How to realize the potential of the higher mind.

We are all the fruits of existence, coming in various shapes, sizes, colors. Furthermore, we may have different tastes and preferences, but we all have in common the body and the mind. Just as fruits grow by being connected to the branches of a tree, we connect with Nature through our breathing passages. If we interrupt this connection for a couple of minutes, we will not survive. This is how fragile our lives are. Under the skin and the physiological framework of the body lies the mind. Deep within us, like the seed within a fruit, lies our higher potential. This potential is the seed of a higher mind. Everyone has this potential.

Deep within us, like the seed within a fruit, lies our higher potential.

The body shelters the mind, and the two together are the fruits of millions of years of evolution. The body is self-sufficient. We don’t have to struggle to grow the body. Whatever food we supply it, cellular intelligence turns it into various components such as the blood, flesh, and bone. Similarly, the average mind comes with its constituent energies such as the intellect, ego, conscious and subconscious compartments, and the discriminatory power to choose between right and wrong. These components of the body and the mind are common to all. The “everyday mind” is the lower mind. It is like the generic built-in operating system that comes with an off the shelf computer. 

The “everyday mind” is the lower mind. It is like the generic built-in operating system that comes with an off the shelf computer.

Beyond the body and the lower mind, lies a dormant potential, the seed of the higher mind. It is a treasure buried within every individual. We will have to venture deep within ourselves, through many layers of the mind, using the vehicle of awareness to find that treasure. 
 
The senses are the dividing line between the lower and higher mind. For ordinary daily activities and interactions with the world, the senses are indispensable. They turn the mental energy outwards towards the world. These same senses, however, cannot turn inward. They hit a dark wall. The energy that exists behind this dark wall is part of the higher mind. Through inner awareness, we can begin to access that space. When the senses are active, awareness becomes passive. When awareness is active, the senses become passive. 

The senses are the dividing line between the lower and higher mind.

The higher mind is like specialized software that needs specific training to access and use. Similarly, to access the higher mind, we need to train the faculty of awareness. Basic computing skills do not require a powerful computer. However, a powerful computer is capable of performing the most basic computing tasks. Similarly, for the routine tasks of daily living, the lower mind is sufficient. However, deep down, we are all seeking something more than what is the routine. Existence uses the carrot of happiness, which ultimately drives us deeper within ourselves where we encounter the higher mind. 

To access the higher mind, we need to train the faculty of awareness.

The search for happiness may accidentally lead to inner awareness. This happens when we begin to turn inwards after encountering disappointments in the world. The pleasure we experience from the objective world is not stable. It fades in and out. When it comes to happiness, we seek stability. This search for stability ultimately leads us inwards. Just as a seed may take a long time to sprout and grow into a tree, the seed of the higher mind does not blossom into the highest human potential overnight. 

Just as a seed may take a long time to sprout and grow into a tree, the seed of the higher mind does not blossom into the highest human potential overnight.

The higher mind does not descend into our waking consciousness. We will have to move towards it, using the vehicle of awareness. But first, awareness will have to be set free from the lower mind. Just as we discard the skin and seeds of fruit enjoying the fleshy middle, our awareness is mostly on the lower mind. We are less involved with the body, and we hardly even consider the potential of the higher mind.

The higher mind does not descend into our waking consciousness. We will have to move towards it, using the vehicle of awareness.

Leaving the mind’s wide variety and its promises for the future can be difficult. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot seek the potential of the higher mind while keeping our awareness in thoughts of worldly enjoyment. Just as a seed may be bitter, but ultimately may grow into a tree with the sweetest and most delicious fruits, leaving the lower mind may be hard and bitter. But the fruit of the inner journey is bliss, which is more delightful than any worldly pleasure. 
 
Awareness is the soil on which the seeds of the higher mind grow. We water this soil and help those seeds grow by being an inner watcher. This inner watcher stands at a distance from the lower mind, allowing the lower mind to function with the body and interact with the world, without becoming one with those activities. The more we watch as a neutral witness, more vibrant is the soil of awareness.

Awareness is the soil on which the seeds of the higher mind grow.

The seeds of the higher mind will sprout as we grow in inner awareness. When awareness is choiceless, there is no ego or ownership of the higher mind. It exists like an independent tree. Many enjoy the fruits of a tree while the soil continues to support its existence. Similarly, even as others enjoy the fruits of the higher mind, while we remain as the fertile soil of awareness.