The Nature of Our Mind - Sri Swami Shivapremananda

Part II

Also, accountability to an invisible God after death is not a deterrent to evil deeds, and has little meaning as to shaping our actions, rather than accountability to our fellow-beings, and social institutions defined by law, and ultimately to our conscience. In the same way, the hope for a better life in the next incarnation as a result of good deeds is meaningless, since the memory of the present one will not be carried over.

The theorists of reincarnation were psychologically perspicacious. The preference of choice inclines to the known. Given an option between returning to an imperfect world, which one knows, and having a passport without the certainty of getting an entry visa to heaven from St. Peter, the human mind would surely choose the former!

Personally I will be quite happy, when my body is reduced to ashes and dissolved in the sea or river (apas) and my last breath is mingled in the atmosphere (vayu), if my soul merges in the infinite spirit, its individuality gone forever.

Five Aspects of the Mind

There are two main classifications of the mind according to yogic tradition. One is called the inner (antar) formation (karana), and the other five (pancha) sheaths (kosha).

In the inner format, the inmost content of our being is the I-consciousness (aham).

In a state of identity with its spiritual source, it is known as soul (Atman), which the Bible calls the image of God in Genesis, in which we are supposed to have been created. When identified with the body and mind, and their orientation with the world around, it is called the ego (ahamkara).

(To be continued)

© "The Divine Life" (April 2001) published by The Sivananda Publication League, Shivanandanagar 249 192, Tehri-Garhwal Dist. Uttaranchal. Reprinted with permission.

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