Two states, extreme in their own way, which are often discussed on the spiritual path: the state of WISDOM and the state of FOOLISHNESS (IV)

By eminent yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru

In the following presentation, we will talk about these states one by one and reveal some of their important secrets. We hope that all these aspects will be of real use to you, especially to those of you who are on a spiritual path and practice yoga with enthusiasm and dedication.

Read the third part of the article

The state of spiritual blindness

In the case of human beings whose inner universe is marked by spiritual regression, the subtle fluid tamas guna comes to predominate, because they are cunningly tempted by demons to diminish and then completely and forever stop any spiritual practice. In the vast majority of cases, this interruption is motivated in various ways by all sorts of pretexts, each more idiotic and aberrant than the last, which they stubbornly uphold against a backdrop of demonic doubts and certainties that have arisen.

Beyond appearances, all of this is, in reality, the obvious expression of an increasingly accentuated state of foolishness into which these human beings are sinking. Such beings, already on the path of spiritual regression and falling into the terrible abyss that has opened up in their inner universe, never again put into practice any of the spiritual techniques to which they had access. Subsequently, a state of heightened contempt, hostility, and even hatred towards their former spiritual companions, and especially towards their spiritual guide, takes hold in their inner universe. The spiritual guide in particular becomes, for such lost human beings who are easily manipulated by demons, the favourite target of an aberrant, exacerbated state of hatred, which most often highlights (especially when dialoguing with such human beings) various hallucinatory, absurd motives, some of which prove to be, beyond appearances, insane. In such cases, which are essentially tragic, what is said in folklore becomes evident: when Satan seeks, in his cunning way, to destroy a lost human being, he first takes away their mind.

For such human beings who have regressed greatly, hatred, malice, stubbornness, obstinacy, demonic mutism, and, above all, the desire to destroy by any means the spiritual school they once belonged to, become the aberrant, cretinous goal of their existence. Beyond appearances, it is obvious that such human beings are constantly manipulated from the infernal realms by powerful demonic entities, which cause them to become and sometimes remain throughout their entire lives the constant instrument through which these entities manifest themselves in this world in order to do as much harm as possible. In the case of such human beings, we also witness the emergence and even the accentuation of a terrible state, which the initiated call, in a vivid way, a state of spiritual blindness.

Human beings who are increasingly affected by the bizarre state of spiritual blindness completely forget the authentic spiritual experiences, whether small, large, or even extraordinary, that they once had. If their friends or colleagues, who continue to transform through the same spiritual path they once followed, remind them of the wonderful, deeply spiritual experiences they may have once had together, they are amazed to discover a bizarre phenomenon of hardening of the heart and a clear inability to appreciate them lucidly, clearly, and objectively.

This terrible process of spiritual blindness (which some of us have witnessed at least once) also highlights the state of regression into which such human beings have insidiously slipped, without being able to realize in the slightest the tragic situation in which they find themselves.

An organized form of laziness

The process of slipping into and indulging in predominant states of tamas, which become increasingly pronounced, then favours the onset and even intensification of spiritual blindness.

At the same time, the state of abysmal stupidity into which these beings then slip is obvious and often appears dramatic to us.

The stupid arguments and idiotic motivations offered by a human being who is already in such a state of exacerbated tamas are most often an expression of abysmal stupidity that even includes aggressive nuances and Luciferian overtones.

Such foolishness does not passively affect only the being under its bizarre influence, but sometimes takes on a Procrustean dimension, striving to find forced validation in those around them and often desperately trying to make others who are receptive to their justifications accept the same errors and hollow arguments.

This manifestation of foolishness appears, when viewed from a certain perspective, somewhat more severe, because then it is not satisfied with the victim who has become its bearer, but seeks to make converts, seeking to further validate its existence by convincing others that, in fact, it does not exist and that the arguments it offers are correct.

Those who are close to such a human being find it hard to believe, especially at first, that something like this is possible. However, as time goes by, it becomes increasingly obvious that the process of spiritual blindness sets in and subsequently pushes that human being into the abyss of stupidity, wickedness, confusion, larvality, and exacerbation of both self-importance and spiritual pride.

The fact that the subtle energy that sustains foolishness is, in fact, the specific energy known for thousands of years as tamas guna, is well illustrated by the popular proverb: “Foolishness is an organized form of laziness.”

The Austrian Robert Musil observed in his study entitled On Foolishness (1937) that: “Foolishness does not always mean the absence of a certain form of intelligence, but it almost always implies the absence of common sense.”

The paradox of intelligent foolishness

Musil spoke with great lucidity about so-called intelligent foolishness, which afflicts, without their realizing it, all those who have already lost their way or who are losing their way in the labyrinth of discursive, speculative, sterile thinking, which is completely devoid of intuitive common sense.

As early as 1743, in his book The Theatre of the Natural and Moral World, H. K. Poot brilliantly defined the three fundamental characteristics of stupidity:

• the incessant laziness of a clearly superior thinking,
• demonic stubbornness,
• the absence of common sense.

