Human beings enjoy the exclusive privilege to guide their action by choice and discrimination. But choice action carries equal probability of use and misuse. And there are no free lunches in life. You have to bear with the consequences of the choices you make and the actions thereto — good or bad — will depend on their intent and quality. This binds us into a cause-effect chain, which sets the premise on which the theory of Karma works. Things happening at the moment are a culmination of doings and undoings in the past. How you negotiate the present, defines the way the future may unfold, and which could stretch on even to the next birth. Your indwelling discriminatory ability though empowers you to weigh the options in hand and make reasoned choices, but this privilege doesn’t play out involuntarily. You need to consciously invoke it for due diligence before you take any call, which needs being on full alert, which we seldom are.

Truth remains, that we often end up making inappropriate choices. Why? For the answer, a look into the construct and chemistry of mind becomes imperative. There are three functional dimensions of mind – Buddhi, Ahamkara, and Manasa. Buddhi offers the faculty of discriminate intelligence, intrinsic to which is a sense of dispassion. Applying which, the mind evaluates, unbiasedly makes right judgment, and directs Manasa to accordingly act upon.

Ahamkara brings in the sense of ‘I’ in a being, which wilfully makes choices, commits to the tasks undertaken and owns up all actions on our part. The way Ahamkara wills is how the ordinary mind works.

Manasa working from the front, drives through sense aided functionalities of mind. It is supposed to gather outer-field data, relay it to Buddhi for due diligence; and then act upon as guided. Also, it puts into action desires projected by Karmic imprints carried over from the past, or under external influence. And, if ever Ahamkara unmindfully wills to take things on face value, ignoring the necessity to invoke Buddhi, Manasa could also act upon instinctive judgement.

About mind, let me add here that it is just an instrument, which can’t act on its own. Just like earth mass, which lends ground to the seed sown to grow into a plant, the mind gets fuelled into action by indwelling thought-seeds (Karmic carryover from the past). These imprints, varying from person-to-person, involuntarily build individual-specific belief patterns, which holds the key to our inherent desire trends, habits & attitudes, as well as virtues and attributes. That defines the way the mind works. As the mind gets going, it also picks up and responds to inputs drawn out of environmental influences. Mind does also carry the potential to absorb fresh educational inputs consciously fed into it. Now, the mind first excites desire trends in accordance with the callings of inlaid thought seeds. Desires, in turn, excite thoughts, which when gravitate, following further processing in the mind, get translated into action.

Now, coming back to the three operative tools of mind again, they are supposed to work in perfect coordination with each other, as an inseparable unitary mechanism. If applied as mandated, the mind comes out with its optimum best. But, at the end of the day, it is Ahamkara’s prerogative to take the final call. The paradox, however, is more often, ahamkara identifies itself with the inherent desire trends and then pursues it passionately as its end game. It also gets caught by the tempting influences of the seeming world, and makes it its dream destination. In both cases, taking things on the face value, ahamkara doesn’t feel the necessity of invoking buddhi for due diligence, often leading to undesirable ends.

We, therefore, need to train our mind to follow its usual design, with special focus on ahamkara. The irony, however, is that caught up in the usual mills of life, our habit tendencies trap ahamkara into its fold, which proves limiting. So, the challenge before us is to remain alert enough to use our choice option in order to ensure that ahamkara turns into a resolve to come out with one’s best. In that case, it will transgress the limits of habit tendencies, and use other two dimensions of mind optimally.

A person faced with a serious challenge came seeking guidance the other day. His inflated ego was in evidence, as Jupiter was placed adverse to both Sun and Mars. When advised to turn his ego into a resolve that could lead him to his targeted destination, it was difficult for him to digest. I had to explain it in detail to make him understand.

The writer is an astrologer,vastu consultant and spiritual counsellor. Connect with him at

Tel: 91-11-9818037273/9871037272

Email: bharatbhushanpadmadeo@gmail.com