5 STATES OF MIND — find where you fit in…
Once you figure out where you stand in terms of the attention span, you could work on it
Very often we come across adults who conveniently make a remark that millennials don’t have an attention span. In the same breath, they blame the lack of focus on people’s growing use of cell phones and social media. But what about our own attention span, dear grown-ups? Do we ever ask ourselves, am I able to do a task with an absolute 100% focus? Let us be honest; we all struggle with it big time.
I can’t speak for a mind expert or health professional, but here’s something we all can benefit from. I was recently listening to a podcast by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the Mandukya Upanishad, a religious text in Hinduism. In between that podcast, the spiritual leader spoke of the five states of the mind according to the great sage Patanjali. There is no space for misinterpretation because of how these states are divided so succinctly.
From what I gather, once we are able to figure out which of the five categories we fall into, we should be able to take the remedial steps — or at the very least, would know what has to be fixed. Similar to how we take medication or see a doctor only when we acknowledge and accept that we have the illness.
Five states of mind as per Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:
- Kshipta (Monkey Mind): This is the lowest state of mind, where a person is restless and anxious.
- Mudha (Donkey Mind): This is the state of dull, lethargic, stubborn, and sluggish mind.
- Vikshipta (Butterfly Mind): This is the state of partially non-concentrated mind. You are focused on something for a short while and then your mind goes somewhere else, and this cycle continues. Just the way a butterfly sits on a flower for sometime and then it flies away, and then again comes back to the flower.
- Ekagra: At this phase, the mind is focused and singular. There’s no clutter.
- Niruddha: This is when the mind is fully focused and mastered, sharp like a laser, and agitation has completely ceased.
I have to admit that, while I was in Kshipta state for a while, I was never in the Mudha. My regular practices of dhyana (meditation), pranayama (breathing exercises), and reading of the Hindu scriptures and spiritual texts have helped me reach the state halfway between Vikshipta and Ekagra. Thus, my present objective is Ekagra because I am there and yet not there. Once I accomplish that, my goal will be to reach Niruddha, the highest state where your focus is sharp like a laser. If I continue on course, I should be there sooner. Hope it happens in this lifetime.
However, I’m not afraid even if it doesn’t. In Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that God records all of our spiritual merits from previous lifetimes and reawakens a devotee’s insight in subsequent incarnations. The devotee might pick up where he left off on the journey in this way.
So, which of the above-mentioned five states do you belong to dear reader?
