Searching For My Mind (Part 1)

I was interested in how the human brain works since I was a child. Simply, how do we perceive things, how do we store all memories, and how do all memories revive when seeing, hearing, and touching something.

I am not a psychologist, but as a Buddhist scholar I would like to talk about “Searching for My Mind” in this article. First, let me explain the human six senses and their objects, how they perceive the objects and perceive all influences from outside.

The Six Senses and Their Objects

We humans have the six sensual organs, those are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Each organ captures the visible objects (it looks good or bad), sounds (it sounds good or bad), scents (smells good or bad), taste (tastes good or bad), touching objects (feels good or bad), and many thoughts.

1.       Eyes and Visible Objects

2.       Ears and Sounds

3.       Nose and Scents

4.       Tongue and Tastes

5.       Body and Tactile (touching) Objects

6.       Mind and Thoughts (most important)

Anything to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch singles to the six sensual functions of mind and thoughts, and they become memories, which will be stored in our memory storage like USB.

Are there any more levels after the sixth sense?

Asanga (ca. 300-370 C.E.) and his younger brother Vasubandhu (ca. 316-396 C.E.), who were the Indian Buddhist masters, thought that there were two more levels within humans. Those are called “manas” (the 7th level, the sensory or processing mind, which coordinates sensory impressions before they are presented to the consciousness), and “Alaya-vijnana” (the 8th level, storehouse consciousness - memory).  The 7th level presents the deluded awareness, ego, or self-attachment. You can refer to the diagram. In this concept, Asanga and Vasubandhu founded the first Buddhist psychologist Yogacara school, called Consciousness Only or Representation Only.

Searching for My Mind – Who am I?

Small children always ask their mothers with full of curiosity, “What is that?” Since children are pure at heart, they never stop asking “what?” However, adults, with decades of discriminatory thinking behind them, assume that they understand things obviously; they forget to keep asking, “what?” Instead, we worry about how to live, how to do that is best, and so on. Usually, we lead a life in accordance with our own desire and craving – a way of life that engenders suffering and worry both to ourselves and to others – but we fail to ever ask: “What am I?”

The very first object of the question “what?” should be our self. It will naturally expand to other objects: “What is the other?” “What is nature?” “What is the universe?” This is because oneself exists by the grace of others, oneself lives in nature, and oneself is an individual existence in the universe.

Everything I experience exists in my own mind, actually coming from the storage of past memories. For example, I never buy green grapes, because I had strong memory in my childhood when I had a piece of green grapes, and it was so sour! That memory comes back vividly even now.

Why can we not escape from the captivity of ourselves? The answer is very simple: it is because our experiences are characterized by what we may call an “ego consciousness (manas).” As long as we are possessed by this ego consciousness, which we ordinarily refer to as “I,” “myself,” or “me,” we will be incapable of evading our own mind. So, all of our activities end up always centered on the self, on “egoism.” A charitable act done for others, in the final analysis, sometimes remains an act done for oneself.

Then, does this “self,” “I,” or “me” actually exist? We conceive that we ourselves do exist, and our thoughts and actions are concentrated on that existing “me.” But, does such a self in fact exist? I would say “No.” The self is only an echo of the world “self.” Am I confusing you?

So, when it comes to the mind, is there really a mind that I can say is “my mind?” Mind has no color or form. Mind is instantaneous, passing from moments to moments like the flame of a candle or the flowing water of rivers. Can we really assert that they are our minds and bodies? Can we capture the flux of mind as if it were static? “This is my body and my mind” doesn’t really exist. When we come to understand this real truth, our perception of the world and vision of life would be greatly transformed. You would question why my body and my mind doesn’t really exist? What is the rationale? I will explain it in the next article and consider human mind from the perspective of Buddhist philosophy.