Sagun Nirgun
10: Intellect
The ‘decisive power’ that resides in one’s mind is the ‘intellect’. Every living being on this planet has been given this gift of ‘intellect’. ‘Intellect’ allows one to be discriminative. It allows one to understand the nature of the Supreme. Hence, Shree Samarth Ramdas, in one of his compositions, prays to the Lord to grant him the ‘intellect to know Him.’
There are six major shastras that elucidate the path to understanding the Supreme. Each of these shastras explains that ‘our intellect is crucial’ in this regard. Disbelief, ignorance, disagreement, indecisiveness, and other shortcomings are nothing but a veil on the ‘intellect’. Studying the scriptures under the guidance of a Guru, devotional services, and faith in the Guru are important in removing this veil. Then the ‘intellect’ becomes self-luminous and the Supreme is revealed. Brahmashree Datta Maharaj explains this. A mirror covered with dust cannot clearly reflect the object in front of it. The instant the mirror is cleaned, the reflection is clear. Similarly, the dust of ignorance is covering our mirror of ‘intellect’. When diligent study and devotion remove this covering, the Self-luminous Supreme shines through.
Our ‘intellect’ is an extraordinary storage bank. Every experience from all past lives is stored in this massive bank. This storage bank motivates man to strive hard and obtain success. An outstanding example of this is Shree Chanakya during the era of Samrat Chandragupta Maurya. Shree Chanakya was extremely intelligent, powerful, dynamic, courageous, a diligent hard worker and an outstanding politician. He had complete faith on his intellect. His quote “My Guru showed me the path of ‘Shreyas’ which I followed diligently. As a result, I believe that my extraordinary ‘intellect’ is more powerful than even the most powerful enemy. May this intellect never leave me” is an inspiration to the youth of today.
“A ‘strong intellect’ is the gift from the Supreme” says Sant Dayalnath. It is our duty to keep it sharp, strong, and pure.
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