Foundation for Indian Scientific Heritage®, Surathkal

Is indebted to this author: Dr. V.S Prasad

http://www.science20.com/profile/siva_prasad

and website Scientific Blogging.

(http://www.science20.com/profile/drsramakrishna_sharma)

ABSTRACT:

The components (or faculties) of mind according to

ancient scriptures are explained with inferences and
interpretations. Connection of the components with
states of mind known as dreamless sleep, sleep with
dreams, wakefulness, trance and para-trance are given.
Analogy of the working of the components with the parts
of a computer and feedback control systems in
Electrical Engineering are given. Through analysis, it
is shown that the spine works like the CPU of a
computer.
1. INTRODUCTION

No metaphysical problem is more vigorously discussed by the present day

psychologists than that of mind and body. Most of us assume that all
thinking takes place in the brain. It is only since a few decades that
psychologists are treating body and mind as a single unit called
psycho-somatic system. This led to the development of new subjects like
Psycho-biology and Psycho-neuro-immunology. Modern medicine has
recognized the brain-spine system as a single unit, but it does not
assign thinking functions to any part of the spine. It is now known that
even when a considerable amount of brain is removed through surgery, a
person can still have reasonable mental abilities and can lead a near
normal life. Modern research found that one region in brain can perform
several tasks and so can compensate for the loss of damage of another
region. On the contrary, surgical removal of some 'safe' parts from womb
of women is known to cause problems of mind like dementia. Then, what
are the components of mind and where are they located? The present paper
tries to provide some information in this line, using interpretations of
the principles given in ancient scriptures of India.

Indians put their hand on the chest when they say "I am saying this from
the depths of my Manas". Manas (rational mind) is a common word used in
India, and no one shows his head when he uses that word. The Europeans
have an esoteric tradition that mind exists independently of the
physical brain, and thoughts become known to a person through the brain
[1]. During the 1970s, neurologists became increasingly dissatisfied
with the epiphenomenalism [2] theories of mind and brain. More
scientists came to suspect that mind and brain were different in a kind
and could interact.

2. COMPONENTS OF MIND

Carl Jung distinguished persons according to four primary functions of

mind - thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition - one or more of
which predominated in any given person. According to ancient Hindu
scriptures, the various components (or faculties) of mind are [3,4]:

Ahamkaara (Self-sense): The need that "I have to survive" originates

here. The sense of smell is connected with this center. It has the
lowest vibration of energy among the components of mind. Some of the
traits of this center are similar to the influences of planet Saturn
according to astrology. This center works dominantly on Saturday.

Chitta (Emotion): It deals with the particular. Subconscious instincts

like "I am hungry", "I am thirsty", and "I have to sleep" originate
here. This center is connected with emotional thoughts like fantasies,
artistic inspiration, and biological needs. The sense of taste is
connected with this center. It has higher vibration of energy than
Ahamkaara. Some of the traits of this center are similar to the
influences of planet Venus according to astrology. This center works
dominantly on Friday.

Manas (Reason): It deals with the general. Manas is connected with

rational thinking, and mental interaction with others. Conscious
thoughts of will-power like "I have to do this", "I do not want to do
this", "I can not tolerate this" originate here. We know that a person
always shows his chest, and never shows his head, when he utters such
expressions. This center is connected with traditions and social needs.
Manas lists out the applicable pros and cons of the subject under
consideration, and suggests the practical possibilities. The sense of
touch is connected with this center. It has higher vibration of energy
than Chitta center. Some of the traits of this center are similar to the
influences of planet Mercury according to astrology. This center works
dominantly on Wednesday.

Buddhi (Intellect): It deals with deliberation of the pros and cons

using discrimination to determine on a subject [5,6]. This center gives
out the judgment after considering what is emotional and what is
rational. Buddhi deals with a person's normal abilities . Thoughts like
"I do not have enough resources (or energy) to handle this situation", "
This is some thing not known to me before, but I can manage it", and "I
can do it, but I have to think again whether I should do it" originate
here. This center has the ability to balance and control other parts of
mind. The sense of seeing is connected with this center. It has higher
vibration of energy than Manas center. The traits of this center are
similar to the influences of planet Jupiter according to astrology. This
center works dominantly on Thursday.

Jnaata (Knowing): It deals with a person's extra-ordinary abilities.

Instability and restlessness are it's characteristics. Commands for
doing physical actions are given by this center. The sense of hearing is
connected with this center. It has higher vibration of energy than
Buddhi center. The traits of this center are similar to the influences
of planet Mars according to astrology. This center works dominantly on
Tuesday. It is known to many that more quarrels are likely to take place
on Tuesday than any other day of the week.

Jnana (Knowledge): Modern medicine knows that direct stimulation of the

surface of the brain (the cortex), while the patient is conscious on the
operating table during surgery, has the effect of bringing long
forgotten experiences back to awareness. Removal of specific parts of
the brain abolishes the retention of specific experiences in memory. The
pineal gland in the brain is the seat of Jnaana center which controls
memory, knowledge, and serenity. It is the seat of personality with
which a person is born. Stability and peace are it's characteristics.
The sixth sense is connected with this center. It has higher vibration
of energy than Jnaata center. The traits of this center are similar to
the influences of planet Moon according to astrology. Jnaana center
works dominantly on Monday. This center is connected with beginnings.
Most cultures consider that the beginning day for a week long work is
Monday. It is a fact that most cultures named days of the week after the
same planets. When the memory and knowledge stored at this center is
accessed during information processing, the common man assumes that the
thinking process is taking place in the brain.

The centers of these parts of the mind are located on the spine. The
Ahamkaara center is located at the base of the spine. The Chitta center
is located behind the private organ. The Manas center is located behind
the thymus gland. The Buddhi center is located behind the navel. One
writer located Buddhic plane [2] in the fourth chakra. The Jnaata center
is located behind the throat. In the study of army veterans with
spinal-cord injuries, researchers found that they can become emotional
but they do not feel it - they do not have the bodily heat that they
used to have before the injuries. Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas, Buddhi and
Jnaata centers are the seats of elements Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and
Aakasa respectively. Some modern authors connect element Earth with
stability and practicality, element Water with sensitiveness, emotions
and melancholy, element Air with communicative and sanguine thinking,
and element Fire with activity and power. The Buddhist text Skanda says
that the five elements of creation sum up the whole of an individual's
mental and physical existence in five levels. Hindu philosophical texts
described Sukshma Sareera (subtle body), Stoola Sareera (gross body) and
Kaarana Sareera (causal body). They refer to the components of mind in
the body - Chitta, Manas and Jnaana respectively. The Sukshma Sareera
(subtle body) is called Linga Sareera (private organ) in some texts to
indicate it's location. The theosophy describes seven planes [2] of
consciousness or components of mind.

Some medieval Europeans wrote that mind has a number of faculties such
as perceiving, comparing, thinking, recalling and discrimination which
contribute to knowing. It is known to many persons at present that
knowing involves (1) sensation (or stimulus) (2) analysis (or
imagination), (3) synthesis (or interpretation), and (4) evaluation (or
justification). These phases are carried out by Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas
and Buddhi centers respectively after accessing the Jnaana center
through Jnaata center.

3. STATES OF MIND

The Upanisads define the following states of mind:

Sushupti (Dreamless sleep): This is the unconscious state. Ahamkaara

center controls this state.

Nidra (Sleep with dreams): This is the subconscious state. Chitta center
controls this state. For this reason, we feel the action of Chitta

center only indirectly. Modern psychology says that subconscious is the

source of phantasy and dreams. F.W.H. Myers wrote that subliminal self

[2] (beneath the threshold or subconscious mind) could perceive

sensations and emotions, and could work in cooperation with normal

conscious mind.

Jaagruti (Wakefulness): This is the conscious state. The lungs are said

to be 'awake' because the heart-lung system continues to work even in a

person who has gone into sleep or coma. Manas center controls this

state. Hence we point towards the chest for all our conscious thoughts

and intentions.

Tureeyam (Trance): Buddhi center controls this state. It is a known fact

that not all persons can be induced into trance. Women in general are

said to excel in inducing trance, and also to go into that state easily

and deeply. A woman is said to throw her trance inducing looks into the

eyes of a man of her liking, and Buddhi center of that man goes into

Nidra or Sushupti for a period depending upon the intensity of her

looks. It is to be remembered here that the sense organ which is under

the control of Buddhi center is the eye. Modern science knows that a

person under trance can readily distinguish between two 'identical'

blank sheets of paper - by recognizing minor blemishes or differences in

the grain.

Tureeya Ateeta (Para-trance): This state is known as 'that which goes

beyond trance' or 'that which annihilates trance'. Jnaata center

controls this state. If trance is a female dominated state, para-trance

is a male dominated state. Experiences of this state happen mostly in

men, and that too in a small percentage of people. Some achievable

levels of this state can be experienced through devotional dance, Dyana

(meditation), chanting of Mantras, and Tapas (austerity). Rare

experiences like religious enlightenment and spiritual visions are

examples of this state. In This center is connected with charisma or

personal magnetism observed in some men.

Ananda (Joy): This is the super-conscious state. The Vedic texts

describe it as Sat-Chit-Ananda (truly felt joy). This is the timeless

and spaceless transcendental state which is variously known as relaxed

alertness, higher awareness, great happiness, abundant peace, sublime

elation, tranquility, serenity, ecstacy or bliss depending on the level

of experience. The Jnaana center is connected with this state.

Superconscious mind [2] is regarded as the source of much of the

inspired writing and speaking. Some modern western musicians wrote that

music is a higher revelation than wisdom and philosophy. Some ancient

Hindu texts wrote that music transcends all limitations of language and

races. It is known to many of us that babies, animals and even snakes

enjoy listening to music. Poets described that soft music moves the

chord within like a moon beam that tranquillizes the mind, and acts like

an orison. Modern para- psychology knows that crops give better yields

if soft music is played in the fields regularly. Katha Upanisad

described the connection between Chitta, senses, and sense objects like

money and pleasure (1.3.10):

"Indriya (senses, semen) gets overcome by Artha (money, pleasures).

