Intellect and Intelligence

we spend a lot of time acquiring intelligence at the expense of developing intellect.

Intelligence is built by gaining information, knowledge from external agencies, from schools and universities, teachers and textbooks. The intellect is developed through your individual effort by exercising the faculty of questioning, thinking and reasoning. Not accepting anything that does not admit logic or reason. Know the difference between the two. And that any amount of intelligence gained cannot per se build your intellect.

The intelligence acquired from external agencies is much like data fed into a computer Consider, a computer charged with a complete knowledge of fire extinguishers, firefighting and fire escapes. All the knowledge stored in its memory cannot help the computer act on its own. If the room catches fire, it will go up in flames. The knowledge you acquire is of no use to you without an intellect.

You need a powerful intellect to put the knowledge, intelligence gained, to practical use in life. That explains why among millions of doctors graduating from medical schools only a few have discovered life-saving procedures, cures and remedies. So too, among millions of engineers only few design something unusual like the Panama Canal or Eurotunnel. It is their intellect that renders their performance outstanding. Besides hindering success and progress, intelligence without intellect could destroy peace and happiness in the world.

No realizing the importance of the intellect in life, people make no attempt to develop their own. Instead, they merely indulge in acquiring intelligence through surface reading of others’ periodicals and publications. Few go into the depth of any literature. Education has lost its meaning and purpose. For generation human beings have turned into intelligent robots and are traversing through life without awareness, much less enquiring into the meaning and purpose of life. Herbert Spencer, a profound thinker and writer, was a rare luminary. Someone asked him if he was a voracious reader. He said: “No sir, if I were as big a reader as others, I would have been as big an ignoramus as they.”

The World today is in a state of chaos due to the perversion in human development – all intelligence and no intellect. That explains why even highly educated business persons, professionals, and scholars become alcoholic, are short-tempered and succumb to worry and anxiety. It is the mind that craves alcohol. It is the mind that loses its temper. Again, it is the mind that constantly harbors worry of the past and anxiety for the future. When the intellect remains undeveloped and weak, it is unable to control the vagaries of the mind. Those having developed a powerful intellect, with or without academic distinction, can hold the mind under perfect control and direct action to spell success and peace in life.

The educational systems the world over must be held responsible for the debacle of the intellect. It is their primary responsibility to strike an equable balance between acquiring intelligence and developing the intellect. Only by maintaining this essential equation can governments be run, business conducted, professions practiced and families live in peace and prosperity.

Fulfilling Married Life

Among all the streams of yoga, grahastha Yoga (yoga of married life) is also one. If one gives a serious thought to it, one would realize that raising a family is indeed a very important, and yet relatively simple yoga. Accomplishing this yoga renders enormous joy and illumines the path of worldly fulfillment and spiritual progress. Here we cite some tips for adept practice of this unique yoga.

Fundamental Tenets of Grahastha Yoga

A child learns several primary activities at home. More than half of the skills that are needed in life are also learnt at home. Our sadhana of inner-refinement must also begin at home. The best laboratory to train life to attain greatness, self control and selflessness and to become cultured and service oriented is home itself. It becomes very convenient to do all this at home because in family life there is natural love, sense of duty, mutual dependence and cooperation. Home is a stable place and is secure from the prying eyes of strangers.

A disciple of Grahastha yoga must always contemplate in the following way:

·         My family is my hermitage - the most holy place for my sadhana.

·         The rituals prescribed to me are - devote my energies and best efforts always to develop my home like a beautiful, fragrant, fertile garden.

·         My devotion to God is to fulfill the responsibility entrusted to me by God for watering, and maintaining this garden and help it flourish.

·         I do not consider any member of my family small and unworthy of deserving of my service, and I do not take undue pride in being the owner, master, leader or the breadwinner of my family.

·         My benevolence and selflessness is in devoting my service to the upbringing and personality development of each member of my family.

·         My self-surrender is to serve others with absolutely pure feeling of dutifulness, without expecting anything in return.

·         My penance is to provide happiness and comforts to my family members even at the expense of my personal happiness and comfort.

·         My yagya is to enhance peace and happiness in this world by making each and every member of my family a refined, truthful, honest and responsible individual.

·         My religious vow is to make my conduct and behavior so pure and idealistic that it would silently inspire everyone to follow me and become virtuous.

·         My self-restraint is to raise my family within the rightfully earned means of income.

·         My aradhana (service to society) is to be always filled with love, benevolence and compassion, and to enhance happiness, joy and unity in the family and my neighborhood.

·         My worship is to have complete devotion towards living idols of God in the temple of my home and to adorn them with ornaments of virtues, noble nature and good conduct.

·         My sadhana is true, my feelings towards my sadhana are genuine and sincere, and my soul knows that I am truthful.

·         Like a true unattached karmayogi I draw my happiness and satisfaction from the sincere efforts I put into my sadhana without worrying about their success or failure.

·         I have taken an oath to be truthful and righteous, and I would forever try to uphold it with all sincerity.

God has Handed Wife for me.

Message: The responsibility of a happy home-life lies with both husband and wife, although of course, the responsibility of the husband is more because the wife leaves her family to join the husband's family. God the Supreme Father has created the opportunity for the union of two souls and the conduct of both must be excellent. By doing this, happiness in family and good luck are achieved. Good luck of married life does not lie merely in getting married, but there should be loving adjustment between the husband and wife and only by that type of behavior, permanent happiness is achieved. Good luck remains stable where there is mutual sharing of love and happiness or sorrow between the two. To maintain this happiness of married life, it is necessary to maintain this tradition and to have healthy children. In this way both remain happy and achieve longevity with good luck.

For a happy future of the bride-to-be, it becomes necessary to evaluate the qualities of the husband-to-be. A worthy, learned and addiction-free man can carry the burden of a successful and happy family. He should not only be highly knowledgeable and with good qualities, but simultaneously physically strong and free from bad tendencies, bas activities and addictions. Addictions are like poison in a family. A man trapped in liquor, gambling, etc destroys the family's happiness and peace, and gets insults and bad name, and along with him his wife also undergoes mental pain.

From a practical view-point, the wife's area of work is within the home and the husband's area of work is outside the home. His responsibility is to look after the family with a proper display of his worthiness, learning etc. The woman's work area lies in properly organizing the home. It is the woman's duty to make proper use of money earned honestly by the husband to maintain house, cleanliness etc and to feed the family. Both must make proper adjustments in their above duties and make arrangements to run the family satisfactorily within limited means. It is the wife's duty to maintain a cheerful atmosphere within the family even by bearing hardships. A man is not as skilful as a woman in organizing the home. A heavenly atmosphere prevails in a neat home

A man must be prosperous as far as food-grains and other means of comfort are concerned. He should be bright and cheerful. Only such husband can fully satisfy his wife and keep her cheerful.