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Mind and Intellect

According to Indian philosophy, our mind is flow of thoughts. Whenever we have thoughts, mind has to be there. On the contrary, if there are no thoughts then there is no mind. When we are sleeping, there are no thoughts, hence there is no mind during sleep. The state of our mind depends on emotions of our thoughts. When our thoughts are calm and hopeful our mind is calm and hopeful. When our thoughts are agitated, the mind is agitated. Thoughts are not static they are always flowing, it is like a river, sometime goes through turbulence, sometime flows in calm.


Intellect is our decision making capability. Intellect directs the flow of thoughts, that is mind. If our intellect is noble, the thought flowing must also be noble. Through our sense organs, the mind receives external stimuli . The intellect, being the discriminating faculty, examines and judges the stimuli received by the mind, and decides what needs to be done. This decision is sent to the organs of action. Intellect depends on the memory bank of past experiences and knowledge. On the basis of the memory bank and knowledge, Intellect decides on which course of action need to be taken. The mind is the seat of emotions such as love, greed, hatred, compassion and jealousy. The intellect is the source of logic and ideologies such as maths formula, science discovery, freedom, liberty etc. The mind can function only in known realms, whereas the intellect can reach into yet unconquered realms of thought. The mind is ever in a state of flux, it always keep changing like whether I should do something or not. Intellect stabilizes the thoughts with its judgement power. Intellect decides which path need to be taken and stops the vacillation of mind. Mind and intellect are not two different parts of the body, they are just two functionality in human beings.As per Buddha's teachings: All mental states have mind as their forerunner, mind is their chief, and they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts, with a pure mind, then happiness follows one. If one speaks or acts, with a defiled mind, then suffering follows one.

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