How can we know if our intelligence is misleading us through rationalization?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you just as our mind and senses can mislead us our intelligence can also mislead us through rationalization so can I say this krishna is doing this because that’s what we want see rather than saying krishna is doing it we can say krishna is allowing it see we have been given our intelligence and it’s up to us how to use the intelligence krishna gives us a choice so now we can use the intelligence to go closer to him or we can stay away from him and rationalize that using our intelligence or go further away from him also so in general when we come into our inner territory it’s very difficult for us to know this is the mind this is the intelligence what is it actually at that moment this voice is speaking this is the mind’s voice or this is the intelligence voice so in general if we have to take any major decisions in our life it’s best to not take them instinctively not take them fast just press a pause button this is what I feel like I should do and I have this reasoning now is this a right reason or is it a wrong reason is it a real reason or is it a rationalization how do I know a good thing is to pause because we all have a core sincerity otherwise we would not be practicing bhakti but sometimes our conditioning overcomes our sincerity so if we just pause and don’t act then gradually our sincerity again surfaces and this was my reasoning but maybe I had some ulterior motives because of which I wanted to do this we can evaluate that and we can of course consult senior devotees consult our spiritual guides they can also provide us guidance see normally we look at everything and everyone through our mind that means if somebody comes and starts speaking very sweetly to me what does he want maybe they want me to do something that’s why they are speaking so sweetly so now it could be true and that’s all the kind of experience we have had the point which I am making is that often we see everyone through the filter of our mind now if we have even one or two devotees you know whom we don’t see through our mind we see our mind through them that means my mind is saying this but they are saying this you know say say you know I am doing a particular service say and for that I have to do some things so if somebody is say promoting if I think many examples can there say somebody is preaching on the internet and for the preaching on the internet they need to have social media where they are promoting themselves somebody comes and tells me you are becoming very proud I may think that actually I am doing this for my service for my service it is required now if I am seeing them only through my mind I will say this person is simply envious of me but if I have some trust in that person then I say let me investigate instead of seeing them through this person is saying this my mind is saying this which is true so if we have some devotee friends whom through whom we see our mind then that is a great fortune you know say that will help us to actually catch our rationalization now it is not necessary that when we see the philosophy in a way that is suitable for us that is not necessarily always rationalization also one principle of bhakti is also except that which is favorable reject that which is unfavorable so if we find certain aspects of the philosophy certain aspects of the practices they are conducive for us they help us to grow that may also be just accepting that which is favorable for us so if we are not becoming judgmental if we are not becoming superior if we are not becoming argumentative then it need not be a rationalization it is just simply an admission that this is what I need for my practice of bhakti so rather than holding ourselves guilty or holding ourselves as right or defending ourselves as right or just admitting I am guilty it is better to keep things in a abeyance keep things in pause and evaluate with the guidance of some devotees again if I said it is a major decision it is good to write things down also this is what I think about this write things down and then when you write things down that becomes like a snapshot of our mind snapshot of our thinking and come back after a week come back after a month and look at that I was thinking like this you know but I didn’t think of this factor and this is such an important factor then our thinking becomes broader just getting the thoughts out of our head creates some distance and when the distance is there the distance itself brings some objectivity as long as thoughts are inside me we just are too caught up with the thoughts our head is congested get them out, don’t act on them, get them out and then wait for some time then evaluate them then we will be able to catch catch ourselves and usually it is not that the rationalization is entirely self-serving rationalization there is some element of truth to it there is something which we need for our own spiritual growth sometimes we may need some space and we may find some aspect of philosophy which justifies our having some space that may be a genuine need for some people that’s ok so we can by getting association of trustworthy devotees through whom we see our mind and by getting the contents of our mind outside so that we can evaluate them more objectively and by just waiting not acting on it immediately by all this we will be able to evaluate and then arrive at a more mature decision does that answer your question? thank you very much