The Psyche and the Mind
Yesterday I went to an introduction into buddhism and meditation in a buddhist temple in Berlin. There was a lecture on Buddhism and 2 meditation sessions. There seems to be a separation between mind and soul (psyche) in the buddhist learnings. Most of the mediation practices are based on taming the mind. Make the mind wonder less. Control the narrative inside your head. Be present in the current moment. Stop the storyteller inside your head. All of this made me ask myself what is actually the mind and what is the soul. Where is the mind exactly located? In which region in the brain? And where is the soul exactly located? In which chamber of the heart? Or is it located in the brain? If so, then where exactly? In which nucleus of the brain is the soul located?
Soul and mind seem to me two completely different things. The thoughts that are going on inside my head are a reflection of my mind. We say: this thought is on my mind. So I can perceive what is on my mind and I can influence it to some level. I can’t influence all the thoughts that are going on on my mind, but I can influence part of them. I can plant some thoughts that maybe not directly but 1-2 days later will become salient.
The psyche though seems quite different. I can influence my psyche if it is depressed by going to psychotherapy or do something that lessens the depression. I can make it less unhappy, but I can’t change what it want. I can’t actively make something salient in my psyche. I can’t change my soul. My soul is the individual inside of me. Changing the soul means living in a way that is not in accordance with the soul. If I do so then the soul will suffer. I won’t be happy and I won’t feel like my true self. But how do I know what the soul wants from me? It seems that the soul is unchangeable. The minds wonders and is influenced by different things like our everyday life, work, family experiences, culture. But the soul is part of the core of the self that in a way determines who we really are without being affected by all the experiences we witness throughout the entirety of life. I don’t know if it changes or develops through childhood and later life. But it seems determined to be expressed. And if we don’t express it, it suffers.
