The Mind and Intellect

Last week we explored the value of making your mind your best friend and not allowing your
friend to spend time in “past regret” or “future worry”. Everything we do and achieve in our
life will begin on the canvas of our mind. But while we use our “mental resource” to create
today and tomorrow it would be almost useless without our intellect. “Intellect” is the
resource within our consciousness, within our “self”.

The Power of the Intellect

While the mind is what we use to generate thoughts in the form of images, ideas, concepts
goals, etc., our intellect is necessary to discern the quality of those thoughts and decide
which one to act upon. If the mind was a “screen” upon which many possibilities are created,
then the intellect would be an “eye” that looks at the screen with the ability to evaluate the
appropriateness of these possibilities and the consequences of acting upon each one. The
intellect is often referred to as our “third eye”.

It is the intellect that distinguishes human beings from the other animal kingdoms in terms of
intelligence. Our intellectual capacity, which has nothing to do with academic achievement,
gives us the ability to discern quality, reflect on possible choices, anticipate consequences,
and make decisions. As two-legged, upright, “artist philosophers”, we human beings have
the capacity to create and refine complex theories, design and build complex structures,
generate and connect complex concepts, and discuss and fine-tune complex ideas. But
perhaps our greatest intellectual skill is to make the complex simple, to bring expansion back
to the essence. None of which is something the birds and bees, the cows, or the trees can
be spotted doing too often!

Recognizing Hibernation Mode

The intellect is a vital resource within our consciousness that has been neglected, and in
many instances almost ignored. If it is not used it becomes weak, trophies, and can
eventually shut down. This is what happens when we either blindly believe what we are told
or allow others to make our decisions for us.

The sign that the intellect is in “hibernation mode” is when we act habitually, especially when
the habit is unhealthy i.e. an action that goes against the maintenance of our physical or
mental well-being. It means the intellect has not consciously created and evaluated the
thought, and that thought has gone straight to action. This of course is how all habits are
born. The smoker may have begun their “smoking career” by using their intellect to assess
and evaluate the thought/desire to smoke, and based on evidence that others enjoy it and
live, the self decides to give it a try and then acts on that decision. It’s not long however
before the intellect is bypassed in the journey from thought to action, and the habit of
smoking is programmed into consciousness. When the intellect is ignored repeatedly it goes
to sleep and autopilot “kicks in”. As in an aircraft when the autopilot is on, the pilot can
sleep. Apparently, they shouldn’t of course, but they can, and some do. When the intellect is
asleep the self finds it hard to see clearly and discern accurately what is true and what is
false, what would be the healthy thing to do, and what would be unhealthy. Habit means our
intellect, the pilot within our consciousness, has gone for a snooze and only a loud noise or a
sudden collision will jerk it back awake. That’s why sometimes it takes a crisis in our life or in
certain relationships to jerk us awake and reactivate our sleepy intellect.
Unfortunately, the intellect is not well exercised, developed, or strengthened by our formal
education, which focuses mainly on “memorizing” information and not discerning the quality
or the significance of the information.

Navigating Two Modes of the Intellect

There are essentially two modes in which we can use our intellect. The “rational” mode and
the “intuitive” mode. Imagine a transparent sphere. It represents your consciousness. The
inner surface of the sphere represents your mind, a screen that is all around you the “self-
aware self”. Inside, at the center of the sphere is a ball of light, this represents your spiritual
heart, the core of your being. Connecting the ball of light (your heart) and the surface of the
sphere (your mind) is a line along which there is a movable eye, this represents your
intellect. You, the “self-aware self’ can move the “eye” of your intellect along the line
sometimes using the mind in a rational process of “thinking things through” on the screen.
Or you, the “self-aware self” can bring your inner eye down to the other end of the line, to the
heart of your being, the core of your consciousness, from where intuition i.e. intuitive feelings
can arise and be perceived/felt. You, the “self-aware self” can move easily between the two,
using the intellect in either mode – the “rational mode”, which tends to require much thought
generation (possibility thinking) or the “intuitive mode” which tends to require a quiet mind so
there can be a clear awareness of what is perceived/felt at a deeper more subtle level.

For the practical decisions in life, usually connected with external events and circumstances,
the self will come to the surface to use the intellect in a “rational” way, creating many
thoughts on the screen of the mind, making practical decisions, and then acting on those
decisions. In any process of “thought creation”, there need to be moments of “discernment”,
which means using the eye of the intellect to assess the quality and appropriateness of each
thought/idea, prior to deciding and acting. For example, let’s say the classroom has to be
prepared for a visiting speaker. How many chairs are required? What are the different ways
the chairs can be laid out? What is the best layout to suit this speaker’s style? How many
people are needed at the door and where should they stand and what should they
do? These are all practical issues and the self uses the intellect to create and “think through”
all the possibilities on the screen of the mind in a rational and practical way.

Mind – Intellect – Heart Relationship

The mind is also the interface between the outer world of “doing” and the inner world of
“being”. Just as a flag is susceptible to the wind and rain, the mind is susceptible to the
ideas, suggestions, and input of others regarding chair numbers, layout, etc. If the self keeps
the mind open it will receive these ideas and then use the intellect to explore and assess the
quality of those ideas/inputs against its own creation. It will use the screen of the mind to
“see” and choose and therefore decide on which thought the idea to act.

But for the deeper issues in life, where wisdom is required, the self will bring the eye of the
intellect back down the line to the center of self, to the heart. With the mind now quiet, the
intellect holds whatever the issue is, challenge, or problem up to the light of the heart, which
is also the light of the innate wisdom of the self. Often the response of the heart comes later,
simply as a feeling, a subtle signal from the core of our being. The self then uses the intellect
to translate the feeling into a decision for which there is often no logical reason or
rationale. It just “feels” like the right thing to do.

For example, let’s say the self is “feeling” some anger arising within the self in the context of
a certain relationship and doesn’t know why. So the self uses the intellect to bring the
images and emotions down into the heart of the self to contemplate in quiet reflection for a
few moments. In time, the heart reflects back the images and feelings plus the cause of the
emotional discomfort. The self sees and realizes that it is trying to control the other having
forgotten that it cannot control others. The self sees through the eye of the intellect, that it is
still holding on to the false belief that the others “should do” what they are told. And if the self
has “refined” the intellect sufficiently, it may also see that it is making the mistake of making
its happiness dependent on others’ behaviors.

In many ways, the purpose of meditation is simply to raise one’s awareness of the
relationship between our mind, intellect, and heart. And as we do, we realize these faculties
of our consciousness are the primary tools that we use to create and craft our life. It
becomes clear that if we don’t awaken their full potential, if we do not take up our “inner
position” as the master craftsman, it is likely we will allow someone else to dictate how our
life unfolds, and because our intellect is sleepy, there is a good chance we won’t even
realize (real eye) it.
Question: What are your three key habits that indicate your intellect often goes to sleep
Reflection: What is the difference between a thought and a feeling?
Action: Take a few minutes at the start of every day this week, find a quiet corner, and
identify the main decisions you will have to make today. Take each possible decision, place
it on the screen of your mind, look at it gently and lovingly with the eye of your intellect, and
see if you can “get a feeling” for the right thing to do.
Written by our professor Mike George.