We are not born with the CONSCIOUS knowledge of the forces of which we are made. The knowledge exists within us but it has to be unlocked. we can only learn about ourselves as our Karma unfolds. Learning is essentially a process of surfacing all that is embedded in the sub-consciousness. 

Having identified that the conscious mind needs to learn about itself through observation and interaction with people, objects and events, we set about starting on the journey inwards.

The journey inwards requires us to place ourselves in observation in relation to the universe. 

In this regard there are two fundemental approaches.  One followed by the western "rationalist" and the other by the eastern "spiritualist". The rationalist approach is to consider the Truth as the perceivable interaction between the physical constituents of the body and the universe. So the whole is subdivided into component parts and the parts are further analyzed into dependancies and interactions that cause their development. 

It must be noted that the conscious mind does not have the power to influence these forces. So the attempt to influence the physical forces is to establish the cause and effect relationships between them and try to use one force to influence another and achieve the objective.  However, material forces can only to used to enhance one's physical well being, 

The Spiritual approach considers matter to be a manifestation of the imbalance in the higher attributes. So all physical objects are taken to be the manifestation of the Gunas of the perceiver, or more specifically in the imbalance in the Gunas of the perceiver.  The events that we experience are considered to be the manifestation of the Punyam and Pappam that we accumulate over our different Janmas. 

So the entire objective is to directly exercise control over our inner selves so we can evolve to a state where our Gunas are completely balanced and and we evolve beyond our physical state of existence. 

Based on the Paramathma's teachings we have to use the external world as a mirror to observe our inner self.  The external world is to be observed via the senses.  The observations are then to be understood as the projection of the preset sequence of events in the mind (Karma), which the mind itself is witnessing and experiencing. So the mind is placing its own activity under observation and tries to filter the activity of all 'unpleasant' experiences. 

In other words the mind, and the intellect attempt to adjust the reactions to the events in the external world. This adjustment is the starting point in the process of evolution to the higher state and is the starting point of the learning process.

Plenty of guidance has been provided in the Puranas as how one should interpret and react to these challenges.  The primary guidance is that one should not succumb to easy temptations that are thrown in one's path. 

In order not to succumb, the mind has to be restrain itself or outgrow the sensations of pleasure that the objects and events seem to generate.  

This restrainment or Control is born in the mind due to the understanding that any pleasantness is always followed by its twin brother which is the experiencing of pain and suffering, particularly if the "pleasant experience" entails encroachment into other people's territory. 

So "WE" seem to be endowed with a number of attributes and environmental events, none of which we seem to understand/know or be able to control. 

We seem to be constantly juggling with a number of differently colored balls at the same time all of which came together on their own and seem to constantly challenge us to control them.

One way to approach the challenge is to be able to start with a conscious understanding of the components that we are made up of, then by a process of elimination, narrow down the listing to the most likely targets. 

Before we begin the Journey of Self Inquiry, one major departure of the Puranas from conventional wisdom must be understood.  The elements that we are made up of is understood in conventional sense to be flesh, blood, bones etc.  

In the puranic sense and from all the references that the Paramthma makes to the elements that we are composed of,  the elements (at least some of them) are;

ATMA/CONSCIOUSNESS, MIND & SENSES, KARMA, and DHARMA are the elements of which we are considered to be made up of.  These can be grouped into the following categories -

(1) The events of the universe to which we are subject (KARMA),

(2) The instruments through which these events are experienced. (SENSES)

(3) The interpretor of the events, (MIND-INTELLIGENCE),  

(4) The evolutionary capability which enables us to put the needs of others ahead pf the needs of the self  (DHARMA) and  

(5) The store house where the net accumulation of Papa and Punya are kept account of to determine whether moksham is attained or does the Atma need to be reborn to continue the journey. Essentially the account is a record of the extent of evolution attained by the process of conscious learning (ATMA/CONSCIOUSNESS).

When we try to identify the elements of which we are made up of, we are trying to break down the whole into components. Essentially the confusion in the mind relates primarily to being able to perceive very many objects with which it is not able to relate or identify with because it cannot control them. As it seprates itself from all these different attributes that makes up the whole, the mind begins to narrow down its capabilities and begins to know what it can do with its own will power in relation to what needs to be accomplished. 

Unlike the components of the physical body, many of these elements (other than the five senses) cannot be perceived physically.  They can only be experienced or concluded upon by the mind.  The conscious recognition of these basic elements as well as their offshoots (such as Need and Desire) is important to know and understand, primarily, to be able to consciously exercise control over these elements. 

These are independant components that have to be linked together to make the whole. We are all built by integrating these elements into one system.  One cannot function without all these elements being synchronized into action. However, in the path of exploration of the identity, we have to consider if maybe one of these elements represents our identity and may therefore be the seat of control.  Does one of these have dominance and also drives the others?  

It appears that we are made up of a number of different elements, each of which seems to have it own schedule and plan.  

One of the key tools in the possession of the mind is the ability to breakdown and differentiate the whole into its constituent parts and then identify the mutual dependancies between these forces. 

2. We try to identify the relationship between these forces to identify which of these is a primary cause of our perception and which is the effect.  We discard the effects and research the causative forces further till we identify the one that represents permenance. We look to see if any of these represents a state of permenance.