage which leads us to the comprehension of the subtle. Ordinarily we keep ourselves confined within the four walls of sensations, but once the mind has been properly trained, we begin to sense the subtle also. An untrained mind can only feel the gross sensations. As soon as it has become refined and subtle, the stream of consciousness begins to reveal itself.
The beating of the heart and the circulation of blood and air in the body keep it working like a huge factory. And we remain unconscious of what is happening in the body. The reason for this is that we are incapable of seizing the sensations. It is only when we watch very carefully that we are able to see how much the body is seething and throbbing with activity. It is only when we perceive the body that we come to know that the pulse and the heart are beating and that the blood is circulating in it. Our minds have become so gross that we are unable to comprehend subtle things. We can comprehend subtle entities through the subtle mind only. Sādhanā consists in refining the mind and making it subtle. The more the mind becomes refined and subtle, the nearer shall we arrive to our subtle being or Existence. Grosser sensations will then disappear and we shall be in a position to comprehend more subtle or finer sensations.
What is the consequence of comprehending the mind ? It results in self-discipline. We have chosen a path which has no footprints. There is no question of following and imitating anyone. Once our walking has gathered momentum, we will begin to command a comprehensive and disciplined orientation or vision. The mind will then stop wandering about outward things. It will fix itself on one point only and a one-pointed consciousness will emerge. That is self-discipline.