Under the influence of faulty intelligence, we make wrong decisions all our lives, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
The word intelligence is defined as the ability to learn, understand and think in a logical way about things; the ability to do so well. The Bhagavad Gita goes further and defines intelligence as the ability to know what is worth doing and what is not (18.30). In short, according to the Bhagavad Gita, intelligence is the power of discrimination, which is the ability to judge what is good, true, etc.
Unfortunately, intelligence as we know it is ineffective in dealing with lust, greed, anger, etc. Why else do a majority of us suffer throughout our lives under their clutchesIJ let me take these common faults one by one and see how they hurt us. lust is the biggest enemy by far. We are all aware how the lust for tasty foods ruins our lives by causing health problems and obesity. Illicit sensuous desires are family breakers. In spite of many regulatory mechanisms, pornography thrives.
Anger is another big enemy. People even stake their lives when angry. It is said that one word spoken in anger may spoil an entire life. Greed is a familiar enemy. Greed for money, power, fame, etc keeps people engaged in madly going after them without considering whether these enhance the quality of life or not. Illusion, ie a false idea or belief, something that seems to exist but in fact does not or seems to be something that it is not, has led people to live in ignorance throughout their lives. We all know that pride spoils interpersonal relationship, but we are unable to give it up.
Hate is a driving force for many and has predicable consequences, ie disastrous. How many of us are able to change our nature with the intelligence we possessIJ Very few, and we go on living with severe handicaps. Suffering and pain, which are inevitable, break many because ordinary intelligence is helpless against them. Same is true about fears. These land many on the couches of psychiatrists. lastly, bad luck cannot be dealt with what we assume to be intelligence, because we need superior or real intelligence to overcome it. This is not all. Under the influence of faulty intelligence, we take wrong decisions throughout our lives, which hurt us and others.
What should we do thenIJ To begin with, we must realise that what we consider intelligence is powerless to help us against our common enemies mentioned earlier. Then, we must have a strong desire to obtain the higher intelligence; make this a top priority. And once we become recipients of it, begin practising it in the right earnest because all our actions flow from our intelligence; it decides. And we should never feel satisfied by what we have learnt but we should go on in its search throughout our lives. Such intelligence is unlimited. However, we will begin to benefit in many ways as we make progress in this direction.
The next question is about obtaining it, how do we do soIJ This is the tough part because the higher intelligence comes mostly from realisations only. And gaining realisations is a painful process. For example, a majority of us begin paying attention to our health only once something serious is diagnosed. Reading life histories of great persons does help. Discussing with spiritually wise persons is another way. And praying to God for it can really help because God is keen to give us this.
lastly, let us see how such intelligence can counter some of the flaws mentioned earlier. The Bhagavad Gita has warned that lust, anger and greed are the three different doors to hell (16.21). About hate, lord Krishna states that he causes envious, harmful, cruel and low-grade people to be born in demonic species (16.19).
Fears, which are mental states, are nullified by the spiritual truths, when our intelligence is familiar with them. Therefore, if we are really keen to live a quality life, we will not waste any time and get going on what has been suggested. Yes, it will take time because realisations come when we apply ourselves, but they come. Such intelligence, once obtained, continues in future lives as well. Personally, I have made becoming really intelligent my prime target and it is already bearing fruit. I welcome your comments.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com