Before we advance to the next principles, the mental ones, let’s dive into the nature of the mind.
We have all heard the terms conscious and subconscious. The theory is that our mind is divided in two different parts. The one that thinks consciously, the one that reasons. And the one that does things automatically, subconsciously.
Modern psychologists set the conscious mind aside and bundled all the rest into the subconscious mind, ignoring the fact that they were mixing the highest and lowest qualities of mind. Putting them in the same class, and leaving the middle quality by itself.
The subconscious theory becomes very confusing. Because we have grouped together the most sublime flashes of genius and the silliest instincts of lower development. How can the subconscious be capable of such genius and such low instincts?
If you are familiar with these modern theories of consciousness, you’ll be able to understand the three mental principles. Just remember this:
The conscious mind corresponds with the Intellect principle in the Yogi philosophy.
The lowest part of the subconscious mind is what the Yogis call the Instinctive Mind.
The higher part of the subconscious mind is what the Yogis call the Spiritual Mind.
Modern psychologists and philosophers are not wrong, it is very useful to identify the mind between conscious and subconscious. It is much better to divide the mind in this way than to not divide it at all. They Yogis just know there’s another division inside the subconscious mind. Higher thoughts and lower thoughts.
You may have preconceived ideas about this subject of the mind, but bear with me, open yourself to the teachings of the ancient Yogis before you form your final opinion. As we touch upon each of these three mental principles, you will see the similarities and the differences between the Yogi teachings and the modern Western theories.
The ‘thinking part’ of us functions on three planes, each plane merging imperceptibly into the planes on either side of it. You may think of it either as one mind functioning along three lines, or as three minds merging into each other.
This is a series of emails describing the composition of us humans. I will briefly write about the general nature of each of these seven principles. At the end of this email series, I will send a downloadable PDF file so that you can have them handy and continue studying them to gain a complete understanding of yourself.
Previous posts in this series:
