We have been able to verify that many teachers of history in the Western world often scoff at the Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Hermes, Quetzalcoatl, Moses, Krishna, etc.
Shamefully, we have also been able to verify until complete satiation the sarcasm, the mockery, the irony hurled by teachers against ancient religions, against the gods, against mythology, etc. Precisely, all of this constitute definite signs of a lack of intelligence.
In schools, colleges, and universities, religious topics ought to be approached with more respect, with a great sense of veneration, with true creative intelligence.
Understand: religious forms conserve eternal values, which are organized according to the psychological and historical needs of each nation, of each race. So, all religions comprise the same principles, the same eternal values, which only differ in their religious form.
Therefore, it is not intelligent for a Christian to scoff at the religion of Buddha, or at the Hebrew religion or Hindu religion, because all religions rest on the same basis.
The satire used by many intellectuals to convey scorn against religions and their founders is rooted in the Marxist poison whose intoxication in these times creeps within all weak minds.
Teachers of schools, colleges and universities must guide their pupils on the path of true respect towards their fellowmen, since—by all means—the one who ridicules temples, religions sects, schools, or spiritual societies in the name of any type of theory, is a boor of the highest order, unworthy and perverse.
Upon completion of their studies, students have to know how to intelligently deal with people of all religions, schools, and sects, hence, it is not wise if they do not even know how to maintain the proper composure in a temple.
So, upon completion of ten or fifteen years of studies, young people find themselves as dimwitted and asleep as the rest of the human beings; that is, they find themselves as full of vacuity and as lacking in intelligence as the first day when they entered school.
It is essential for students to develop—amongst other things—the emotional center, because the intellect is not everything. It is necessary to learn how to feel the intimate harmonies of life, the beauty of a solitary tree, the singing of a bird in the forest, the symphony of music and colors of a beautiful dusk.
It is also necessary to feel and profoundly comprehend all of the horrible contrasts of life, such as the cruel and merciless social order of this age in which we live, with streets filled with unhappy mothers who—with their malnourished and starving children—beg for a piece of bread, the ugly buildings where thousands of poor families live, and the repugnant roads where thousands of cars circulate propelled by those fuels which harm organisms, etc.
Upon completion of their studies, students leave school, having to face not only their own egotism and their own problems, but also the egotism of other people and the multitude of problems of this human society. Regrettably, and the gravest of all, are those students who upon completion of their studies leave the school and—although having acquired intellectual preparation—do not have intelligence, because their consciousness is asleep, and thus they are deficiently prepared for the struggle against life.
The hour has arrived to investigate and discover that which is called intelligence, since dictionaries and encyclopedias are impotent in regards to a serious definition of intelligence.
There can never be a radical transformation nor true happiness without intelligence. Sadly, to find truly intelligent people in life is a great oddity. Yet, what is important in life is not only to know about the word “intelligence,” but to experience its deep significance within ourselves.
Many are those who boast about being intelligent. There is no wino who does not boast about being as intelligent as Karl Marx who, believing himself to be extremely intelligent, wrote his materialistic farce, for which the world has paid dearly: by the loss of the eternal values, by the shooting of thousands of priests from different religions, by the raping of Christian and Buddhist nuns, by the destruction of many temples, by the torture of thousands and even millions of people, etc.
So, anyone can boast of being intelligent, yet the difficulty lies in becoming truly intelligent. The way to acquire intelligence is not by acquiring more bookish information, more knowledge, more experiences, more things to dazzle people with, more money to buy judges and policemen, etc.
It is not by means of “more than” that one is able to acquire intelligence. Those who assume that intelligence can be conquered with the process of “more than” are absolutely mistaken.
It is essential to comprehend in depth and in all the levels of the subconscious and unconscious mind that pernicious process of “more than,” since very secretly hidden in its depths is the beloved ego, the psychological “I”, the “myself” that desires and always wants more and more in order to fatten and strengthen itself.
This Mephistopheles that we carry within, this Satan, this ego, this “I,” says: “I have more money than him, I am more beautiful than her, I have more intelligence than him, I have more prestige, more astuteness than them,” etc.
Whosoever wants to truly comprehend what intelligence is must learn to feel it, must live it, and experience it by means of profound meditation.
All of that which people collect within the rotten tomb of their unfaithful memory, namely, intellectual information and the experiences of life, are always fatally translated in the terms of “more” and “more than.” Consequently, they never get to know the deep significance of each thing that they have accumulated.
Many are those who read a book and, being satisfied with having accumulated more information, thereafter store it within their memory. However, when they are called to answer about the doctrine written within the book they just read, regrettably they do not understand the profound significance of such a teaching; nevertheless their “I” wants more and more information, more and more books, even when they have not experienced the doctrine of any of them.
So, intelligence is not attained with more bookish information, or with more experience, or more money, or more prestige. Intelligence can only blossom in us when we comprehend the whole process of the “I,” when we understand in depth the psychological automatism of “more than.”
It is essential to comprehend that the mind is the basic center of “more than.” Indeed, “more than” is the same psychological “I” which demands, and the mind is its fundamental nucleus. Therefore, the one who wants to become truly intelligent must resolve to die [psychologically] not only at the superficial, intellectual level, but also in all of the subconscious and unconscious levels of his mind.
Thus, when the “I” dies, when the “I” is totally dissolved, then the only thing that remains within us is the authentic Being, the true Being, who actually has that much coveted, very difficult to acquire, and authentic, intelligence.
People think that the mind is creative, yet they are mistaken, because the “I” is not creative, and the mind is the basic nucleus of the “I.”
Intelligence is creative because it is of the Being; it is an attribute of the Being, therefore we must not mistake the mind for intelligence.
Those who assume that intelligence is something that can be cultivated like a greenhouse flower, or something that can be bought like titles of nobility or possessed like an exceptional library, are radically and absolutely mistaken.
It is necessary to deeply comprehend all of the processes of the mind, all of the reactions, that psychological “more than” which accumulates, etc. Only in this way will the ardent flame of intelligence emerge from within us in a natural and spontaneous manner.
Thus, to the extent that this Mephistopheles that we carry within is being dissolved, likewise at that level the fire of creative intelligence will little by little manifest within us, until it completely shines in the manner of a burning flame.
Our true Being is love, and from such love is born real and authentic intelligence, which does not belong to time.
Samael Aun Weor
