Acharya Prashant investigates whether a sharpened intellect is necessary for spirituality. He explains that the intellect operates by analyzing, testing, and measuring within a field of its own making. It helps separate the imaginary from the actual, but since both the imaginary and the actual are products of the intellect, it essentially dissolves its own creations. For an intellectual, the intellect is necessary to clear the mental residues and images that the intellect itself has produced. He notes that while animals or children do not need a sharp intellect because they lack such complexity, humans require it because their misplaced smartness has already led them into a state of immense complexity and knots of thought.
