To explain the workings of the human mind, Yoga Science presents a simple, conceptual diagram: a wheel with four spokes that turn it. The rim of the wheel represents the body, and its hub is the Divine Super Conscious Wisdom that is our deepest nature. The four spokes represent the Four Functions of the Mind: Senses and Logic (Manas), Ego (self-preservation), Unconscious (habits and memories), and Conscience (Buddhi). Ideally, these four functions work together in formulating every decision, large and small; but it is the Conscience that needs to have the last word if we are to live well and generously. In fact, it’s the Conscience that makes every decision (the other functions don’t have this capacity). But when the Senses, Ego, and Unconscious mind are clamoring loudly for attention, the contribution from the Conscience—offered in a steady, quieter voice—may be overlooked or overwhelmed. As a result, decisions may be made on the basis of incomplete or biased information.
Your Conscience is the only Function of the Mind that has the power to discriminate, determine, judge and decide. When you understand and employ this Truth, it will become a profoundly positive influence in determining the kind of life you live. This ancient teaching means that every decision you have ever made, or will ever make, has and will be made by your Conscience. That’s right. Throughout your entire life as a human being, every choice you make is always authored by your Conscience. The body itself cannot act unless and until it’s empowered by the Conscience. The other Functions of the Mind—the Ego, Senses and Unconscious Mind—possess the power to advise, but never to decide. Contemplate that for a moment. Just possessing this knowledge can be your source of tremendous creativity and power in the world!
But here’s the rub. Since you, and most of your fellow citizens, were never taught to regularly coordinate all Four Functions of the Mind, the ability of your Conscience to reflect your Super Conscious Wisdom is presently compromised. Consequently, during the mind’s decision making process, the quiet whisper of the Conscience is often overwhelmed by the relatively loud and insistent voices of the Ego, Senses and Unconscious Mind. In that challenging situation, the Conscience will still decide what to do and what not to do (since it’s the only mind function that has that capacity), but its decisions will be based on limited and possibly faulty input. However, each time you consciously enlist the Conscience to guide your decisions and cultivate the cooperation of the Ego, Senses and Unconscious Mind, you will increasingly gain access to your Inner Wisdom. This is the wisdom that will flawlessly guide your thoughts, words and deeds, preparing you to be skillful in every relationship and circumstance. The great tragedy of our times is that so many of us do not understand the “why” or the “how” of coordinating the Four Functions of the Mind. This is not a moral failing. It is simply a failure of education. We are neither aware of the enormous value nor the straightforward process of training our mind and living our life guided by the Conscience. As a result, billions of people worldwide unwittingly embrace lifestyle choices that eventually injure health, impair peace of mind, inflict suffering on others, limit possibilities, and eventually threaten the very integrity of society and the Earth––all because we were never trained to use our mind in ways that can profoundly benefit us personally, and humanity as a whole.
Contrast this bleak picture with the quiet revolution that took place in India thousands of years ago. During that time, certain women and men who deeply desired a more rewarding life prayerfully listened to this Gayatri Mantra every day: “O, Inner Dweller, Divine Mother, my heart is enveloped in darkness. I pray You will remove the darkness from my vision, and bring the illumination of Supreme Truth by awakening, strengthening and purifying the mind’s Conscience so that I can skillfully discriminate between passing pleasure and perennial joy.” We would do well to listen to that same mantra today!
To effectively manage the daily avalanche of information you face, and to solve all your urgent challenges, you need only learn to maximize the competence of your most powerful instrument––your mind. When you coordinate all Four Functions of the Mind, the Conscience can reliably reflect your own Super Conscious Wisdom and motivate you to think, speak and act much more creatively than ever before.
With your Conscience as your guide, you can act, not as a limited and habituated individual, but as a vital instrument of the One all-encompassing Supreme Intelligence. You will come to understand your true purpose and begin living each day to fulfill it. And you will immediately begin to discover the creativity and will power that is required to solve all of your challenges. This transformational process is not fiction. It is a practical, scientific, reproducible methodology for attaining the summum bonum—the highest and ultimate good—of life. But please, don’t believe me. Don’t accept on blind faith any advice I’ve presented in this book. Instead, be motivated enough to turn your own mind-body-sense complex into a scientific laboratory and experiment with what you’ve learned. Test the knowledge I have shared. Only then will you know, and know that you know, that you already have everything you need to create a joyful, creative, healthy and rewarding life. I have every confidence in you.
“YOUR CONSCIENCE, The Key to Unlock Limitless Wisdom and Creativity and Solve All of Life’s Challenges” by Leonard Perlmutter with Jenness Cortez Perlmutter; AMI Publishers; First Edition; Nonfiction; Self-Help and Personal Growth; Release Date: September 7, 2021; Paperback: $14.95 ISBN 9780975375266.
Available: amazon.com, bn.com, americanmeditation.org, and other national booksellers.