There are six virtues in this group - Sama, Dama, Uparathi, Thithiksha, Sraddha and Samaadhaana.

Sama

Sama means mind-control. This is very hard to achieve. The mind can cause bondage; it can also confer liberation. It is an amalgam of Rajasic and Thamasic modes, the passionate and dull attitudes. It is easily polluted. It relishes in hiding the real nature of things and casting on them the forms and values which it desires. So, the activities of the mind have to be regulated.

The mind has two characteristics. The first is: it runs behind the senses; whatever sense the mind follows helplessly, it is inviting disaster. When a pot of water becomes empty, we need not infer that it has leaked away through ten holes; one hole is enough to make it empty. So too, among the senses, even if one is not under control, one will be thrown into bondage. Therefore, every sense has to be mastered.

The second characteristic of the mind is: The potency of the mind can be promoted by good practices like Dhyana, Japa, Bhajana and Puja. With the strength and skill thus reinforced, the mind can help the world or harm it. So, the mental power gained by such Sadhana has to be turned away from wrong paths and controlled by Sama. The senses have to be directed by the principle of intelligence, the Buddhi. They must be released from the hold the mind has on them. Then spiritual progress can be attained.

Manas or Mind is but a bundle of thoughts, a complex of wants and wishes. As soon as a thought, a desire or a wish raises its head from the mind, Buddhi must probe into its value and validity - is it good or bad, will it help or hinder, where will this lead or end. If the mind does not submit to this probe, it will land itself in the path of ruin. If it does and obeys the intelligence, it can move along the right path.

Man has three chief instruments for uplifting himself: Intelligence, Mind and the Senses. When the mind gets enslaved by the senses, man gets entangled and bound. The same mind, when it is regulated by the intellect, can make man aware of his Reality, the Atma. This is why the mind is reputed to cause either bondage or liberation.