Body, Mind and Intellect

Our life experiences are most often effected and shaped by an interplay between our body, our mind and our intellect.

The body is very aware of our 5 senses that are perceived by the mind. Remember that our sense organs are just tools which experience through our bodies and are perceived as good or not-good by the mind. Wool may feel itchy or may feel irritating to the skin surface and silk feels smooth. Water looks like water to the eyes whether it is warm or ice-cold; only touching it will allow our sense of touch to know (through the mind) that it may be pleasant to feel ice water when the weather is very hot, or more pleasant to feel the warm water when we feel very cold. These are just a couple of examples to help you remember the mind-body interaction.

Many people gauge their intelligence through powers of their intellect. The intellect bases its current decisions on past learned experiences and anticipates future outcomes based on those experiences. So an ice-cold beer or soda may feel very good to the mind and body on a very hot day but the prior experience for reprimand from your boss for drinking either at work (maybe in a no-food/drink allowed environment?) will use your intellectual awareness to wait until you get home to do so. An intellectual awareness of someone you love being killed by a drunk driver may prevent you from drinking and driving, while a death of a parent from alcoholism may prevent you from ever drinking at all. The intellect is what makes us think twice about an impulsive decision and often stops us before we or someone else gets hurt.

So the intellect can give good direction to the whims and fancies of the mind and body which are constantly noticing and remembering likes/dislikes and running towards things they like; running away from what is disliked. Yet we all know that even with previous experience and/or knowledge, the mind and body can often overcome the intellect. This is how many addictions can be pursued and fears can be avoided.

Remember though, that sometimes actions that the mind warns us against, turn out well. A person may know that in professional sports, many have been seriously injured and this person may still pursue such a sport out of a true “calling” towards it. Another person may be fearful of water and learn how to swim to help their own kids (and themselves) feel more confident in/around water.

What is it that allows such actions? In situations that turn out well, our mind and intellect will often say the person had “courage” or “luck” or even a “calling” to such action, while in less-positive outcomes our minds and intellects will just as likely say the person was “irresponsible” or an unnecessary “risk taker.”

This shows that our minds and intellects are filled with judgement. Towards ourselves and toward others too.

Awareness is a term that is often used in spiritual circles that sees each experience as neither good nor bad. They are seen as experiences that happen. No need to pat on the back or to condemn either. Guess who/what always likes either a pat on the back or condemnation? The ego! Beyond this, is the Awareness behind it all. This is sometimes referred to as the Soul, the Spirit, God, the Universe, and/or a Higher Consciousness.

This post is to remind you that in our lives, we are most often controlled by our emotions and desires first. We often allow these emotions and desires to take us over and direct our actions. This means the ability to rationalize and be objective isn’t so strong, as the intellect is not stronger than the mind’s instinctive reactions/impulses. With a weaker intellect, one will be be tossed and turned in all directions by the impulses of the senses. In the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic texts, there’s a visual example to better explain how our senses, body, mind, intellect, and Spirit interplay. Here is a simple description of the story shared:

Imagine horses and a carriage, with the driver controlling the reins and the passenger inside the carriage. The horses represent our five senses going in all directions based on what they hear, see, feel, etc. The reigns represent the mind because wherever the senses go the mind goes, too. The driver represents the intellect. So the intellect has to be strong to control the reins attached to the horses in order to arrive safely to the intended destination.

The carriage represents our body. The passenger inside the carriage is the Spirit. What would happen if the driver let go of the reigns? The horse would run all over the place, the carriage wouldn’t be safe, and the passenger wouldn’t have a place to sit comfortably during their journey.

Therefore, the process of taking control of your life falls on the priority to develop your Spiritual awareness and direction, strengthen the intellect and make it so strong that no matter where those horses (the senses) want to roam, you know how to pull the reins (the mind) back into the right position.

The intellect and mind being Ego-based in nature, will not like knowing that the Spirit/Soul is truly the main driver rather than just the driver seen (which is the mind). Living and connecting with this understanding is where true power exists.

Meditation helps. I am here to help too. Hope you enjoyed this post. Do contact me if you are interested in truly directing your own life experience from a place of personal power.

Kindly,

Hanifa

Contact by email or phone/text to set up an appointment or to ask any related questions!

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