Lucis Publishing Company: Twenty-four Books of Esoteric Philosophy by Alice Bailey and the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul

From Intellect to Intuition

In this era of a rapid increase in human intelligence and capacity to use the mind we run the risk of over-emphasis on intellectualism. "The mind is the slayer of the real" is a well-known reflection of an inherent danger.

In this book "From Intellect to Intuition", development of the intellect, while necessary, is shown as a means to an end and one step on the way to a fully awakened and active mental body.

The intellect is the rationalising, analytical aspect of the mind, concerned with knowledge. It can be used as a stepping-stone to penetrate into new realms and dimensions of thought, and to touch and awaken the intuitive faculty of pure reason. Between the intellect and the intuition, however, a gap exists until it has been consciously bridged through meditation. Meditation is sometimes defined as "thinking in the heart"; correct meditation proceeds only when the heart and mind function together in unison. To touch the intuition, therefore, this blending of heart and mind is a necessity, since the intuitive sense is a faculty of the heart aroused by the activity of the integrated, three-fold mind.

Meditation is also the deliberate application of discipline to the mind to render it controlled, concentrated and one- pointed at will. Right use of the mind in meditation opens the consciousness to the beauty, truth and goodness of the soul, through the five stages of concentration-meditation-contemplation-illumination-inspiration. These five stages lead to union with the soul--the "son of mind"--and direct knowledge of divinity, creating an instrument of intelligence for the soul to use in daily life.

"The experienced voice of the eastern wisdom comes to us with one word: Meditation. The question naturally arises: 'Is that all?' and the answer is: 'Yes.' If meditation is rightly followed, and if perseverance is the keynote of the life, then increasingly soul contact is established. The results of that contact work out in self-discipline, in purification, and in the life of aspiration and of service. Meditation in the eastern sense is . . . a strictly mental process, leading to soul knowledge and illumination. It is a fact in nature that 'as a man thinketh (in his heart) so is he.'"