1) If only the monkey had intellect.

 

2) Beyond the Mind is another subtle machine given to us by God. This subtle machine is called Intellect.

 

3) The structure is like this: first are the Senses which are connected to Mind; the Mind is governed by the Intellect, and the Intellect by the Soul.

 

4) Symbolically: senses è mind è intellect è soul.

 

5) Bigger Mind comprises two parts: mind and intellect. Mind desires, intellect decides. Intellect is the ability to discern, discriminate, judge, evaluate.

 

6) Intellect is the most subtle -- and most powerful -- of the powers that God has given us.

 

7) Desires are ever-fresh. They never get old. It's the body -- the embodiment of desires -- that ages. Man ages. But the hope that tomorrow will be better than today, the hope of more happiness in future, never dies.

 

8) Wisdom lies in recognizing the fact that ageing is the early warning system that God had devised. Unfortunately, some unwise people don't recognize this. When the hair begins to gray, they try to dye it, rather than accept the fact that they are getting older, that they have fewer years to realize God, that they must increase their pace in the spiritual path in order to reach God in their lifetime.

 

9) In Scriptures and over the ages, various philosophers had observed that the world is mithya or unreal. Others had said the world is satya or real.

 

10) In a sense, both schools are right. Some philosophers had tried to reconcile these seemingly contradictory views. There are two worlds: the outer world and the inner world. The outer world is the physical world (satya), one created by God. The inner world (mithya) is created by the mind. The inner world should be reserved only for God. There is no place for anyone/anything else. The inner world is not for impure thoughts and afflictive emotions like envy, lust, anger, hatred, greed, etc. One's inner world is a sacred place. Reserve it for God. Do not let in anyone else, however big he or she is. Do not let anything else in, however strong that emotion is. Whatever be the provocation or perceived insults or joy, let not your inner world be taken over by others or other things. Inner world is only for God. No trespassers must be allowed.

 

11) When will we get detached from the world?

 

12) Isolation from the External World won't help. It's the detachment from the Internal World -- the Desires, the Emotions, the Thoughts -- that is essential. Control over thoughts is the key.

 

13) If one can gain such control over thoughts and mind, external objects won't affect one anymore, taking one closer to God.

 

14) Vairagya (renunciation) is not an external state; rather, it's internal. Renunciation means not sacrifice of the external world, material world, objects, so on; rather, it's an internal process, detachment from within.

 

15) In order to purify the heart, the mind, the intellect, it's necessary to turn to spiritual science.

 

16) Purify the internal world first, the external world will become better by itself.

 

17) There are different levels of happiness. If you are seeking total happiness, you got to be creative and smart to use your purified intellect.

 

18) Once there was this tall man, desperate for some good sleep on a cold winter night. He seeks to cover himself totally with a blanket. But the blanket is shorter than him. So, from time to time, he struggles with the blanket. When he covers his head, his feet get exposed. After a while, he covers his feet, but his head gets exposed to elements. Throughout the night, he struggles, seeking total fulfillment of his need. But all he has to do is to adjust himself to the situation created by the short blanket; all he has to do really is curl up a bit, making his size fit the blanket, and presto, he can cover his whole body with the same blanket and get some sleep.

 

Click here for the salient points of the discourse on Day Three