If the mind is not a person who proposes desires to us?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna so if the mind is not conscious when I see a dish I get a desire to eat it so who is getting that desire the mind is not conscious but the mind is a reservoir of our past experiences just like as I said when we search something on Google based on whatever we have searched in the past certain ads pop up certain ads pop up that is based on what we have purchased in the past or what we have seen in the past so although Google is itself not a living thing but based on the kind of searches we have done, Google gives us certain certain options repeated so basically the mind is a reservoir of our past action of our past impressions, impressions are based on past actions, past desires and then based on those it proposes so basically there is a stimulus out there that is I see some delicious dish and I am here the mind is here so based on that stimulus which is coming the mind offers a proposal it offers a proposal now it is for me to either accept the proposal or to reject the proposal so say for example I decide to search on Google for India now before that now I am searching for India but before that say I search for China then the results related to China will come first why because that is how it is conditioned Google learns our preferences so like that when the stimulus comes what response will be our default response that is determined by what has been our response before so the mind is mechanical but it is mechanical not like a physical thing it is mechanical like a software so now when a default response is proposed the mind can only propose, it cannot impose the mind can’t force me to do mind can push me so for an alcoholic as soon as they see an alcohol bottle the stimulus comes, I want to drink it that is there but they are not forced to drink it the more we have repeatedly so this is the stimulus the more I choose this response so the stimulus is here the soul is here, I am here and the mind has recorded what response I have repeatedly had to the stimulus so the more I have chosen a particular response the more that response becomes natural and almost irresistible it is never completely resistible but it can become very strong, almost overpowering if I have repeatedly chosen it so then the mind will propose and sometimes it will propose very forcefully but the more we recognize that this is the stimulus, this is the response but I don’t have to choose this response, we can resist it the mind gives proposals and if we are not very discerning then we accept the proposal and that’s how the mind seems to make us do certain things it is not the mind is making us do it the mind is proposing it and we are accepting it but the more we become discerning the more we can evaluate its proposals and then decide whether to act on it or not so for example say if you see a dish and you are attracted to that dish somebody else, that same dish may call nausea to them why? because you know for them, maybe in the past they ate it, they had some problem with it so what has happened? that memory is stored over there so then that stimulus will cause a different response so based on the way we have responded to that stimulus earlier the mind proposes particular responses