Thoughts on the power of the mind and impermanence for Vesak

By Wilfred Dias

Vesak may come and go like the way it has been happening for the past 2612 years. It’s the day that Lord Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and passed away. Nine earth tremors were experienced from his birth to the passing away of this great Philosopher, but how far have people realized the value of Lord Buddha’s philosophy in today’s context?

As you read through this article you will observe how present day scientific knowledge has converged with that of Lord Buddha’s philosophy.  Leading scientists consider his philosophy to be highly laudable. In the not-too-distant future, people the world over will want to give a hearing to what this great preacher has conveyed, and most will embrace Buddhism by then, as Dr Arthur C. Clarke, the space scientist predicted.

Just take for instance the phenomenon which occurs when you sit in front of your favourite TV channel with an appetizing meal; you observe the pictures with your eyes, the sound emanating from the TV is also heard, the fragrance of the curries in your meal is also felt by your nose, the taste buds in your tongue distinguish the different tastes in your meal, the roughness of the cushion you are leaning against is also felt and you move a bit away to make yourself comfortable, whilst your brain remembers the episode from the beginning of the picture in all its sequence. How many have wondered how fast the mind has been transmitting all this information simultaneously (at the spur of the moment all the different events put together being transmitted to the respective faculties).

Everything around us is energy. Light, Heat, Sound, Chemical, Mechanical, Solar, Nuclear, Thermal, Physical, Mind and so on and so forth. Energy and vibrations are interrelated. Energy is in existence in everything and everything is in existence in energy. Vibrations propagate waves and therefore waves are also called vibrations. Sound energy creates vibrations and vibrations create waves which comes in the form of frequencies. High frequencies create a lot of vibrations and low frequencies create few vibrations. This then constitutes the relationship between vibrations and frequencies; the measuring unit of frequencies is hertz.

Light energy has a high frequency level. And the picture emanating from the TV screen as you watch it, is conveyed in the form of light energy, and the light is transmitted in the form of waves having high frequencies, compared to all the other frequencies, that it strikes your eyes instantly. The sound waves which are conveyed to our ears also come in the form of frequencies but in a lesser capacity, so also the frequency of the smell. Smell is distinguished by the nose in terms of the molecular vibrations which it creates in the nostrils, a frequency distinguishable to the nose only. This is secluded from the rest of the frequencies experienced by the other organs, mainly due to all having different levels of hertz in their frequencies. And the tongue also identifies the vibration created by the salt molecule, the sugar molecule, and the lime molecule etc. Each one having its vibrational levels akin to itself only, and so on and so forth. No human in the whole wide world, will mix up the sugar taste for the salt and vice versa, due the variance of each other’s frequency levels. The hard surface of the cushion gives an unpleasant feeling and the body will move down to a more comfortable zone. Should a still bigger and a stronger vibration force itself on the body, a still bigger vibration will culminate (like a slap on the body).

All vibrations are conveyed in terms of waves and finally boils down to frequencies only. It is due to the difference in frequency levels, denoted by hertz that we see with our eyes and not with our ears. The ears and the nose are able to respond to different frequency levels of their own only, which are very much lower in frequency levels than light frequencies. The light is transmitted at 186,000 miles per second. Humans hide for the sound of thunder which comes much later than lightning, when in fact, they should have gone into hiding when there was lightning, as thunder could do no harm. Whilst watching the TV show, you have seen the picture, heard them speak, felt the fragrance of the meal, tasted the meal, felt the hard surface of the cushion and responded to it and gathered the whole TV episode in your mind.

The mind faculty operates at a higher level than all the others. The speed at which it operates is unprecedented, and hard to comprehend. If you observe a flower in the garden as it comes in to view with the eye the (Chakku Vignanaya), consciousness acts immediately to convey the message to the brain. In the absence of Chakku Vignanaya a person is born blind, due to his past karma. The Mind factor lying in everybody’s brain then interprets its colour and the object which has come into one’s view. The consciousness having completed the task then goes down to the ears, and directs it to the brain which identifies it as a particular sound. After having accomplished the task, it moves down to perform other tasks too, in the same order at an unprecedented speed and consequent to which, you have observed everything that has happened whilst having the meal and being seated. In so many instances, COVID patients have lost their sense of smell as much as taste, whether it is due to them losing this interacting consciousness is still a question to be answered.

It’s very intriguing to understand the mind’s capacity. Mind’s speed is immeasurable, so said Lord Buddha. Only a Buddha has the unique ability to observe the speed of a being’s mind. One can travel to the most remote corner of the universe, through the mind’s inbuilt ability developed through meditation, and also return this very instant. “Conquer the mind and Conquer the World” is what Lord Buddha has expounded. Very few have conquered the mind’s ability in today’s world.

Good minds generate powerful vibrations and bad ones low vibrations which are susceptible to miserable situations. Since vibrations travel in frequencies chanting pirith and prayers have the ability to dispel one’s evil spirits from one’s mind.  Vibrations emanating from a source as frequencies have the capacity to enter the desired entities’ mind where the evil spirit is embedded. Therefore, repeatedly bombarding the mind with pirith or prayers as the case may be, creates a powerful vibrational level (frequencies) which eventually penetrates the mind and gets through to the evil entity, and dislodges it from the mind. However, the knowledge as to how powerful words create a force is beyond their capacity to comprehend presently, even though it is practised today. The Kattadiya (one who practises occult science) also uses similar methods- chanting mantra (powerful vibrations) on water to dispel the evil or get the assistance of a more powerful devil to dispel the weaker element and concludes it, chanting pirith, to insulate him from the devil’s wrath as devils could retaliate.

