How do we reconcile the mind’s coming from goodness with goodness giving rise to knowledge?
Answer Podcast:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
That in the third canto it is said that the mind emerges from the mode of goodness, contact with the mode of goodness, but goodness is supposed to produce knowledge. So, why is the mind producing negativity? The Bhagavatam when it talks about the sequence of creation, there is a particular context over there.
There it is said mind is produced with the contact with the mode of goodness and intelligence is produced from contact with the mode of passion. The idea over there is goodness is concerned with maintenance and passion is concerned with expansion. That is how we have Vishnu who is the maintainer and Brahmaji who is in charge of creation, it is expansion, whatever is there we expand it.
So, in general with respect to creation the mind maintains our material existence and the intelligence expands our material existence. If you see today when I was talking about the technology, the media which is aggravating materialism, there is a huge amount of intelligence behind it. The advertisers are intelligent people, but they are using intelligence not to counter illusion, they are using intelligence to spread illusion.
So, that means we have to differentiate between two kinds of intelligence. There is material intelligence and there is spiritual intelligence. Spiritual intelligence is what comes from Guru Sadhu Shastra.
Material intelligence is what comes from past karma. So, there can be atheists who can be brilliant in terms of material intelligence. They have phenomenal memory, phenomenal linguistic skills, phenomenal analytical abilities, that is just the result of their past karma.
And by that intelligence they are propagating atheism, they are spreading illusion. So, with respect to our material existence the mind maintains material existence. Mind by default stays at the material level of consciousness.
This maintenance essentially means staying at the same material level of consciousness. The mind does not by itself go towards spiritual level of consciousness. And when the mind, mind may imagine, but for executing it needs the intelligence.
We human beings have been given a higher intelligence which is meant to be directed towards something higher. We say eating, sleeping, mating, defending, this is common among humans and animals. Now in Kali Yuga, not in Kali Yuga, in material existence, we humans use the higher intelligence for a lower purpose.
So, for example, a sparrow, generation after generation will stay in the same nest. It needs to defend itself, it builds its house, that is a nest. But we humans, we may have a small house, we want a big house, then we want a row house, then we want a mansion, then we want a palace, we keep improving things.
So, here what is it? The intelligence is being used to expand one’s interaction with material nature. That is the mode of passion. So, we cannot correlate that and this.
The when Bhagavad Gita talks about sattva sanjayate jnanam, it is talking about living in the mode of goodness. Whereas when the Bhagavatam is talking about the process of creation, it is talking about the basic function. So, the basic function of the mind is to maintain material existence.
And for that purpose, the mind uses our intelligence for expanding its materialism. Prabhupada says in one letter, we are meant to use our intelligence to control the enjoying mentality. But our problem is that we are used to enjoying intelligently.
Enjoying intelligently, what does enjoying intelligently mean? Enjoying in such a way that nobody comes to know that I am enjoying. I think I got away with it now. So, the intelligence when it is talking about the mode of passion, that is the intelligence which is used by the mind to fulfill its purposes.
Does it answer your question? Thank you. Any other questions? Yes. Here there is a question.