Higher than Artha is Manas, and higher than Manas is Buddhi. Higher

(than all these) is the state of bliss connected with soul"

Sushipti, Nidra and Jagruti are commonly experienced by all. Tureeyam is

an uncommon state; existence of plasma state of matter in nature is also

uncommon. The five components of mind can become unconscious,

subconscious or conscious; either independently or collectively in

varying degrees of intensities. That would make up for the widest range

of personalities that we observe. Elements of Nature are called

'created' elements because they were created from Sakti - the energy of

nature. Sakti is the cause for the first beginning - the creation.

Modern science also agrees that all matter was created from energy. The

Jnaana center is connected with Sakti (energy) and time.

4. ANALYSIS OF WORKING AND INTERACTION OF THE COMPONENTS

Ahamkaara (Self-sense) center:

In Sanskrit, Aham means 'I'. Ahamkaara is the technical terminology

word, used in ancient Hindu scriptures on mind, to give the meaning

'component of mind connected with I'. The words self-centeredness,

self-concept, self-deception, self-defense, self-doubt, self-image,

self-importance, self-interest, self-justification, self- limitation,

self-love, self-opinion, self-pity, self-possession, self-preservation,

self-protection, self-regard, self-sacrifice, and other similar words

which describe the basic concepts connected with the self nearly explain

the workings of this center. Ahamkaara is also connected with

conservation, inferiority complex, knowledge of an illiterate, and

latent mental potential to recognize the unseen.

In Kundalini Yoga texts, the base of the spine is called 'Moola Chakra'

(root center, primitive part of mind, or that part of mind with which a

person is born) or Aadhara Chakra (foundation center or the basic part

of mind which is used as basis for all further learning). Yoga exercises

aim at awakening of dormant abilities from the unconscious component of

mind at this center. Ahamkaara is described as the most complicated of

all components of mind because it contains seed forms of all the other

components of mind and assuredly something beyond. Yoga texts say that
this is the seat of undifferentiated Karma accrued through all past

lives. A differentiated part of this Karma becomes Punya (virtue) and

Papa (vice) which affects the present life.

This center is the seat of the element Earth. It controls the processing

of solids in the body, and interaction of the body with the solids out

side the body. The " beastly" requirements to sort out the elementary

properties of an object like " danger - no danger", "edible - inedible",

"warm - cold", "large - small", "far - near" and the like are processed

at this center. For example, one-day-old chicks can unfailingly

distinguish a flying duck from a hawk, although they have never seen

either. Chicks rush to take refuge even if a stuffed hawk is made to

slide on a string over them. This center is connected with

self-protection, self-defense or Fight-or-Flight mechanism needed for

survival of the body. It has the inherent capacity to restrain

annihilation of the body and preserve the self identity. It works like a

very large fly-wheel rotating at a slow speed. If you throw a small

stone on it, it will absorb the small momentum of change imposed by the

stone, and continues it' s rotation as if it is almost unaffected. The

unexpected strength in combat or unusual speed in fleeing from an enemy

are provided by this center. Modern medicine has not found the seat in

the brain which controls the Fight-or- Flight mechanism. Let us consider

a case that a man is walking through a forest at dawn. Some thing has

fallen down from a nearby tree. Survival of the body is more important

to this center than display of valour. This center decides whether it is

possible to fight (or kill that thing) or should the person take to his

feet to save himself. The decision to be taken should be a split-second

type because survival of the person is more important to this center. If

the fallen object does not appear to be a threat to the self, then the

received signal is passed on to the next higher center, the Chitta

center.
Persons in whom this center works actively can be called service givers

or diligent workers. They are forgiving and like to keep everyone happy

with their services. They are so much work minded that they will not

leave any assigned work until they complete it irrespective of the time

it takes. Their strength is the commitment to do the assigned job, and

no personal requirement can distract them. They see things from everyone

else's side. They lack initiative most of the time and wait for others

to tell what to do. In hospitals and charitable establishments, they

attend to chores selflessly, never minding that these are details that

would repel anyone else. Easily imposed upon and often submissive even

to those who lack any real authority, they remain under the control of

everyone else at work.

Chitta (Emotion) center:

Plato wrote that opinion (or the sensory information) was a form of

apprehension that was shifting and unclear, similar to seeing things in

a dream or only through their shadows. Modern psychologists say that

passions have the same limitations of senses as they tend toward

immediate emotional discharge. Chitta is the quick acting component of

the mind which can be termed as leftist or negative thinking part. It is

called negative because some psychologists felt that emotion separates

the received information into pieces, contains unintentional and

contradictory ideas, and lacks internal organization, inner consistency

and concrete solutions. On the contrary, some philosophers thought that

this is the 'idealistic view' of thinking about a problem. This center

can handle divergent thoughts like a multi- channel parallel processing

hardware in a super computer. It is known to psychologists that

adolescents can hold in mind several dimensions of a topic

simultaneously, whereas children can focus on only one dimension at a

time. Compared with children, adolescents are more likely to generate

different opinions and examine a situation from a variety of

prospectives.

Chitta is the seat of the element Water. It controls the processing of

liquids in the body and interaction of the body with the liquids out

side the body. This center is connected with instincts, urges, impulses,

desires, imagination, sentiments, intuition, passions, caring, pleasure,

exploration, unconventional ideas, moods, insight, superstitions,

immodesty, immorality, analysis of details, concern about particular

features, capacity to find novel relationships, unrestrained expressions

connected with body or mind, molding of past experiences into new

constellations of meanings, creation of artistic, poetic and musical

works and the like. Art is based on intuition, which is a direct

apprehension of reality un-mediated by thought. Thus art cuts through

conventional symbols and beliefs about people, life and society, and

confronts one with reality itself. Seeing a good work of painting or

reading a novel sets waves of emotion in Chitta center. As romantic

literature everywhere developed, intuition was praised over reason, and

emotions over logic making way for a vast body of literature of great

sensibility and passion. Some youths variously describe sex as that

which meets the requirements of pleasure urge, emotional fulfillment,

passionate craving, instinctive motive, subconscious desire, lustful

feeling, or release of pent-up desires. Men of wisdom wrote that likings

and desires connected with sex are shrouded in darkness beyond reason.

Dictionaries connect the word "desire" with thirst, craving, dream,

fancy, feel like, impulse, lust, passion, and urge. They give the

meaning of words "crave" and "lust" as "thirst" indicating the

connection with the center governed by element Water. Sentiments are

described as tender emotions, romantic feelings, preconceived ideas or

preconceptions. Passions are known to be connected with subconscious

feelings like emotionality, irrational motive, sexual desire, wildness

and zeal. Chitta center stores Papa (vice) of a person which affects the

present life. The urge to have sex will be higher on Friday than any

other day of week. The Sanskrit word for Venus is Sukra which also means

semen. Like the semen, Chitta represents an extraordinary spontaneous

creative energy which is an independent primordial essence. This center

has seeds of past memories and can access Jnaana center for more details

of each memory. It may be noted that the expression "sensory indulgence"

refers to sexual activity. This center controls the sensitivity of the

sense-organs. If the vitality of this center gets reduced due to any

reason, the sensitivity of the sense-organs also gets reduced. For

example, the sense-organs feel sleepy after an ejaculation in man. Even

if the man has very high artistic talents, they also will not respond

normally soon after ejaculation. It takes about 40 minutes before some

recovery is felt. Even a man of high rationality needs about 20 minutes

to become normal and to do complex mathematical calculations after

seeing an erotic movie. This center can be compared to a convex lens -

it provides insight for the subtle. It's working is similar to

Differentiation in mathematics. It helps to observe all the minor

details, and each minor detail is given very high importance. In the

fallen object case that we are studying, Chitta will help to observe the

individual parts of the fallen body as if they are seen through a convex

lens. The first phase of the pattern recognition takes place here. It

will pass on the original signal along with it's pattern recognition

report to it's higher center, the Manas.

A creative person is usually very intelligent in the ordinary sense of

the term, but often he refuses to let intellect rule; he relies strongly

on intuition, and he respects the irrational in himself and others. An

artist is said to go to the extremes to divorce himself from

environmental constraints. Aristotle wondered "Why is it that all men

who are outstanding in philosophy, poetry, or the arts are melancholic?"

Many other thinkers over many centuries observed the association of mood

swings and intense emotional pain with creative artists. They are the

same symptoms described for love-sick persons in romantic literature of

ancient India. Psychological studies of highly creative people have

observed some tension in terms of such dualities as logic and intuition,

the conscious and the subconscious, mental health and mental disorder,

the conventional and the unconventional, and complexity and simplicity.

Many creative people show a strong interest in apparent disorder,

contradiction, and imbalance; they often seem to consider asymmetry and

disorder a challenge. At times creative persons give an impression of

psychological imbalance, but immature personality traits may beam

extension of a generalized receptivity to a wider-than-normal range of

experience and behaviour patterns. Such individuals may possess an

exceptionally deep, broad, and flexible awareness of themselves. Modern

research showed that as adolescents, between 29 and 34 percent of

eminent-artists-to-be exhibited psychiatric symptoms compared with 3 to

9 percent of future achievers in the sciences and law. Many artists

attested that persons who are mildly maniac can uncover areas of

thinking which are normally shrouded in darkness. Modern psychology says

that a creative thinker, whether artist, writer, or a designer, is

trying to create some thing new, or a conventional thing with a novelty.

What ever be the area of specialization, creative thinking involver a

considerable amount of subconscious re-arrangement of symbols and

images. Nishida Kitaro, after a long struggle with something that was

impenetrable to his logic, wrote that pure mental activity - the unity

of conscious thought and intuition - ultimately finds itself in the

abyss of darkness that envelopes every light of self-consciousness. Even

though this darkness is like dazzling obscurity, Kitaro observed that it

gives the self some unfathomable depth of meaning and being.

