Story of Man’s Mind

There isn’t just one mind within a person; there are many. That is why a person may decide in the evening not to get angry, yet become angry again the next morning. Then he wonders: How is this possible? Yesterday I decided not to be angry, and today I became angry again!

Human beings do not make entirely new mistakes every day. They keep repeating the same mistakes for which they have already regretted and repented a thousand times. Why does this happen?

The truth is that the mind which becomes angry and the mind which makes calm decisions are not the same. They are like different minds within the same person, hardly aware of one another. There is no real communication between them.

When you decide, “I will never be angry again,” one fragment of the mind is making that decision. Let us call this fragment “A.” The next morning, however, another fragment — “B” — comes forward and becomes angry. When anger disappears, “A” returns and repents, saying, “I had decided not to be angry, so why did this happen again?”

Then later, perhaps someone accidentally steps on your foot, and yet another fragment appears and expresses anger. The peaceful fragment disappears for the moment. Just as the spokes of a bicycle wheel keep rotating up and down, the different fragments of the mind keep taking turns. One moment one fragment rules, the next moment another takes over.

George Gurdjieff used to tell a story:

There was once a great mansion whose owner had gone away on a long journey. The house was enormous, filled with many servants. Years passed, and no news of the owner ever arrived. Gradually, the servants forgot that there had ever been a master at all.

Whenever travelers passed by and asked, “Who owns this mansion?” whichever servant happened to be standing at the gate would reply, “I am the owner.”

This confused the villagers because different servants gave different answers. One day they gathered together to investigate. They brought all the servants together and discovered that every servant claimed to be the master.

The servants began arguing and fighting among themselves: “I am the master!” “No, I am the master!”

Finally, one old servant said:

“Forgive us. We are arguing over nothing. The real master left long ago, and we are only servants. Over time we forgot this truth.”

Then one day, the real owner returned.

“Forgive us. We are arguing over nothing. The real master left long ago, and we are only servants. Over time we forgot this truth.”

Then one day, the real owner returned.

The moment he entered the mansion, all twenty-five “masters” immediately became servants again.

Gurdjieff would say: This is the story of man’s mind.

Until the inner soul awakens, every fragment of the mind claims, “I am the master.” When anger appears, it declares itself the master, and the whole body follows it. Later, the fragment that feels regret comes forward and says, “Now I am the master,” and the same body begins to cry and repent.

The body itself knows nothing; it simply follows whichever fragment speaks the loudest.

One fragment says, “Practice celibacy,” and the body agrees immediately. Another says, “Seek pleasure,” and again the body obeys without question.

Man is divided within himself. His mental structure is made of many fragments. As long as these fragments remain divided, there is inner conflict. Each fragment fights to become the ruler.

This inner struggle creates pain, confusion, and suffering. And often, the conflict within a person becomes conflict with others outside as well.

Osho, Osho Story Collection