I AM WHAT I THINK

Exploring the Power of Thought

(PART 1)

#WorldMentalHealthDay

by Mrinalini Singh

Posted on LinkedIn on 10th October 2023

“I think, therefore I am”. Rene Descartes famous quote articulated the mind-body duality which has been a subject of enquiry of modern philosophy and science. While the quote states a philosophical truth behind a universal experience, it also brings to question the nature of that experience. The distinction between the mind and the body is easily experienced. Their inter-connectedness, however, is much more subtle and elusive. This is not to say that it cannot be experienced. The fact that high performers and high achievers use various mind techniques to direct their actions and outcomes in the physical world points to the harnessing of the power of thought.

EYE OF THE FISH

In the Mahabharata, MatsyaVedha competition at Draupadi’s Swayamvar required contestants to string a metal bow and then, looking at a reflection on water, pierce an arrow through the eye of a fish strung to a revolving disk high up on a pole. Before the competition, Krishna advises Arjuna to “step forward and focus only on the eye of the fish” and he would do the rest. Arjuna, the one who had mastered Dhyana, askes Krishna that if he was to focus and pierce the eye of the fish what was left to do? Krishna replies he would do what Arjuna could not, i.e. still the water. These few lines perhaps are the key to the relationship between the mind and the material world.

I would identify three parts in the final act of Matsya Bheda. First is preparation - Arjuna must come forward and steady himself. Imagery depicting this episode shows Arjuna either standing with his feet wide apart or on one knee – keeping the body stable. Next is single-minded Focus on his target – the focus of the body and the mind as one unit. The fish is attached to a rotating disc, so both his sight and his body holding the bow and arrow must be in sync and prepare to pierce a precise moment in time to reach the eye of the fish. And third - Surrender to the process. Stillness of the water is beyond Arjuna’s to control. But his surrender to Krishna’s Divine will to still the water enables the act.

If Arjuna’s focus wavered, the stillness of the water would be futile. And without the stillness of the water the eye of the fish would not be pierced. This is subtle ability of the mind.

I would also include or recognize the fourth underlying element at play, unspoken yet weighing in on the entire episode - Practice. Arjunas hours, days, weeks, months and years of persistence practice in mastering his skill is imperative to this moment.

The four factors then for that moment of victory are:

· Preparation

· Focus

· Surrender

· Practice

I cannot but help be reminded of the commands called out at the start of a race – “On your marks (preparation), get set (focus), Go! (surrender to the process). The athlete’s practice of course, is the fourth dimension, if you will, in the outcome of the race.

BETWEEN CHAOS AND ORDER

Later in the battlefield, Arjuna, that conqueror of Dhyana, ridden by dilemma of battling his own kin, is a shadow of himself, scattered in his mind, lacking focus and resolve. He seeks Krishna’s counsel, drawing the picture of the nature of the mind as being unpredictable, unsteady, fickle, restless, strong, obstinate, and turbulent. In the same vein, Gautam Buddha is said to have described the nature of the mind as a restless monkey.

The Monkey-Mind Horse-Will metaphors abound in Buddhist literature. While we experience our attention and moods hopping from one object to another in a matter of seconds, or even its fractions, as variety of choice to seek gratification multiplies at exponential pace, what our inherited stories indicate is that with or without the social media and increased options, the nature of the mind is unchanged.

The journey then between the chaos of the monkey mind to the mastery of Dhyana, is constant practice which is essentially disciplining of the mind. The blinker on the horse limits its field of vision to focus on the path ahead. It cuts out the “ambient noise” of the field outside the path of action.

Similarly, any productive activity requires us to cut out the noise of temptation, of tragedy, of shortcomings, of self-doubt, of moods, and focus single-mindedly to what we strive to achieve. The harness of the horse is the preparation, the resource, the safety clutch, and the riders’ seat that is needed to survive the rigors of action. And then the hours and days and years of practice when the rider and the horse, like the mind and the body, must attune and come together in perfect syn as one whole, for that moment of glory.

[Mrinalini Singh is Head, Research & Development at The Indic Center for Psychological Wellness & Holistic Health]

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