The philosopher Aristotle, who is regarded as the father of psychology, thought of the mind as a distinct entity endowed with collective active and passive abilities that permitted expansive thinking and moral, upright behaviour. In contemporary thought, Aristotle’s philosophy of the mind and its interpretation align just as strikingly for active and passive mind dualism, including its nature of progression in logical thinking. In other words, the new potential reality of Aristotle’s “old” metaphysics provides a sublime (re)construction of the mind-body “connect” than what was earlier thought to be less implicit in such philosophical contexts.
Our mind isn’t just a thing. It is more than a heightened aspect of our being. It is also a tangible, yet intangible, motif for understanding our being through our soul — from the inside out. It rejoices the essence of life from its depths; it connects us to the outward realm of our being too. Our mind mirrors our values and beliefs, including the essence of our existence. It articulates our principles; it connects us to the universe in a manner born. What you are is what you are with your mind. When you comprehend your mind, not just in full measure, but also substantially in its expanse, you begin to experience your complete being as also your empathy with and through it.
Most of us tend to imbibe the nourishing inner wisdom of our mind, not so much when the going is good, but during difficult times. This isn’t the right thing to do. It’s only when you listen to the innermost facet of your mind in either circumstance, you reach a higher plane and savour each moment of your life. You’ll also, in so doing, become fully mindful of oneself and the cosmos — the hub and nucleus of our being. This leads us to a state of synchronous serenity from where you will be able to face life and its vicissitudes with amplified equanimity. The more open you are with your mind, the more progressive you will be — so much so, that all the monotonous, also irrelevant, configurations of life’s realities will not upset the applecart of your essential inner and outer core, the keynote of one’s existence.
It’s aptly said that our mind is, at times, a baboon. The moment you unfetter such a natural “mischief-maker” in your psyche, it could goad you to dance to your wonky, unmindful jingle. You’ll now prod yourself with negative gusto. You will, likewise, provoke yourself and others who are not part of your internal “tizzy-go-round”. The outcome is wobbly confusion, perplexity and lack of focus. When you disengage the “troublemaker” in you, the spin-off, on the contrary, is not just serenity, but also harmonious balance.
