A Master or a Slave?

I always thought human beings can control their minds.They can lure it into positivity if they talk to it about positive things around.That's what they teach you.Think positive; Be positive.See the glass as half full.Be optimistic.Turns out that does not always work.With cheap internet and abundant lethargy I recently watched a lot of you tube videos on the neuroscience of how the brain works.There's this perception that your mind is your slave until you allow it to slave you .But its all wrong.The mind listens to you only if it is healthy.Just like how your arms or limbs move around where you want it to move if its healthy and not fractured or paralyzed. The human brain has evolved over centuries of trial and error.It produces chemicals that help you feel whatever you feel.But if it has an ailment and it does not work properly it can also be your biggest threat.The sad part is that like an ECG report provides you with an evidence that your heart does not work properly there's no machine yet developed that provides a solid proof that your mind does not work properly when it has an ailment.

There might be times you feel terrible at certain points in a day.Maybe you are reminded of a crude remark a colleague at work said.Maybe you just question all the bad decisions you have made in life.There's a sinking feeling in your heart.It frustrates you that an otherwise productive day or a beautiful evening has been ruined by just your mere thoughts.And then after a nap or probably a walk you feel better about yourselves.As I listened to the neuroscience of music/learning/love I was intrigued how all of our emotions are linked to chemical releases like dopamine or oxytocin or serotonin in our brain.How our mind is probably not in our control entirely.

I remember reading that chess grand masters can see 15 chess moves ahead(Carlsen claims he can see 20).A linguist remembers and is fluent in several languages.Sometimes when I visit mountains or forests,I am amazed at the skill of human beings.They survive just about everywhere.States like Himachal Pradesh have places that are located approximately 2500 metres above sea level.As you get there you tend to have acute mountain sickness or altitude sickness resulting in shortness of breath or dizziness. But men have made such places their homes.They cut mountains & inhabit them,train elephants that is ten times their size and use it for their benefit.I wonder with such immense skills why have men still not found a device that just shuts the mind when you want it to shut.Why does it have to jump from one thought to another like a monkey?Can we not be more focused and productive if we could just shut the mind out from externalties?(I know meditation helps us to do that but then it, like every other skill, requires so much of practice and patience!)

A wise man once said:

"ഓരോരുത്തരും ജീവിക്കുന്നത് അവരുടെ മനസിലാണ്."

which largely translates to "A mind can turn a heaven into a hell".I thought I knew what this meant.But as it happens that's not entirely true.We have all been through phases where we question our existence.We strive and strive for little moments of joy and achievements all our lives which is then followed by pathos and sorrow.What exactly is the point of this drill then?And then you have no alternative but to give meaning to something which you can call your own-a business,a job,a family, - something that you create and nurture;something which provides meaning to your existence.In the larger scheme of things all this has no meaning.But then in the larger scheme of things everybody is dead.So while we live we have to assign a meaning to life.

We know existentialism to be a rich man's problem.You question the purpose of life with a tummy that is full.It sometimes seems very pretentious.The poor on the road would be thinking of the next meal or of protecting themselves from the rains. I am curious then; does the mind of that person ever encounter an ailment that sees everything as a chronic threat.How do the releases of dopamine or serotonin or oxytocin work then?( I haven't understood it fully yet)This might just be a stereotype about mental illnesses.I need to read more about it.But for now the learning that I have is that, I do not know how my mind works just as I do not know how my heart or liver or intestines function.I might just as well say I am a girl who knows her own mind but it is not true in its literal sense.