Canto X: The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind

The physical mind, by its very nature is conservative. It is limited in its scope of understanding and action. It prefers stability over change. It lacks innovation and prefers to continue the old ways of life.

The little mind is stratified in three layers. The first of these is closely tied to earth and the body. It is what develops into the physical mind whose field is largely what the senses determine.

The birth of Mind upon our earth marks a transition from the unconsciously driven animal to a self-conscious being. This transition begins with the advent of mind and the stirrings of a mental consciousness in the human brain.

Here was seen the first glimmerings of the Mind. These were the first steps that the Mind took towards the far off light that is its true Home.

This power that we term as imagination is actually a portion of the formative power of Maya. It is given to man to escape from the trap of the senses and the mind tied to their imperfect and incomplete data.

This intelligence though seeming to be free actually binds itself within the limits of its own creations. It works mechanically so that a temporary order is created and objects follow a certain law and course set for them by action of this mind.

The little mind is the realm of early light. It is from its low slopes that our being begins to search for meaning and purpose, to reflect and discover oneself. The vital worlds seek for and are satisfied with power and joy. It is the mind that seeks for knowledge.

This little mind is not an instrument of knowledge even though it feigns itself to be. It is rather an instrument of formation that constructs frames of thought as scaffoldings to climb towards the true Home of Truth.

Aswapati now steps into this world of mind which is constituted very differently from the life worlds through which he has travelled so far. He must now discover its peaks and its laws, the beings and energies and their influence upon our earthly life.

The realm of pure pleasure and boundless joy, this paradise of the Life-gods, must now be renounced to begin a greater climb. Aswapati embodies this call towards a greater Adventure. Therefore he renounces this high state that many would covet.

The Mind worlds form a series of domains that climb from material existence right upto the Overmind peaks that look towards the Supramental Truth-Light. The little Mind is the first of this series. It is the mind with its power of division seen in the extreme.