How can those unaware of scripture differentiate between the mind and the intelligence?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Thank you.
So, how do we distinguish between the mind and intelligence and it’s through scripture, then how can a common man who doesn’t know about scripture, learn to distinguish this? All of us have something which is called a viveka buddhi, which is conscience. The conscience tells us this is right, this is wrong. And the conscience may not always be right.
Quite often, our conscience is culturally conditioned. That means, from the culture that we are born in, our conscience is shaped by that. So, the specifics of what is right and what is wrong, that may vary according to culture to culture.
But, the principle that there is something right and there is something wrong, that is universal. Nobody denies that. If somebody asks somebody, how could you have done that? They will say, no, because of this, this, I did it.
That means, normally, I would not have done it, but because of this, I did it. So, the principle that there is something right and something wrong, that is universal. What is right, what is wrong, that specific may vary.
So, that conscience is actually, ultimately, the voice of the super soul, the voice of the paramatma. But, depending on the mode that we are in, Satmoguna, Rajoguna, Tamoguna, the paramatma’s voice can become more and more muffled. So, that is not clear.
Now, the more we hear that voice, the more we become more receptive to that voice. That means, that for materialistic people, there might just be a choice between Rajoguna and Tamoguna. If they choose Rajoguna, actually, that is a higher choice.
They might have a choice between Rajoguna and Satmoguna, which is Satoguna. That is a higher choice. Say, a student may, but a student will not get a movie, can choose whether to go and watch a movie or study.
If my exam is nearby, I should be studying. They choose that. That is a higher choice.
So, even within the more, there is choices and there are voices within us which guide us towards the choices. So, in general, we can say, the voice which is short term, the voice which promises towards short term pleasure, that is the voice of the mind. And the voice which promises towards long term thinking, that is the voice of the intelligence.
And scripture actually expands this. So, scripture helps us better understand why the short term is counterproductive. And scripture expands our understanding of what is long term.
So, scripture study actually helps us to distinguish this better. So, it is like, even while we study scripture, if we come to sattva guna, then we can distinguish this better. Krishna says that in 14.11, he says, the characteristic of the mode of goodness is all the doors of the gate of the body, there is light in the doors of the body.
That is the characteristic of the mode of goodness. What does this mean? The Bhagavad Gita is a poetic book and poetic work often we use, there is metaphorical usage that is there. So, now the doors of the body refers to the senses and there is light in the senses.
What does that mean? Is it like a person’s attuna, they open their eyes and some light flashes out of their eyes or a light flashes out of their ears? No, it’s not that. What this means is this is the light of knowledge. So, for example, if that is the door and if the area around the door is completely dark, then I can’t know who is coming in through the door, who is going out, who is actually in the room, we can’t know anything.
But if the area near the door is lit properly then this person, my friend, welcome, this person, you know, suspicious looking character, they should close the door. So, we can actually identify who is coming and who is going out. So, like that, when we come to the mode of goodness, then when certain thoughts, certain desires, certain stimuli start flowing in through the senses, flowing into the mind, we are able to discern, this is not good, this is good, and this is what I should cultivate, this is what I should eliminate.
And this capacity to discern, it becomes more and more when we come to the mode of goodness. So, we all have conscience, scripture expands that conscience, and our own practice of sadhana bhakti, which brings us to shuddha sattva eventually, but it brings us to the mode of goodness, then we can actively discern, this sort of thought is coming or not, I should entertain this, this is a very good idea, I will do this. That way, by making choices when we can, sometimes in the mind it is difficult to discern, but to the extent that we can make choices when we can, to that extent we will be empowered, we will be showing Krishna that I want to be guided, and when we show Krishna that I want to be guided, then Krishna will guide us eventually and enable us and he will give us guidance when it is difficult to make choices.
Additionally, it is good to, if there are major decisions to be made, it is best not to do them impulsively, consult some senior devotees, consult our spiritual guides, and often it is good to write things down. Now writing gets thoughts out of the head. When thoughts come out of the head, our objectivity increases.
We can evaluate those thoughts and then make a decision. So that way we can distinguish between the voice of the intelligence and the