Six States of Mind series

A person does not only attain meditation and depth when they become stable in meditation; rather, yoga brings transformation to their daily actions, behavior, conduct, and their entire life. They become a changed individual. This fact becomes clear to us when we understand how a person’s actions (karma), vision (darshan), and state of mind (sthiti) depend on which thoughts dominate their consciousness (smriti). This can be further clarified with the following example.If a person has once seen a street dog bite a man, and today, they encounter a stray dog on the road, their consciousness gets filled with the past memory of the dog biting the man. In the terminology of yoga, this is briefly referred to as ‘smriti,’ which we can also know as ‘consciousness.’ Now, this ‘consciousness’ transforms into the person’s emotions, mood, or state of mind. If they were previously calm, they now become anxious or fearful. This, in turn, gives rise to caution, fear, aversion, or similar thoughts. This third type of thought is called ‘vritti,’ meaning ‘state of mind.’ It means that their mind has been influenced in a specific way or has been colored in a particular hue.Now, this change also affects the person’s perspective (drishti). All of this happens within a matter of seconds, so much so that the time lapse between one and the other is barely noticeable. The combination of all these elements is such that they seem indistinguishable from one another. Ultimately, this results in the person either picking up a stick to attack the dog or running away in fear to find shelter. This action doesn’t stop here; it leaves an impression or ‘samskara’ on the person’s mind. The next time, unless it has been transformed, this samskara can again become an impulse for action if similar circumstances arise in the future; otherwise, it remains dormant. Even when latent, the samskara or resolve determines a person’s personality and can sometimes manifest as a dream.This sequence of the spiral-like movement of thought, from different aspects of the mind or consciousness to action (kriti), concludes with the understanding that in order to change one’s actions or behavior, one must change their consciousness or memory. To change one’s perspective, it is necessary to change their consciousness. To change the state of mind or to make it eternally blissful, the consciousness must also be transformed. Since a yogi changes their consciousness through the art and science of yoga, they are able to bring about a change in their habits and behavior and become a pure and happy person.

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