Ancient astrologer Satyacharya described Venus as a damsel of 16 years

age. Russian researchers have found that highest liveliness in a human

body exists at the age of 16 years, and that a person can live for 10000

years if the biological systems are maintained at the same efficiency of

working as they are at the age of 16 years. Soon after the completion of

16 years of age, 'brain sand' starts forming in the pineal gland. This

can be likened to 'onset of gradual death'. Many fairy tales say that a

princess will die on her 16th birth day. This is the reason why

adolescents feel subconsciously that they are unique like fairies,

invincible in some way, and that no one can understand how they really

feel. They also believe that they are the main actors with super

personalities and all others are the audience. The sense of uniqueness

is their motivating force of life, and also the cause of high suicide

rate. The duality of 'age of eternity' and 'onset of gradual death'

bothers them subconsciously. Modern researchers found that 15-year-olds

not only detect inconsistencies of self across various roles but also

are much more troubled by these contradictions than younger or older

adolescents. Some older adolescents describe that certain aspects of

their mental experience are beyond their awareness or control,

indicating the influence of subconscious mind. The Hindu scriptures say

that Chitta center is the seat of Prana. The word Prana means life or

liveliness. Many modern scientists tried to locate the seat of Life.

Some proposed the heart to be the seat of Life. But there are many cases

that people revived to life after some hours of stopping of the heart.

Some medical experts theorized that a body will not revive after it's

brain ceases to emit the electrical signals. Even this theory could not

stand the test of truth. Modern medicine knows that the first organ to

decompose in a dead body is the private organ. There is not single case

in the medical history that a person revived after the private organ

started decomposing. Chandogya Upanisad says (VI.5.4):

" Water when drunk becomes three fold; it's coarsest portion becomes the

urine; it's middle portion the blood, and it's subtlest portion Prana."

An adolescent can be cheerful one minute, anxious the next, and then be

sarcastic for the one that follows. Men of wisdom wrote that adolescence

begins in biology, goes through intense emotional changes and ends in

culture. Chitta can be called adolescent's mind because they can notice

even minute changes in familiar objects. It may be remembered here that

private organ matures during adolescence period. It is a known fact that

emotions forge bonds between the infant and her mother, the husband and

his wife, and a person with others in the family. This way, the center

of creation (the private organ) is also connected with creative ideas

and bonds between life forms. However, scientists are not sure how the

so called emotional mechanism of the brain works [7]. Some modern

philosophers wrote that emotion has a strong physical component which is

primarily felt in the body [8]. Some modern writers of books on

mind-control described 'emotion' as energy of body in motion. The very

meaning of the word 'emotion' is given in some dictionaries as that

which causes physiological changes and prepares the body for immediate

vigorous action. This effect is attested by many painters and music

composers who felt intense sensation in private organ when they created

master pieces. Hystera in Greek means 'womb'. History knows that every

great discovery contains an irrational element or creative intuition.

Orthodox psychology says that such discoveries are the result of ideas

arising from the individual's subconscious mind.

Persons in whom this center works actively can be called romantic or

lazy drifters. When they think of something, it will be more in terms of

pictures and less in terms of words. They have the urge for constant but

continual attempt to equalize the situations of life. They have many

creative ideas. Their intuition is phenomenal, and they can recognize

things instinctively. They can magnify trifles. When they are in good

moods, they are easy going, very sensitive, imaginative, excitable,

sophisticated and charming. They have a craving for excitement that

seems innate, which often causes them to go in opposition to their own

normal interests. Quite paradoxically, their initial craving becomes

horribly unhappy in the very setting that they did so much to create.

(It is as if their centers of liking, thinking and doing are not very

interactive). Given a choice, they prefer to gravitate to feelings

rather than rules of practicality - they are ruled by instinct more than

reason. All the argument in the world will simply make them all the more

stubborn. They are sympathetic and anxious to learn the views of others,

no matter how wide apart their interests are. They display a fascinating

charm; quick, ready minds; with an amazing aptitude at solving the

problems of others. Often they lavish affection upon those who do not

deserve it. They do not hesitate entering into new and unexplored

regions, and may go to the extremes to quench their zeal. They have the

innate ability to recognize ventures that bring luck and quick success.

They are good at arts like theater, music, song, dance and painting.

They feel that art is not only inspiration, but it is the essence of

life. They are endowed with a religious frame of mind and do not miss a

pious duty or holy rite. At other times, they are indecisive, gullible,

frivolous, shallow, flirtatious, and easily influenced. Their face

expresses a wide range of feelings. They do not show much concern for

home and family. They are sensitive to the needs of others and have the

gift, which at times appears psychic, of understanding the emotional

needs of their companions. Their advises appear to bring luck to some

persons. Most of the time, they have the ability to make others feel

better about themselves and their innate abilities. They like business

situations, and can lose themselves in their goals. They may indulge in

romanticism bordering on sentimentality. At times, they like the

opposite sex to the extent of promiscuity. Many of them will have a

tendency to value every thing in terms of monetary gain. In addition to

being intuitive and passionate, they constantly strive towards some kind

of spiritual fulfillment. They feel lazy to do an assigned job. Their

tendency is to circumvent problems than meet them head on. But with a

little push, they become surprisingly energetic to do a great job. (This

attitude is similar to the state of penis which normally remains

un-erect.) They will always be searching for what is missing in their

lives because most of their their notions conflict with reality. Many

persons of this type become designers, decorators, sculptors, poets,

cosmetologists and fashion experts. Some women of this type may become

midwives, college lecturers, editors of women's magazines, sports stars,

prostitutes, and witches.

Manas (Reason) center:

Even after seven decades of research, the seat of reason in the brain

still remains a lively subject of debate for researchers of our time.

This should necessarily be so because the seat of reason is the lungs

which is a spread system that includes skin of the body. Manas is a slow

acting component of the mind. We know that most of the people are quick

to act on desires, but are slow to learn something consciously. The

working of this center can be termed as the rightist or positive

thinking part. On the contrary, some philosophers say that a method

based on reason alone is a 'mechanistic view' of thinking about a

problem. Manas handles convergent thoughts using single-channel

integrated processing of information and provides a holistic view.

Aristotle wrote that the individual things that men perceive with their

senses are but imperfect copies, and that it is necessary merely to be

able to say that something is generally true of certain types or groups

of things in order to build up a system of knowledge about them.

Immanuel Kant wrote that knowledge demanded both that there be

acquaintance with particulars and that these be brought under general

descriptions. Acquaintance with particulars was always a matter of the

exercise of the senses; only the senses could supply intuitions. Every

sensory experience is a mixture of a sensory content and a temporal form

which is contributed by the (rational) mind. Further, if one formulates

a sensory experience into a judgment, then the mind also contributes

certain additional objective features: the judgment incorporates ideas

of something being a substance or quality of that substance. According

to Kant, the raw data of sensory input is only a small part of what

constitutes human knowledge and most of it is contributed by the human

(rational) mind itself. Manas center will do active exploration of the

information provided by Chitta, grasps the essentials, tries to solve

the problem using simplification, and provides an abstract model. It is

the seat of the element Air. Manas means reason, logic, synthesis and

rationality. Manas center deals with defense against physical attacks

from other persons. Manas helps a person to speak correctly and to do

complex mathematical calculations. This center is connected with

conscious thoughts like synthesis, combining, ethics, doubting,

examination, foresight, argument, interpretation, common sense, general

structures, coherent ideas, planning, tactics, strategies, ambition,

jealousy, sacrifice, cunning, marital faithfulness, disciplined

systematic thinking, enveloping thoughts, partiality to relatives,

suspecting the presence of a person who is hiding, craving to do some

physical work, duty-mindedness, dislike for perfumes and swimming, and

the like. Since Manas is connected with logic and doubt, it can also be

called inner critic, cautioning voice, or moral adviser. Daniel Goleman

wrote the following about the faculties of emotion and reason [9]:

"In a very real sense we have two minds, one that thinks (the rational

mind) and one that feels (the emotional mind). These two fundamentally

different ways of knowing interact to construct our mental life. One,

the rational mind, is the mode of comprehension we are typical conscious

of: more prominent in awareness, thoughtful, able to ponder and reflect.

But alongside that there is another system of knowing: impulsive and

powerful, if sometimes illogical - the emotional mind .... There is a

steady gradient in the ratio of rational-to- emotional control over the

mind (way of thinking); the more intense the feeling, the more dominant

the emotional mind becomes - and the more ineffectual the rational. ....

Ordinarily there is a balance between emotional and rational minds, with

emotion feeding into and informing the operations of the rational mind,

and the rational mind refining and sometimes vetoing the inputs of the

emotions."

This center stores Punya (virtue) of a person which affects the present

life. In theosophical writings, Manas [2] (faculty of reason) is the

intelligence of the individuality which continues from one incarnation

to the next. If a person suffers suffocation due to some reason, say

accidental exposure to harmful gases in an industry, then normal working

of this center gets affected. Similar effect is observed in drunkenness

state of a person. Some disturbance in the working of Manas is found in

persons who work in rooms filled with pure oxygen. Manas can be compared

to a large concave lens - it deals with the gross to provide overall

view. It's working is similar to Integration in mathematics.

Psychologists know that in emerging adult-hood, self understanding

becomes more integrative with disparate parts of the self, so pleasant

and enjoyable in adolescence, pieced 'together' more systematically. The

second phase of the pattern recognition takes place at Manas center. In

the fallen object case, Manas center calls for required pictorial

patterns from those stored at the Jnaana center and narrows down the

possibilities. It will pass on the original signal along with the

pattern recognition report of the Chitta and it's own rational model to

it's higher center - the Buddhi.

