Yes, mind is a projector. One of the main functions of the mind is to\nproject the world \u2018out there\u2019. This does seem drastic and counter intuitive. Our\nexperience tells us that there is a universe with objects. We have been taught\nthat light travels from these objects and hit the eye and an optical image is\nformed in the retina. This optical signal is transmitted to the brain.\nSomething happens in the brain and we experience the world out there. In this\nprocess, there are many questions which have never been answered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Science has never explained these issues. We therefore must look for a\nsolution elsewhere. In this respect the teaching of Vedanta is helpful. Vedanta\nteaches just the opposite; it teaches that there are mental waves or \u2018vrittis\u2019\nin the individual mind. When these mental waves come in the presence of \u2018Atma\u2019\nor the Observer (which is our inner core), these mental waves are projected out\nas the world with objects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To justify this, in my post, \u2018Projection \u2013 The Only\nTruth<\/a>\u2019, I have given the following 5 different explanations, which supports\nthe fact that we indeed project the external world with all its components. All\nthese explanations are based on science and logic. You must read this post to\nbe fully convinced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is very similar to the working of a projector that projects a movie\non screen. It is easy to\ncompare this step to an actual digital projector. Without being too technical,\nthere are two major parts to any projector. One is the light source or bulb and\nthe other is the content which must be projected. The mind also has a similar\nstructure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us\ndiscuss these two parts in more detail<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bulb of Awareness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness is\nthe inner most core of any living being. It is like a bulb shinning within our\ninner core. If any object, it could be an image, sound, touch or feeling, comes\nin the presence of this bulb of Awareness, you will be aware of that\nexperience. Here are some examples of awareness we experience daily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know the\ntree is green?<\/em> Because we are aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know sugar\nis sweet?<\/em> Because we\nare aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know we\nhave two legs and two hands?<\/em> Because we are aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know the weight\nof the chair is 20 lbs.?<\/em> Because we are aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know the\nsmooth touch of silk?<\/em> Because we are aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we know we\nare listening to music?<\/em> Because we are aware of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The common\nthread to all these questions is Awareness. It would seem Awareness is a\nprerequisite to observe any object. Without awareness, we would not know any\nobjects which are perceived by the 5 senses organs \u2013 eyes, ears, nose, tongue\nand skin. These objects from the sensory organs must encounter Awareness, then\nonly we can observe the object. For an analogy, think of the sun. When there is\nno light from the sun, you cannot see anything but in the presence of the light\neverything becomes visible. In the same way when any form comes in the presence\nof the light of Awareness, we become aware of the object. If there is no light\nof Awareness, you will perceive nothing, not even the sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness is\nthe most powerful force in the universe. It has the power to connect with a\nform present in the mind and fill up the object with Awareness. If you analyze\nAwareness, you will conclude that Awareness is made up of a Subject,\nIntelligence and Object with the following functions<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knower,\nKnown and Knowing\/Intelligence are the 3 powers of Awareness. It must be clear\nthat <\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness is\nmade of Subject, Intelligence and Object and it has three different powers –\nKnower, Knowing and Known. It must be understood that the Subject, Intelligence\nand Object and the three powers are not something outside in the world, but\nthey are within Awareness and make up Awareness. If any one of them is missing,\nawareness will not work and will be incomplete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wherever\nthere is awareness, the Subject, Intelligence and Object must be present with all\nthe three powers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our inner\ncore is full, complete and it is stand alone. For Awareness to be full and\ncomplete, it must be Self-Aware. Self-Awareness means that the \u2018Awareness is\naware of Awareness\u2019. Another way to put this is that \u2018Self is aware of the\nSelf\u2019. In Self-Awareness, the subject is Awareness and the object is Awareness.\nAwareness plays the role of subject and object. In other words, both the\nsubject and object are the same. There is one entity only which is non-dual.\nThis complete, self-standing Self Awareness is our inner core. There is no\nseparation between the subject and object \u2013 it is one. It is Self-Shining. This\nSelf-Shinning Awareness is the Bulb of Awareness and it is our inner core. It\nis not dependent upon anything else and it generates its own light of\nAwareness. And it is the Bulb of Awareness. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Content Which\nMust be Projected<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We have just\nseen that the Bulb of Awareness or Self-Awareness is the power source for the\nprojection of content. What about the content which must be projected? Vedanta\nteaches us that there are individual minds and the total of individual minds\ncan be called the cosmic mind. The cosmic mind is the source for content. A\ngood way to understand this is to compare this with Google Maps. I think most\nof us use Google Maps. Somewhere in the cloud, there is a complete software or\ncode for Google Maps. This software will show the roads for almost every city\nand country in the world. If I am at a certain location and you are in another\nlocation, Google Maps will show the map for that location only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cosmic Map\nis like Google Maps but more extensive, complex, smarter and dynamic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cosmic\nmind stores the complete map of the universe. The individual mind covers a\nsubset of the map. This would depend upon what the individual person wants to\nview. The content within the individual mind is used for the projection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This content\nwhen it comes in presence of the Bulb of Awareness, that content is projected\nout there as the world with objects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, mind is a projector. One of the main functions of the mind is to project the world \u2018out there\u2019. This does seem drastic and counter intuitive. Our experience tells us that there is a universe with objects. We have been taught that light travels from these objects and hit the eye and an optical … Continue reading Mind is a Projector<\/span>