I have said that mind dances. It would also be true to say that mind
leads us on a merry dance. If you want to get the best out of a fiery
horse, you have to understand, tame, and control it. The same is true
for a fiery mind, or it will run away with you. Because mind is always
drawn outward by the senses into the attractions of the material world,
it cannot help but land us into a lot of tricky situations, ones we had
not bargained for, or that look good at first but turn sour on us.
The way Patanjali expressed this is to say that the fluctuations of
consciousness can be either painful or nonpainful, either visible or in
visible. He meant that some things look unpleasing, distressing, an
guishing, and they are. Studying for an exam can be very hard. The
benefits of passing the exam remain hidden, invisible until later. Con
versely, the joys of the table are extremely pleasant, and the pains and
problems that result from overindulgence may remain invisible for a
long time. If eventually an illness or debility results, then that is a vis
ible pain. But if we use all our resources, courage, will, and faith to
overcome the sickness, a nonpainful state emerges again. This is a way
of warning us that there are always two sides to every coin and that we
should be guarded and thoughtful before we rush into things. There is
always a price to pay or a reward to be earned. But the phrase "If it
feels good, do it" is not a maxim to be trusted in the long run. All
philosophies recognize that a pleasure-seeker will end up as a pain
finder. The ancient Greeks said that moderation was the greatest virtue.
Yoga says that it is through practice and detachment that we learn to
avoid ricocheting from one extreme of pleasure and pain to the other.
This double aspect of the fluctuating mind applies to what are
called the Five Modifications of Consciousness (in Sanskrit called citta
vrittis). These are correct knowledge (pramana), wrong knowledge or
misconception (viparyaya), imagination or fantasy (vikalpa), sleep
(nidra), and memory (smrti). These are natural psychological statl's
that occur in everyone. They are dependent on the hrain and nl'rvous
system and disappear at death. One might he forgivt·n for wondt•ring
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