If the thin 'skin' of the lungs is spread on ground, it will

approximately occupy the area of a tennis field. It is the largest

reservoir of energy in the body. Manas which is connected with lungs

also has these qualities; it will consider only the gross aspects,

neglects minute details and aims at long term planning. The skin is the

extension of that which is formed first in an embryo. This center was

given the highest importance in ancient Yoga texts. Psychologists say

that the majority of scientists and engineers are non-creative and

non-inventive because they use the logic of Manas. Using the reason and

logic of Manas center in all our mental activities appears to be highly

scientific. Are there any arguments against it? Yes. In the 1930s,

Austrian mathematician Godel proved a theorem which became the "Godel

theorem" in cognition theory. It states that any formalized 'logical'

system in principle cannot be complete in itself. It means that a

statement can always be found that can be neither disproved nor proved

using the means of that particular system. To discuss about such a

statement or to take a decision, one must go beyond that very logic

system; otherwise nothing but a vicious circle will result.

Psychologists say that any experience is contingent - it's opposite is

logically possible and hence should not be treated as contradictory. The

Buddhi center does this difficult job of going beyond the problem of

logic.

In some medieval European drawings, women were likened to upward

pointing triangles, and men were likened to downward pointing triangles.

Among persons with weight proportionate to their height, men are

supposed to have broad chest and women are supposed to have broad loin

region (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). Ancient Hindu scriptures say that women

in general excel in Chitta center and men in general excel in Manas

center. In India, if a man asks his wife to explain her feelings in

detail, she would say "Woman's sentiments are beyond the logic of men".

Some medieval European books described women as unreasonable (see Fig.

3) and men as less instinctive. Western medicine knows that women are

more easily alarmed and emotionally aroused than men. It has been the

experience of many in India that the intuition of a woman has helped her

husband to take a better decision. Hence the saying that there is a

woman behind every successful man.

Modern psychology says that the characteristics of convergent thinking

is the concern for a particular end result. The thinker gathers

information relevant to the problem and then proceeds, by using

problem-solving rules to work out a rational solution. The result of

convergent thinking is usually a solution that has been previously

arrived at by someone else under the same circumstances. The

characteristics of divergent thinking is the variety of thoughts

involved. When thinking creatively, people tend to think in a divergent

manner, thus having many varied thoughts about a problem. At times, the

person may drift into autistic thinking, or free association, in which

the symbols of thought have private meanings. In the process of this

divergent thinking, some useful ideas that would have been missed by

concentrating strictly on the problem may occur. Many creative persons

may not score high in standard intelligence tests. They have certain

specific abilities which they can use in their search for new ideas.

They resist conventional approaches that have been determined by others,

and would rather do their own thing even if it is unpopular, seems to be

rebellious or non-confirming. Chitta center is connected with divergent

thinking and Manas center is connected with convergent thinking.

Persons in whom this center works actively can be called managers or

perfectionists. When they think of something, it will be less in terms

of pictures and more in terms of words. They are the best among others
in general knowledge and current affairs, and are rarely interested to

become experts in any particular specialization or differentiation. They

are smart, bold, tactful, cultured, proud, ambitious, aristocratic, and

great-hearted. They keep their thoughts and spirits high most of the

time. They urge others to 'shine', never giving up hope, and impel them

onward and upward even when things are the darkest. They demonstrate

fearlessness, honour and persistence in whatever they do. They are

persistent, aggressive, ardent in their zeal, and not easily shaken in

adversity. They perform their work with speed and precision, and expect

others to follow their way. Persons in whom Manas center works

dominantly enjoy more with work, discussions with others, and less with

rest. (The Japanese language has many words for "work" and no word for

"rest".) They certainly like to control others, but never towards evil

ends. They look down at any happening or situation from a higher vintage

point. They act like big brothers (or sisters) to every one to give

right suggestions in any situation. Their face expresses only a small

range of feelings. However, they are broad minded, expansive, plain

spoken, faithful, and can provide the highest expression of love or

sacrifice. They are dualistic in the sense that they can be pompous,

patronizing, intolerant, interfering, dogmatic and bossy at the same

time. Their innate courtesy can bring out the best of loyalties from

their subordinates. They organize the home incredibly well and keep

their surroundings as tidy as their minds. They give a very high value

to human relationships and exchange of feelings. They usually have many

people in their homes, friends or relatives coming and going, and enjoy

cooking or caring for them. They seek popularity and are sensitive to

the moods of the masses, through which they aim to gain social influence

and recognition. They crave for luxury and power. They are drawn to the

company of the well-to-do and powerful. They like to shine in social

situations and try to dominate others. They prefer to be the center of

attention, and give high value to honour, respect and prestige. They
have the ability to implement at the right time and make sure that a job

is always done well. They rarely feel queasiness and act promptly to

promote themselves when the opportunity strikes. Their ideas are

expansive and refuse to give up or give in at any time. They do not go

after small or second rate accomplishments. In thinking big, they

sometimes overlook some minor or obscure details. Their assessment of

time and circumstances are usually so correct that they know exactly

what needs to be done and by whom. Their energy is best utilized in

taking charge, giving orders and getting things done. They are highly

principled and have strong views of what is right and what is wrong.

They have a high mental integrity with very good memory and try to do

the best that is possible in any situation. They are inclined to

favouritism. They are more disillusioned than the average if let down by

near and dear. They are restless, constantly suffer from some worry

caused by others, and rarely accept fate. When a crisis strikes a

person, they sometimes refuse to help that person. Further, they may put

a few small (and right type of) hurdles in his path. They remain

observing him only to see that he develops his innate abilities to

tackle the situation with courage and confidence. Most of the people

around them obey their commands. They are respected even by strangers.

The percentage of persons interested in meditation or Yoga will be

lowest in this type.

Women of this type have the ability to become ideal housewives and

mothers. They have high sense of duty coupled with an innate loyalty.

Manas center causes queen- like traits in some women. Such women appear

some what masculine in face and body gait. They use logic and reason

most of the time, and will have less belief in dogmatic aspects of

religion. The energy that emanates from their eyes is sharp and

synchronized like a laser beam, and resembles that of a lion. They plan

things in advance and execute them with mathematical precision. However,

they rarely accept any unrelated person to become very close, and

maintain some inner distance. They have forethought and foresight in all

their executions. They prefer to commit suicide than to loose honour and

die a moral death.

Buddhi (Intellect) center:

This is the balancing component of mind which gives judgment after

assessing leftist and rightist thoughts. It is the seat of the element

Fire. Yoga texts define fire as the central channel which balances the

left and right channels of the spine. Most people think that element

fire is what we see when something is burning. The Ayurveda uses the

word Jathara Agni which means gastric fire. This center will not be

working with it's normal ability after a heavy dinner, particularly if

the meal consists of hard to digest items like fried mutton. It takes

about 40 minutes before some recovery is felt. In ancient Hindu

scientific terminology, Agni is the fourth state of matter - the plasma

state. One may wonder how the plasma, which is made in science

laboratories using sophisticated equipment, is also available in the

body. The alternative word for Agni is Tejas which indicates that this

center is the controller of aura around the living body. Buddhi means

decision making. It discriminates between what is fine (Chitta) and what

is gross (Manas). This center has the ability to solve contradictions.

Buddhi clarifies the doubt about the attributes and nature of a thing

expressed by Manas, overcomes mistaken interpretation of what is felt by

Chitta, goes through the memory for related experiences stored at the

Jnaana center, and provides a settled and correct understanding of a

thing. Buddhi does not condemn the urge for pleasures from Chitta

center, but takes a view that the pleasures should not be treated as

ends in themselves. It is something like the saying that a man should

eat to live but not live to eat. Buddhi is connected with decisiveness,
moderation, modesty, humanitarian consideration, acceptance of

responsibility for process and result, conviction of universal

cause-and-effect relationship, ability to abstain from premature

conclusions, and reluctance to conflict with certain people and with

their habitual ideas. This center controls rhythmic coordination between

all components of mind.

The working of this center can be compared to a critically damped

feed-back control system in Electrical Engineering. It means that when

some energy, from an outside source, is imposed on this center, it will

continue to vibrate for a long time at a stable rate. The display of

valour for a right cause is connected with this center. It is also

connected with defense of a person against mental and psychic attacks

from other persons. In the fallen object case under study, this center

analyzes the received information along with reports sent by Chitta and

Manas centers, and makes the final decision whether the fallen object is

a snake or some thing which resembles a snake. This center also decides

whether the fallen object is some thing not known to the person. It

sends the final decision to it's higher center, the Jnaata center, for

taking the necessary physical action.

Persons in whom this center works dominantly can be called achievers or

trailblazers. Men of this type are large-hearted and exhibit a type of

shyness. They like to dress with care and taste, never showy, but often

reflecting an even puritanical sobriety. Their face expresses only a

small range of feelings. They are cheerful, energetic, modest, decisive,

self-controlled, and confident in their abilities. They are meticulous,

practical and incredibly resourceful and tackle a thing head on. They

have profound and wide ranging ideas equipped with foresight and good

judgement. They are born intellectuals with a deep and incisive

intellect for right understanding. The world of scholarship and research

holds a deep interest for them. The qualities of piety, charity and

mercy predominates their mind. They aim for bold ventures, noble deeds

and high achievements, and are fortunate in attaining their goals of

life. They never bow before force or threats, but are easily supplicated

and won over by kind treatment, appropriate praise and affection. They

are always grateful for any small favour. They are discriminating and

exacting about details, and prefer cleanliness and order. Although they

are confident in their own opinions, they do not force their convictions

upon others to whose ideas they listen patiently. They are respectful to

the religious, elders and learned. They work hard to buildup the needed

resources. Sometimes, a setback puts such a person on the right track

providing good learning from that experience. Those who appear to

neglect their wives in their early youth-hood will give all their

affection to them in later years. Some of them who are staunch atheists

in their youth-hood may become theists in their later years. Persons of

this type are the best examples for the Vedic dictum "Asatoma sad

gamaya, tamasoma jyotir gamaya" (moving towards nobler traits from the

inferior ones). Although they are interested in many branches of

knowledge, they are likely to master one branch of learning and become

an authority. Their un-tiring activity, coupled with clear vision,

critical thinking and dependability will bring them to the forefront

sooner or later. They have commendable power of endurance and do not

tire easily. They keep a sharp eye out for the right time to make a

move. Lack of some experience is normally not a problem for them. They

are capable of inventing things if the necessity so demands. They have

the courage to stand up for what they believe in, and the initiative to

lead others. They are sensitive to their own needs and feelings, but do

not make excessive demands for gratification of their own needs. They

are great at providing for and protecting people. They never let down

persons who trust them in the times of need even if the situation is

very difficult to manage. Their decisions are accepted by most of the

people around them. Not easily led astray by a pretentious show, they

use diplomacy and shrewdness in dealing with others whose motives are

less than honorable. When they feel disturbed or frustrated, they take

refuge in hard work and incessant activity. Though they are diligent and

intelligent most of the time, they also become over critical, harsh, and

worry a lot about the persons whom they love most, and can go to any

extent to provide the highest expression of love or sacrifice.

