Let me start with common sense. What do we consider it? That we know what is right and what is not, what should be done and what should be avoided, and what should be feared and what shouldn’t. This is wisdom, not common sense. With a very small percentage being exceptions, most everyone considers that what is right is what he thinks is right, what should be done is what he has decided to do, and what should be feared is what scares him personally.
Common sense is defined as good sense and sound judgement. If this were common, then would so many people be making mistakes day in and day out and suffering? No, common sense, as it should be, is highly uncommon. There is a general belief that everyone should accept what we consider as right to be perfect. Is it? Has anyone become omniscient? No, only God is. Analysing it, there are cultural differences. In the West, eating meat is very common.
In our country, those who are strictly vegetarian are a good percentage. What older people consider right, the younger generation calls outdated. Devotees of God consider taking shelter of God as everything, because God is (The Bhagavad Gita 7.19). Non-devotees consider spiritual practices an utter waste of time and energy. So we have to come to a common ground. How do we do that? We have to go to the authority who has created us. He must know, just as a manufacturer of a complicated machine knows how to operate it. Aren’t our bodies the most complicated machines ever made? Therefore, we must approach God for common sense, which is a spiritual sense. We will see how. Lord Krishna has warned in the Bhagavad Gita, “Lust, anger and greed are the three doors to hell, which cause ruination of the soul. Therefore, one should give up these three.” (16.21) Let us examine if we are doing that. Lust occupies the top position in our thinking. We are forever lusting for tasty food, something exciting to see, etc. This is a very common flaw, approved by common sense as we assume it to be. Who, except a select few, is trying to restrain one’s senses?
Being greedy is not so uncommon either. What motivates most people? Let us collect more, because “The more, the better” is considered desirable. Considering greed as a door to hell is farthest from our minds. Anger is considered an asset, not something one should control.
Hating others is the worst of the lot. Lord Krishna has let us know that He sends envious, harmful, cruel and low-grade people to the world again and again, and that too in demonic species (16.19). Do we want to control our hateful thoughts? Far from it, they rule us. Let us see why help from God is most crucial for a quality life. But first we have to realise that we are small, helpless, largely ignorant and unsafe, really. It should be common sense to realise this fact, but we don’t, despite constant realisations to the contrary. Throughout the day, we come across situations when we feel small, very helpless. We don’t know what to do, but we don’t think of taking help where it is available, i.e. from God. We go into cyclic thinking to somehow try to get out of tricky situations. Where is common sense? Take, for example, our natures.
All of us have faults in us, and we know that we cannot do a thing about them. For a lusty person, he or she realises that what he or she is thinking is wrong, but is helpless to stop it. The conclusion is: we all have some sense. How much depends upon the extent of our knowledge, both spiritual and material. Then, there are sanskars (good values) inherited from our ancestors, besides what we bring from our previous lives. Personal experiences also come in handy, as does guidance from experts like doctors.
The top common sense, as has been pointed out in this article, is the spiritual sense — when we are aware of God’s instructions for us and have a good connection with the Almighty. Then and only then do we have a really common/spiritual sense. Otherwise, it is an illusion only.What is my experience? Over the years, I have realised that whatever I know is insufficient for a quality living. As I took shelter in God, my reformation started. My Lord took one fault of mine every alternate day and made me realise how ignorant I was. There is not much to learn except to accept that all souls, no matter where they come from. This makes a lot of sense.
(The writer is a spiritual teacher. Views are personal)