The mind serves as a remarkable instrument for referencing, connecting, assessing, measuring, labeling, categorizing, and understanding. It enables us to formulate thoughts, express them through words, manipulate mental substance, create images, comprehend the world around us, and adapt and engage with our environment.

However, the mind becomes problematic when it obscures our true nature and assumes control. When mental activity entirely fills our conscious space, the illusion is complete, giving rise to the non-self.

For many, the mind is regarded as the pinnacle of human consciousness. This assumption is made by the mind itself, failing to recognize that it is merely a substratum and an emanation of pure consciousness or Presence.

René Descartes’ famous statement, “Cogito Ergo Sum,” exemplifies the executive decision made by a mind disconnected from its source of pure awareness. “Being” is not equivalent to “thinking”; rather, “thinking” is a manifestation of “being.” The compulsion to link our sense of self to the mind and its fluctuating activity is the primary cause of suffering, as it generates the grand illusion of separateness.

Mental activity does not inherently indicate consciousness. While one may presume the potential “to be,” true beingness remains unattainable until the mind is recognized as an impermanent manifestation of the true self.

Many educational systems are founded on the narrow perspective that the mind is the ultimate conscious principle in humans and that mind development is the best and sole path to personal achievement. This approach exacerbates the issue, reinforcing the illusion of separateness and its ensuing adverse consequences.