The Portions of the Mind

Consciousness is the supreme subjectivity.

• All other, mundane, subjectivities or objectivities are mere blendings of the absolute subjectivity.

Therefore, the mind is not an absolute entity.

• Instead, it is a transformed state of consciousness.
• To perform its actions, it depends on the motor or sensory organs as its direct agents.
• Afferent and efferent nerves, in their turn, act as direct agents of these organs.

The nerves:

• convey the quantum-perceptions (tanmátras) from objects into the mind, and
• activate the objects with the force that they get from the mental structure

Thus, they:

• link the mind with the external objectivities and
• are the indirect agents of the mind.

Perception

Whenever the outgoing quantum-perceptions carrying mental force:

• gets reflected, the objects come within our scope of sensation, perception and conception.
• gets refracted, the objects partially come within our scope of sensation, etc.
• are neither reflected nor refracted or when there is little reflection or refraction, the objects do not come within the scope of our feeling.

The correctness of perception depends on many factors.

1. The objects transmitting quantum-perceptions must be in healthy condition.
2. The gateways of the organs must be healthy
3. The reflecting quantum-perceptions should be defectless.
4. The afferent and efferent nerves and the mindstuff should be sufficiently strong and active.
5. The ego should be ready to receive them.

Any defect or slackness of any of the above factors results in incorrect perception and consequently, incorrect conception.

For example, in glaucoma, watery fluid is deposited in the optical nerve.

• This causes a dispersion of light inside, making the white light transmitted by objects appear to be spectrum-colored.

In terms of the efferent nerves, the activating (radiating) capacity of the ego determines:

• physical activity, primarily
• one’s personality
  • The more developed the radiating power, the more glaring will be one’s personality.

Thus, the mind acts through the organs and nerves to receive or radiate the quantum-perceptions.

The portion of mind which deals with the sense-organs is called the crude portion.

• This controls the physical longings of the microcosm.

The mindstuff has an Identity-layer and an Ego-layer (Mahattattva and Ahaḿtattva) as well.

In the crudification process, mindstuff gradually crudifies under the influence of static Activity until the crude solid is created.

5 Portions or Kosas

This process of crudification of mindstuff is coordinated between the Identity-layer and the Ego-layer. This process is divided into 5 portions or kosas. Each portion has a relative density of crudeness developed through the bondage of the static principle.

These 5 portions are the crude portion of the Macrocosmic Mind where it displays its will.

The 5 portions from the initial portion are:

1. Causal 1 (hirańmaya)

• this is called “causal” or “astral” mind collectively with the vijiṋánamaya and atimánasa kosas

2. Causal 2 (vijiṋanamaya)
3. Causal 3 (atimanasa)
4. Subtle (manomaya)

5. Crude (kámamaya kośa)

The Freudian classification of “conscious”, “sub-conscious” and “unconscious” minds for the crude, subtle and causal minds are wrong.

Crude Portion

This is the crudest portion of mindstuff, where it is metamorphosed into the crudest stuff.

Subtle Portion

This is subtler than the crude portion.

It has the capacity of recollection and contemplation.

From the microcosmic angle of vision, the crude portion of the Macrocosm is expressed through the 5 physical layers.

The crude portion of the Macrocosm, in its flow of imagination, is able to create actualities for the unit mind.

• But the crude portion of the unit mind cannot create physical actualities by its own imagination.

The crude portion can deal with the created layers.

The subtle portion is capable of recollection and contemplation.

The Causal Portions (Atimánasa, Vijiṋánamaya, Hirańmaya)

These are the causal portion of both the Macrocosm and the microcosm.

But the causal portion of the microcosmic mind is merely theoretical.

• There is no separate existence of the unit causal mind from the Cosmic causal mind.
• There is no causal difference between the microcosm and the Macrocosm.

The causal portion of the unit mind will not be able to maintain its separate identity from the Macrocosmic mind when the crude and subtle portions of the unit mind suspend their work by the process of sádhaná.

• Only the seed of reactive momenta differentiates the causal microcosm from the causal Macrocosm.
• Through correct sádhaná, the spiritual aspirant will feel that there is one causal mind in the universe.
• Similarly, by the subtleness of projection, subtle and crude portions of the unit mind can connect themselves with the subtle and crude portions of the Cosmic Mind.
• Yogic sádhaná is the way to achieve this subtleness of projection.

The Crude, Subtle, Casual Macrocosm

The entire Macrocosm can similarly be divided into 3 parts or bodies:

• crude
• subtle body (súkśma deha) of the the Paramátman
• astral or causal, made up of the Identity-layer and Ego-layer

These bodies are only philosophical.

The physical world is within the psychic scope of the Macrocosm.

• But the Macrocosm cannot have any crude or physical body in the sense the microcosm has.

Yet because of the inclusion of the 5 layers within its mind, the crude portion of the Macrocosm is often called the crude body of Supreme Consciousness .

This is because philosophy says that the moment the Macrocosmic Nucleus was influenced by His immanent sentient principle:

• the seed of creation was expressed
• His bodies and worlds (lokas) were created.

Thus, the whole portion of the unit mind is the crude body of the Macrocosm .

The subtle body of the unit’s mind is made up of the following portions:

• crude
• subtle
• atimánasa, vijiṋánamaya
• causal

Above the scope of the causal portion (hirańmaya) until the merger into the Macrocosmic Nucleus, the unit certainly has a body.

• But that body cannot be called causal.

By its very nature, if the mind is to possess objectivity, it must also have a witnessing entity.

• The witnessing entity is the summum bonum of the mind.

Philosophy has given different names to the witnessing entity according to the differences in the nature of the objective mind.

• But this does not mean that the same Macrocosmic Nucleus is not the witnessing entity at different stages of the mind.
• It is He who reflects Himself as the witnessing counterpart by functional difference due to the changing mental status.

At different portions, different names have been adopted for that singular entity:

Similarly, the Macrocosmic Nucleus has different names as witness of the microcosm:

The Cosmic Entity extends in different worlds wherein the different portions and the unit minds dwell.

World or “loka” refers only to the Macrocosm and not to the unit.

• The “physical world” is the crude portion of the Cosmic Entity where material structure has taken form .
• The “crude mental world” is this crude portion where material structure has just begun taking form but has not actually acquired it .
• The “subtle mental world” (svarloka) is made up of subtle portion.
• The “supramental world” (maharloka) is made up of the atimánasa
• The “subliminal world” (janarloka) is made up of the vijiṋánamaya
• The “taparloka” is made up of the causal portion
• The “satyaloka” is above the causal body and is philosophical only

31 May 1959, Jamalpur