Mind’s Enlightenment

On what level can imagination find out the Truth?

What Truth? Imagination is a power of the mind and supplies the mind with formations which may be true or not. It is not the business of the imagination to find out whether they are true — that is the work of other powers.

What other powers?

Any powers whose business it is to seek for or reveal or discover the Truth — from mental discrimination or intuition to Supermind. All I meant was that Truth-finding is not the business of imagination which imagines all things, conceives all possibilities, but does not tell us which of them is true.

What is the proper function of the intellect? Is it helpful in Sadhana?

Its function is to reason from the perceptions of the mind and senses, to form conclusions and to put things in logical relation with each other. A well-trained intellect is a good preparation of the mind for greater knowledge, but it cannot itself give the Yogic knowledge or know the Divine — it can only have ideas about the Divine, but having ideas is not knowledge. In the course of the sadhana intellect has to be transformed into the higher mind which is itself a passage towards the true knowledge.

How to distinguish the thoughts and actions of the mind, vital and physical? Are not the vital’s thoughts and actions derived from desire or ego?

Yes, from some vital movement. Vital thought expresses vital movements, the play of vital forces. It does not think freely and independently of them as the thinking mind can do. The true thinking mind can stand above the vital movements, watch and observe and judge them freely as it would observe and judge outside things. In most men however the thinking mind (reason) is invaded by the vital mind and not free.

Does the thinking mind need some guidance in order to stand above the vital and watch and judge?

No. It can do it in its own right. It is its function to think, observe, discover and judge.

If the intellect judged impersonally, would it not be always right?

To judge impersonally does not necessarily mean to judge rightly — it only gives a greater chance of being right.

I have a “Meccano”. A thought came that I should offer it to the Mother as there was no time left for me to make steamers and aeroplanes from it. But soon followed another thought that I was still young and should use it and ought to send the Model Book to the Mother and ask her to select models for me to make and show her. Again, on returning from the pranam, I decided to send the whole set, but only after the Model Book had got bound properly and its stand repainted. I am much confused by these conflicting thoughts. What is the truth in them? How to pick out the correct thought at once? Please give me a clear answer. Finally I have decided to offer the “Meccano” to you.

These are merely different thoughts trying to represent different sides of a question. For the human thinking mind there are always many sides to everything and it decides according to its own bent or preference or to its habitual ideas or some reason that presents itself to the intellect as the best. It gets the real truth only when something else puts a higher light into it — when the psychic or the intuition touches it and makes it feel or see.

Before the psychic being takes hold of the Adhar, which part governs our mind, vital and physical?

Usually it is the Mind (buddhi) that governs the rest as best it can.

When the Buddhi governs the Adhar (mind, vital and physical), does the Mother’s Force work through the Buddhi?

Not necessarily — if the Buddhi is surrendered or open to the Mother, she works through it. If it is ignorant and closed to her, the mental Nature (Intelligence) works through the Buddhi.

What would be the right activity of the Buddhi when it opens or surrenders itself to the Mother?

The right activity of the buddhi is always to observe, discern, discriminate, understand rightly and give the right direction to the vital and the body. But it does it imperfectly so long as it is in the Ignorance; by opening to the Mother it begins to get the true light and direction. Afterwards it is transformed into intuition and from intuition to the instrumental action of the overmind or the supermind Consciousness.

How does the Buddhi begin to open or surrender to the Mother?

By recognising its own ignorance and aspiring for light and transformation.

Can it by itself have the right activity or must it be enlightened by the higher consciousness to do so?

If it is trained, it can act rightly within its limits, — but that does not give the higher Truth.

What is the true activity of the psychicised intellect?

To see and judge things in their inner or spiritual truth, not merely in their external appearances.

Once you wrote: “It is either the mind or the psychic that controls the vital or both the mind and the psychic together.” Why should the psychic control the vital together with the mind? I thought, the psychic being was sufficiently powerful.

Why should the mind be left out of the action? How is the mind to be spiritualised if the psychic refuses all association with it? Or what is the mind there for if it is not to be used as an instrument by the soul?

In the course of the sadhana what happens to the mental world of one’s own?

The Truth comes down in the mind and a world of Truth is created there.

When the mind has discovered that what it had received was not true, why should there be any “unwillingness and resistance” in its rejecting it?

Your question presupposes that the mental cares only for the truth and does not prefer its own opinions. Most minds have not that desire for the truth.

Why does something that happened come to one’s consciousness in a representation that changes the form of it instead of giving the fact?

Where? In the mind? The mind does not record things as they are, but as they appear to it. It catches parts, omits others; afterwards the memory and imagination mix together and make a quite different representation of it.

By this time it is possible for me to remain conscious of the Mother during my physical work unless I become careless. Now I feel that it is time I became aware of Her presence during intellectual activity also. How to start doing it?

By developing a double consciousness, one that reads and writes and one that watches and receives the inspiration or is in contact with the Divine.

While trying to remember the Mother during the intellectual work I cannot pay sufficient attention to what is read or written. Why is this so?

Because your consciousness is not wide enough to contain many things at a time.