The brain is a physical organ composed of neurophysiological factors. The biological processes that govern the nervous tissue command various tasks connected to movement, senses, emotions, language, communication, thinking, and memory. 

Conversely, the mind is an electromagnetic metaphysical flow produced by chemical activity in the brain processing information received through sensory and extrasensory inputs relaying through nerve impulses in thoughts, feelings, perceptions, reasoning, imaginations, memories, and will. It represents the totality of mental phenomena. It is the output of the primary processes connecting neural activity and cognitive functions in the brain.

The cognitive internal areas of the mind relate to functions like thinking, learning, attention, perception, and reasoning, and these are related to scholarly pursuits of knowledge and comprehension. These processes enable understanding of the world based upon past cognitive information embedded in the memory. 

After that, the third component, the soul, operating as the non-cognitive section, does not include thought processes or reasoning. It merely watches and witnesses the cognitive mind’s operations and spontaneously enlightens the mind with fresh and pure intuitiveness, instinct, gut reactions, or interpersonal relations. While non-cognitive traits may sometimes affect behavior and decision-making, they do not correlate with intellectual or perceptive issues.

The soul is beyond scientific comprehension; a person’s spiritual or immaterial essence provides life to the mind through consciousness beyond sensory perceptions. Spiritually, the soul section in the mind is made of or, in other words, contains the cosmic spirit by which it transmits and also telepathically receives, as mentioned earlier, information from the cosmos in the form of intuition and instinct. 

The spirit, in contrast, relates to those aspects of human life that transcend our physical and mental limitations, opening the gates of infinite spiritual awareness. Well settled in the soul, the difference between the spirit and the soul is that the spirit is that absolute nondual awareness, the substratum on which the soul superimposes. The spirit is pure awareness, and the soul, since it is individualized, is a notch less but persists in pure consciousness. You need to become aware first to be in a state of consciousness. Hence, the soul in pure consciousness depends upon aware energy, which is the objective of the subject, pure awareness. 

The role of the spirit is to make the mind alert and aware, and that of the soul is to make the mind attentive and conscious. The role of the cognitive mind is to function through memory and intellect, first to be mindfully conscious of what it perceives and then to operate in lower or subconsciousness in auto-mode. The spirit and the soul are responsible for making the mind aware and mindful of exploring and discovering all we know relating to matter and consciousness besides the mysterious dark energy extending in the totality of all that we know from the microcosm to the macrocosm in its infinitude.      

According to the pre-historic Vedic philosophy of  ‘Advaita Vedanta’ – Advaita means – not two (nondual) – all that exists in the universe is not two but only Brahman (implies the ability to expand and grow) in the nothingness (shunyata) of the universe. Vedanta insinuates that this is the end of all knowledge. Today, Quantum Mechanics agrees with this theory and signifies the same as energy – it means energy waves can expand and grow into waves, turning into particles and back, indicating all that exists in the universe is nothing but energy. 

That being so, we are spiritual beings going through human experiences in a temporal state of body and mind to experience the dualities in relative opposites called – Life. The spirit in Vedic study is that supreme energy ability, “Para Brahman,” which enables the mind first to receive pristine information telepathically and then to become spiritually aware to experience sensory and extrasensory perceptions to conceive all that we know and will know. Extrasensory perception (ESP) is a process of acquisition of one’s paranormal abilities, which include all means other than the ordinary human senses. It includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition – seeing into the future.

Along with everything else in the universe, we are composed of atoms. Interestingly, The electrons in any atom mainly contain vacant space—about 99.99999 percent; the remaining mass is restricted to the nucleus of any atom, being negligible. Further, endless atoms make up the human body, existing as nothing but primarily a void space of emptiness as waves of energy. An equal number of thoughts as psychic energy make up the human mind. 

All it takes to go around the globe is the imagination; such is the vastness of the mind. But notwithstanding such incredible attributes of the body and mind, they come short of realizing their full potential. Society has often programmed the mind to see them as sources of momentary pleasure rather than as instruments of creativity and latent self-potential. Unlike every other living creature, we possess the highest intensity of aware, conscious energy of all we perceive.

However, our lifestyle is created by raging wars and causing all sorts of damages characterized by overconsumption, wastage, and habitat destruction, leading to the degradation of natural resources and the overall ecosystems. All this suggests our impact on the planet is more destructive than constructive. Never bothering to know and understand how to experience the soul, we prefer to pollute, contaminate, and destroy more than we create, hiding from the splendor and magnificence of the divine settled within our minds. Despite all that, even then, we still have limitless potential to reform and use our inner spiritual energy.

The mind is like the door that leads one to endless opportunities through spiritual insight, as well as the door that blocks away opportunities through material abuse. Even if it is difficult for humans to visit every region of the earth,  we can still conduct explorations inside the brain. It is evident, for example, that even if conscious thinking is in a smaller area of the brain, there is ample scope for self-reflection. To achieve this, we must inwardly look at the content of our thoughts on how and what we think about and ethically respond to them. The mind is the ultimate test, outlining the material, spiritual, and the ultimate self. 

Due to a lack of knowledge of the spiritual and the ultimate self, we fail to acknowledge correctly the physical and the false persona we carry around.  Even though it is impossible to control the mind, it is a personal, productive, and prolific mechanism that manages the development of all we know with proper insights into how it works. The human mind is “That Art Thou,” the God, Guru, and the Self – all we require is to go inwards in all moments, seek, and experience righteously the beyond of dualities operating in relative opposites of pleasure/pain, positive/negative, good/evil, divine/devil, etc.

