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Basic Overview of the Mental Consciousness · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  The mental consciousness evolves subsequent to the emergence of
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  the physical consciousness and the vital consciousness.
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  It appears in rudimentary forms in various animals and advances
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  to a much higher state of activity and power in the higher
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  primates, including human beings as well as ocean going mammals
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  such as dolphins and whales. There are various levels of
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  manifestation of the mental consciousness, each stage
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  representing a further advancement in either
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  perception, analytical ability, use of tools to accomplish acts,
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  abilities to synthesize and create new formulations and
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  combinations, and the use of the higher reasoning powers of the
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  rational intellect. The mind can be trained to
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  undertake self reflection, to abstract itself from involvement
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  in day-to-day processing that takes place in the outer nature,
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  and to turn and focus attention in various directions at will.
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  The higher powers of mind have a characteristic quality or guna
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  of satwa, although it must be noted that the mind is
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  frequently dominated by the vital nature and thus becomes an
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  instrument in the fulfilment of vital desires.
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  The mind also can become arrogant and narrow in its
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  knowledge and can thus accentuate the control of the
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  ego over the nature, which is a primary deformation of the
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  mental consciousness when not fully purified.
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  When rajas or tamas become predominant, the natural
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  subtwick tendency of the mind per SE is overshadowed and its
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  powers put to achieving lesser objectives.
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  While we tend to think of the mind as the pinnacle of human
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  powers of consciousness, it must be noted that the mind is
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  actually an intermediate stage of the evolution and there are
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  further and higher powers of consciousness that are
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  developing and which manifest from time to time with more or
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  less power depending on the strength of the higher
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  inspiration and the receptivity of the individual.
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  These higher powers go behind the rational intellect and
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  provide powers of intuition, inspiration and a more complete
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  and comprehensive mode of knowing and understanding.
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  Doctor de Lal writes quote the mental being.
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  This is the part of our make up which has to do with thoughts
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  and ideas, facts and knowledge. Reason and intellect are the
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  most highly developed expressions of the mental
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  consciousness. In contrast to the vital, which
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  is governed by the pleasure principle, the mental is guided
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  by what accords with reason and is deemed to be true or good.
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  Therefore, when the mental consciousness is predominant in
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  an individual, the attitudes of the individual are characterized
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  by a rational outlook and are based on moral and intellectual
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  principles. End Quote Reference Shriora
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  Bindu and the Mother Looking from Within Introduction by
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  Doctor Dalal Page, Romans 7.