Persons of this type are found mostly in men. Buddhi center provides

kingly traits in some men. The eyes of such men will be smaller than

normal. Their glances concentrate on the person with whom they converse

and rarely get distracted. They some times possess penetrating eyes

which make their shyer companions feel naked and defenceless before

them. Their face appears slightly more aged than what they are. The

wording in their talk will be clear, precise and to the point. Practical

and cautious, they see small things clearly and judge any work by it's

end result. They have a knack at seeing the unfolding of a trend before

the final result takes shape and predict. They are very good at trend

analysis and technological forecasting. (Seers of the yore who predicted

future belonged to this type). Men of this type have the ability to

become ideal husbands, fathers, and good teachers. They receive good

cooperation from wife, children and women. Many of them are ceremonial

minded, and take up an interest in philosophy. They have the ability to

attract and lead a following. The sense of righteousness and fair-play

will be very strong in persons of this type. Australian psychologist

Louise Samways designates the energy in human beings to be 'mind-body

energy', and describes the connection of Chakra 2 (the center on the

spine behind genital organ) with instincts and unconscious mind, and

Solar Plexus Chakra with balancing of upward and downward energies to

create the 'heat' needed for life [10].

Jnaata (Knowing) center:

It is the seat of the element Aakasa. In Sanskrit, the word Aakasa means

sky. It represents the fifth state of matter - the nuclear state. Since

a very large amount of nuclear particles received by the earth from the

sun and other astral bodies is through sky, the name for the element is

so given. Many nuclear particles are unstable; hence instability is the

key word for this center. Modern psychology says that mentally unstable

persons are emotional, dissatisfied, gloomy, and pessimistic. The

working of this center can be compared to an under damped feed-back

control system in Electrical Engineering. It means that when some

energy, from an outside source, is imposed on this center, it will

continue to vibrate for a long time at an increasing rate to become

unstable, and requires intervention of other centers to quieten it.

Soviet researchers found that the thyroid gland puts one electron on

each red blood cell in the stream of blood that is going up into the

brain. The negative charge of the electron on one red blood cell makes

it to repel from the other similarly charged red blood cells. This

prevents clotting of blood in the brain. This center controls and

monitors production of direct-current (D.C.) electricity in the body.

Jnaata means the Knower. The decision taken by the Buddhi center gets

known to the Self at this center and is executed here. Signals are sent

to various organs of the body for taking the necessary physical action.

It will pass on the report on the decision command received from the

Buddhi center along with it's report of action taken to it's higher

center, the Jnaana center.

Modern medicine says that consciousness resides in the reticular

formation, a group of cells inside the brain stem - oldest, 'lowliest'

region of the brain. Without the reticular formation's altering and

activating signals, the brain goes sleepy. Damage to this arousing

mechanism can cause coma and sometimes death. Modern psychologist say

that a balanced life's development should consist of physical

development, aesthetic development, moral development and intellectual

development. The mind centers that control these developments are

Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas and Buddhi respectively. The Jnaata center

monitors whether these developments are taking place as per one's

expectations in the present life, as governed by personality information

stored at Jnaana center.

We know that every thought, word and deed leaves an impression. These

impressions, along with many desires, lie dormant in seed form in the

subconscious mind (Chitta) of every one. Jnaata center can arouse them

to manifest level into the conscious mind (Manas). Traits like greed,

hallucination, delusion, miserliness, superiority complex, sadism and

the like are characteristics of Jnaata center. Thoughts of an extremist

originate here. Because it is the controller of Sakti at Jnaana center,

it can make a man of this type feel that he has all the energy to do

just anything. Jnaata center is the place where nerves from the left

half of the brain switch over to the right side of the body, and nerves

from the right half of the brain switch over to the left side of the

body. This center has the ability to balance and control other parts of

the body. Accordingly, Jnaata center can govern rhythmic coordination of

body parts with music - the dance. Consequently, it is to be expected

that Jnaata center disturbs rhythmic coordination between components of

mind. Some persons in whom this center works dominantly may exhibit

psychotic delusions of ideas like grandeur (I am the Emperor or god of

this universe, or I can create live souls using my thoughts),

persecution (people are trying to poison me, or strange creatures of

darkness are trying to kill me), external control (my thoughts are

influenced by radio waves from planet Mars, or cancer cells are forming

in my body due to impulses from electricity wires) or depersonalization

(I am not a common person anymore, or cells in body are getting rotted

away faster like abnormal cancer). Many thinkers over millenia observed

the association of mood swings and uncanny skills of athletes with

back-handed pathology (or beastly capabilities) for short-term

achievement instead of crediting perseverance.

Modern psychology knows that self-understanding of adolescents becomes

increasingly differentiated to describe themselves according situational

variations. For example, a 15-year-old girl might describe herself by

using one set of traits in connection with her family, another set with

her peers and friends, and yet another set with her lover or lovers. In

sum, adolescents are more likely than children to think that they

possess several 'different' selves, each one varying to some degree

according to a particular role or context. Existence of 'several

different selves' may cause 'split personality', 'multiple personality'

or 'altered states of consciousness' in some persons. Such persons with

lack of unified personality often experience sudden shifts in

consciousness, identity, and memory. They detach or dissociate

themselves from their immediate circumstances as a means of protecting

themselves from overwhelming mental pain or self-damaging behavior. Each

of the components of mind may alternately inhabit the person's conscious

awareness to the exclusion of the others. Modern psychologists agree

that such mental disorders result from dissociation mental processes -

the splitting off from conscious awareness and control of thoughts,

feelings, memories, will power, and other mental components in response

to situations that are painful, or somehow unacceptable to the person

experiencing them. Understanding of the the split personality story "Dr.

Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" becomes easy if we remember that planet Mars has

the two geographical extreme opposites of elevation in our solar system

- the tallest mountain (which is taller than Mt. Everest) and the

deepest valley. It is implied that persons who seek higher knowledge of

Jnaana center have to pass the tests of negative characteristic traits

imposed by Jnaata center.

Persons in whom this center works dominantly can be called audacious or

emotionally unbalanced. They are energetic persons who seek change and

interchange to overcome the feeling of inertness. Their face expresses a

wide range of feelings. Their glances are never steady on the persons

with whom they converse, and will be looking around for something.

(Modern psychology says that 'shifty eyes' or a general lack of eye

contact is indicative of serious emotional disturbance.) They are

inquisitive, energetic, shameless, crafty, unscrupulous, inconsistent,

restless and agitated. Their vital energy is not always as high as their

imaginations. Their quickness and short-term adoptability is better than

many others, but they get exhausted with a little excessive activity.

They are the most changeable of all types, and are always on the go

until their energy fails them. They look for abnormal nervous

excitations and stimulations, and can get easily addicted to stimulants.

They are very ambitious and always try to do something more for

themselves. They pursue ideas for their own sake, or get caught up in

their own unrealistic fantasies or worries. Ideas tend to crowd their

mind many at a time, causing the tendency to craftiness and

secretiveness. The very high agility of their thinking makes them

deceptive, unreliable, tricky, and hard to pin down. They are indecisive

in many situations and rarely bring anything to fruition. In the work of

their liking, they can multi-task giving high importance to each task.

Inwardly, they are nervous, tense, superficial, inconsistent, and

conning. They demand attention, affection, and require much of their

loved one's time, energy and money. They can be at once very romantic,

yet little touched by love or passion. Persons of this type have many

such dualities. The surprising monetary or romantic gains they make in a

short term do not lost long. They are worried about their future, and
feel that their life span is uncertain. They see threats every whare,

often imagining the worst. They rarely trust others. The strong bonds

they form with the selected few do not lost long. They find it hard to

commit, and do things to excess. They make grandiose plans with little

attention to practicality. They feel that they have more virtue than any

one around, and want to use it to get as many gains as possible in a

short period. Some of them abandon moral inhibitions and exhibit

unrestrained behaviour. They can become sadistic monsters of passions

and sex. Males of this type feel attracted towards low class females who

are older than themselves. Cold lack of sympathy is their exclusive

feature. They do have strong religious convictions, but they maintain

them entirely separate from their work or business. Persons of this type

are found mostly in men. Some men of this type may become cult gurus,

commando captains, or leaders of extremists. In the field of sports,

these persons can excel others with their agility, precision and

split-second responses. Persons of this type have a marked weakness for

gambling and have many get-rich-quick ideas.

Jnaana (knowledge) center:

This center is located at the pineal gland, the third eye. The Yoga and

Tantra texts describe this eye as Jnaana Netra (eye of knowledge) or

Divya Chakshu (eye that provides access to higher collective psychic

energy). The Hindu scriptures also say that Jnaana center is the seat of

Mukhya Prana (Prime Prana), Jeeva (liveliness), or Ojas (vital essence).

