The Properties of the Mind

By Hari Prasad Shastri

Life acquires its climax in the human mind. Our mind is known mostly through its property of action. Life and action go together. Activity takes two forms in the higher aspects of life. Firstly, it creates something which has the appearance of being new; secondly, sometimes it transforms the crude objects into more refined ones. These are great functions of the activity that emanates from the human mind.

Our action is not entirely on the physical plane. For any activity on the physical plane is governed by a plan and by an end which are determined by the mind. The creation of something which appears as new and which is useful both in its aesthetic sense and in the pragmatic sense, is controlled by our knowledge. Usually by knowledge people mean knowledge of the object which is to be known. Within the higher yogic sense, knowledge also applies to the knowing subject, that is, the mind.