Today we shall touch on Intellect or Buddhi in Sanskrit. Intellect or Buddhi has nothing to do with intelligence. Many people make the mistake of thinking that intellect is intelligence and that to be a spiritual person you need to have intelligence or to be highly educated to understand spiritual matters. This is not so. Trying to understand spirituality based on intelligence is to intellectualize spirituality which lands you in bookish knowledge. Yes, you may be very knowledgeable on many matters but how much of it is wisdom. To fully understand spirituality, you need to use your heart and listen to the inner voice of understanding. The voice which teaches you from within reveals to you the many secrets of the spiritual world.
To acquire knowledge without understanding its meaning is of no use. To understand without application also of no use. Firstly, acquire the knowledge then try to understand what it means by reflecting and contemplating on it. Then apply the knowledge in your daily life. Then you will be able to experience the knowledge you have acquired. That is wisdom. Once you have experienced it no one can take it away from you.
Intellect has 5 attributes namely inquiry, control, truth and purity. For purity it covers both internal and external purity. I shall explain as we go along. It is the intellect or identity that we carry with us life after life and that is the part of us which we need to look after and with every life we take we nurture the five attributes, hone it to perfection before we can experience the oneness that many of the Masters talk about. Call it enlightenment or Self-realization or Oneness of Creation or whatever you wish to call it, it is the same end point of life sojourn. You may ask, is it possible? If it was not Christ would not have said “Be perfect as our Father in heaven art perfect”
Let’s talk about inquiry. This is the greatest gift to mankind, the ability to inquire. Only humans have this ability not animals. What do we inquire about. Firstly, we do ask a lot of questions about life, about people, about many things as it is in our nature to ask questions. Mankind has progressed thus far into the 21st century due to his inquiring mind, So, this process of inquiry should move into the teachings of all the great Masters. Read about them as they are truly gems to be uncovered. We tend to be close in our inquiry habit and not daring enough to move outside the comfort zone of our own belief system. Have an open mind and read up on all the various teachings in the books such as the Gita, the Bible, the Koran, the Torah the Granth Sahib and others. As a seeker your very first inquiry should be “Who am I?” Then, next “What am I doing here”? and next “Where am I going”? Man has gone to the moon and beyond. Mars is his next destination, but he has not moved one step closer within himself.
Next is control – again only humans have the ability to exercise control over the five senses and over self. Why is it necessary to be a master in this area? Without self-control as humans, we are no better than animals. Take anger for example, isn’t that something we need to take control over? Lust, greed, gluttony, jealousy, envy. These are the areas in which self-control is crucial. To be able to have control of the five senses, you need to be mindful of your thoughts and to allow the Gatekeeper to always be with you.
The third attribute is Truth. To some a white lie is OK, yes, it is so at a lower level of your journey. However, at a higher level there is only TRUTH and no second. A lie is a lie not meaning what you say is not good enough. So always say what you mean and mean what you say. So do not joke about things and then say Oh I was only joking as an excuse to cover up a lie.
Purity- the fourth attribute has two components that is why in total there are five attributes. In the area of purity, we have internal and external purity. External purity refers to speech and action while internal purity which no one can see as it is between you and God covers the area of thinking and intention.