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The Concept of Mind in Won-Buddhist Philosophy : 139
waves. According to the philosophy, there are only two ways of disturbing this serenity and engendering patterns of thought through sense perceptions (pramāņa ) and when our memory (smsti) gets triggered off.
Depending on the degree of distraction, Yoga philosophy categorizes the mind under five stages of being: Kșipta or disturbed, Mūdha or stupefied, Vikṣipta or distracted, Ekāgra or concentrated and Niruddha or the absolutely balanced state of mind. The five Modifications of the Mind
The Yoga system categorizes the vșttis or forms of thought into five sections : comprehension or Pramāņa, misapprehension or Viparyaya, conceptualization or Vikalpa, deep sleep or Nidrā and memory or Směti.
The relationship between the Puruşa and the ahankāra has been brought out in a simile by the Sārnkhyaits as the between the lame (spirit) and the blind (body), the former riding on the latter. While the Purusa (ātmā) is the rider and the guide with vision, the body (aharikāra) is the ridden, the beast of burden. The latter is for the former and not the other way. The aim of one's life is to proceed to ātmahood gradually discarding the ahankārahood which is the human destiny. To effect such a separation of physical from the spiritual, mind plays an important role. Thus it is an instrument essential for reaching the final spiritual state though ultimately it is to be discarded.
As opposed to this are the material -derived entities like external sense organs. These sense organs as well as the inner sense serve as instruments of perception. The external sense organs with their data from the external world transmit the impressions to the inner sense and from there they are conveyed to the self. Similarly for the internal experiences (psychological) the instrument is the inner sense from where the impressions are relayed to the Self. Self is thus the perceiver, cognizer, integrator of all impressions, a
