There is an assumption that the mind is a function of the brain. Thereby, many assume that without a brain there can be no mind. Let us analyze this assumption and see if it is indeed true or false. It is assumed that action is done as a result of direction of the mind. It could be interpreted as meaning that without a mind, no action is possible. The mind is considered to be a part of a "me", an entity that assumes ownership of the mind. That is why, we speak of "my mind". Very often, you hear of people saying "my mind is going crazy". When asked where is the mind, most will point to their head naturally. Well, if the mind were a function of an anatomical site called the brain, what about a bacteria or a virus? Does the bacteria, which is single celled organism, have a brain? In the same way, does your liver (composes of billions of small cells) ask "you" if it is okay to metabolize the food? Does the digestive system (composed of billions of small cells in the form of a stomach, intestine, pancreas etc.) ask for permission from "you" to digest the food? Does the heart or the lung, for that matter, not function on its own without any constant supervision from a "you". The nails on your fingertips grow spontaneously. The hair grows spontaneously ( unless of course if you are bald!). Functioning is going on at all times of the waking hours (called daytime) and even during deep sleep. A tiny virus can cause havoc in the public health system. Yet, there is no anatomical location of a mind or brain in the virus! The virus in fact knows how to respond to threats to its survival by adapting itself fairly quickly. That is the reason, mankind has been unable to cure the common cold! The virus knows how to adapt to the vaccine that mankind keeps developing. The virus is even tinier than a bacteria. The bacteria, which are just single cell organisms, similarly adapt to threats of antibiotics by developing resistance.
Extend this to the plant kingdom, and it becomes obvious that there is an universal intelligence or mind, which controls everything (yes, including what you call "my body"). Plants know when to sprout leaves as soon as the weather warms up in spring. They know when to shed leaves in Fall. Grass grows spontaneously. Flowers bloom. Ever wonder who controls all of the functioning in the world and the universe?
The fact is that the mind has no substance by itself. When looked for, one cannot point with certainty to any particular location for what they call the mind. The mind is not a container in which thoughts, feelings and emotions can be stored. The mind is a general term that encompasses the intellect, the ego, and the will. The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, all of which are constantly changing. No thought can be held on to for a prolonged length of time. Since, thoughts are nothing but vibrations of the universal energy, they are in a state of constant flux. It is because of memory, that one gets a feeling of continuity of thoughts.
The mind appears along with the waking state. It disappears or subsides in the deep sleep state. When there is no mind, there are no thoughts, like in a deep dreamless sleep state. It again points to the fact that mind and thoughts are one and the same. Meaning, there can be no mind without the thoughts and no thoughts without the mind.
What appears and disappears cannot be real. The mind is something that appears and disappears. The only Reality is that which is continuous and present in all states. The only Reality is the presence-awareness or awareness of presence, which is there in all three states (deep dreamless sleep, the dream sleep state, and the waking state). You know you ARE in all the three states. If woken up in the middle of deep dreamless sleep, you immediately KNOW that you ARE. Who are YOU?
