Atma aur Manovigyan :According to Aristotle

Soul is defined as the perfect expression or realization of a natural body. From this definition it follows that there is a close connection between psychological states, and physiological processes. Body and soul are unified in the same way that wax and an impression stamped on it are unified. Metaphysicians before Aristotle discussed the soul abstractly without any regard to the bodily environment; this, Aristotle believes, was a mistake. At the same time, Aristotle regards the soul or mind not as the product of the physiological conditions of the body, but as the truth of the body -- the substance in which only the bodily conditions gain their real meaning.

The soul manifests its activity in certain "faculties" or "parts" which correspond with the stages of biological development, and are the faculties of nutrition (peculiar to plants), that of movement (peculiar to animals), and that of reason (peculiar to humans). These faculties resemble mathematical figures in which the higher includes the lower, and must be understood not as like actual physical parts, but like such aspects as convex and concave which we distinguish in the same line. The mind remains throughout a unity: and it is absurd to speak of it, as Plato did, as desiring with one part and feeling anger with another. Sense perception is a faculty of receiving the forms of outward objects independently of the matter of which they are composed, just as the wax takes on the figure of the seal without the gold or other metal of which the seal is composed. As the subject of impression, perception involves a movement and a kind of qualitative change; but perception is not merely a passive or receptive affection. It in turn acts, and, distinguishing between the qualities of outward things, becomes "a movement of the soul through the medium of the body."

The objects of the senses may be either (1) special, (such as color is the special object of sight, and sound of hearing), (2) common, or apprehended by several senses in combination (such as motion or figure), or (3) incidental or inferential (such as when from the immediate sensation of white we come to know a person or object which is white). There are five special senses. Of these, touch is the must rudimentary, hearing the most instructive, and sight the most ennobling. The organ in these senses never acts directly , but is affected by some medium such as air. Even touch, which seems to act by actual contact, probably involves some vehicle of communication. For Aristotle, the heart is the common or central sense organ. It recognizes the common qualities which are involved in all particular objects of sensation. It is, first, the sense which brings us a consciousness of sensation. Secondly, in one act before the mind, it holds up the objects of our knowledge and enables us to distinguish between the reports of different senses.

Aristotle defines the imagination as "the movement which results upon an actual sensation." In other words, it is the process by which an impression of the senses is pictured and retained before the mind, and is accordingly the basis of memory. The representative pictures which it provides form the materials of reason. Illusions and dreams are both alike due to an excitement in the organ of sense similar to that which would be caused by the actual presence of the sensible phenomenon. Memory is defined as the permanent possession of the sensuous picture as a copy which represents the object of which it is a picture. Recollection, or the calling back to mind the residue of memory, depends on the laws which regulate the association of our ideas. We trace the associations by starting with the thought of the object present to us, then considering what is similar, contrary or contiguous.

Reason is the source of the first principles of knowledge. Reason is opposed to the sense insofar as sensations are restricted and individual, and thought is free and universal. Also, while the senses deals with the concrete and material aspect of phenomena, reason deals with the abstract and ideal aspects. But while reason is in itself the source of general ideas, it is so only potentially. For, it arrives at them only by a process of development in which it gradually clothes sense in thought, and unifies and interprets sense-presentations. This work of reason in thinking beings suggests the question: How can immaterial thought come to receive material things? It is only possible in virtue of some community between thought and things. Aristotle recognizes an active reason which makes objects of thought. This is distinguished from passive reason which receives, combines and compares the objects of thought. Active reason makes the world intelligible, and bestows on the materials of knowledge those ideas or categories which make them accessible to thought. This is just as the sun communicates to material objects that light, without which color would be invisible, and sight would have no object. Hence reason is the constant support of an intelligible world. While assigning reason to the soul of humans, Aristotle describes it as coming from without, and almost seems to identify it with God as the eternal and omnipresent thinker. Even in humans, in short, reason realizes something of the essential characteristic of absolute thought -- the unity of thought as subject with thought as object.

