Intellect

An Individual comprises of three components viz., Body, Mind and Intellect and the life force operates through these three components. While Body is a physical instrument, the mind is an eternal energy which has, inter alia, an ability to feel, a curiosity and desire for knowledge, an ability of being aware of the sensations and stimuli received through the five sensory organs, and an ability of having necessary actions taken through the five organs of action. Intellect is a process which helps the mind in discrimination, analysis and decision making. For this purpose, the mind uses the brain as the CPU or central processing unit of a computer with the five sensory organs connected to the brain as input devices and the five organs of actions also connected to the brain as output devices. The information recorded in the brain and the bank of experiences, upbringing etc. are used in the process of discrimination. Unless the mind wants to see or listen to something, brain does not register any sight or sound, even though the visual and audio signals may actually reach the eyes or the ears. Similarly, no organ of action receives any command for voluntary action through the brain, such as for lifting a pen, reading a newspaper or walking to the post office unless so decided by the mind. Thus we see that, perception and action are also functions of the mind as the master, with the brain as the ever-obedient servant. It follows, therefore, that the quality of perception and action depends on the effectiveness of both these faculties.

The process of discrimination and decision making includes several other processes some of which could be - proper perception and understanding of a situation, recalling related past data, past experience, cultural factors, proper analysis of all the data, weighing of alternatives and arriving at the best alternative etc. Performance of all the above functions by the intellect depends on the state of mind as well as the capability of the brain. Assuming that the capability of a person’s brain remains the same as far as all his actions are concerned, state of his mind becomes most important with respect to the quality of the functions of intellect. Moreover, since the mind is the master it has the choice to ignore or disregard any output of the intellectual process and decide to act solely on the basis of emotions and feelings.

The functions of intellect can be divided into three major components viz., comprehension, imagination and creation.The Quality of imagination and creation depend significantly on the quality of comprehension because it provides the most important input for analysis and decision. If comprehension is defective the resultant decision is bound to be sub-optimal as it will not address the need of the situation appropriately.


Comprehension:
This requires, apart from the physical activity of perceiving the situation and sending it to the brain, getting a grasp of all the required details and gaining a comprehensive understanding of pertinent factors in the present context. This is possible only if the mind can give its attention fully to what is being perceived. In the absence of full attention, only the physical act of perception will take place without its proper recording in the brain e.g. looking without seeing or hearing without listening and so on. Unless the mind takes interest in the act of perception, brain does not record what is perceived. For example, we see so many people while walking on the road but do not retain the images of their faces as they are strangers and as such the mind is not interested in them. However, if an accident takes place on the road, we would be able to recall the incident later as it was something unusual and therefore the mind took a note of it.Therefore, if the mind is not attentive or preoccupied in some other thought or disturbed due to something, it cannot concentrate and comprehend fully. The mind being completely calm and undisturbed is a prerequisite for proper grasping and comprehension. In the absence of this the quality of the functions of intellect would not be optimal.

Imagination:
Based on what is comprehended and going through several other processes like recall of related past data, past experience, current requirements etc. the faculty of imagination pictures several scenarios and evaluates corresponding lines of action. Impact of each of them is also visualized and different alternatives are arrived at. This process is repeated several times to insure that not a single aspect of the problem is ignored. The process of visualizing different alternative solutions is greatly influenced by the state of mind. A mind that has love and respect towards fellow beings and a mind that harbours feelings of hurt, hatred and vengeance will both imagine and arrive at scenarios that are vastly different in human quality.

Creation:
As explained above, the process of imagination is performed in depth and for long enough duration before finalising the preferred line of action. Arriving at a conclusion based on the earlier step or finalising a particular decision is the completion of this function. We can see that the faculty of arriving at a decision (or action) is also heavily influenced by the state of mind. A mind that is calm and peaceful will enable the intellect to do these functions quickly as it does not present a clutter of unwanted details, feelings, emotions etc. Therefore, an endowed mind as explained elsewhere on this site is of great importance for improving the quality of intellect.

Now, only an endowed mind will be fully satisfied, peaceful and happy. Such a mind alone would not be disturbed by passions of any kind and therefore would be in a position to arrive at the right solution. An endowed mind is calm, concentrates on the situation at hand, and is able to perfect its perception. When a mind is in the hold of strong emotions it is immensely disturbed and so unable to comprehend properly. This gives rise to incomplete or mis-perception based on which further steps are performed. Naturally incorrect actions would be taken for which one would perhaps feel sorry later. Many of us would have experienced this. When we look back at a certain period in the past, we perceive it differently compared to what we did earlier. We feel sorry for the ill feelings our actions might have caused, and may even feel ashamed of our behaviour. Emotions are normally momentary and their burst subsides in some time. That is the reason wise people say that one should count up to 100 when overcome by anger before taking any action. This gives enough time for the emotion to pass and the mind to get back to its original state.

