Mind is different from Brain

There is confusion between the two terms Brain and Mind and many may be under the impression that both are the same. Nothing can be far from truth.

Brain is a thing and it is a part of our body. It has a physical structure and place in our body. We know where it is located. It can be seen, touched, felt isolated, removed or altered. It consists of parts such as lobes, brain cells, neurons, axons etc. Each of these parts can be seen, touched etc.

But mind  is a process. It cannot be seen. Do you know where is it located? Is it in you brain, heart, head? As you are reading this passage, are you sure your mind is with you? Don’t we feel that some times our mind goes out from our conscious awareness and we return back to our consciousness?

The brain operates through the five senses namely, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the nose and the skin. If the brain is not functioning such as during cerebral coma, we cannot see, hear, smell, taste or feel. These are the brain’s windows to the outside world. The brain function is manifested to the outside world through these organs.

The manifestation of the mind is through soft parameters such as feelings, emotions, attitude, ego, likes, dislikes etc. If the mind is absent, our attention will not be drawn to see or hear or taste or smell or feel anything. First our attention is drawn and then our sensory organs are attracted and then our brain recognizes the signal. For some reasons if our mind is not with us, we will not be able to notice these signals even though they are there.

Many times we use the term ‘ mind control’. What is actually ‘mind control’?

We use the words ‘thoughts’, ‘thinking’, ‘thinking pattern’, ‘creative thinking’ etc. Have you pondered what do these words mean? Where are these thoughts? Where does thinking take place? Is it in the brain or in the head or in the heart!

We say that ‘ I thought about you’. These statements point out that the thinking takes place in our mind.

Are we aware and conscious of the various thoughts that enter and occupy our mind? As we keep doing some activity or other we are not conscious of what is happening in our mind. Sometime we are conscious of some thoughts that enter and exit our mind. Some other times we are not conscious of some thoughts that occupy our mind.

Witnessing and becoming aware of our thought process means to be able to observe the natural flow of the various thoughts in the mind, while not being disturbed or distracted. When you start witnessing your thought process and remain detached from the same, you attain mental peace and bliss. Many of us straight away try to reach a state of ‘thoughtlessness’. This is not possible. We can reach this state only gradually.  

The quality of our thoughts will decide the quality of our mind. Let me give an analogy. The quality of our car will depend on the quality of the components that have gone into assemble the car. The quality of our food depends upon the quality of the ingredients that we used. If we want good food, we need to use good and quality ingredients. So in the case of our mind. If we want good and peaceful mind, we should occupy our mind with good thoughts.

Can we control our thought process? Is it in our control to invite useful thoughts and expel bad thoughts? If we admit that we are helpless in this regard, then we should also admit that we will have no control on our mind and consequently on our life!

It is possible to control our thoughts and thus the quality of our mind!