It can be argued that the mind is chief arbiter of all that happens to us – real and imagined.  Indeed it is often said that the whole of an individual’s life journey is a mental journey.

So why do so many appear to suffer so much mentally in their lives – this is a subject that concerned the earliest sages and rishis of Yoga, the majority of whom saw the mind as the chief source of life’s challenges.

In the East the study of the mind the first references are to be found in the Vedas and Upanishads (works developed by Rishis/seers) in the Indian subcontinent up to 5000 years ago. Later the great sage Patanjali spoke of these matters.

Mind (manas) exists as the most gross or physical level of consciousness and is a product of the nervous system and in it’s developed conditioned form could be called ego. However the higher level of mind or consciousness or “buddhi” is said to exist as pure awareness and is said to be the lens through which we glimpse our soul. The consciousness has no energy of it’s own, but through the practice of Yoga is purified so that the ego or mind can “remember” it’s itself! When the ego or lower self perceives the soul through the reflection of consciousness the PERMANENT AND IMPERMANENT ARE NO LOWER CONFUSED. It is said that all our suffering is due to us identifying with our minds and bodies!

The Vedanta philosophy has considered mind as the subtle form of matter where in the body and its components are considered the grossest forms. Consciousness although still part of mind allows connection to that which is deeper.

All mental suffering ends by getting rid of the ignorance (Avidya) that ‘I’ am different than the universal consciousness (Asmita) which is a perceptual error generated by attachment to the world by Raga (attachment) and Dvesa (aversion), which also results in Abhinivesa (fear of death or clinging to life).

Sage Patanjali an ancient seer had enunciated as early as 500 BC the practical steps of such introspection in his 196 aphorisms in the form of sutras. Patanjali maintains that the goal of existence is liberation from this ephemeral world of existence. This is trans egoic state going beyond the phenomenal world of smaller self which is at the periphery of awareness. This realisation of our true nature is revealed diving deep in to the self in the process of absorption (Samadhi). In Samadhi fear of death vanishes as this is linked to identification with the body and then frees the individual.