Our mind is externalized. If I see an ice-cream and get a craving for eating it, my mind will dwell on the ice-cream. It will start thinking about ice-cream; it will visualize myself as having the ice-cream. Never for a moment will it turn its attention to the craving itself. It won’t step back and observe that it has a craving for the ice-cream. It won’t try to analyze what gave rise to this craving. The mind’s movement is external bound and never does it turn its attention to the beautiful processes going on inside.
Our mind has a world of its own. Consder a car. You turn the ignition key and it starts. you press the clutch and put it in gear. Now, gradually press the accelerator while releasing the clutch at the same time. Voila! It starts moving.
However, if you open the bonnet, you realize what all complex things are going on inside. But when do youopen the bonnet? Only when there is a fault in the functioning. Otherwise, you never even think about what’s going on beneath that aluminium sheet!
Similar is the case with our mind. It has such complex internal mechanisms that you can spend your lifetime trying to understand it.
Our behaviour towards our mind is a little different as compared to a car; especially in situations of malfunctioning. When the car doesn’t function correctly, we look at the internal mechanism of the car to find out the problem. However, when our mind doesn’t function correctly, we still look for reasons outside the mind and not inside.
Our mind is externalized and that’s why we never open the bonnet of our mind.
[Written at Honey Valley]