Yoga, as a system of self-exploration and exploration of the inexpressible surrounding Universe, calls to take certain steps for this: to get rid of dream and darkness of mind, to get rid of illogicality, to polish your mind to a shine and to learn how to completely control it, including learning how to connect and disconnect it. As soon as we learn how to do this, the realm of the supermind, or the highest intuition, that is when you know everything,without thinking, will become available to us. What should we understand by a sharpened mind? What are the criteria for a sharpened mind? What do we need to consider developing the mind?
“Mind is a spiritual force that can remember (comprehend, cognize), promise (think, apply, compare) and conclude (decide, deduce a consequence); the ability to correctly, consistently connect thoughts from the cause, its consequences to the goal, the end, especially when applied to the case. V. I. Dal’s Explanatory Dictionary.
“Mind is the highest stage of human cognitive activity, the ability to think logically, comprehend the meaning and connection of phenomena, to understand the laws of development of the world, society and consciously find expedient ways to transform them.” Big explanatory dictionary of the modern Russian language. D. N. Ushakov.
Yoga tells us that the human mind is a mechanism that uses the fundamental Mind Principle, which was created first in the process of creating the Universe. More information about the Principles is on the website openyoga.ru Only the existence of the Mind Principle in the Universe makes the being of the human mind possible, and allows it to manifest and develop it.
Waypoints that helps us to understand if we are moving in the direction of the mind perfection are following abilities:
- the ability to clearly, distinct express your thoughts, build complex sentences;
- fluent using and understanding of logic;
- clear, detailed and consistent memory of events and phenomena;
- the ability to focus and concentrate attention for a long time on any phenomenon, object or task;
- the flexibility of the mind, when it freely admits new ideas, no matter how absurd they may seem, adequately perceives almost any events and phenomena occurring around, analyzing them;
- the ability to apply the acquired knowledge in practice in life;
- the ability to separate emotions from thoughts;
- glimpses of intuition that is, direct comprehension of reality, when you know without thinking.
What does it mean to completely sharpen the mind?
It means to allow the fundamental principle of the mind to “shine” through all our structures: gross, subtle, causal. The concept of a “fully sharpened mind” means that the full potential inherent in our mind is revealed and brought under our control. That is, we get the opportunity to use the universal principle in everyday life.
Tools for the development of the mind
Yoga provides us with powerful tools to develop the mind. One of them is Mantra Yoga. This type of yoga uses our ability to transfer sounds and words from our mind into the outside world. Yoga tells us that there is a strong non-obvious connection between the ability to articulate speech and the ability to think. By saying words aloud, we change the state of our mind – our perception of ourselves and the world around us changes. For example, in order to understand some difficult information, it is enough to read it aloud several times.
Various physical and mental yogas also contribute to the development of the mind. Often their impact is hidden from us, but for experienced practitioners, the connection between the various practices of Yoga and the improvement of the mind is very clear.
Everything related to self-knowledge and self-education can be used to develop the mind. For example, reading ancient texts, acquiring new knowledge and skills in any field, learning languages and other cultures or traveling. Anything that reveals our inherent omniscience and omnipotence allows the mind principle to shine freely through all the structures of our bodies.
Dangers in the way of the development of the mind
However, one should not forget about the dangers in the way of the development of the mind. As the mind sharpens, our suffering becomes more and more sophisticated. A sharpened mind can turn into our tyrant. We should learn to put it under control, that is, to switch from negative, destructive thoughts to positive ones at will, moreover, to turn off and turn on the instrument of mind as necessary. As a result, there is an ability to manage or control even the deepest instincts. Learning to control our mind is the next stage on the path of our development.
Sharpened mind, what’s next?
When we have learned to put our mind under control, turn it off and on on demand, we automatically go to the next level – the level of overmind or intuition. This level, on the one hand, is a special case of logic, and on the other hand, is internal knowledge that goes beyond the boundaries of logical analysis. You can imagine a kind of life spiral that lifts us up or lowers us down. Yoga tells us that the situations this spiral consists of are the same. If the mind improves, then returning to such situations again, we make a more effective decision than before, and follow the path leading to a higher turn of the spiral.
The development of the mind is an integral stage in the evolution of mankind. Yoga offers us many tools for this task. As soon as we have learned to control the work of our mind, we will be able to reach the level of supreme logic, and then to the level of direct comprehension of the Universe around us.
Let your sharpened mind be your springboard into inexpressible knowledge!
Authors of the article: Maria Nadi, Rita Love, Julia Shivakari, Victor Gandhi, Andrey Haimi, Valera Sadhaka, Olga Larina
Editors: Olga Larina, Evgenia Lakshmi, Volyevskaya Julia, Evgenia Agni, Eva Rati, Olga Belous, Inna Shakti
Project curator: Kerigona
Translators: Ekaterina Daya, Anya Vayu, Elena Lakshmi