The Mind: Friend or Foe?
Dear friends,
"You're stuck in your head." "Stop overthinking things." "Truth must be experienced, not understood." "Book learning is not real knowledge." — etc. The mind often gets a bad rap, but like many things with some truth in them, this oftentimes is due to a misunderstanding.
A good carpenter has a full tool belt. Every tool serves a purpose. Falling in love with, or favoring, one tool above the others is a mistake. Suppose a friend comes to you asking for help in changing his Christmas tree lights. It would be a bit silly for you to say "I'll be right there, and I'll bring my hammer, because it's my favorite tool! I use it for everything."
The mind serves a purpose. Books are read and great teachers give talks for a reason. We learn from these things, but at the same time, it is not enough. Deep insight and understanding come from intuition and from personal experiences of Spirit's touch. Those things cannot be gained through the mind or through thought.
Einstein received the theory of relativity in a spontaneous intuitive flash. It took decades to prove what he had discovered in those few moments. But both aspects were necessary: the flash of insight and the subsequent work to prove him right. And his intuition came in physics, not carpentry. His lifetime of deep study of the laws of our universe prepared his mind for that flash to be able to enter.
He further said:
I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
As Yogananda said, addressing Spirit, "I will reason, I will will, I will act, but guide Thou my reason, will, and activity to the right path in everything." He included reason because it is essential as we interact with the world around us. But overly favoring reason (or hammers!) will not get us where we want to go.
A quiet heart is a prerequisite for clear reason. If the heart is agitated, the clever mind can always make up a reason for holding whatever thought is necessary in order to protect the ego. The agitated heart similarly thwarts intuition and the “insights” gained ought not to be trusted.
If one has a strong right arm and a weak left arm the tendency is to use the strong right arm for all tasks. But the better strategy is to use the weaker left arm, as that's what needs practice and improves one’s abilities. We may well be “too much in our heads” but may equally be too tossed around by emotions. Both the heart and the head are needed, but a calm heart is paramount in either case.
May we use all the abilities Spirit has given us while remaining free in the heart to know and select whatever tool is best for the situation at hand.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West