The human mind has the divine power to create happiness or unhappiness. Understanding the mind's nature, structure, and function is the starting point for anyone who seeks peace and happiness in life.
"All mental phenomena have the mind as their forerunner; they have the mind as their chief; they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts with an evil mind, suffering follows one just as the wheel follows the footprint of the ox that draws the cart."
"I don't envision a single thing that, when undeveloped, leads to such great harm as the mind. The mind, when undeveloped, leads to great harm. I don't envision a single thing that, when developed, leads to such great benefit as the mind. The mind, when developed, leads to great benefit." (Buddha)
The mind can be categorized into two levels based on its functions: conscious and unconscious levels. On the conscious level, the mind responds to external stimuli through sense organs: eye, ear, nose, tongue, and skin. Thus, the mind functioning on a superficial and active level manifests itself through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. After a moment of perception finishes, its effect will subside and lie dormant at the subconscious level. This level functions as the passive potential, or 'behind-the-scenes,' that lays the foundation for all situations in life in the form of value, inclination, attitude, the way one thinks and interprets each experience, and how one interacts with any circumstances.
By its quality, the mind can be broadly classified into two kinds: Original and Ordinary minds. The Original mind refers to the enlightened mind, which possesses the actual quality of a human mind. It is made of purity, illumination, complete awakening, clarity, peace, steadfastness, and freedom from all negativities. The original mind is like pure water or the clear sky. By its true nature, water is pure, clean, colorless, and without smell. When it falls as rain on the ground, it is mixed and contaminated with various substances, consequently becoming muddy and possibly smelly. Also, the clear sky has a clean and transparent nature, but sometimes, it becomes dark and cloudy because of the number of clouds. The clouds, in fact, do not belong to the sky; they only come and go according to their cause and condition. So, a person's mind loses its true nature only when it is interfered with by mental contaminants.
The ordinary mind, sometimes called "the monkey mind," is of the nature of being imbalanced, restless, wondering, hard to control, and hard to guard. It always enjoys moving from moment to moment, from experience to experience, seeking after whatever it prefers to experience. The ordinary mind is easily distracted. It, therefore, looks similar to a monkey that enjoys jumping from branch to branch, from tree to tree. As a result, the ordinary mind generally leads to different problems in daily life.
What pollutes and darkens the mind are the defilements called Kilesa in Buddhist terms. It is the negative energy that roots the impurity into a person's mind. Those who want to find peace and happiness in life must improve and develop the quality of their minds. Meditation practice, a well-known and highly suggested activity nowadays, seems the most effective tool for purifying one's mind. Happiness is always subjective; to create a happier society, we must begin at the individual mind's level.
I dedicate this blog to Monk Prasan, who owns the original draft of the series "The Truth of Life." I met him in Thailand in 2019, only a few years before his peaceful death. He gave me sets of his teachings(drafts) that he was working on at the time with the hope that more people would benefit from his wisdom. I am inspired by his beautiful heart, and I will continue his unfinished work to honor him and benefit others.
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