Is Living a Life of the Mind Elitist and Out of Touch?

Some look down upon academic learning, as elitist or out of touch. They heavily prize worldly acquisitions, victories, or various ways of "going for the gold." Learning is, on the other hand, an act of total personality and whole being. Truly educated people blend form and substance, right views, and right practice. They “stand on two feet.” They stand on a foundation of disciplined knowledge of the external world, yes, but their intellectual accomplishments that reflect that knowledge are balanced by emotional maturity and self-knowledge, the pre-requisite for all other forms of knowledge.

As such, a healthy mind-life displays the capacity to think, to question, to act, and be aware. Comparative religion and philosophy, East and West, reveal powerful landmarks of the life of the mind. From the Upanishads of India, we learn, "What a man thinks, that he becomes." In the early discourses of the Buddha referred to as the Dhammapada, we are told, "All that we are is the result of what we have thought." Renee Descartes, a seminal figure in Western philosophy, proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am."  

What does activity of the mind look like within a context given to integral understanding and human wholeness? University of the West’s curricula, inspired by Buddhist wisdom and values, combine inner vision and understanding with professional skills and community service. The mental life we value is not abstract, boring, or sterile. It doesn’t set into opposition an inner and outer world, or body from mind, or thought from action. Such dualism would blind us to the fact that we are human beings, not simply human doings. 

"Do nothing," the Buddha is reputed to have said, "Time is too precious to waste." In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu informs us that "The Tao does nothing, and nothing is left undone." Doing “nothing” allows for inner reflection upon oneself and the world. Reflection is not a retreat from reality but a means to be more fully present in the world. It is hard and difficult work; it can exhaust the most capable minds. Reflection by means of ideas is significant action, and action is in itself an important idea. What was inside is now outside and vice versa.

Practicing contemplation, we seek freedom from the “get-something” cravings of the consumer culture in favor of equanimity. This tranquility of mind and body leads us to the heart of scholarly achievement. The word “scholar” comes from schole, which means mental peace or stillness. Scholarship, within a whole-person education, harmonizes our inner and outer life. Our mind’s life is thus cross-referenced throughout our physical body, so that it is a "thinking" body. Thinking is not done by the brain but simultaneously in and through the mind-body, leading to a whole-intelligence, an embodied consciousness.