Mind Management in Everyday Life

The mind is a subject which has to be analyzed in relation to our day-to-day activities, because whatever is said about the mind as theory simply develops into a concept and a philosophy. Yoga has certain ideas as to how the mind functions. It has defined mind as manas, the process of reflection, buddhi, the process of intellect, chitta, memory, and ahamkara, the ego principle. Many books have been written on these four subjects, but no one is quite clear as to how the mind interacts in life, and we only have our personal experiences to go by.
We can observe the various aspects of the mind and how they manifest without trying to define the mind. In every individual's life we can see a very beautiful process: something subtle in the form of an idea, a desire and a thought manifesting and implementing itself at the gross level. There is an intimate link between our subtle nature (the mind), the other nature which is more subtle than the mind (consciousness) and our life (the visible world of objects and senses). There is a flow of information which comes from consciousness to the mind and into the body; the body is simply a medium through which the mind expresses itself.
Therefore, it is important that we do not differentiate between the thinking nature and the acting instrument, which is the body. We have to see it as the flow of one stream of an idea, coming from the subtle invisible to the manifest visible. For example, an idea evolves at the deepest levels of our nature; that idea later on becomes a desire; the desire later on creates a plan of action, and that plan of action is later on implemented by the senses, the body.
So, we have a concept, which is related with the ahamkara aspect, the ego principle or the 'I' identity. All concepts in life generate from this dimension of 'I' identity, the nature of individuality. Later on, this concept, which evolves at the level of the 'I' identity, filters down to the lower levels of the mind: the intellect, the memory and the reflective processes, and is identified as a desire or a need. This desire or need is then linked with our aspirations, our strengths and our weaknesses, and it takes a definite form for the fulfilment of the vacuum that we feel when we reflect on ourselves.
What is a desire? Desire simply means a wish to attain something that we find lacking at present in our life. How do we identify what is lacking in our life? An intricate process of analysis happens at the unconscious level where the subtle mind, the ego principle, observes and analyzes the needs and the absence of something which we try to fulfil later on in the course of our lives. The concept is converted into desire, desire is converted into a need, the need is converted into an action, and the action is converted into a result. In this process, the consciousness, mind, senses and body work as one integrated unit. At present there is no direction to this flow of mental energy, there is no control over the chan-nelization of the mental forces which manifest in the body. There is internal confusion. There is psychological confusion. There is unconscious confusion. But we are not aware of this internal confusion until it comes to the forefront of our manifest conscious mind.
Modern psychology says there is the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the unconscious mind. Yoga says there is the active mind, the passive mind and the dormant mind. The active mind is linked with the conscious mind, the passive mind is linked with the subconscious mind and the dormant mind is linked with the unconscious mind. But beyond this there is another state of super-mind, or awakened mind, where there is no differentiation or distinction between the different aspects of the mind such as manas, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara. Whatever state of mind we talk about, we have to know whether it is the unconscious state, the subconscious state or the conscious state.

SWAN principle

There are certain principles which actually guide the desires, aspirations and motivations. In yoga these principles are known as the SWAN principle. SWAN is an acronym: S stands for strengths, W stands for weaknesses, A stands for ambitions and N stands for needs. These are the four principles that make up our personality. In some people, inner strength, mental strength, strength of will or the strength of the self is predominant. In some people, weaknesses such as lack of willpower or mental clarity are predominant. Some people identify more deeply with their ambitions and aspirations and try to fulfil and attain them. Some people identify more deeply with their needs, which are physical or social, in relation to their family, work performance and society.
It is the expression of either strengths, weaknesses, ambitions or needs which defines our personality and makes us what we are today. When we are able to project the strength of the self (not the higher Self but the self which is contained in this personality combining our knowledge, mind, senses and our ability to become part of the whole picture), when the self is manifesting at the level of strength, then a particular nature is defined in an individual. We say that person is very great, creative, dynamic, outgoing, compassionate, has a clear mind, is helpful, and is a guide to many people. People derive inspiration when they come in contact with such a personality.

When the self expresses itself through the area of weakness, we identify that person as unclear or weak, without force, energy, strength or dynamism, as uncertain and unsure. When the self is manifesting at the level of ambitions and aspirations, we identify that person as being ruthless and arrogant, as trying to get his or her way at the expense of others, and as uncaring. When the self is manifesting in the dimension of need, then we identify that person as being self-centred, as only making an effort to look after his or her self, and as uncaring.