The 5 Stages Of The Mind | Yoga Philosophy Explained

In this podcast, I explain the 5 stages of the Mind in Yoga Philosophy

These are:
1. Ksipta (Disturbed)
2. Moodha (Dull/depressed)
3. Viksipta (Restless)
4. Ekagrata (One-pointed)
5. Niruddha (Well-controlled)

Transcript

Namaste dear friends,

Today I am going to speak about the inner workings of the mind and the 5 stages of the mind according to Yoga and Samkhya philosophy.

A quote commonly used in the New Age spiritual movement is,

You become what you think.

While this is true at one level,

In Yogic philosophy we attempt to reveal that we are not what we think and I would add as long as thoughts are not the ingredient that creates our identity.

The sage Patanjali defines Yoga as the process by which one begins to control the modifications of the mind or the fluctuations of the mind.

Before trying to ascertain what these modifications of the mind are,

It is important to understand Patanjali's view of the mind.

The mind is seen as a powerful tool,

Almost like a projector,

That is used by and can help the soul manifest its desires.

The inherent nature of the mind is tranquil.

When it rests in this state,

The mind is a tool used by the soul to carry out its work in the world of time and space.

However,

When the mind is disturbed and thus out of control in a sense,

It becomes the driver of the individual's life,

Wreaking havoc and causing great misery.

Most individuals are constantly subject to a ceaseless stream of thought over which they have limited control over,

Thinking at random,

Not knowing what thought will arrive next.

Based on our external circumstances and surroundings,

These thoughts arise repetitively.

What we experience and what we perceive through our five senses becomes the source of our thought.

We become hostages to our external circumstances not solely because of the limitations our circumstances place upon us,

But because of our inability to control the thought creations and thought reactions to these circumstances.

Some would say we can free ourselves from this hostage situation by not thinking.

However,

Thinking is one of the bedrocks of our existence as humans and we would be unable to carry out our duties,

Responsibilities and passions without thinking.

The solution lies in not being identified with our own thoughts.

More often than not,

Because we are thinking something,

We easily and quickly identify it as my thoughts.

On the other hand,

Many spiritual teachings teach us that if we disidentify with thought,

It does not belong to us,

It simply passes through us.

And how many examples of suffering and violence exist around us where people are willing to enter into conflict simply because someone attacked or shunned a thought or belief that I identified strongly with?

Now that we understand where Patanjali is coming from very briefly,

Let us explore the five stages of the mind.

The first stage of the mind is Shipta or Disturbed.

At this stage,

The mind is completely out of the individual's control.

The mind will think,

Speak and act in ways that manifest unpleasant,

Detrimental circumstances for the individual.

This stage is akin to that of an individual who might be willing to commit suicide,

Murder somebody,

Steal,

Cheat or cause harm.

These actions have certain repercussions in turn which cause the individual to suffer.

Not many people want to willingly suffer.

In the Shipta state,

The mind manifests situations that are detrimental to the individual's well-being.

In this sense,

The mind is out of control as it is destroying rather than assisting life.

One is disconnected from themselves and might knowingly or unknowingly cause themselves great suffering and harm.

Coming to the second stage of the mind,

Mudha,

Dull or Stupefied.

At this stage also,

The mind is disconnected from the individual and the soul.

There is a lack of passion,

A lack of purpose and meaning in the individual's life.

States of depression,

Sloth and addiction would fit well here.

The mind desires above all else to escape its current state of life.

In this stage,

Nothing seems worthwhile which brings on feelings of helplessness.

The perception that no thought,

Action or circumstance can bring fulfilment might prevail.

Or conversely,

There might be an excessive running behind some transient pleasure with the hope that it will bring satisfaction and joy.

There is a great sadness and aversion within the mind of these individuals.

They long to escape their own minds and might resort to drugs or anything that they might have access to,

To get away from feeling the reality as it is within moment to moment,

This very moment.

Coming to the third stage of the mind,

Vikshipta or Restless.

This is the stage where an individual can begin to actively control and thus gain benefit from having a mind in the first place.

However,

This stage is characterized by distractions and a broad spectrum of objects vying for our limited attention.

This stage can find an individual attuned to their purpose but lacking the focus to manifest that purpose.

The individual oscillates between days of focused attention upon their work,

Passions and self-growth and they have days of complete distraction.

The mind sneaks up on the individual,

Pulling their attention towards shallow tasks and daydreaming.

This stage seems to be a bigger hurdle today where social media and the internet add to the scattering of our awareness.

Here the individual can be driven,

They can be in touch with what they need to do to grow and to thrive but at the same time still unable to rest the time from numerous small distractions that can add up dangerously.

Coming to the fourth stage of the mind,

Ekagrata or One-pointed.

At this stage the mind becomes a very powerful force.

Awareness is no longer fractured,

The mind is no longer spreading itself thin,

Rupturing itself by running in different directions.

Lost pieces of the mind come together in unison to focus upon a single object.

Whatever the mind wishes to manifest at this stage it can.

The individual will still have to work hard and put in the effort but now everything is within reach.

Whatever the individual desires,

The mind manifests.

In this stage distraction is not something the mind has to vigilantly watch against.

Distraction itself becomes non-existent.

When the mind is focused upon a task or object,

It goes so deep that nothing else can occupy that space.

In Ekagrata the way the individual thinks itself starts to change.

Thoughts are less jumpy,

One can effortlessly stay with a train of thought until it has reached its conclusion.

For example,

One can create a plan for the coming year in a matter of minutes or hours without a single unrequired thought vying for attention in between.

One is truly present and grounded in the now.

Coming to the fifth stage of the mind,

Nirodha or Well-controlled.

At this stage of the mind,

The mind has regained its inherent tranquil nature.

Thoughts arise only when needed.

When at rest,

The mind is devoid of thought unlike the previous stage where the mind is constantly searching for the next thought to think.

On a holiday at the beach,

The mind can spend hours in complete silence,

Thinking only when required.

The individual no longer experiences reality through thought.

When reality is experienced outside of thought,

It gives rise to bliss.

We no longer think,

That is such a beautiful sunset,

But instead we feel the sunset in a way that can only be felt when thought is not directing our awareness.

In Nirodha,

We think the bare minimum of thought to accomplish our tasks perfectly.

No future projections and past remembrances clutter our attention.

This state is also considered to be effortless in a sense that the previous state of ekagrata still required focus upon an object to calm the ripples of the mind.

For instance,

In meditation,

One could remain with the breath for hours,

But the object which is the breath is still required to focus on.

In Nirodha,

Thoughts cease effortlessly and the mind is devoid of a ripple without needing an object to focus upon.

At this level of maturity,

The mind cannot possibly be anywhere but in the here and now.

So these 5 stages of the mind are constantly shifting,

Constantly changing.

They are impermanent in the sense that if we reach one stage of the mind,

It's not that we will be in it forever.

These stages of the mind change from day to day,

From hour to hour and so we must constantly strive towards controlling the mind.

It is a daily practice,

It is a practice that happens all the time.

We can have situations in life that would take us out of our center,

That would bring us into the lower stages of the mind,

But through a daily meditation and yoga practice,

We are slowly trying to bring ourselves into these 4th and 5th stages of the mind so that we are spending more and more time,

More and more of our days in this stage of the mind.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I hope this was insightful for you.

Do stay tuned for more videos like this.

Namaste.

Reviews

This helped me a lot to understand where my mind is atm and where it had been too often in the past. Thanks so much.