The Mind: the Conscious and
the Unconscious
To discover the truth. The only condition is to shun distraction,
to follow the well-known principle of simple living and high thinking.
Man’s mind is divided into two parts: the conscious and the unconscious. These are integral parts of every individual mind, whether male or female. The conscious mind is that part of the mind which deals with everything that is within the realm of our awareness, whereas the unconscious mind deals with all those thoughts which the individual is unaware of but which nevertheless influence his behaviour.
The human body is a highly complex organism. In it, there are numerous functions in play at all times, such as seeing, hearing, digestion, respiration, different kinds of movements, etc. Almost all these functions are governed by the unconscious mind. Little effort is required on the part of the conscious mind for all these bodily activities to function smoothly.
The conscious mind, with its unlimited capacity for thinking and analyzing facts, is an exceptionally important part of our personality. But if, according to the divine plan of creation, so much is placed in the charge of the unconscious mind, what is the role of the conscious mind? It must be understood that the Creator has made the conscious mind free to involve itself largely in the great quest for truth. And to search for truth is the prime task for every man and woman.
What is truth? Truth, to define it broadly, is the reality of life. We must try to know the secret of life, the purpose of life, the real goal of life, to know what is right and what is wrong, what is good for the individual and what is good for society. In short, the deeper meaning of our lives!
The answers to these questions are not written on any mountainside. It is man’s duty to discover all these things in order to gain knowledge of the truth. And the knowledge of truth is so important that the Creator has consigned our bodily affairs to the unconscious mind. Now, a man, or his conscious mind, is completely free to discover all these truths of life.
It is often seen that people live in a state of frustration. And great men are no exception. They live in frustration and die in frustration. Tension and stress are the greatest psychological diseases in our present world. What is the reason? The reason lies in people’s failure to find the truth.
Everyone is a seeker by nature, but everyone lives his life without knowing its real purpose. As a result of the ensuing sense of aimlessness, people live in a state of confusion. They speak and write, but without clarity. They live lives fraught with contradictions. They yearn to find something without knowing what it is.
A tension-free mind is one that can function positively in spite of a contradiction. People work, but find no job satisfaction. They earn money but experience no inner satisfaction. They live by the formula: ‘Enjoy life!’ But they don’t know what life is or what real enjoyment is. It is a paradoxical situation. Everyone is living in this state of self-contradiction.
This is a self-created problem. When the Creator has given you a mind and made you free to use your mind, you should make use of this opportunity. You have to activate your thinking capacity. You have to discover the reality. You have to read what is hidden in nature in an unwritten form. This is the only way to extract yourself from this psychological chaos. The consciousness of truth is interwoven in your nature; it is very easy, therefore, to discover the truth. The only condition is to shun distraction, to follow the well-known principle of simple living and high thinking. If you want to save yourself from going astray, activate your thinking faculty. Think, think and think! You will surely reach the gates of truth.
