Mysteries of Mind

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

Page 33

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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
Instrumental factors or nimitta play a very important role in our lives. Renunciation by itself cannot stop habitformation in the nervous system. Addicts to intoxicants know it very well that addiction is not a desirable thing. But when the hour for taking intoxicants comes, the entire nervous system becomes so much restless that it compels the addict to take intoxicants even unwillingly. The nervous system is a great agent which spoils us. Things external to us (nimitta) as well as the nervous system are the instrumental causes which bring about man's fall.
There are thinkers who hold that instrumental factors alone determine the course of man's life. They do not consider any other factor except these to be the determinant of human life. But even these thinkers are confronted with the question as to what controls the brain-centres. There are some who hold that the brain-centres are controlled by the nervous system. This is correct to some extent but it is not a complete
answer.
The basic factor (upādāna) which governs and controls the nervous system including the brain-centres does not lie in the nervous system but in the subtle body, and the subtle body derives its entire force from the soul.
It is necessary to guard ourselves against the agencies which are instrumental in disturbing and disrupting us. We should avoid indulging in activities which are habit-forming. It is necessary to be careful in this respect. This is what is called pratyakhyāna (renunciation). But it is much more important to be careful about the forces which come from within. It is necessary to purify the depths of our being which contains the upādāna or substantial causes of our disturbanThe mere control of instrumental causes does not provide a permanent solution of our problems. The external world will not disappear if we simply closed our eyes. We cannot keep our eyes permanently closed. The eyes are the openings through which the rays of our consciousness pass to enlighten the world outs.de us. Why should we keep them closed? Why should we stop the activities and functions of the nervous system? Why should we forcibly stop the mind from performing its natural functions?
ces.
It is true that the control of instrumental causes gives us