The mind is very powerful. Unfortunately, the mind is considered to be everything subtle that the body possesses. We consider the mind to be the thought factory that produces thoughts. We think it is also the memory that remembers everything we do and recalls it on demand. The mind is considered to be the intellect that discriminates and decides. The mind is also believed to be the one who perceives and feels. The mind, which thinks, remembers, recalls, discriminates, and feels, is looked upon as the controller of the body. Therefore, the mind is everything! But is that true?
If we analyse the mind, it is different from several subtle functions of the body. The mind is a thinker with a primary function of generating thoughts while we are awake. It dreams while we sleep. The mind is not the intellect. The intellect is another subtle function of the body that gives us the ability to discriminate between right and wrong. We should not confuse it with the mind. The mind only produces thoughts, but the intellect discriminates between these thoughts. Even the memory that is connected to the mind is a different domain. It has a specific function to memorize and recall. The mind produces thoughts, but it is the memory that records these thoughts. Therefore, while there is no doubt that the mind is very powerful, it tricks us into believing that it is everything – the mind, the memory and the intellect, which it is not.
Another simple method of separating the mind from the intellect is to watch the waking mind as the body sleeps. We realize that the mind is different from the memory and the intellect because whatever the mind dreams when we are asleep, the intellect does not review or discriminate. The intellect does not decide whether the mind should dream or not dream. The intellect is disconnected, disabled and not conscious. Therefore, when the body sleeps, it seems that the intellect also goes to sleep. If the intellect was awake then the intellect would discriminate dreams, would choose in a dream. But we are unable to choose in a dream because the mind is different from the intellect. When we are awake, and the mind is observing, thinking and feeling, the memory records what the mind thinks. But what happens when we are asleep? It seems that memory also goes to sleep. We do not remember what we see in dreams. In most cases, we cannot remember or recall dreams. It only goes on to show that the memory is asleep as the mind dreams, which makes it different from the mind.
If the memory and mind were one, then every dream would be recorded in our memory and it would be easy to recall. But we are not able to recall our dreams because they are not recorded in our memory.