Acharya Mahaprajna
The sixth component of human existence is the emotion. The body is paudgalik; sense structure and breath are paudgalik. The mind and the vital energy too are related with paudgala. The emotion is related to soul or consciousness. Our emotions come from within. They have no relation with outside. The world of emotions is the internal world. It acts like a key for health. Why does the mind have bad thoughts? Why does it have good thoughts? Why does it absorb desirable components of matter? Why does it absorb undesirable components of matter? What regulates and governs the mind? It is emotion that regulates the functioning of the mind.
The emotion is responsible for the good or bad activity of the mind. The mind is the reflection of the emotion. It governs the mind. From the point of view of modern medical science, the centre of origin of the emotion is the limbic system or hypothalamus. This part of the brain is the original centre of the sensitivity of the emotion.
Certain centres can be indicated if we try to find out what relates the soul to the body, where the soul and the body unite. The first centre is the hypothalamus, where the soul and the body unite, the navel can be the second centre.
It is the luminous centre, where instincts find their expression. The mind is a system governed by the emotion. The body and the language are also a system governed by the emotion. This has been known as yoga in the Jain terminology. These systems are governed by the emotion.
All our activities are governed by the emotion. We have several beliefs about the mind but we do not regard the mind as the fundamental factor. The fundamental factor is the emotion. A doctor gives treatment for physical illness. A psychologist gives treatment for mental illness. The emotion is beyond these. It is not a mental problem. It is a problem related to sentiments. It is an inner problem, where the mind has no function.
An illusion prevails even in the field of present education. Intellectual development and mental development are being regarded as one. If someone had developed well intellectually, it is said that his mental development is good. Many such illusions are becoming prevalent through the words we use. As a matter of fact, intellectual development and mental development are not the same. The emotional development is completely different from both of them. Anger, conceit, greed, jealousy, fear, hatred and passion all these are our emotions. The mind would reflect the pattern of our emotion. The fundamental thing is not the mind but the emotion, which is the powerful factor that reflects our existence, our consciousness, our inner being. The purity of the emotion is the secret formula of health.
