"Vayu approached Brahman, Agni approached Brahman: they could see, they could hear. They could be in more substantial touch with the ultimate reality, but they could not recognize. The Brahman was present, but the senses could not recognize who he was. For the recognition the mind is needed; only mind can recognize. But then a problem arises: mind cannot approach directly. Mind approaches indirectly. Mind cannot penetrate reality because mind is an abstract sense. It can only think. Through thinking it can recognize, but then the reality disappears. It becomes only a thinking inside. Indra could recognize, but not directly, because when Indra approached, the Brahman, the spirit, disappeared.

"So the first thing to be understood is that mind is an indirect process. Senses are direct: I can touch you with my hand, but I cannot touch you with my mind. I can see you through my eyes, but I cannot see you through my mind. Mind is enclosed within me and there is no bridge from the mind to reach you directly. If the mind wants to reach you directly, some medium will be needed. If the mind wants to see you, it will see through the eyes. To touch you, it will touch through the hands. A medium, an agency, a mediator, will be needed. Mind needs a mediator.

"So whatsoever knowledge mind can give, it can never be immediate. This is one of the findings of the Eastern mind, that mind cannot give you immediate knowledge of anything. A mediator will be there and knowledge will come through a means, through a medium. There is no direct penetration from the mind into reality. Senses are direct, but they cannot recognize. Mind can recognize, but it is indirect. So unless mind and senses both are in a deep harmony, you cannot know reality.

"Agni approached alone, Vayu approached alone, Indra approached alone. They all were failures. Brahman was present to Agni, but then Agni had no mind to think, to recognize, to remember; he could not come to any conclusion as to who he was. Indra could recognize, but he had no direct possibility to know who he was. The Brahman disappeared before the mind."