The Mind: Mind vs. Intellect

By Jenka

The mind is bigger than the brain. When people say "my mind," they are most likely referring to their intellect. The intellect is a process of the brain and, much of the time, along with our emotions, acts as part of our ego's defense system. The intended function of the intellect was to assess our immediate environment and communicate the information to the body so it could respond in whatever manner was appropriate to protect our physical being.

Our reasoning powers were always intended to be a cooperative mix of intellect and mind. In time, however, we allowed our ego to appropriate our identity. As a result, the intellect took over the lion's share of our reasoning process and the mind was pushed into the background.

The intellect is a reactive mechanism. Although it is constantly processing information, it is unable to draw the correct conclusions without the assistance of the mind. The reason is that our intellect only has access to the effects (appearances) and not the causes of events.

The mind is part of the Timeless Self. I am assigning this distinction purely for conceptual purposes. Since the Human and Timeless Selves are integrated, it is difficult to determine precisely how much of what belongs to whom.

The mind is a creative intelligence. It has access to not only a wider range of information, some of which would be considered the future by the intellect, but it also knows the purpose of events. If the intellect is to get at the Truth, it must incorporate the information available from the mind.

How do you tell the difference between your mind and your intellect? The mind always communicates first, no exceptions. It does so in a very soft and non-aggressive manner. It merely makes a gentle suggestion and only speaks once. The intellect always follows, no exceptions, sometimes almost immediately. The first thing it does is discredit the message from the mind. It is much louder and, depending on the size of our ego, more persistent. In many people, the intellect demands all our attention, all the time. It keeps going over old ground or speculating about the future. In the process, we get distracted and become blind to our immediate environment (the here and now).

Listening to our mind is an acquired skill. It is particularly difficult for those of us who consider ourselves intellectuals, because we have developed our brains to a degree where the speed of information between the mind and intellect is almost simultaneous and, therefore, more difficult to differentiate. An even bigger obstacle to accepting information from our mind is that the mind is not logical. It seldom seems to make any sense and, unlike the intellect, never offers any justification for its statements.

When I first started to make a concerted effort to hear my mind, I found that I was already analyzing my fourth option about what to do, before I remembered that I had heard my mind and totally disregarded it.

At the time, I lived in a neighborhood where parking spots were impossible to get. Every night, I would drive around for an hour before I would find a space. One night, I came home very tired at two o'clock in the morning. In desperation, I said, "Okay Mind, if you are so great, find me a parking spot." Before I could even finish my sentence, a thought popped into my head telling me to turn left. My immediate response was: "Bull!" I knew there were no parking spots to be found in that area because it was nothing but blocks of apartment buildings which meant lots of people home and all their cars on the street.

I decided to do the logical thing and head for the commercial district, which was in the opposite direction. I reasoned that office buildings would be empty and restaurants closed at that hour, so I would have a better chance of finding a space. After driving around in circles for twenty minutes, I thought, "Well, at least let me prove to myself that I was right to ignore that stupid thought." I went back to the starting point, where I first heard my mind, and turned left. Less than half a block from my door there was a space big enough for two of my cars.

I was fortunate that this experience happened in the middle of the night. Had I received the guidance during the day and ignored it, someone else would have parked in the spot and I would have never known what I missed. That taught me a lesson and since then, I have amazed many people with my uncanny ability to find convenient parking spaces at the most crowded locations.

For some of us, listening to the mind can be tricky at first. I used to consider myself a person of logic. Ergo, all my actions had to make sense and have a legitimate purpose. Since, as I mentioned before, the mind never bothers to give a reason and since I did not know the difference between my mind and intellect, I would follow the mind's prompting, but I would intellectually rationalize a good reason for why I was doing it. I soon discovered that the reason I was brought to a certain place at a certain time had no relation to the reason I gave myself for being there. After a while, I became angry because I thought I was being lied to, only I didn't know by whom, so I refused to follow my promptings until I figured out who was doing what to whom and why.

Fortunately, my readers can learn from my mistakes and save some time.

Follow your promptings without manufacturing reasons for doing so. All will be revealed to you in good time. Initially, this will probably not be until after the fact. It is merely a safeguard to insure that your reactions are spontaneous. You know if you are told ahead of time that your face will meet up with a pie, you will close your eyes in anticipation before there is a reason to and probably bungle the event.

I must caution you not to accept every stray idea that pops into your head without discrimination. You must first make sure of your source before you allow it to influence you. If you are emotionally distressed, that is not a state conducive to hearing your mind. So, if you are hearing things, especially when what you are hearing is potentially harmful to yourself or someone else, do not succumb to such urges. Your mind is an aspect of your Timeless Self. At that level, there are no enemies and aggression of any sort is not tolerated.

A tree is known by its fruit. So examine the input you are receiving and be very selective about what you choose to follow. No matter where you think the information is coming from, you are ultimately responsible for your actions and will be the one to bear the consequences thereof.

When you first try to interact with your mind, I recommend that you start small, like telling time without the aid of a watch. Build up a stable of little victories before you go on to more serious matters. You will be amazed how much fear your body will generate when you find out that listening to your mind actually works. If you test your ability to hear your mind too soon regarding matters that are extremely important to you, you will, most likely, experience such a degree of anxiety that you will be unable to hear anything.

This was an excerpt from "A Heaven on Earth: Human Alchemy through the Practical Use of Universal Principles." Please visit:  http://www.jenkapublications.com/.