The word Aayus (longevity), used in astrology, was derived from the word

Ojas. Western medicine also knows that if the pineal gland is removed

through surgery, the person will not survive. This center controls

storage of all knowledge. It is the seat of individuality - the totality

of a person's way of thinking, nature, attitudes, and characteristics

that endure over long periods of time. It deals with higher relationship
which transcends all differences of culture, of religion and of race. In

learned persons, Jnaana center deals with astrological, metaphysical and

philosophical aspects of all knowledge. It is also called Sakti (energy)

center because it controls all types energies required for the body and

the components of mind. The working of this center can be compared to an

over damped feed-back control system in Electrical Engineering. It means

that when some energy, from an outside source, is imposed on this

center, it will vibrate only for a short period of time and regains it's

stable position. Modern medicine knows that the pineal gland influences

the pituitary gland which controls all other glands in the body. Jnaana

center also controls the outer ' covering' of aura around the body. In

spiritually enlightened persons, this center will be working dominantly.

Jnaana center is the seat of wisdom which has the seeds of cumulative

knowledge gained through all the past lives. In Yoga and Tantra texts,

the awakened third eye is said to provide peace of mind that goes beyond

all normal understanding, and to give access to higher knowledge. The

writers of Vedas and other Sastras received their knowledge through this

center. Among all countries in the world, India has inherited the

largest number of ancient manuscripts from time immemorial. They were

written on the widest range of subjects known to humans. Modern medicine

knows that the pineal gland [2] of Indians is larger than that of

others.

Persons in whom this center works actively can be called peace makers.

Most of them are first borns to their parents. They have a great liking

for flowers, and they are soft in body and mind like flowers. They are

blessed with a well- proportioned figure and lustrous eyes. They love

dressing artistically, and a little differently than others. They like

reading many books. They clarify doubts of other students on difficult

topics. They get one of the top ranks in college examinations, and first

prizes in arts, essay or music competitions. They are exemplary for the
saying "slow and steady wins the race". They get along well with almost

any person around. They are generous in friendship with a great energy

for affection. They posses strong emotions and passions, and have the

ability to control them. They are at peace with themselves, and are

capable of forming great and stable relationships. They seek balance and

harmony in the organization of their immediate environment. They are

sometimes prone to argument, but do not resort to violence. They are

slow to anger, generous to a fault, and not inclined to nurse grudges.

Their face appears slightly less aged than what they are. Their smile

contains the innocence and tranquility of a child. (Women of this type

are called popular babes by their neighbours). They are not status

seekers, position hunters or social climbers, and love others for their

inner worth. Stability, enthusiasm and hope are always with them to

surmount toughest times of stress and hardship. Their mind has a sharp

acumen and clear thinking ability with which to judge time and

circumstances. Any assignment given to them is completed satisfactorily,

and a little more is done than what is expected of. For them, money is a

key to convenience and comfort, and is never for hoarding. However, they

tend towards laziness unless they are goaded by their family members, by

friends, by circumstance, or by necessity. They usually have too many

friends to please, and too many interests to please themselves. Hence,

they may at times loose focus on the main task at hand. Many a times,

they get overly occupied with themselves. They tend to become obstinate

and do not like to move from a position once they have accepted it as

their own. They transcend the limitations of time while playing tunes a

musical instrument or listening to music. They scrupulously attend to

their own affairs even amidst a troubled and disturbed atmosphere. They

have a strong sense of form and beauty, and can become artists and

poets. They are good at building things up from the beginning, laying

the foundation for some thing new, initiating a new phase of

manifestation, developing some new ideas, or innovating in

non-conventional realms of knowledge. They like projects which they can

finish single handedly to show their originality. Most of the time,

others get benefitted by their work than vice-versa. They accept fate in

some situations in which they are unable to do any thing. The percentage

of persons interested in meditation or Yoga will be highest in this

type. They are generous in giving and are usually predisposed to perform

pious deeds and acts of charity. Even those who do not take to a

particular spiritual discipline nonetheless try to follow some practical

code of ethics in daily life. They hate to incur even small debts. They

rarely force or beg others for any thing. They can make large sacrifices

of time and energy, hating to fail or disappoint the ones who trust

them. If the situation so demands, persons of this type can access the

highest of knowledge in any field.

Maslow's ladder model of self-actualization describes five levels of

needs. It does not describe the self-defense need for survival of the

body. The physiological needs such as hunger, thirst and sex are

controlled by Chitta center. The belongingness needs for conscious

identification, affection, affiliation, stability, order, job security,

and to be a part of society are controlled by Manas center. The esteem

needs for prestige, success and self-respect are controlled by Buddhi

center. The self-actualization need for enjoyment, self-satisfaction,

and realization of inner potentials is controlled by Jnaata center.

5. COMPARISON WITH COMPUTER HARDWARE AND ROBOTICS

On the hardware side, the working of the components of mind can be

compared with working of components in a computer . The Jnaana center

(the head) can be compared to the hard disk. The spine consisting of

Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas and Buddhi centers works like the CPU (Central

Processor Unit). The Aakasa center can be compared to the Hard Disk
controller (and partly the DMA controller). It cooperates exchange of

information between the hard disk and the CPU. This is how the

brain-spine system works in a common man. In a general purpose personal

computer, the CPU is usually 32-bit type. But a game computer requires a

graphic card with 256-bit GPU (Graphic Processor Unit) to handle 3D

graphics and Virtual Reality softwares. If a simple software like word

processing is loaded on a game computer, it works like a common PC

because simple softwares cannot use the 256-bit GPU. Even though the

brain has the highest component of mind (like the 256-bit GPU) at the

pineal gland, the common man will not be able to use it.

In Artificial Intelligence, the 'describe and match' method for

identifying an object consists of the following steps: (1) describe the

object using a suitable representation (2) match the object description

against library descriptions (3) if a satisfactory match is found, it is

announced. These functions are performed by Chitta, Manas and Buddhi

respectively.

Image processing techniques used in Robotics involves the following

stages: (1) center of area of the object using location methods, and

it's placing relative to the known objects (2) finding features of the

object like shape, geometry, radius etc (3) pattern recognition methods

to find similarity or dissimilarity with stored images, (4) pattern

discrimination system to overcome effects of improper lighting, shadows,

disturbances in the environment etc. In the human body, these stages are

carried out by Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas and Buddhi centers respectively.

6. CYBERNETIC SYSTEMS OF THE BODY

A living being requires adaptation to the changing conditions of

external and internal environment. French physiologist Claude Bernard

proposed the law of Homeostasis which states that constancy (or

stability) of internal environment is a necessary condition for a living

being. It uses it's internal autonomous regulation systems to accomplish

this task. It may be noted here that the very logic of 'constancy'

prohibits development with time required for a living being. In feedback

control systems of Electrical Engineering, existence of a negative

component is a must, and it is used as feedback to obtain automatic

control of a system. Accordingly, development (or growth) should be

called a 'disturbance' (or deviation) of constancy, and it is programmed

in the genes of a living being for continuation of the species. The law

of deviation of Homeostasis was developed in 1979 by Soviet physiologist

V.M. Dilman [11]. If these two fundamental laws are of opposite nature,

then the biological system requires a balancing mechanism. This

mechanism is called Metastasis (metabolism or vital energy) which

ensures harmony and optimal working of all processes in a living being.

In Upanishad terminology, the working of Chitta and Buddhi are connected

with sustenance principle of nature. The law of Homeostasis works

predominantly in them. Aging of cells will be normal in persons of these

two types. The working of Manas and Jnaata are connected with

annihilation principle of nature. The law of deviation of Homeostasis

works predominantly in them. Aging of cells will be abnormal in persons

of these two types. It is like time running at an accelerated speed. It

may be noted here that Kala is the name of death god; Kala also means

'time' in Sanskrit. The traits of such persons resemble those of a

female and a male respectively who are going to face premature death due

to some cancer like disease. The third possibility is that of time

running at reduced speed in the cells of some persons. In Upanishad

terminology, Jnaana center is connected with creative principle of

nature. The vital energy of Metastasis works dominantly in Jnaana type

persons. The fourth possibility is that of the three principles of

birth, sustenance and death will be working in a mixed mode. This can be

observed in Ahamkaara type persons. Modern psychology says that

individuals can be classified according to four gender role orientations

- androgynous, masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated. The feminine

individuals belong to sustenance principle of nature. It is a known fact

that females have a longer life span than males. The masculine

individuals belong to annihilation principle of nature. The

undifferentiated individuals belong to the mixed type. The mid-life

crisis will be least felt by persons of this type. Androgynous

individuals represent a state of well-being. They are more flexible,

more mentally healthy than others, and have lower levels of stress. They

represent the birth principle of nature. They can be called seekers of

higher knowledge or higher consciousness. (Modern psychology knows that

persons with regular reading habit for some knowledge are more capable

of handling difficult situations, coping with stress, and have better

cognitive skills. Persons with a habit of listening to soft music

everyday also have similar capabilities.) Their sense of logic is

multi-level, integrated and simultaneous, and transcends the limitations

of well know linear, sequential and either-or type. Their identity is

sharing-collective aimed at noble understanding and expression which

deprecates all that is isolated-individual and suppression. They are

rarely competitive or aggressive. They never crave for administrative

power. They will be least interested in business or in amassing huge

amounts of wealth. They know that their virtue is their best guard

against any unexpected emergency or crisis. Racial, religious or

political prejudice can claim no part of their interest or attention.

They have the tendency to create, rather than destroy; help, rather than

hinder; and give, rather than receive. They live with a definite sense

of life-time mission, and aim at harmony and moderation. They feel that

no cause is holy enough to justify annihilation. They emanate an aura of

kindness, gentleness and goodness which appears somewhat out of the

world or out of current-times. They think of meaning and direction in

all their intellectual activities, and search for new ways understanding

and of living. The highest aim of Yoga is to reach this state which some

philosophers designate as Homo Noeticus. The mid-life crisis will be

most severe for persons of this type. It will make many of them to

realize that they have gone through many past lives. The Puranas say

that people who lived in Krita Yuga were androgynous type who lived for

10000 years with harmony, elation and peace.

