If our talents such as a powerful voice sometimes inconvenience others, what should we do?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Sometimes, whatever is a gift in one situation may become a trouble in another situation. So, if somebody has a loud voice, then they can speak effectively in public, but then even private conversation also becomes very loud.
And that troubles others. So, what to do? Yeah. See, every gift is like a double-edged sword.
It’s like a knife. Now, a knife can cut an object which needs to be cut. But the knife can also cut the cutter.
The person who wants to cut, I want to cut vegetables. A sharp knife, that is good. I can cut the vegetables.
But if I’m careless, it can cut my finger also. So, our talents are like that. Whatever gifts we have, they can be used to do constructive things in life.
But those, they have talents in various ways. In your case, it could be inconvenient. In one case, it could be inconvenient.
In another case, it can lead to pride and arrogance. And then it cuts off. A person becomes very famous, very popular, but then they become so egoistic that nobody can be there with them.
So, there can be various ways in which our talents can be used constructively or they can actually harm us. They can act destructively. And that is where intelligence comes into the picture.
So, intelligence means I said that the capacity to subordinate our impulses. So, somebody may have a capacity to have a natural love voice. But then, you also have the capacity to speak softly.
So, you may have to exercise a little bit. So, I also have that problem. I think very fast.
And because I think fast, I speak fast. And so, almost every class that I give, every five minutes, I have to remind myself, slow down, slow down. And in spite of that, I speak fast.
So, now, without nonsense, I can say Krishna has given me intelligence by which I can think fast and I can speak fast. So, because I think fast, I can, if somebody asks questions, I can give answers. But that thinking fast, if it leads to speaking fast, and I give good answer, but nobody understands the answer because I spoke so fast.
It’s not of much use. So, you know, every gift comes with a responsibility of using the intelligence so that that gift needs to construct itself. Sometimes some people do, can sing very nicely.
Now, some people, especially they are very good at music, they do kirtans, but they sing in such tunes that that kirtan is not a participation, it is a performance. Only they are singing and nobody can follow the tune. Now, they may have the capacity to sing like that, but then if it’s a kirtan, which is meant to be participation, then they have to sing in a way that others can also follow.
So, sometimes when you have a talent, and we may have to, see there is a time when we have to release the talent and there is a time when we have to harness the talent. Release means let it go free and harness means you have to release it. So, for example, if I’m preparing, I may think very fast, but if I’m delivering, I have to speak slow.
So, there are some special occasions when somebody is, you know, somebody may sing in a very expert way. It’s meant to be like a recording, a performance, but it’s a participatory program and the person has to sing in a way which others can also follow. So, even when we have talents, we have to have the intelligence to know when to release the talent and when to harness the talent.
And that way, we can use the talent constructively.