No, the mind is not immortal. And it is not a part of the immortal Soul either.
The Soul and the mind are two different entities. Just as this body is physical, the mind too is physical and is made up of matter. Whereas the Soul is not at all physical, it is pure consciousness and has no sub-atomic particles or matter in it.
The thought crops up in mind and the Soul is the knower of every thought. The property of mind is to think, while the property of the Soul is to know. The Soul has always remained separate from the entire mind, and it continues to know all that is happening in the mind moment to moment. But it is due to the thick layers of impurities of karma sitting over the Soul that one gets engrossed in the thoughts and loses the awareness of the Soul.
The mind and the Soul can never unite because the mind is a temporary phenomenon while the Soul is a permanent element. The mind is transitory and the Self is eternal. The two could become one if both were temporary, but that is not so.
They both have different functions. The mind has arisen only to die in some time, whereas the Soul is an eternal element; it has, it does and it will always exist on its own. However, mind is an important means to attain liberation of the Soul.
The mind is like a ‘boat’ in the worldly ocean, it takes us wherever we want to go. And mind has enormous energy. If it goes in the wrong direction, it can speedily create havoc in our life; and if the same mind gets turned in the right direction, it can take us to our destination with the same speed too!
Knowing the destination is very important, or else we will not realize when the flow of energy sways us into the wrong direction. Therefore, we should devoutly contemplate about the destination we want to reach, and accordingly make use of our mind to reach there. Mind should be allowed to blossom, but in the right direction only.
What is the right direction in life?
Like the mariner’s compass is fixed towards the north in the boat, our compass is fixed upon societal norms i.e. our mind gets directed according to what people around us say and dictate. Where people say happiness lies, we too believe it to be there, and accordingly we drive our mind into the rat race of life.
But just think about it - what if we fix the compass upon Gnani’s norms i.e. navigate our mind according to what Gnani says and dictates? Gnani is the Enlightened One!!! He has the right vision, and He also has the power to change our vision to the right. It means setting the compass upon Gnani’s norms will take us in the right direction in life.
So, according to the Gnani, the enlightened One, let us then understand what should be our goal of life:
1. The first goal is to live our life in a manner that no living being ever gets hurt by us. To attain this goal, it is important that we avoid bad company as much as possible, and rather spend our time in the company of those who are good human beings and who promote our well-being. This should be our first and foremost aim of life, which in turn will help our mind reach the next goal too.
2. Our next and the ultimate goal of human life is to enlighten our Soul and attain permanent happiness. This goal is attained when we happen to meet a living Gnani, who is able to impart the experiential knowledge of our real Self i.e. Soul to us, and we attain Self Realization from Him. Remaining in His company, all our goals in life will be accomplished and all our puzzles will be solved, as He puts us on the path of permanent liberation of Soul from the bondage of karmas.
This boat of mind will make us endlessly wander in the ocean of life, until it does not find the shore (liberation of the Soul from all the impurities of karma that is covering it). And only when we meet Gnani, who knows the path to shore, can our boat of mind reach the shore.
So, today, let us earnestly pray that we meet Gnani at the earliest. And until that happens, we navigate our mind, based on the compass set on Gnani’s words and His given goals!!
Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.