7. INFERENCES AND INTERPRETATIONS

When people are asked to describe their emotions, they usually begin by

telling about the arousing circumstances. They go on to describe some of

their bodily reactions and their difficulties in dealing with the

situation. But they do not define the emotion solely in terms of their

own internal feelings. Fulfilling, exciting, bewildering, disappointing,

exhausting - countless objectives like these are used to describe human

sexual behaviour. Psychologists say that emotional life is infinitely

varied, and it involves many bodily processes connected with an un-

describable mental state. Philosophers say that there is more myth and

mis- understanding surrounding sexuality than any other area of human

behaviour. Further, there are social prohibitions against research and

even against open discussion of sex. Few researchers have investigated

the problem of why the private organ should be clothed or concealed in

most of humans. Many such problems can be solved if we understand that

the the private organ is connected with emotions and subconscious mind.

The "collective unconscious" described by Carl Jung consists of three

systems. In Yoga terminology of Patanjali, they are known as Adhi Atmika

system (human collective psychic energy), Adhi Daivika (higher

collective psychic energy) and Adhi Bhoutika (lower collective psychic

energy). Bhoota also means ghost in Sanskrit. Manas, Jnaana and Chitta
are the seats of these three systems respectively. A simplified way to

understand these three systems is through the connection of Manas center

with psychology, Chitta center with para-psychology, and Jnaana center

with philosophy. It is known that adolescents are interested in occult

stories. Psychic abilities like Psycho- Kinesis (PK), Poltergeist

(involuntary PK) and premonition develop along with development of

Chitta center during adolescence. Adhi Daivika system deals with

influence of heavenly bodies like planets, stars, galaxies etc. Adhi

Atmika system deals with mental influence of a person on others and vice

versa. Adhi Bhoutika system deals with influence of Elements of nature,

and living beings lower than humans. The predispositions to be afraid of

the dark and of snakes are governed by lower collective psychic energy

system. Stealing food is a crime for humans, but it is instinctive and

natural for animals. Criminals like rapists and murderers are often

accused of behaving like animals or demons; they are influenced by lower

collective psychic energy system. Adolescence period is influenced by

planets Mars and Venus which makes them sensitive to lower collective

psychic energy. Adulthood period is influenced by planets Mercury and

Jupiter which make them sensitive to human collective psychic energy.

Old age period is influenced by planets Moon and Saturn which makes them

sensitive to higher collective psychic energy.

Classifying the mind of people into types can be found in the folk

wisdom of most cultures. A few persons are called calm type, the

majority are known to have some degree of nervousness, and the remaining

are called unsettled type. Every person is influenced by the three

collective psychic energies in varying degrees. In Sanskrit, Guna means

physio-psychological factor. The Upanisads say that Satwa (order,

symmetry, harmony, illumination, knowledge) represents lightness, is

pleasing, and is capable of manifesting others. Rajas (activity, power)

is dynamic, exciting, expansive, but also capable of hurting. Tamas

(darkness, static, inertia, concealing) is characterized by heaviness,

and causes obscurity and sadness. Persons who are mostly influenced by

the lower collective psychic energy are called Tamo Guna (activities of

darkness) type persons. They belong to the unsettled type according to

folk wisdom. The 'lazy drifters' and the 'emotionally unbalanced', in

whom Chitta and Jnaata centers work dominantly, belong to this type.

Persons who are mostly influenced by the human collective psychic energy

are called Rajo Guna (human level activities) type persons. They belong

to the nervous type according to folk wisdom. The 'managers' and the

'trailblazers', in whom Manas and Buddhi centers work dominantly, belong

to this type. Persons who are mostly influenced by the higher collective

psychic energy are called Satwa Guna (relaxed alertness, peaceful

activities) type persons. They belong to the calm type according to folk

wisdom. Yogis, philosophers and peace makers, in whom Jnana center works

dominantly, belong to this type. The persons in whom the Ahamkaara

center works dominantly and other centers work below the average level

are called Misra (mixed) Guna type persons. The 'diligent workers'

belong to this type. The Tri-Kaya doctrine of Yogacara in Buddhism

describes about the apparitional body which deals with the mere fictions

of imagination, the enjoyment body which deals with thoughts connected

with relative existence under certain conditions, and the dharma body

which deals with the perfect mode of being corresponding to right

knowledge. The word Kaya (body) is used in this text to designate the

centers in the body. The apparitional body, enjoyment body and dharma

body correspond to components of mind connected with Tamo Guna, Rajo

Guna and Satwa Guna respectively. Arndt-Schultz Law states that small

stimuli encourage life activity, medium stimuli impede life activity,

and strong stimuli destroy life activity. Modern psychology knows that a

mild level of emotional arousal tends to produce alertness and interest

in the task at hand, and intense level of arousal requires the central

nervous system to respond to too many things at once and causes

emotional disturbance or disorganization. Satwa guna persons spend a

happy and contended life with small stimuli, Rajo guna persons are not

happy with small stimuli and try to have medium stimuli which bring a

period of upset and stress in their wake. Such persons accept them in

the light of greater understanding and compassion that accompanies the

medium stimuli. They have the necessity to cope with an environment

requiring continual behaviour adjustment or refinement. Tamo guna

persons crave for strong stimuli not bothering about it's consequences,

and live a lifespan which is a little shorter than others. Observations

of people during crises, such as fires or sudden floods, suggest that

about 15 percent show organized and effective behaviour. They belong to

the Satwa guna type. The majority, which makes up for about 70 percent,

show various degrees of disorganization but are still able to function

with reasonable effectiveness. They attend to a wide range of rescue and

relief works. They belong to the Rajo guna type. The remaining 15

percent are so disorganized that they are unable to function properly.

They may race around screaming, or exhibit aimless and completely

inappropriate behaviour. They belong to the Tamo guna.

The search for core personality traits that characterize people has a

long history in recent times. Even though the method of formulating

these traits is somewhat different from that used in the ancient Indian

scriptures, some approximate equivalence may be given. One system of

personality traits classify people as Openness, Introversion,

Extroversion, Conscientiousness, Irritability and Emotional Stability

types. Ahamkaara type persons belong to Openness trait, Chitta type

belong to Introversion trait, Manas type belong to Extroversion trait,

Buddhi type belong to Conscientiousness trait, Jnaata type belong to

Irritability trait, and Jnaana type belong to Emotional Stability trait.

The Holland's personality types model classifies people as Conventional

(confirming, efficient, inhibited, unimaginative), Artistic (expressive,

introspective, imaginative, original), Enterprising (energetic,

domineering, talkative, ambitious, status minded), Investigative

(intellectual, analytical, curious, scientific), Realistic (mechanical,

materialistic, asocial, engineering attitude) and Social (cooperative,

helpful, understanding, teaching). The Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas, Buddhi,

Jnaata and Jnaana type persons belong to these personality types

respectively.

If Ahamkaara center (which does the first analysis of information) is

like the police who write the F.I.R. (First Information Report) and

bring a criminal to the court, Chitta center works like the defense

lawyer and the Manas center works like the public prosecutor. The Buddhi

center works like the judge. After hearing the arguments of the Chitta

center and the Manas center, Buddhi center goes through the past case

records available at the Jnana center. Then it gives it's judgment. The

Jnaata center acts like the jail officer who executes the sentence.

Chitta center tries to search for something useful in what is termed as

bad or inferior by people in general. It is qualitative and independent

in nature. The Manas center tries to integrate all the pieces of

information sent by the Chitta center into something practical under the

given circumstances. It is quantitative and dependent in nature.

Intelligence implies ability to solve a problem using pre-established

norms and conventional solutions; this is done by Manas center.

Creativity implies a new and probably a nonconformist end product; this

is done by Chitta center. At times, spontaneous and creative ideas of

Chitta may appear like hallucinations of a schizophrenic or a rebel.

Chitta is connected with separation, dissociation, diversification and

incomprehensible. Manas is connected with combination, association,

unification and comprehensible. If a great poem is written using

impulses from Chitta, it is repeatedly revised using the laborious

instructions from Manas before it can be accepted by Buddhi center and

becomes a masterpiece.

In the olden days in Andhra Pradesh, a father used to say to his son

"Naa Manas poortigaa cheppaanu. Vinakapote nee Chittam" (I told from the

depths of my Manas. If you do not like it, you do according to your

desires). Baalyam in Sanskrit and Telugu is the age upto 10 years.

"Paatikella paduchoedu" in Telugu means an adult male of 25 years age.

It also means that a person of 25 years age and above is treated as an

adult. The intervening period between 10 and 25 years age is called

Koumaaram in Sanskrit which roughly corresponds with adolescence period.

During this period, Chitta dominates the thinking process. (Kumaara is

one of the names in Sanskrit for planet Mars). Modern medicine knows

that the heart-beat in a child is faster than that of an adult. The

pulse rate in a new born baby is about 140 beats per minute. This pulse

rate gradually reduces during the Koumaaram period and settles down to

it's stable value of 76 beats per minute after the age of 24 years.

Since the heart is located in the Manas region, Manas of a person said

to function efficiently after 24 years of age. Modern psychology knows

that adolescents behave with playful and 'what if' attitude, and adults

find the need to fit their reasoning into the dimensions of real life.

Modern medicine knows that muscular strength peaks between the ages of

25 and 30. Modern psychologists treat the period from 35 to 40 years as

mid-life crisis period. Most of the people may not feel much during this

period. However for those few persons who experience it's full

intensity, it will be like a mini-death. Some psychologists use the

terminology 'fluid intelligence' (flexible thoughts that are not much

dependent on culturally based content) which declines over the period

from young adult-hood to old age, and 'crystallized intelligence'

(mastering the knowledge of culture) which increased well into old age.

Flourit in English means flowering of wisdom; it also means the age of

40. Buddhi center starts functioning efficiently after the age of 40.

History knows that major inventions or innovations in science were made

by people after the age of 24, and major achievement in philosophy,

history or literature after the age of 40. Some Puranas wrote there

divinity in what children say ("Bala vak Brahma vak"). The adolescent

period of sexual interest is like the night dominated by lower

collective psychic energy system. The youth period of emotional balance

is like the dawn and early morning dominated by human collective psychic

energy system. Old age period of interest in higher knowledge is

day-time-like period dominated by higher collective psychic energy

system. The age at which a person gets under this influence differs from

one person to another. Some Puranas wrote that Lord Brahma is aged 50

years. One interpretation of this line is that some persons enter the

period dominated by higher collective psychic energy system at the age

of 50 and others any time after that or just before death. Modern

researchers have also found that personality becomes more stable after

50 years of age [12].

