Yesterday we talked a bit about the mind, manas, as both a sense organ (that which receives impressions) and a motor organ (that which acts in the world) and how to care for it. All the body practices, right living, right diet and lifestyle, sense organ care, support our physiology and have a positive effect on our minds. Herbal medicines and counseling are also treatments. Yesterday we talked about the necessity of having adequate support as a way to keep our heart mind balanced. Our "go it alone" culture undermines us in this, and it is often a missing piece for deeper healing.
Here is a little from Dr. Robert Svoboda on the mind and how we treat it in Ayurveda.
Sanskrit terms for different parts of the mind:
Manas ordinary mind
Dhi/Buddhi discernment intuitive mind
Dritti stable, focused, consistence, capacity to bring things to completion
Smriti memory
Satva natural state of the mind: awake, calm, illumined
Rajas a dosha of the mind, brings energy and movement, but in excess causes excess speed, agitation and aggression.
Tamas a dosha of the mind, in balance, brings stability; in excess brings heaviness, unconsciousness, inertia and decay