As we have seen above, state of mind and quality of intellect go hand in hand. As the state of mind elevates and approaches a state of (mental) affluence so also the solutions found by the intellect approach perfection in all respects. Such intellect alone can find ideal solutions at personal, communal, corporate, national, and international levels. They would address the problems comprehensively, in the interest of all concerned, promoting a sense of well being and generating overall goodwill.

Human intellect being the result of interaction between the mind and the brain, depends on two factors:

i) upbringing ( parental influences and environmental conditioning of a person ) and
ii) capability of the brain


Being a supreme computer, how well the brain functions depends both on the ‘hardware’ as well as the ‘software’ and data loaded therein. Just as any computer is an obedient servant of its operator so also the brain of a person is the obedient servant of that person’s mind. However, a person’s upbringing and state of mind will determine whether that person will use, misuse or abuse his or her supreme computer! Depending on the extent to which the brain is used as a supreme computer and the extent to which the mind gets involved as its operator, human intellect can be broadly classified into the following categories:

Brain-oriented intellect:
People with such an intellect have an above average IQ. They are usually very good at mathematics and logical or analytical thinking. They also have an excellent memory and sometimes even a photographic memory. A classic example is the Indian prodigy and mathematical genius, Shakuntala Devi. Although such prodigies are an exception, persons with brain-oriented intellect are likely to have a greater aptitude for careers that involve lot of calculations and little imagination such as accountants, auditors, financial analysts, mathematicians, statisticians, etc.

Mind-oriented intellect:
In people with mind-oriented intellect the mind takes an upper hand over brain. They have very strong powers of imagination and creativity. Consequently, their mind is involved to a much greater degree than the brain in their lives or professions. They are far more in tune with their own feelings as also those of others. These people are good as architects, animators, dancers, dramatists, fashion designers, game designers, graphic artists, lyricists, music directors, novelists, painters, poets, sculptors, screenplay writers, singers, etc.

Balanced intellect:
Such persons may have a normal or above-average IQ but what is important is that the use of mind and brain is far more balanced. A majority of the population likely has a balanced intellect wherein they rely on both brain and mind according to the demands of the situation. They may be found in a wide range of professions like computer programmers, consultants, detectives, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, estate agents, farmers, financial and investment advisors, judges, lawyers, nurses, portfolio managers, scientists, social workers, teachers, etc.

In conclusion, no matter what type of intellect a person has, he or she will always have a choice of careers for the pursuit of livelihood, satisfaction and happiness. Many parents want their children to follow their own footsteps or to pursue careers which they couldn’t pursue due to circumstances. What is important to remember is that a very wide choice of careers is available to children today. Therefore, children should be given the freedom to choose their careers based on their own aptitude. Of course, freedom comes with responsibility! Quite often, when a person chooses a hobby as a career, he tends to get bored with it after some time because of the discipline involved. So children have to be told: Do what you enjoy and then enjoy what you do!

The types of intellects described above are generally from the point of view of materialistic transactions and worldly life where one has to use the brain. But true intelligence is beyond the realms of logic and thinking, and the brain can never reach out to it. A totally calm mind akin to a ripple-less lake is absolutely thought-free and therefore in constant union with the universal mind. The intellect operating with such an exalted mind knows everything without using the brain and can find the perfect solution to every problem. Such is the intelligence of Saints and Masters which is Brain-Independent. Their responses to situations are spontaneous, from the heart, and without apparently using any logic or rationale. They have no attraction for worldly wealth or positions of power though they may live a family life like others and be gainfully employed for earning a livelihood.

When we are treading on the spiritual path our aim is to purify the mind of all passions and realize an endowed mind i.e. one that is always satisfied, peaceful and cheerful. For this, we resort to chanting or some other similar method to make the mind thought free and bring about a change in our outlook towards life. We also need to use techniques like ICE, Game of chess, Pause etc. appropriately to transform our lives from one of stress, tension, pain and suffering to one of contentment, peace and happiness. Though this is easily explained and appreciated, it takes patience and perseverance to implement in life, because it calls for a complete reversal of earlier habits of tension, worry, craving and attachment. When this happens, true intelligence develops and one experiences joy and joy alone in everything and everywhere.