Buddha means the enlightened, and also the super intelligent. Buddhi in Sanskrit means intelligence, and there are four signs of intelligence.
Alertness
The first sign of intelligence is being alert. You can’t say that I am intelligent but I am a little sleepy. Intelligence means alertness. When you are alert, your perception and observation improves and this helps your expression become perfect.
Many times, people say, “Oh, nobody understands me.”
Instead, they should say, “I haven’t been able to express myself.”
If you have the skill to express, then there can be no misunderstandings. Perception, observation, and expression – all these come from being alert.
Now, if you keep yourself very alert for long periods of time, what happens? You get tired and feel exhausted. So, it’s not in the nature of our brain to be alert all the time. We need relaxation. And the type of relaxation we know is taking a pillow and going to sleep. That's it. Sleep is necessary, but there is another type of relaxation where you are alert and at the same time relaxed, and that is meditation.
Ability to Resolve Conflict
Another sign of intelligence is the ability to resolve conflict. Fools create conflicts. An intelligent person knows how to resolve conflicts in oneself and in her/his surroundings.
If someone is creative but creates a lot of conflicts, you say, “Oh my god, that's not an intelligent thing to do”, isn't it so?
If you put an intelligent person amid a conflict, will there be more conflict or will s/he reduce it? S/he will reduce or resolve it! The tendency to bring harmony is a sign of intelligence. The ability to find a solution is a sign of intelligence.
Humor
The next sign of intelligence is humor.
There is a story I would like to tell you. Swami Vivekananda went to a restaurant and went and sat on the same table as his professor. The professor told Swami Vivekananda, “A pig and a bird can't sit on the same table and eat.”
Do you know what Swami Vivekananda said? He said, “Sir, whenever you tell me, I will fly away.”
Intelligence has the ability to turn every conflict into humor. Humor is another sign of intelligence. If you have humor, you will overcome any conflicting situation.
Stress Management
Another sign of intelligence is not getting stressed, and if you do get stressed, to know how to get over it. Intelligence is to know how much to use our mind and our body, and to not overuse it. If we overuse our mind and our body, we get drained, exhausted, and tired.
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Change The Way You See The World
"In Sanskrit, there is a proverb that says, ‘Yatha Drishti, Tatha Srishti’.
As you see the world, that is how the world becomes for you."
Turn and look at yourself -
how do you see people? Do you trust them? Or does doubt linger at the back of your mind?
In this article, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talks about seeing the
best in others.