Recently, a Japanese scientist experimenting with water molecules, observed that a water molecule vibrates strangely for certain sound frequencies. You can let the molecule go up or down as per the vibration you create. This scientific knowledge was available to the people in the past, that you can create ripples in water through word power and so many religious bodies have made use of this facility.

Lord Buddha gave the art of conquering the mind through inhaling and exhaling under correct guidance. His philosophy revolved around the mind only. In the absence of the mind everything tends to be nonexistent, said he. To understand this concept, a surgeon who is operating on a patient makes the patient unconscious before embarking on the operation, as the patient regains consciousness only, he experiences the extruding and unbearable pain in the body and not before.

Anyone can temporarily forget about Buddhism and try these mind awakening methods. There are so many of them. When walking, mindfully lift the right foot up and place it down mindfully, then lift the left foot up and place it down again mindfully (right foot up, right foot down, left foot up, left foot down) and do it alternately. Practising this regularly in the correct order will make one’s mind to remember things better and longer - so many cannot remember what they did a few hours ago due to the confused and clogged state of the mind.

Buddhist priests’ practise this to gain mindfulness. Through in and out breathing meditation (ana pana sathi), proper realization will dawn on the practitioner if practised correctly.  And then only hail this great preacher and not before.

Lord Buddha has expounded that all what you see, hear and feel is but an illusion, the recent scientific findings will solidify his statements. Here are extracts from the U Tube: A table may look solid and still, but within the table are millions of millions of subatomic particles "running around" and "popping" with energy. The table is pure energy and movement. Everything in this universe has its own vibrational frequency. It´s The Law of Vibration in action. However, we can't see it so it appears separate and solid to us. It´s actually an illusion. The Law of Vibration is real. Even if you can't see it, it doesn´t mean it´s not true.

Good and powerful vibrations have curative powers. One’s mind powers could be developed to listen to decibels below zero levels which are generally not perceptible to normal humans. Dogs and the cats can pick up sounds which are of lower levels than humans. Human minds have the capability to go beyond normal decibel levels. If one were to practise meditation in the proper order at one moment or the other, these hidden traits in humans will surface. It is for this reason that human life is considered great and invaluable, as only at a human level can it be fully developed.

A human mind has the ability to design a bomb that could annihilate the whole human race in split seconds, so also the ability to send a shuttle to Mars and inform the whole world the exact second it will touch down on Martian surface, and transmit vital scientific information as though they have made eye contact on the Martian soil, and its surroundings. How many have thought about the mind’s capacity. Most have shrugged it off as nothing to be so excited about.

If you were to concentrate upon the flower which has come to your view for a short while- the flower which you had observed a moment before is no longer there, as by the time the light frequencies emanating from it touches upon your eyes, it has undergone a change so swiftly. In other words, what you have observed is only a past event which has happened in the flower, never the present moment.

The speed at which matter changes is imperceptible. Whilst light frequency reaches your eyes at 186,000 miles per second, its a matter of nano seconds therefore for light to reach your eyes from the TV or the flower which has come to you view. The decaying process of the flower is billion times faster than the light wave. Consequent to which, it has undergone an imperceptible change without your eyes being able ever to notice its change. Only after 12 hours you will observe the flower to have withered away, and finally to have perished. But all the time this process of perishing has been happening in the flower.

The human body is no different to the flower. Flowers are therefore taken as a symbol and offered to Lord Buddha, to enlighten one’s mind that the human body too will decay and wither away, like the very flower that is being offered. The Law of Impermanence takes over every phenomenon in this world, however big or small it is. Nothing is too big or small for nature. Scientist have been able capture the changing process of the flower through high powered electron microscope and observe its withering process over a period of 12 hours.

Finally, it boils down to what Lord Buddha has expounded in his preaching- What is produced to dissolution swing. The infant who was born and named Meryl is now 10 years old, in another 8 years he would be an adult, as he grows to be 35 years he would still be distinguished as Meryl within which period considerable physical and characteristic changes have taken place in him. In another 30 years he would be in the coffin, and still be identified as Meryl. In between so much of a change has taken place in Meryl. In all his life process was he the same Meryl he was before, or a different Meryl. He has been changing ever since he was born and did not represent the same Meryl. Which fact, was observed only, after long years. He was neither the same Meryl nor a different Meryl. His skin had dried up and wrinkled, so also his fingers and toes have withered after 65 years of hard and an exhaustive life, and you need to cover it with gloves and socks to make it presentable, whilst lying in the coffin- a lot different to when he was born, shockingly defaced and emaciated. Aunts and uncles who visited Meryl when he was born would have exclaimed ‘sweet fellow’ and cuddled him.

What would anyone’s perception be now? The most beautiful rose that you saw in the morning was also not the same flower nor a different flower by evening, which also has been subject to the same process and principle. All this time, the law of impermanence has taken root in all material and living things. All what one had observed in one’s lifetime had undergone the same principle and been subjected to the law of impermanence and perished; Meryl was no different. Impermanence is the final and lasting truth about life and everything in this world

All people crave to accumulate wealth, power, and position The very next moment it has changed. All things are short lived and impermanent in nature.  History will reveal how many have conquered nations after nations from time immemorial to be in power and thought they were really great. But all such empires have fallen apart.

All have left the world in the past, in total isolation. Everything has finally ended up in vacuum.