Isn’t using intelligence to control the mind paradoxical?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
It’s about, say, if we use our intelligence to control our emotions, then isn’t that sort of paradoxical? Yeah, definitely. To some extent, this is the process of growth. When a child is newborn, the child practically has no intelligence.
It’s only emotions. The child starts crying and then the mother comes, the father comes and pacifies the child. Then as the child starts growing slowly, initially when even the infant is drinking milk from the mother’s breast, the infant may not be aware also that there’s somebody called mother.
It’s a nice place, something is coming and I want to drink it, that’s all. But gradually as the child starts growing, they start becoming aware. This is my mother, she loves me.
This is my father. And as the child starts growing more and more, the child starts understanding that I can’t just cry and demand things. I also have to do certain things.
I should do this, I should not do this. So as we grow from childhood to youth to adulthood, basically our emotions are always there. But our intelligence starts growing.
Children are largely mind, very little intelligence. In adolescence, there is intelligence, but the mind is also very strong. So what happens in adolescence? The intelligence is controlled by the mind.
So the very, sometimes the kids in their teenage, they are very sharp. But they are sharp in somehow doing what they want to do. And they are not very sound in their decision making.
But as we come to adulthood, then our intelligence becomes the controller. The mind doesn’t become the controller of the mind. So that way, basically this inner conflict between the mind and intelligence is the very nature of the human condition.
The animals, they really don’t have much intelligence. Their intelligence, you could say some kind of intellect. A bird knows where I can find some food to eat, how to build a nest.
But it’s largely instinctive, just driven by instincts. So we humans, we have the intelligence to think long term. So to the extent we develop that intelligence, to the extent we are acting according to our humanity and gradually we are moving to the divine level, the spiritual level.
So that inner tension is just natural to the human condition. But that tension can become more manageable when we don’t fuel our unhealthy emotions. See, if a person is alcoholic and they decide now I want to give up alcohol.
But then their house is above a bar. Then it’s almost impossible for them to give it up. Because what has happened, the emotions which they are trying to control, there is so much stimulus available for those emotions constantly that they will not be able to control it.
So the emotions, we need to avoid exposing ourselves to stimuli that agitate our emotions. Our willpower is a finite resource. It’s not an infinite resource.
So if we keep exerting our willpower too much on battles that are not necessary, then it becomes exhausted and then we just succumb. So we have willpower, but it is finite. We’ve got to use it wisely.
So on one side, certain things agitate our emotions, then we minimize our exposure to that as much as possible. And secondly, whatever it is that nourishes our intelligence, we do it on a diligent basis. So studying scripture, hearing, spiritual wisdom, all this nourishes our intelligence.
And then by that, this inner conflict that is there, the intelligence starts giving the upper hand. And that’s how we can act for our long-term interests. Thank you.