The Yogic Concept of the Mind

Paramahamsa Niranjanananda
Satsang at Ganga Darshan, January, 1994

We are all aware of tile modern concept of the mind as far as modern science and
psychology have understood it. However, the yogic concept of the, mind differs from
the present day concept.

It is said in the Upanishads that when
from one, he first created two forces.
and the second force was known as rayi
the total field of consciousness which
dimension of name, form and idea.
God had the inherent desire to become many
The first force was known as aditya (prana)
(matter). Sometimes rayi is translated as
interacts with the manifest and un-manifest

This total field of consciousness goes through a progression which gradually

becomes more refined, more subtle and freer from the influences of Nature or the
three gunas. This progression of rayi is known in yogic terminology as the states
of jagriti, swapna, nidra and turiya, which have been grossly translated as the
conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. It is from this concept that the
theory of the mind begins in the present age. What are the experiences of the
subconscious, unconscious and superconscious? It is this aspect of mind which
modern science is trying to define.