A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

368 VEDANTA.starts with this assumption, that by vision is not meant the*external vision. The real vision belongs to the internalorgans, the brain centres inside. You may caM them whatyou like, but it is not that the indriyas are the eyes, or thenose or the ears. And the sum total of all these indriyasplus the manas, buddhi, chitta, ahankara, is what is calledthe mind, and if the modern physiologist comes to tell youthat the brain is what is called the mind and that thebrain is formed of so many organs, you need not be afraidat all ;tell him your philosophers knew it alwaysit is the;very alpha of your religion.Well, then, we have to understand now what is meantby this manas, buddhi, chitta, aJwnka/ra, etc. First of alllet there be chitta : it is the mind stuff. That part of themahat it is the generic name for the mind itself, including all its various states. Suppose here is a lake, on asummer evening smooth and calm, without a ripple on itssurface. Let us call this the chitta. And suppose anybody throws a stone upon this lake. What happens ?First there is the action, the blow given to the waternext the water ascends and sends a reaction towards thestone, and that reaction takes the form of a wave. First thewater vibrates a little, and immediately sends back a reactionin the form of a wave. This chitta let us compare to thislake, and the external objects are like these stones throwninto it. As soon as it comes in contact with any externalobject by means of these indriyas the indriyas must bethere to take these external objects inside there is avibration, what is called the manas indecisive. Nextthere is a reaction, the determinative faculty, buddhi, andalong with this buddhi flashes the idea ahani and theexternal object. Suppose there is a mosquito sitting uponmy hand. This sensation is carried to my chitta and this