I came across the following statement: “It is not our intellectual ideas that govern our action, but our nature and temperament, — but mati or even manyu, or, as the Greeks would have said, thumos and not nous.” 🌄[…]

Source: https://incarnateword.in/dict/sans/buddhi-2

My mind has immediately linked it to the famous Gayatri Mantra, which we Hindus have been practicing for ages with faith that it will change our lives. However, this statement makes this age-old practice a kind of ineffective exercise. Can you please comment?

It is true that will, ‘dhriti’ and not just ‘mati’, is of greater importance. But it is not either-or. Man needs both. The intellect must be illumined so that it can show the right way. It is like a torch showing us where to go and what to do. But the will must execute it. It is what gives the thrust and the direction to move. Both are needed: illumination of the intellect and strength of the will. 

Affectionately,

Alok Da