What happens when one restrains the mind? (Upanishads)

In the previous post, we were talking about the well known chariot analogy of the Kathopanishad. To recapitulate – our body is like the chariot drawn by our sense organs, (horses), that normally move on the path of worldly pleasures. If we choose to, we can use our intellect, (charioteer), and rein in the horses, by restraining our mind. What happens then?

The horses stop moving on the path of sense pleasures, because they are held back by the Mind. The mind is controlled by the intellect, (charioteer), who takes its orders from the rider (soul). 

The Upanishad says that normally the soul associates itself with whatever the sense horses show it. It enjoys, it grieves.  It essentially arrogates the action of the body to itself, and forgets that it is the rider of the chariot, and that the chariot, charioteer, reins, horses are all subordinate to it; it being the master.  It gets totally engrossed in worldly mire. 

But when the soul decides to get itself free from this trap, it directs the intellect to rein in the sense horses by restraining the mind. The Upanishad says that, when that happens, the intellect that was like a prism, showing all colors, becomes like a polished mirror.

What does the soul see in that mirror? It sees its own image reflected by the intellect. In other words, the soul attains the realization of its true nature. That is exactly what happens when one restrains the mind through the process of meditation, and attains samädhi.

In Patanjali’s words,

At that time, the one who sees, (i.e. the soul), sees itself.

But some things remain puzzling. Who is this soul we are talking about? And how did it get trapped into the body? We will see that in the next post.

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