Chapter 105ABSORPTION INTO UNIVERSAL SUBJECTIVITYWhile the mind is a very valuable instrument in the acquisition of knowledge of
things, and thus it stands in the position of a subject in respect of all other things
which are its objects, it is not usually known that under certain special conditions of
investigation, the mind also will be observed to be an object. It is not an ultimate
subject, though it has a tentative function to perform as a subject of empirical
knowledge. Ordinary psychology deals with the mind as if it is the ultimate subject,
and this has come about on account of the inability of ordinary investigation to go
deeper into a level removed from the operational field of the mind. Yoga takes us
beyond the mind, and does not end merely with the mind, as is the case with other
branches of learning.
A sutra of Patanjali tells us that the mind is not self-luminous. It appears to be
luminous, but it is not really so, as is the case with a mirror or a glass which cannot
shine of its own accord, though it may look as if the mirror is shining. The glass is
transparent and, therefore, is illumining in its nature. The illuminating character of
the mind, or the cognitive function of the mind, is only a temporary assumption of
power which it has taken on for purposes which are transcendent to its own nature.
The mind is something like a ‘clearing nut’, as they call it, which allows the dross or
dirt in water to settle down, and then finally settles down itself. Likewise, the mind
performs the functions of investigation objectively, but when it comes to a matter of
investigation into its own nature, it dwindles into nothing and it becomes ultimately
a mere tentative tool, employed like an ‘x’ in an algebraic equation, which has no
meaning in itself but has tremendous meaning in bringing about results by means of
calculation.
The mind is ordinarily a subject of knowledge, and it is the mind that knows the
things outside, the objects of the world. But, that the mind is not self-luminous and is
not capable of knowing things independently is a fact which cannot come to relief
ordinarily. In advanced contemplation and heightened forms of knowledge, this fact
is revealed that the mind is as much an object as are the other things of the world. In
fact, the Samkhya cosmology maintains that the mind is one of the evolutes of
prakriti. And inasmuch as prakriti cannot be a subject, the mind also cannot be a
subject. The mind is only a rarefied form of matter, like clean glass, but it is
nevertheless matter; it is not intelligent. The intelligence of the mind is an apparent
assumption which has come about on account of its reflecting the true illumining
factor, which is what is known as the purusha, the principle of consciousness. That
which is at the back of the mind—the illuminer of the mind itself—is unknown to the
mind because the mind cannot decondition itself from the limitations into which it
has been born—space, time and cause, etc.—as we observed previously. Unless the
mind is freed from these limitations, it cannot recollect or recognise the presence of
something whose illumining character it borrows and only passes on to the objects
outside.
The sutra is: na tat svābhāsaṁ dṛśyatvāt (IV.19). Because of its being an object, it is not
self-luminous. The mind does not function under certain conditions, and yet
existence is not abolished. In deep sleep, for instance, we cannot observe the function
of the mind, and yet we can infer the existence of a consciousness independent of the