Being level and intellectual level
Who you are, and who you think you are. Only the first one grows.
My Big TOE separates the intellectual level — what you think, the image you hold of yourself and the world, the part that assesses and analyses and justifies — from the being level, described as the authentic total you without the usual overlay of conveniently invented image.
Growth is stated to happen only at the being level. Knowledge on its own cannot raise the quality of a consciousness. Campbell's version of this in conversation: if it stays at the intellectual level, it is just so much theory and talk and good ideas.
The two are not permanently separate. The material says they only exist as distinct things inside a consciousness that is afraid — remove the fear and the intellectual level becomes one with the being level.
Where this gets misread
That the intellect is the enemy and the aim is to stop thinking. The model is careful here: fear and ego are the problem, and the intellect is simply what fear has recruited. You are not trying to shut it down. You are trying to stop it working for the other side.
My Big TOE glossary: Being level, Intellectual level(opens in a new tab)