We try to reverse this spectacular machine; instead of using the mind as an instrument, it mechanically uses us, and we become the tools of our minds instead of acting as responsible masters in guarding this power. Progressively, our minds become unmanageable, and emotionally desirous thoughts pour out without restraint. As a result, our minds randomly multitask into this or that for their likes and dislikes in selfishness. 

It means that when people try to think of multiple different thoughts at any given moment, haphazardly and not centered or focussed on any one subject, the mind goes into a roller coaster ride in dualities of this and that subconsciously in lower consciousness in auto-mode and our true self after that is not in charge of what we really should be focussed, attentive and conscious about.

It implies that the human mind, though phenomenal, if not checked and guided by the soul, thoughts go into entropy in a disorderly fashion, randomly, recklessly, and repetitively. Therefore, we cannot achieve the desired results unless the soul inwardly scans, examines, and clarifies this mental traffic. On top of that, the mind tends to go into past experiences while thinking, projecting, and desiring future possibilities, bypassing the present rather than engaging in the now. In such mental chaos, the mind remains connected to worries of the past and fear of its tomorrow rather than being in the serenity of the now, existentially in every moment.

The National Foundation of Science suggests that around 80% of our thoughts are pessimistic (negative), and about 95% are repetitive. This pattern impacts mental well-being, and most of us do not bother to know and learn how to rectify this absurd limitation. 

Even though all living creatures are unique, we still compare and feel jealous of others. What we need is first to love and respect ourselves. To love others then becomes natural and spontaneous. Strangely, if you notice, the mind is satisfied by constantly being dissatisfied. So, instead of imitating and competing with others, realize your uniqueness and go naturally with the flow. Always be alert, attentive, aware, and conscious of what you think, feel, and experience to acquire contentment and clarity.

I agree it is difficult to shape something as complex as the mind web. The four directions for the meaning and purpose in life provided by the Vedas in Hinduism relate to:- “Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha.” The four purusharthas, the primary goals of life, signify righteously going forward to earn economic prosperity, satisfy sensual desires, and finally liberate your mind from all attachments. We attach to all we possess and identify, which becomes the root cause of our sufferings. Attachment arises when the mind dwells on sensual objects, giving rise to one desire after another. Finding contentment, calmness, and clarity in clairvoyance are the final answers to celebrating life virtuously.

 The scope of what we call “our life” matures dramatically with age. The part of our subconscious acts as a “bookshelf” where we stash up all the memorable experiences, insights, and knowledge we have collected over life’s journey. The biggest challenge that limits the mind is that it is never at peace within itself. Even after attaining all the health, wealth, family, friends, wisdom, and multiple sources of amusement and pleasure, something remains amiss. Only a few manage to cross this bridge of uncertainty to experience further and realize the final lesson in absolute truth, peace, and bliss – when you have the urge to explore and experience the ultimate in experiencing what the spirit is all about in spiritualism, through spirituality to become spiritual in spiritual-ness.

When you wish to seek beyond the limitations of the body, mind, intellect, and ego comprising of the quantitative-ness of ‘what you are’ and not the qualitative-ness of ‘who you are,’ you arrive at the confluence of entering the beyond of all limitations. We then merge the mind with the origin of our authentic self, consciously surpassing the temporal body and mind consciousness into that eternal spiritual beingness of our life. We effectuate ‘righteousness and selflessness’ before all our ‘doing’ by consciously creating and going with the flow of well-being, peace, amity, and harmony in all situations.

The reason is that unless you know, experience, and realize the essence of your being – ‘you are a spiritual being going through human experiences.’ Only then will you discover you are a prisoner of your mind, memory, intellect, and beliefs. If you do not transcend from this roller-coaster ride of this and that in happiness and sadness, you remain incomplete and unfulfilled.

Please remember that our minds have been limited and conditioned over centuries by beliefs propounded by parents, education, religion, culture, community, rituals, and borrowed knowledge gathered from here and there. We call that evolution. Moreover, society conditions our thoughts to imprison us in a fixed system of rules and regulations for self-improvement through self-adjustments. Those who break away from such an environment are called rebels. We discover more than what we abide by when we free ourselves from any situations we disagree with.

Breaking away from imposed psychological imprisonment is a pre-requisite for any transcendence, be it material or spiritual. You cannot imprison love or force yourself to love; probably for this reason, we mostly fall in societal love but do not rise, while we do rise in spiritual love. In short, to be spiritual, you must transcend beyond the cognitive mind into a clear state of soulful mind with sheer content and clarity and not bound to anything with a free, unconditioned mind.

The mind’s most significant limitation is its ignorance of knowing and experiencing its metaphysical aspects. Nikola Tesla, the famous American engineer and futurist, rightly said, “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” This ignorance significantly emphasizes a lack of knowledge of our universal self in the form of spiritually aware-conscious energy responsible for making the mind righteously alive and functioning. Apprehending this ignorance is the first step toward experiencing by gradually realizing spiritual wisdom, as awareness of our limitations can lead to deeper insights about existence and consciousness itself.

“HARI OM TAT SAT” – The manifest and the unmanifest are the same.