Buddhi
(Sanskrit बुद्धि, literally "discernment, discrimination, judgment, intelligence, understanding, presence, perception, reason, comprehension, realization, self-knowledge") Abstract, intuitive mind. In Kabbalah, it is associated with the sephirah Geburah, "severity," judgment.
"Buddhi is pure [superior] reason. The seat of Buddhi is just below the crown of the head in the Pineal Gland of the brain. Buddhi is manifested only in those persons who have developed right intuitive discrimination or Viveka. The ordinary reason of the worldly people is termed practical reason, which is dense and has limitations... Sankhya Buddhi or Buddhi in the light of Sankhya philosophy is will and intellect combined. Mind is microcosm. Mind is Maya. Mind occupies an intermediate state between Prakriti and Purusha, matter and Spirit." —Swami Sivananda, Yoga in Daily Life
"When the diverse, confining sheaths of the Atma have been dissolved by Sadhana, when the different Vrittis of the mind have been controlled by mental drill or gymnastic, when the conscious mind is not active, you enter the realm of spirit life, the super-conscious mind where Buddhi and pure reason and intuition, the faculty of direct cognition of Truth, manifest. You pass into the kingdom of peace where there is none to speak, you will hear the voice of God which is very clear and pure and has an upward tendency. Listen to the voice with attention and interest. It will guide you. It is the voice of God." —Swami Sivananda, Essence of Yoga
"The knowledge by which Âtmâ (sat) and Mâyâ (Asat) are discriminated is called Jñânam (Brahmâ Jñânam). The knowledge is considered as the root discriminator of various objects of enjoyments (i.e., by which the various objects are at once recognised as different from Âtmân). By Buddhi is meant the right seeing of things, (as certain) and is considered as the seed of Jñânam." —Devî Bhâgavatam
"[God] is beyond the reach of impure mind only, but not of the purified mind (Manas). He cannot be apprehended by ordinary intellect, but purified intellect (Buddhi) can comprehend Him. Mind and intellect become purified when they are absolutely free from attachment to lust and wealth (Kâmini and Kânchan). Then purified mind and purified intellect become one. Indeed God can be realized by the purified mind. Is it not true that the sages and saints have realized Him? They realized the Supreme Spirit in the Self by their true Self." —Ramakrishna
"To them, ever steadfast and serving Me with affection, I give that Buddhi Yoga by which they come unto Me. Out of mere compassion for them, I, abiding in their hearts, destroy the darkness (in them) born of ignorance, by the luminous lamp of knowledge*." —Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 10
"*Luminous lamp of knowledge—characterised by discrimination; fed by the oil of contentment due to Bhakti [devotion]; fanned by the wind of absorbing meditation on Me [Christ]; furnished with the wick of pure consciousness evolved by the constant cultivation of Brahmacharyam {chastity; no orgasm] and other pious virtues; held in the reservoir of the heart devoid of worldliness; placed in the wind-sheltered recess of the mind, withdrawn from the sense-objects, and untainted by attachment and aversion; shining with the light of right knowledge, engendered by incessant practice of concentration." —Sankara
Kabbalah: The feminine Spiritual Soul, related to the sephirah Geburah. Symbolized throughout world literature, notably as Helen of Troy, Beatrice in The Divine Comedy, and Beth-sheba (Hebrew, literally "daughter of seven") in the Old Testament. The Divine or Spiritual Soul is the feminine soul of the Innermost (Atman), or his "daughter."
All the strength, all the power of the gods and goddesses resides in Buddhi / Geburah, Cosmic Consciousness, as within a glass of alabaster where the flame of the Inner Being (Gedulah, Atman the Ineffable) is always burning.
