http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/use-of-intellect-is-better-than-applying-conditioned-mind
Science
says we all are evolved organisms and initially we were complex
chemical combinations from which we became single-celled, went on to
become multi-cellular creatures then fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals
to ape-like ancestors and finally Homo sapiens that we are today.
Accepted that we have evolved as the Darwin theory has explained. We
need to know what is that which takes us to a level higher than animals.
Man is considered a social animal. What made him be social animal???
We have many things in common with animals like the way we eating, commuting, reproducing, and protect ourselves. One more extraordinary trait is the fact that animals are conditioned by their environment and by experiences. Just imagine how an angry and vicious animal can be trained to be gentle at the hands of a ringmaster. Though the natural instinct of a few animals is to behave wild, man has conditioned them to be his slave. And while animals some have this adoptive mind which needs no one to interfere like for example it took thousands of years for the giraffe species to have long neck so that they can eat the acacia leaves on the tree tops. It was the adoptive mind at work. But having said that animals can use their conditioned and adoptive mind to better their live only in four features namely food, shelter, sleep and procreation. It does not and cannot use its mind to go beyond these.
We humans have intellect (Buddhi) along with mind (manas) which can be used to change the way we live and excel from one position to the better. When I say to live a better life it is not life of comfort, an animal with conditioned mind is able to find means to make its life comfortable. The intellect has to be used to understand things in spiritual aspect. Intellect is an ability to choose Shreya (beneficial) against Preya (pleasant). If we can use our intellect to choose then we can strengthen it by having confidence on it when a choice has to be made. All we need is awareness to choose our intellect instead of our conditioned mind or adaptive mind.
Is Intellect different from mind then???? Yes, if intellect is the program the mind is the processor. Intellect is higher than mind if the intellect is the boss the mind is its secretary. Mind provides all the necessary inputs for the project that is imagined by intellect, suppose the intellect has decided to go to a place the mind provides the route and the means to reach the same.
Often conditioned mind is mistaken as intellect. When we see animals which behave extraordinary we say they are intelligent but they are either using their conditioned or adaptive mind. If they were intelligent they would have started to think like we human about emancipation. It is unfortunate to see some humans also use conditioned mind and adaptive mind instead of the unique faculty called intellect. Conditioned mind is limited and it is like uploaded non-writable files while intellect is infinite with lots of writable files which can be uploaded or downloaded.
A conditioned mind is a small package of typical thoughts. When a conditioned mind seeks answer to questions it has to search for answers within that small package since it cannot go beyond it. Intellect can provide answers to any of the questions the mind puts to it simply because it is connected to something which the mind cannot comprehend to. Reading scriptures and knowing about them is in a way conditioning of mind but with those input if we use our intellect we will know the essence and significance of what the scriptures say, so that we can put those to use in our daily life. Intellect is sharpened by the unconditioned UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS.
We have many things in common with animals like the way we eating, commuting, reproducing, and protect ourselves. One more extraordinary trait is the fact that animals are conditioned by their environment and by experiences. Just imagine how an angry and vicious animal can be trained to be gentle at the hands of a ringmaster. Though the natural instinct of a few animals is to behave wild, man has conditioned them to be his slave. And while animals some have this adoptive mind which needs no one to interfere like for example it took thousands of years for the giraffe species to have long neck so that they can eat the acacia leaves on the tree tops. It was the adoptive mind at work. But having said that animals can use their conditioned and adoptive mind to better their live only in four features namely food, shelter, sleep and procreation. It does not and cannot use its mind to go beyond these.
We humans have intellect (Buddhi) along with mind (manas) which can be used to change the way we live and excel from one position to the better. When I say to live a better life it is not life of comfort, an animal with conditioned mind is able to find means to make its life comfortable. The intellect has to be used to understand things in spiritual aspect. Intellect is an ability to choose Shreya (beneficial) against Preya (pleasant). If we can use our intellect to choose then we can strengthen it by having confidence on it when a choice has to be made. All we need is awareness to choose our intellect instead of our conditioned mind or adaptive mind.
Is Intellect different from mind then???? Yes, if intellect is the program the mind is the processor. Intellect is higher than mind if the intellect is the boss the mind is its secretary. Mind provides all the necessary inputs for the project that is imagined by intellect, suppose the intellect has decided to go to a place the mind provides the route and the means to reach the same.
Often conditioned mind is mistaken as intellect. When we see animals which behave extraordinary we say they are intelligent but they are either using their conditioned or adaptive mind. If they were intelligent they would have started to think like we human about emancipation. It is unfortunate to see some humans also use conditioned mind and adaptive mind instead of the unique faculty called intellect. Conditioned mind is limited and it is like uploaded non-writable files while intellect is infinite with lots of writable files which can be uploaded or downloaded.
A conditioned mind is a small package of typical thoughts. When a conditioned mind seeks answer to questions it has to search for answers within that small package since it cannot go beyond it. Intellect can provide answers to any of the questions the mind puts to it simply because it is connected to something which the mind cannot comprehend to. Reading scriptures and knowing about them is in a way conditioning of mind but with those input if we use our intellect we will know the essence and significance of what the scriptures say, so that we can put those to use in our daily life. Intellect is sharpened by the unconditioned UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS.
It is very essential to gather knowledge but we have to contemplate and understand and assimilate other wise parrot rendering is of no use.
ReplyDeleteIntellect indeed, the intellect allows us to see & become aware of what's outside the box, the conditioned mind is entrapped by it's fixation & is unable to comprehend anything beyond it's own reasoning.
ReplyDeleteVery good post Sreeram