12.4. Diversity of Mind

The Buddhist view in all schools in general recognizes that the mind has the special power to create all pleasant and unpleasant objects. The mind, thus, is so said to be very profound, multiple, varied, and has different aspects.

The world that we are living in is nothing but the result of kamma ‘actions’, and all actions are created by mind, for instant, “[an] invisible God created a visible world” Chomsky (1968: 14). Thus, ultimately there is no creator other than mind that creates everything in the universe. All unwholesome as well as wholesome habits are originated from mind. There is unique mind in each person, when this mind affected by lust, by hate, and by delusion, it is the origination of all unwholesome habits; on the contrary, when it released from lust, hate, and delusion, it becomes the origination to arise all wholesome states (Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta number 78).

Normally, human beings are always commanded by their own mind which is the actual creator. In other words, man has been under the control of his mind without any freedom. If he, however, has trained in the Dhamma with right view, then he can overturn this state and gain control over his mind. And only at that time he really has the real freedom. He can probably know about the various forms of mind that can be gross, subtle, or very subtle through either intellectually or directly by experience. With such right understanding, he is able to distinguish the pure mind from the defiled mind, and through it he cultivates the former and abandons the latter. In short, all happiness and suffering that are present in this world depend upon the mind. Therefore, to be released from suffering obviously cannot be found outside the mind. There is nothing important than by training to bring our mind under our control and to develop it more and more pure by converting unwholesome habits into all wholesome states (see Gyatso 1993: 1-22).

In brief, one with right view trained in the Dhamma is one who can “wields mastery over his mind, he does not let the mind wield mastery over him” (Majjhima Nikāya, Sutta number 32.9).