THE LIMITATIONS OF UNDERSTANDING

 
From all types of bondage — physical, mental, spiritual, social, political and moral — emancipation of man is possible sooner or later. But the redemption of mankind from its self-imposed shackles of intellectual self-sufficiency and idealistic or religious inheritance is very different indeed, and the task, if ever attempted, is almost superhuman.

The institution of slavery in the Middle Ages was already bad enough, but the irresponsible slavery of this industrial age of ours is worse. Emancipation of mankind from such types of physical and economic slavery is comparatively an easy affair.

But the most cruel and destructive form of slavery is an intellectual bigotry of possessing the monopoly of Truth, exclusive of others. It is such types of people, when they happen to wield temporal power on earth, who hasten the downfall of a laboriously built civilization or the disintegration of a living religion.

Intellect is, so to say, reserved by nature for man. One has to be a man to have intellect, but however keen and quick it may be, it will always be just one of the stepping stones to wisdom, inspiration, illumination, knowledge and realization of Truth, which is above all these.

To keep playing on the stepping stone, however polished and shining it may be, is like sitting tight over an idle heap of hoarded wealth.

Like everything else, intellect can be used as much as misused or abused. The deeper the intelligence, the greater the responsibility for discrimination between essentials and non-essentials, service and disservice, going forward or backward.

May you succeed in transcending the limitations of understanding and crossing into the domain of Real Knowledge, where nothing remains as unknown, unseen and unheard of; nay, everything becomes self-identified. My blessings to all.