The mind is a projector. The projector is hidden deep in the unconscious. Just like in a movie screen where the pictures are being displayed the mind keeps projecting ideas, thoughts, and desires, of the past or future on the mind screen. Do not fight with the pictures (thoughts/desires) on the screen. So, we are not in the present moment. It is just a screen. We need to stop the projector. Put aside the projector, the desires and daydreaming and face reality. Then we are in the present moment. If we are happy and joyful in this moment, only then we can be happy tomorrow as well. Today is the parent of tomorrow. Be in the present.

Mind is good as a reservoir, as memory; it is good to keep records. We burden our minds with memories of the past and projections of the future. Hence, we go on living at the minimum. And not at maximum. When we start dropping the thoughts of the past, we tend to become clear, clean, alive and young. That is what awareness is. Consciousness without thinking is awareness. Being alert with no thought. To experience some of these wonders of consciousness meditation always helps and you need a professional instructor. Given the plethora of online options, one like Mindful in May will do wonders to take you through meditation and help you experience the wonders of it. 

The mind has great depths and heights. Freud went into the depths and Sri Aurobindo penetrated the heights. This model of nine states has been provided by Freud and Sri Aurobindo.

It so happens that sometimes we have some words on the tip of our tongue but are unable to recollect it immediately. After some time, we are able to recollect, the sub-conscious mind searches it in its reservoir and supplies to the conscious mind. Behind the conscious mind is the sub-conscious mind –vague. We can hear the whispering of it. The subconscious mind is vague and cannot be figured out. However, it is always there behind the conscious mind. The unconscious mind is behind the subconscious mind and we come across it in dreams or when people take drugs. When we go deep into the unconscious mind, we come across the collective unconscious mind. When we go much deeper and deeper we come across the cosmic unconscious mind.






My mobile phone rings in the middle of the traffic signal. After finding a space to park, I receive the call with great enthusiasm only to find that if I would be interested to get an additional SIM card. It is so frustrating. Now and then, I get calls from insurance companies, credit card companies, and travel agencies telling me that I have won a prize. Though anger shoots up, it is never expressed as it is not possible. All these unexpressed anger and other emotions are suppressed and stored in the unconscious mind.

As a young girl, I would always look at the liquid motion toy in a novelty store in the neighborhood while on the way to school. There were 2 fixed ducks which would bend alternately to and fro sucking the red liquid in the beaker kept in between them. Each duck would suck and spit the red liquid by turns and the movement of the liquid could be seen in the transparent neck. The liquid would keep moving up, then one duck would bend and all the liquid would flow into the beaker. This would happen continuously. I would stand and watch it for hours together. It simply fascinated me so much. The desire to see it every day never ceased. I longed to watch it endlessly. I had to always see this toy in the glass case. That desire was very strong. I can still feel it today also. There are so many desires of ours like this right from childhood to teenage to adulthood, which remain unfulfilled. All these desires are buried in our unconscious mind and come back in the form of dreams. Check out your dreams, they are all suppressed emotions and desires. When we go into the deeper inquiry of the unconscious mind, we come across the collective unconscious and cosmic unconscious mind.

In many situations, we are unaware of the unconscious mind; hence, we think something, feel something and act in a different way altogether. There is no harmony and then we are in misery. We start feeling life is a burden and start suffering inwardly. To make this suffering less painful, people adopt numerous ways. Some of them fall prey to intoxicating drugs or alcohol to reduce their inner pain. These measures make us more unconscious of our own selves. We become insensitive and escape into the unconscious as we are not feeling the misery. These are temporary measures to make the suffering tolerable, however, no transformation happens. The only transformation happens through meditation. We can also alleviate our suffering by becoming aware, alert and conscious of the prevailing situation without getting disturbed. Meditation is the only method that makes us aware.


When we add meditation to our lives, the conscious mind attains the state of a real-conscious mind. Beyond the real conscious mind is the super-conscious mind. Super-conscious mind means Samadhi – which is an attainment of a crystal-clear perceptiveness. This is a stage where one has attained an integrated awareness. After reaching this stage, one cannot fall below it. Beyond the super-conscious is the collective super-conscious; the collective super-conscious is what is known as “God” in the religions. And beyond the collective super-conscious is the cosmic super-conscious which is called “nirvana”. Hindu mystics have called it moksha (the transcendent state). It is the truth, which Mahavira calls it “kaivalya”. Refer Fig. 3 to understand the model of nine states of mind by Freud and Sri Aurbindo

Body-mind awareness

Being watchful of the body-mind is the way to be aware. Be alert about each gesture while walking, talking, eating, taking a bath, each movement. Watch everything. Let everything be an opportunity to watch. The body becomes more relaxed and attuned. A deep peace prevails in the body; subtle music of joy pulsates in the body. Next, become aware of your thoughts. Watch your thoughts. They are subtler and more dangerous than the body. The very phenomenon of watching the thoughts changes them. Slowly the thoughts start falling into a pattern, there is no more chaos; they become more of a cosmos. And again, deeper peace prevails.

When the body and mind are at peace, they are in harmony and not running in different directions. This helps greatly in becoming aware of emotions, feelings, and moods. When the mind, body, and spirit become one, harmony is achieved just like the enchanting music in an orchestra. The body knows pleasure, the mind knows happiness and heart knows joy.

While this article is truly inspiring and insightful, the book Erupt With Joy has a lot more content that you cannot miss reading. The book is available both on amazon.com & amazon.in for you to grab a copy of your own.

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