Concept of Mind in the Major Upanishads

by Gisha K. Narayanan | 2018 | 35,220 words

This page relates ‘The Psychology and Philosophy (Introduction)’ of the study on the concept of Mind as found in the Major Upanishads: the philosophical backbone of the four Vedas. This study explores the various characteristics and psychological aspects of the mind (described by the Seers of ancient India thousands of years ago) including awareness (samjna), understanding (vijnana) and knowledge (prajnana).

1. The Psychology and Philosophy (Introduction)

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Psychology used to be a branch of philosophy. It stands as the member of the philosophical family and on the strong foundation of deep and everlasting fundamental truth regarding the nature of reality. It is not disjointed from philosophy. Psychology has no separate existence as a science and it always has been regarded as a part of philosophy and considered as an offspring of philosophy. Etymologically, ‘psychology’ signifies on account of its derivation from the two Greek words, ‘psyche’ and ‘logos’ meaning the study of the psyche, soul, spirit or mind. As an academic discipline, an attempt to the study of mind or mental life is referred to as psychology.

Modern psychology emerged as a science and emerged with many schools. It has been defined as a science of behaviour. It was popularized by Watson, the founder of the school of behaviourism.

Another definition of psychology, according to N.L. Munn, is that:

“Psychology today concerns itself with the scientific investigation of behaviour, including from the standpoint of behaviour, much of what earlier psychologists dealt with as experience”.^[1]

Psychology is the study of the function of the mind. It is the scientific study of behaviour. So we can come to the definition of psychology as the scientific study of behaviour of animals endowed with nervous systems that enable them to at least perceive and learn.

Another psychologist R.S. Woodworth has defined as:

“Psychology is the scientific study of the activities of the individual in relation to his environment”.^[2]

Consequently we can conclude that psychology is a science of behaviour or scientific study of the behavioural activities and experiences. The term behavior has taken a wide and comprehensive meaning that it is refers to the entire life activities and experiences of all the living organisms.

But the definition of psychology as the study of the soul or mind was faced with some questions about what mind is, how it can be studied etc. The ancient thinkers and medieval writers adopted several theories and approaches to define the word ‘mind’ in a scientific manner. They are structuralism, functionalism, Freudian psycho analysis, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, humanist psychology, transpersonal psychology, cognitive psychology etc. The ancient philosophers believe in the duality of mind and body. They believe that education can change the basic nature of the mind. Tichtner analyzed consciousness into three: sensation, perception and feelings. It study of mind of an introspective nature, it is structuralism.

Structuralism is.,

“An early view of psychology suggesting that the field should focus on identifying the basic structures of the human mind”.^[3]

There is,

“An early view of psychology suggesting that it should focus on the functions of consciousness”.^[4]

William James has postulated that mind cannot be examined on the basis of its structure, called functionalism.

Robert A Baron and Girishwar Misra point out that when behaviourism is examined:

“Only observable, overt activities that can be measured scientifically should be studied”.^[5]

Sigmund Freud the father of modern psychology opines that mind has three parts: conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious.

Life has no meaning without soul. But they are not able to successfully explain the relation between soul and body or the role of soul in the body. The word ‘soul’ is substituted by a more comprehensive word ‘mind’. Mind has been substituted by mental processes or modes. They are motivation, perception, learning, memory and thinking, which when operated influence man’s behaviour. The term ‘behaviour’ has taken a wide meaning that refers to the entire life-activities and experiences of all living organisms. It is the study of observable human nature.

According to Carole Wade,

“Psychology is the discipline concerned with behaviour and mental process and how they are affected by an organism, physical state, mental state and external enviournment”.^[6]

Modern psychologists do not concede to the existence of mind, because they have not examined the status and the process of mental functions. Western psychologists analyze the self from the some points of view.

