Mind control means “to know the method of using the forces of mind.” The conscious mind is only a small part of the mind. If you know the whole mind, the totality of the mind, then the part that you use in your daily life will easily come under your control. It is not good to analyze the mind too much without knowing how to train it. Mind comes in the way and creates many problems for you, but you should also remember that mind is yours; you do not belong to your mind. You can control your mind provided you understand it. To control the mind does not mean to stop the thought process. Many of you expect that mind should not function and thoughts should not come during meditation. Some students stop doing meditation when they realize they cannot control the mind during meditation. mind will continue to function until you die. The human mind is a catalogue of thoughts, so thoughts have to come because that is the function of mind. You are a thinking being and it is your nature to think.
Even if you acquire mind control and self-control, they can make you more powerful but they cannot make you wise. That will come only when you understand the reason you are trying to control your mind. Mind control does not make you inert or desireless. Rather, it makes you creative, well balanced and skillful. Be patient with yourself in understanding your internal states and in dealing with your mind. Whereas mind can be a very good instrument if it is controlled, an uncontrolled mind can create great obstacles. A controlled mind is always in your hands and can help you to attain the happiness that comes from peace of mind.
You will understand what calmness is when you understand the relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind, the most difficult relationship in this universe to understand. Be aware that while your body and senses are your instruments; your conscious mind and unconscious mind can become your finest instruments to lead you to happiness.
If you have even a small amount of mind control, the pains that arise from the physical body can be controlled. You might have a physical disease but if you know your mind and acquire that energy within, that disease will not affect you. However, you may have a very strong body but you cannot remove even a very small amount of mental pain without understanding what mind is. It is better for you to control your mind and its modifications so you can control your body. A healthy mind is one that is not subject to disturbance, whether from the unconscious or the external world. When the conscious mind becomes ruled by undesirable emotions, fancies and fantasies, and other problems, then you lose control of the conscious mind and you cannot know the method of how to use the vast reservoir of the unconscious mind.
The vast part of mind remains unknown to you. That part of mind that dreams and sleeps is not under your control, and even that part of mind you are using now is not under your control. the conscious mind is the gateway to the city of life and the unconscious. With the help of meditation, the unconscious can become conscious. Anyone who understands all the different levels can finally expand the sea of the conscious mind. Then, there will be no difference between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. Anyone who has trained a little bit of the conscious mind may be very well off in the world, but one who has trained the unconscious mind is a sage.
Reprinted from Samyama the Power of Self-Transformation