Mind and Intellect: The Yin and the Yang
Mind’s restlessness is the one source behind all our emotions and hence our actions. It is like a big bundle of energy, never at rest – generating a perennial stream of thoughts.
Intellect on the other hand is more stable. It helps us reflect, contemplate and understand. In an average individual, intellect may sound reactive compared to a restless proactive mind.
On deeper understanding, intellect is found to be a more stable version of the mind. It can be described as mind with all its energy channelised into a mature state. Mind and intellect can hence be compared to yin and yang in Taoism - each complementing the other, completing the other and continuously transforming into each other.
It needs to be pointed out here that there are no connotations attached to either the mind or the intellect – doing so would again be a trick of the mind. The understanding needs to come objectively. There are umpteen practical realities of the world which cannot be lived without the thoughts and actions generated by the mind. The goal but remains to limit the control the mind exercises on our actions to the fulfillment of these practical realities. The goal of a true knowledge seeker still would be the attainment of a deeper intellect that guides our actions and emotions.
Many paths have been defined in all time periods for achieving this state of deep intellect. The names given to this state are also different for different paths. Some prescribe an experiential method for achieving this state; some prescribe the method of theory, knowledge and understanding while some prescribe a balance of both extremes. Each knowledge seeker needs to choose the method that would help him achieve his goal. The path also need not be one or same over time. As the maturity of the knowledge seeker grows, the paths might cross, re-cross and separate again.
The one factor though that remains constant in this journey is practice. The practice here describes both the formal, dedicated time for rehearsing the prescribed technique and equally importantly, making the understanding borne out of it a way of life.
Life would also throw surprise tests at the knowledge seeker to check the depth and progress of the learning – to see whether the intellect goes back to a restless state of mind at the trigger of a difficult situation. The objective is to reduce the time it takes for the restless mid to come back to the state of a stable intellect in the event of a difficulty.
With perseverance, a dedicated knowledge seeker would continuously reduce this time of transformation from intellect to mind to intellect so that his decisions and actions are guided continually and solely by a deep state of intellect and he moves further ahead on the path of spiritual bliss.
Mind’s restlessness is the one source behind all our emotions and hence our actions. It is like a big bundle of energy, never at rest – generating a perennial stream of thoughts.
Intellect on the other hand is more stable. It helps us reflect, contemplate and understand. In an average individual, intellect may sound reactive compared to a restless proactive mind.
On deeper understanding, intellect is found to be a more stable version of the mind. It can be described as mind with all its energy channelised into a mature state. Mind and intellect can hence be compared to yin and yang in Taoism - each complementing the other, completing the other and continuously transforming into each other.
It needs to be pointed out here that there are no connotations attached to either the mind or the intellect – doing so would again be a trick of the mind. The understanding needs to come objectively. There are umpteen practical realities of the world which cannot be lived without the thoughts and actions generated by the mind. The goal but remains to limit the control the mind exercises on our actions to the fulfillment of these practical realities. The goal of a true knowledge seeker still would be the attainment of a deeper intellect that guides our actions and emotions.
Many paths have been defined in all time periods for achieving this state of deep intellect. The names given to this state are also different for different paths. Some prescribe an experiential method for achieving this state; some prescribe the method of theory, knowledge and understanding while some prescribe a balance of both extremes. Each knowledge seeker needs to choose the method that would help him achieve his goal. The path also need not be one or same over time. As the maturity of the knowledge seeker grows, the paths might cross, re-cross and separate again.
The one factor though that remains constant in this journey is practice. The practice here describes both the formal, dedicated time for rehearsing the prescribed technique and equally importantly, making the understanding borne out of it a way of life.
Life would also throw surprise tests at the knowledge seeker to check the depth and progress of the learning – to see whether the intellect goes back to a restless state of mind at the trigger of a difficult situation. The objective is to reduce the time it takes for the restless mid to come back to the state of a stable intellect in the event of a difficulty.
With perseverance, a dedicated knowledge seeker would continuously reduce this time of transformation from intellect to mind to intellect so that his decisions and actions are guided continually and solely by a deep state of intellect and he moves further ahead on the path of spiritual bliss.
posted by Garima at 9:23 AM
1 Comments:
great. wonderful to know you think and write so well. shall keep looking for more. love - pappa
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