A simple and safe experiment can be done on the spine. By scratching the

skin on these centers with a finger nail, it can be sensed that touch

sensitivity is lowest at the Ahamkaara center, and that the touch

sensitivity gradually increases in the order Ahamkaara, Chitta, Manas,

Buddhi, and Jnaata. A few sensitive persons may experience some thoughts

connected with these centers during the scratching. The preferred time

for doing this experiment would be at 3.30 a.m. when most of the people

around are asleep and the influence of the human collective psychic

energy will be at it's lowest. Use of a writing pencil for the

experiment gives better results for some persons. The creative artists

like poets and music composers can use the time from 10:30 p.m. to 11:30

p.m. (the time of sexual thoughts) for creating good works of art using

Chitta. Since Chitta center is connected with water, taking bath during
this time will also enhance emotions. Morning time of Friday can also be

used for this purpose. During Asura Sandya (Devilish Evening) time (3:30

p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), Chitta center experiences subconscious inertness and

Manas center will be working dominantly and somewhat painfully. For

creative artists, this is a good time for using their faculty of reason

to revise their works. Morning time of Wednesday can also be used for

such a purpose.

8. EPILOGUE

The Sanskrit language has more than 20 words to designate the various

aspects of mind. Most of the ancient Indian manuscripts written

exclusively on the scientific aspects of mind are now lost. What we can

gather now on this topic are fragments from other texts.

Any symbolism that has evolved from man's desire to understand himself

and his function within the universe must invariably reflect the laws of

nature. Henri Bergson defined intuition as instinct that is capable of

reflecting upon its object and of enlarging it indefinitely. Only by

intuition, he declared, can the absolute be comprehended. The Upanisads

say that every thing in creation is unique. No person has the knowledge

to understand every aspect of even a small living being in nature.

Chitta describes what is real. Manas prepares a rational model of what

it is. The present paper is an example of such a rational model. Nature

functions through common laws whose dialectical essence is not always

obviously understood. As there is a universe outside the human body

(macrocosm), there is a universe inside the body (microcosm). Hence,

there is scope for many scientists to work on different aspects of this

topic.

9. ACKNOWLEDMENTS
The authors wish to thank Dr. K.V.S.V.N. Raju, Professor in Computer

Science & Systems Engineering Department, Andhra University,

Visakhapatnam, for his creative criticism. The authors are grateful to

Prof. P.S. Ramiah, Professor in Computer Science & Systems Engineering

Department, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, for providing some

material used in this work.

10. REFERENCES

[1] The Hutchinson Encyclopedia, The topic on "mind", Computer CD

Version, 2002.

[2] Donald Watson, A Dictionary of Mind and Spirit, Andre Deutsch Ltd.,

London, 1991.

[3] P. Sesha Chalam, Parama Pada Margamu, N.V.Gopal & co., Madras, 1982,

p. 21.

[4] Mallaadi Venkata Daasu, Sri Rama Guru Boedhaamruta Sara, N.V.Gopal &

co., Madras, 1981, p. 26.

[5] Swami Harshananda, A Dictionary of Advaita Vedanta, Ramakrishna

Math, Bangalore, 2000, p. 32.

[6] Swami Nikhilananda, Vedanta Sara of Sadananda, Advaita Ashrama,

Kolkota, 2002, p. 46.

[7] The Diagram Group, The Brain: A User's Manual, Berkley Books, New

York, 1983, p. 215.

 [8] Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, Yogi Impressions, Mumbai, 2004, p. 20.

[9] Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury Publishers,

London, 1996, p. 8-9.

[10] Louise Samways, Your Mindbody Energy, B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd.,

New Delhi, 2000, p. 60.

[11] V.M. Dilman, The Grand Biological Clock, Mir Publishers, Moscow,

1989, p. 69 - 71.

[12] B.W. Roberts, W.F. DelVecchio, The rank-order consistency of

personality from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of

longitudinal studies, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 126, p. 3-25, 2000.

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COMMENTS

I think that every age is constrained in the analogies it uses by contingency.

In the early modern age, clockwork would be advanced as an analogy as the ne plus ultra, however with the

telegraph, telephone and primitive electronics, the telephone exchange became available as an analogy, and

nowadays it is the computer. What it will be next, we cannot know, but I reasonably sure we have not come to the

end of all possible analogies for mind and brain, and perhaps eventually our understanding will advance to the point

that we do not need analogies anymore as there will be a convergence between organic and mechanistic.

As to why a clock, a telephone exchange, a computer, are available for analogy, comes not from the nature of the

artefact itself but from the nature of the intelligence that created that artefact. Thhat is to say we make things
systematically, they have components, and they have dynamics. We cannot help but reason the way we do by

reference to them as they are in effect an extension of ourselves. (Which I confess is getting a bit McCluhanesque,

but worth re-iterating all the same)

Laurence Arnold | 04/09/09 | 11:52 AM

The analogy is not the main theme of this article.

"Our two minds .... One is an act of the emotional

mind, the other of the rational mind. In a very

real sense we have two minds, one that thinks and

one that feels" (Daniel Goleman, Emotional

Intelligence, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 1996,

page 8). The rational mind is also called the

faculty of logic and reason.

The Upanishads say that these two are opposite in

nature. Emotions appear irrational. Rationality

seems to lack emotions. Modern psychologist also

have observed it, but they are not very sure about

it:

"At the same time, reason sometimes clearly seems

to come into conflict with some desires (even

while not being in conflict with others) giving us

the impression that reason is separate from

emotion".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason

Emotion has usually, in the European- American tradition,

been seen as the opposite of reason.

Emotion is generally regarded by Western civilization as the

antithesis of reason. This distinction stems from Western

philosophy, specifically Cartesian dualism and modern

interpretations of Stoicism, and is reflected in common

phrases like appeal to emotion or your emotions have taken

over.

http://www.answers.com/emotion

Modern science says that the right brain deals with emotions,

feelings, creativity, and intuition. However, the Hindu Upanishads say

that there are more than two components

of mind, and that they are located on the spine. That is the theme of this article.

In the study of army veterans with spinal-cord injuries, researchers

found that they can become emotional but they do not feel it - they do

not have the bodily heat that they

used to have before the injuries.

I will be very thankful if you discuss on these points.

I have to agree with you that the western 2 mind, emotional/rational mind model is seriously flawed, thought it has

been the staple diet for too long, in my opinion

I ventured into exploring the eastern traditions because of an awareness of 'a something' way beyond the almost

miniscule mindset created by the 2 mind system

As a left-hander, the model didn't fit me, in any event....

However I do find the western way of being succinct has advantages, as some teachings such as the Upanishads,

like this article are so wordy as to more than hint at rational mind at work, whereas the topic and the country are

reknowned for their spirituality beyond the rational

'I felt I was going on an epic journey to arrive where I began', said the lost soul

Aitch

In the early modern age, clockwork would be advanced as an analogy

Or in Ancient Greece?

As to why a clock, a telephone exchange, a computer, are available for analogy, comes not from the nature of the

artefact itself but from the nature of the intelligence that created that artefact. Thhat is to say we make things

systematically, they have components, and they have dynamics. We cannot help but reason the way we do by

reference to them as they are in effect an extension of ourselves

Which is why I argue that the notion 'time' is an artifact of human perception, Laurence. :)

Patrick Lockerby | 04/09/09 | 22:26 PM

Siva: the human brain is much more complex than the dual hemisphere model suggests. Too many books on

cognitive science focus on the cerebrum. That is like focusing on a game of cards instead of the underlying operating

system in a computer.

Yes, there are computing functions, as I would call them, in the spine, and yes, the spine carries somatic signals. It

follows that interference with the spinal cord could generate signals of bodily discomfort. And yes, that could affect

the emotions, but it is the brain that detects the condition, that makes a higher brain function aware, so that the

higher function, the 'I' or the ego can claim to 'feel' discomfort. The higher function seems to reside in the

cerebellum, but this 'captain' has a whole crew to which computing tasks may be delegated.

The Upanishads give us some very insightful ideas about the mind, and sanskrit grammar about how language

works, but I do not think they have much to offer about the brain's physical function as intercommunicating clusters

of neurons of various types.

--------------------------------------------

Sorry folks, I unpublished this yesterday because the title doesn't read like anything that belongs on the science site
and I couldn't see any text (and still can't, even though I can't find any offending HTML) but people commented on
it so everyone else must see it.

So ... enjoy?
___________________________

The human energetic system has seven chakras (on spine). Each chakra

affects specific organs and mental states-generally a chakra affects

the area of the body in which it is located.

 Muladhara, the 1st Chakra:

The mental issues associated with the first chakra concern survival,

life and death, good and bad, fear and security.

Svadhisthana, the 2nd Chakra:

The issues involved include the integration of sexual identity and

functioning with sensuality, self-image, pleasure and procreation.

Manipura, the 3rd Chakra:

Intelligence, alertness and sharpness are fruits of this chakra.

Issues that press for resolution are: passive vs. aggressive;

domination vs. submission; top dog vs. underdog; competition,

cooperation...

Anahata, the 4th Chakra:

The issues of giving love and nurturance, and reaching out to others,

make this the focus of compassionate relatedness.

Vishuddha, the 5th chakra:

Issues include receptivity, surrender, the ability to take in

nurturance and love, the capacity for devotion, faith, creativity and

self-expression.

http://www.yogachicago.com/mar00/jerrygore.shtml

An explanation of the chakras, and their role in understanding the

interactions between the body and the consciousness within.

http://healing.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn &c...

Vudata (not verified) | 10/25/09 | 20:41 PM =healing

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