Is there any scriptural basis for comparing the mind to software linking the soul and the body?

Transcript

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Is there any scriptural reference to the idea that the mind is like the software or is the connection between the soul and the body? Answer There are three distinct points to consider over here There is the concept, then there is the illustration for the concept and then there is the specific referencing for either the concept or the illustration so in general when we consider scripture there are certain concepts given in scripture which need to be understood within the broader context of the scripture when we enter into the world view that is given in general most scriptural teachings do not originate in a manner similar to what we might call as systematic education nowadays that means the scripture does not generally give one sentence definition this is the soul this is the mind most scriptural teachings originate in conversational settings and even there when concepts are mentioned quite often even the audience is familiar with the concept but seeks a deeper clarity about a particular aspect of its meaning so for example in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna does not have to really prove the existence of the soul to Arjuna Arjuna himself in the first chapter talks about going to hell if his actions turn out to be wrong or wrongdoers go to hell generally speaking that means he knows about hell he knows about afterlife which means he knows that there is something that continues to exist after the present life so it’s not proving the soul as much as establishing the primacy of the soul and how giving soul primary importance changes our calculus of life so that’s the broader approach we’ll never get one sentence definitions of exactly what the soul is or what the mind is and yes when I say the word never I am not using it in an utterly absolute sense in Kapila’s teachings for example there are quite a few statements about each of the elements in the third canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam and they do describe quite well but again they are not necessarily exhaustive one sentence definitions so scriptures teaching is more synthetic than analytic synthetic means just like a child learns the first language the mother tongue nobody teaches the child this is a noun, this is a pronoun this is an adjective the child just learns it normally second language third language we learn analytically not synthetically so because we are learning scripture to some extent in an analytic way that’s why we want to understand each concept and then we need illustrations for those concepts so it’s from that perspective finding references precise references for the concept itself is going to be difficult and then when we use illustrations or analogies that is for making those concepts relatable and to find analogies like that is going to be extremely, references for the analogy is going to be very difficult so in scripture we are not going to find the word software but that’s a very relatable contemporary analogy now as far as the concept of the mind being the link between the soul and the body there is the gross body, there is the subtle body and there is the soul these three are implicitly understood that’s talked about in Sankhya quite a bit and the subtle body is the link between the gross body and the soul and this while the subtle body has multiple elements mind, intelligence and ego there are places in scripture where not all of them are mentioned one or two are mentioned at times so in 3.42 Krishna in the hierarchy talks about the senses, the mind, intelligence and then he skips the ego and focuses on the soul in 6.5 and 6.6 he talks about simply the soul and the mind he doesn’t bring in intelligence or ego over there in 15.7 he brings the mind and the senses with the soul but nothing else apart from that so I use a minimalist model to explain the concept of the inner world that there are three levels of reality physical, mental and spiritual now gross material, subtle material and spiritual seems a bit clunky and gross material and subtle material is also not so easily relatable so I am following 15.7 broadly so manaha, the mind is there the indriyas are there the indriyas refer to the physical reality, the mind refers to the mental reality and the soul is the spiritual reality so there in 15.9 after that that is an elaboration of 15.7 where it states that the soul moves from one life to another life and acquires a new body and in that new body so that transition the journey of the soul is described in the previous verse 15.8 and 15.9 is telling that when the soul acquires a new body, what happens that to to enjoy the sense objects it gets a toolkit and the toolkit involves the five senses the ears, eyes nose, tongue, touch and these are centered around the mind and in this way the soul enjoys the sense objects or seeks to enjoy the sense objects so here sense objects are in the outer world within the self we have the senses that are the physical reality which are a part of the body and we have the soul so the soul enjoys these things through the senses which are centered around the mind so the mind is the linking point for all the senses and through the mind this information is conveyed to the soul so this is a reasonably clear inference reference for making the inference that the mind is the connecting link between the body and the soul and exactly how that connecting link functions for that, we talk about the principle of conditionings and those conditionings are like the software programs within the mind so for that we have to look at the broader worldview and the philosophy and the concept of sanskaras which are described in the yoga sutras and other places where the mechanism of the working of the mind is explained in more detail