According to Mary Calkins:

“Experience is the infallible evidence for the existence of the self; all experience is the experience of some self and is meaningless apart from that self. Anything less than self-consciousness would not be consciousness at all. To be conscious is to be conscious of conscious self”.^[7]

Indian psychology is embedded in Indian philosophy. As Sinha has observed,

“There is no system of Indian philosophy which has not advanced a theory of knowledge and which has not appealed to the facts of our experience”.^[8]

“Mind in Western Psychology is a limited concept, we substitute it in Indian psychology by consciousness, which is a wider term and connotes not only thought, but the entire life and light that pervade each and every organism”.^[9]

Every school of philosophy has made valuable contribution to psychology and other mental sciences. But these have never been treated as separate branches of study. Indian culture and philosophy are rooted in a metaphysical view. The existence of living and human personality is based on the Atman. Atman is the fundamental doctrine of science, arts, pleasure and pain, knowledge etc. In the absence of Atman these are nothing and so also the world. The Atman is meditated with mind Western psychology does not treat Atman positively. So this science is entirely different from Indian psychology. Liberation is the aim of every living being and Indian psychology is raised from such a perspective.

The metaphysical investigation for the liberation is introspective in nature. It is the investigation of truth.

The views of Śri Aurobindo in respect of introspection is:

“But always the whole foundation of the Gnostic life must be its very nature inward and not outward. In the life of the spirit, it is the inner reality that has built up and used the mind, vital being and body as its instrumentation”.^[10]

This introspective method is on the basis of reasoning. It is the main process in the analyses of the states of consciousness.

That philosophical truth is Atman or Brahman or Īśvara, Puruṣottaman etc. These words originate from the Eternal Truth. The Eternal Truth is every being and everything. So the basic features are developed on the basis of these perspectives. Human personality is Self. It is different from body or mind. Atman or self is the nature of pure consciousness. The individual body, mind, self correspond to the cosmic body or the physical universe. It is called virat; cosmic mind is called hiraṇyagarbha and cosmic consciousness. The individual mind can transcend to the cognitional, intuitional sates. There is continuity of mind, as the Yogi call it. The mind is universal and it is designated by the technical terms such as antaḥkaraṇa in Sāṃkhya and Vedanta, manas in Nyāyā, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsa and Viśiṣtādaita, citta in Yoga and ālaya in Buddhism. Your mind and my mind and all these little minds are fragments of that Universal Mind as the little waves in the ocean; and on account of this continuity, we can convey our thoughts directly to one another. Among the knowledge of Indians on account of mind and universal secret can never be different because they have no different knowledge. Any knowledge can be based on everything that emerges from those that are knowledge. This indicates vāc or cit.

Shree Narayana guru says:

vibhajyāvayavaṃ sarvaṃ ekaikaṃ tatradṛśyate cinmātramakhilaṃnānyaditi māyā vidūragam |^[11]

The cit is abound with human beings, universe and physical and non-physical processing. Meanwhile, that is called as the Atman or the Brahman and its scientific technique is called the Ātmavidya or the Brahmavidya. Western psychology treats mind as consciousness. But Indian Psychology is not separated from the Ātmavidya because it treats mind as itself. This knowledge is fully rich with Vedanta or Ups. According to Indian psychology the knowledge or vidhya is divided into direct cognition (pratyakṣa), inference (parokṣa) and intuition (aparokṣa).

The Upaniṣads are the earliest type of spiritual literature of the world. They are the final word of all spirituality.

According to Dr. S Radhakrishnan,

“The aim of Upaniṣads was to bring peace and freedom to anxious, human spirit”.^[12]

Each of the Upaniṣad maintains some particular idea of the world, the self and the Absolute Truth. It is not only rich in metaphysical but also in psychological thoughts. According to Advaita philosophy mind is only an offshoot of the all-pervading Atman or Brahman limited by sense organs in the body. The Para Brahman has no function. It is only through the inner sense that the soul caged in the body experiences pleasure, pain etc. This inner sense is called mind.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan has pointed out,

“The sources of man’s spiritual insight are twofold–objective and subjective -the wonders of the world without, and the states of the human soul. In the Vedas, the vast order and movements of nature engage our attention. In the Upaniṣad we return to explore the depths of the inner word”.^[13]

Right since the days of Vedic hymns, the interest of the sages has been in understanding and controlling the mental processes. They have been trying to analyze the origin of mind.

According to Western philosophy the mind is formed by sense organs and brain. But Indian psychology and philosophy accepts the sense organs, brain, and intelligence as the instruments of mind. Mind has an important role to turn true knowledge into the functions of neurons. The mental functions and factors are the five sensory organs (jñānendriyas) and five motor organs (karmendriyas). The other factors are perception, intellect, discrimination, reasoning, intelligence, personal ego (ahaṃkāra) and subconscious mind (citta).