Hinduism Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for followers of the Hindu religion and those interested in learning more about Hinduism. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Do any of the texts talk about the higher mind versus the human mind of a person and how to tell the difference?
I'm not talking about communication with God. I'm talking about where do you draw the line between the spiritual mind and the physical mind.
Yes, many texts talk about it. But the Bhagavad Gita narrates it very beautifully. The quality of such a spiritual mind or consciousness is given as thus:
When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness. [BG - 2.53]
And any person who has attained such consciousness is called a sthita prajna. But how to tell the difference? How to know if a person has become such stable minded? What are the characteristics of such a person? These same questions were also asked by Arjuna to Shri Krishna:
Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk? [BG - 2.54]
And in reply Shri Krishna gives the distinguishing marks of such a person which I like very much. They are as below:
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Pārtha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness. [BG - 2.55]
One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind. [BG - 2.56]
In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge. [BG - 2.57]
One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness. [BG - 2.58]
Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness. [BG - 2.59]
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence. [BG - 2.61]
So these are some activities and qualities that draw the line between a spiritually inclined mind and a mind that is inclined materially or physically.
There are numerous texts that deal with this subject. The Upanishads go into this in detail as well as Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms. Before plunging head first, you should get a foundation so that you will understand terms and concepts of other more difficult texts. In the East, there is no spiritual mind vs physical mind. There are 5 'sheaths'. There is the physical body-which includes the physical mind/brain, and then there are the other finer sheaths, including that which is called super-consciousness.
If you want a beginning list of books to start with, I would suggest Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda followed by Raja Yoga (includes Patanjali's Yoga Aphorisms) by Swami Vivekananda, and then the Mandukya Upanishad (which deals with the three states of the soul -waking, dream, and dreamless -and the fourth state, Turiya -corresponding to super consciousness. These will give a good foundation for more difficult texts that include the Upanishads and the writings of Sankaracharya.
