Mind Over Matter

Balvinder Kumar

Nearly five years ago, bureaucrat Balvinder Kumar went through a dark phase in his career. It led him to dig deeper into the inner functioning of the mind. His latest book Awakening the Thinking Mind: An Inward Journey (LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd: Rs 495), is a learning from those experiences, and reasons why we react the way we do.

Kumar, who retired as the Secretary of Ministry of Mines recently, began work on the book more than a year ago. “I researched on the anatomy and structure of the brain, and what part triggers our emotional response. I traced it back to prehistoric times, when fear was embedded in our collective psyche. We are modern human beings with stone age minds. While we were hunter-gatherers, our brains developed when fear was all around, because of the environment, extreme climatic conditions and imminent danger of predators, all of which is deeply embedded in our psyche,” says 60-year-old Kumar. His first book in 2014 was called Man’s Spiritual Journey: Understanding the Purpose of Life.

In the latest one, the author has also addressed the issue of mental stress, and provided remedies to keep the mind calm. He says, “First is the power of acceptance. We need to realise that whatever situation arises, change is inevitable and instead of reacting, we should accept it wholeheartedly. Second is the deconditioning of the mind.

Our mind has been conditioned by repetitive thinking, mostly by what our parents have told us. Thirdly, start observing the mind and lastly, practise spiritual exercise, like meditation.”