When we look at foolishness from another perspective, we can say that a fool is not someone who does not know something, because such a person is merely ignorant. A fool is someone who, knowing something very well in theory, then acts as if they know nothing.

The foolishness of a human being actually highlights their immaturity, superficiality, and unconsciousness. When we look around us with great lucidity and attention, we notice that, in reality, this form of stupidity is the most widespread, even in the contemporary world, where access to a wealth of accurate, intelligent, essential, and valuable information is already available to many human beings, but nevertheless, people’s attitudes and behaviour do not in the least reflect the true knowledge full of wisdom to which they have access.

For example, a man who already knows a great deal about the immense value of amorous fusions based on complete erotic continence and who is aware of the multitude of beneficial effects that this brings about when it is done properly every time, but who nevertheless bizarrely chooses to ejaculate into his lover’s mouth when making love and asks her to swallow his semen, is demonstrating immense, abysmal stupidity.

A strange mixture of diarrhoea and nectar

The fact that most human beings are almost completely incapable of realizing their own stupidity, and sometimes do not even want to do so, and even get very upset or harbour strong resentment when their crass stupidity is pointed out to them, never proves that stupidity does not exist. However, it is precisely this fact that serves as an argument for many human beings to reinforce their obviously erroneous and foolish belief that their often crass stupidity does not even exist.

Beyond appearances, such a reaction (which is, unfortunately, common among many lethargic human beings) is one of the most frequent ways of defence of the ego (ahamkara), which thus hides behind such pseudo-reasoning (wrong and, ultimately, idiotic) its weaknesses, ephemerality and fear of ever being transcended.

We should never lose sight of the fact that the absence of proof that we are foolish is not, in fact, proof of the non-existence of our foolishness. Our foolishness is obvious to a wise person and, above all, it is obvious to God the Father.

Therefore, the rather thorny issue of foolishness does not only involve knowing or not knowing something, as is often believed in the world we live in.

That is precisely why it is essential to realize that, in fact, this knowledge, which can be considered dry, barren, speculative, and alienating, has strayed from direct knowledge, which is clearly superior, full of common sense, intuitive, and which appears and manifests itself when there is a certain kind of powerful awakening at the level of the spiritual heart.

Due to this state of confusion, which unfortunately has become unsuspected by most human beings, attempts are now most often made in vain to combat foolishness solely by training analytical intelligence or by energizing the mind, which in reality is only one of the five mysterious layers of being (known in the methodology of the millennial yoga system under the Sanskrit name manas or the mental sheath – manomaya kosha).

Considering these important esoteric aspects, it can be said that, in reality, a truly powerful mind that is fully awakened and energized (and which actually represents the mental sheath manomaya kosha) is not and cannot be the opposite of foolishness. On the contrary, such a mind (manomaya kosha) that does not act in a state of necessary harmony with the other secret sheaths of the being (sheaths that also need to be energized to a certain extent) can be, so to speak, a sui generis amplifier of the state of foolishness in the universe of the human being.

In this regard, we consider significant what philosopher Martin Heidegger said: “Those who have grandiose rational thoughts (it is obvious that Martin Heidegger is referring here to the mind – ed.) can do grandiose stupid actions.”

The strange combination that results from the amalgamation of foolishness and mental intelligence (which can be considered somewhat rudimentary, even inferior, originating in the mental sheath – manomoya kosha) can be considered, to a certain extent, dangerous, because it often amplifies what could be called the dimension of the stupid actions and mistakes we make.

In fact, there is a very meaningful saying in folklore that is worth reflecting on: “Too much mind (or, in other words, mental – manomoya kosha, excessively energized to the detriment of the other mysterious layers of our being, which are not harmoniously energized and do not act in unison with our mental manomaya kosha – ed.) corrupts (or, in other words, causes us all kinds of problems and shortcomings – ed.)”.

To the strange marriage of stupidity and intelligence, which can be analogously likened to a bizarre cocktail resulting from a mixture of diarrhoea and nectar, we owe some fundamentally bewildering notions that go unnoticed by the stupid, such as war for peace or those frightening discoveries such as the atomic bomb and the neutron bomb.

Even though it can be said that, in reality, foolishness is a strange mixture of ignorance, it is nevertheless necessary to realize that foolishness is always much more than a considerable dose of ignorance.

Beyond appearances, the state of foolishness is caused by the predominant or even excessive presence in our inner universe of the subtle fluid tamas guna, but at the same time it is a bizarre mixture of ignorance, laziness, inertia, obtuseness, scepticism, superficiality, immaturity, unconsciousness, inattention, irresponsibility, confusion, insanity, lethargy, selfishness, bad habits, lack of lucidity, ignorance, carelessness, fatal complacency, constant drowsiness, indifference, etc.

(to be continued)

 

yogaesoteric
March 19, 2026

 

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