Spirituality and the Intellectual Struggle

Last updated on: May 10, 2018 at 5:12 pm by Gudjon Bergmann

Spirituality and the Intellectual Struggle 2018-05-10T17:12:31+00:00 Gudjon Bergmann

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

An intellectual struggle with spiritual concepts, such as God and Spirit, seems to be a necessary precursor to gaining important insights. In Jnana Yoga, for example, the process is to use the intellect to rise above the intellect, to push the intellect to a breaking point, much like in a Zen koan would, until it finally subsides, and one can transcend the mind and unveil the Spirit, Self or Soul.

Discouraging Thinking and Intellect

In my experience, the intellectual struggle is an important part of the spiritual process, which is why it is hard to understand why nearly all mass religious and spiritual movements overtly discourage thinking.

Thomas Moore portrays this tendency well in his book, A Religion of One’s Own:

“The one ingredient missing in much of modern spirituality is intelligence. Yet, when you examine the religious traditions of the world you find study, study, and more study. Monks amass libraries, whether in France or Tibet. Spiritual teachers amass ancient wisdom, whether in Germany or Africa. To be spiritual, you have to be on guard against flimsy ideas and practices. The whole area of religion and spirituality invites flimflam and is filled with con men and con women. Both the real teachers and the charlatans are asking you to accept their approach to insoluble mysteries. It’s difficult to know where to stand. You need your intelligence and your skepticism.”

Exactly. You need both discernment and an intellectual understanding of spiritual principles to navigate this space. But what about those I mentioned before, those who seek to move beyond the mind?

Moving Beyond the Mind

In areas of spiritual growth where one aims to transcend everything that is bound in time and space, the unveiling process seems to require intellectual struggle. The struggle is to use the mind to see something beyond the mind. Granted, once the beyond is seen, the intellect seems like an unimportant toy, but up until that point, it is a very important tool.

In that context, I understand where the tendency to dismiss the intellect comes from. When spiritual masters—i.e. people who have uncovered spiritual states beyond the mind—speak about the intellect, they are tempted to dismiss it as a non-important part of the process in the same way that a teenager might be tempted to dismiss toys as an unimportant part of childhood now that the teenager has outgrown his or her own toys; even though toys played an important role in the teenager’s development.

It’s a Process

My point, with this short contemplation, is to say that if one accepts that spiritual growth is a process that requires certain steps—which many mystics and spiritual teachers have described—then it is counterintuitive, unhelpful even, to denounce or belittle any part of the process… and that includes the intellect.

My advice: Keep thinking deeply about topics that are hard to think about.

Gudjon Bergmann
Interfaith Minister, Author, and Speaker
Founder of Harmony Interfaith Initiative

Follow me on Facebook

Picture: CC0 License

spirituality and the intellect

Previous Post

May 7, 2018

Be a Bridge Builder

Next Post

May 14, 2018 The Experiences of Faith and Spirituality

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Beliefs and Values Change Compassion Contemplation Creating Moments of Peace Cultural Division Culture Wars Current Events Environmental Protection Experifaith Forgiveness Global Warming Golden Rule Gratitude Gun Debate Gun Safety Integral Theory Interfaith Interfaith Dialogue Interfaith Quotes Interspirituality Islam Language Meditation Mindfulness Morality mysticism Nonduality Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Prayer Quotes Religion Religion and Politics Science and Religion Self-Care Social Harmony Spiritual Practice Spirituality Stress Uncategorized Yoga

Select a Month September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz