Prepared Mind helps in getting Universal Knowledge
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There are very few people in the world on whose head something or the other has not fallen. Yet it was Newton who immediately grasped the meaning of gravity when an apple fell on his head. Similarly when Einstein heard that a painter had fallen from the roof, he went to see him in the hospital and asked him how he felt while falling down. The painter’s reply that he felt weightless propelled Einstein into formulating his General Theory of Relativity. Both Newton and Einstein and countless other discoverers of truth have produced great ideas from every day observations because of their prepared mind. Prepared mind is an outcome of a very deep thought on a particular subject for a very long time. It is the Sanyam of Patanjali Yoga Darshan.
How is the knowledge perceived by the prepared mind? Knowledge is of two types – internal and external. The internal knowledge is the outcome of information stored in the brain and its churning and processing by deep thought. The external knowledge is gained when the deep thought interacts with the object of perception. This interaction takes place when the prepared mind produces a thought whose template starts matching the object of perception and with Sanyam on it the thought template eventually matches the object in a lock and key type interaction leading to knowledge. Hence with deep thought or Sanyam on a particular thing for a long time the brain can become very sensitive and a powerful receiver of knowledge. Such a sensitive brain can identify itself with any idea or object in the world. Once Shri Ramkrishna, while in a heightened state of awareness, saw a person walking on the grass and felt as if that person was walking on his chest! He had identified himself with the grass - a living entity to him at that time.
The knowledge about the Universal Consciousness or God or how the Universe is made already exists in knowledge space and is accessed whenever the earth passes through this space and hence is time dependent and not person dependent. Thus even if there was somebody else other than Newton or Einstein they would have received the knowledge provided they had the prepared mind. This is mostly true for quantum leaps in our knowledge. The incremental knowledge comes via the regular processes. It is also the reason that quite a number of people with prepared mind get similar ideas simultaneously and independently. The renaissance period in Europe and spiritual awakening in India in late 1800’s are some of the examples. As the earth passes through the knowledge space it seems to get somehow great thoughts in human form. This may be a possible mechanism for knowledge seeding of earth.
Since our minds are the product of the same time frame as the Universe it can be conjectured that we cannot think more than what already exists in the Universe. At best we can discover the already existing truths. Thus the products of even our wildest dreams and imaginations exist somewhere in the Universe. Prepared mind helps us to discover them.
How does one prepare his or her mind? The only way to do so is by hard work and great discipline. Some people do have the genetic makeup for a nimble brain but a discipline of Sanyam has to be inculcated. Knowledge comes only to those who pursue it vigorously as stated in Patanjali Yoga Darshan. The power of the will allows us to prepare our mind to receive Universal knowledge and liberate ourselves. Hence a common saying that gods help only those who help themselves points to the fact that hard work is necessary for mind preparation.
When a person is in deep thought the ego sense also vanishes. Ego arises when the inputs from senses are active. In deep thought the person’s concentration blocks the inputs from the senses and hence the ego sense is suppressed. Therefore a continuous practice of Yoga and Sanyam can help in ego sublimation into Universal consciousness. Similarly by principle of equivalence when there is no ‘I’ or ego then the prepared mind should be able to perceive the Universal knowledge. Such a thing sometimes happens during dreaming process where ‘I’ is partially absent. There have been many celebrated instances when people who have been thinking very deeply about certain problems have received profound knowledge during the dreaming process. For e.g. Kekule dreamt of the benzene structure and the idea of Dandi March came to Gandhiji in a dream during the early hours of morning. That is the power of prepared mind.
Deep thought or Sanyam, besides producing happiness, also helps the brain in offloading memories. Yogis have known all along that through Yoga one can shed the Sansakaras or memory and achieve liberation. Recently scientists have photographed for the first time the formation and dissolution of memories in rat brains. It is quite possible that under intense stimulus of Sanyam the same dissolution of memory may also take place in humans. Thus the prepared mind will help humans to liberate themselves.
Published as an editorial article in Times of India on 20th February 2003.