All of us normally use the intelligence of mind, which includes understanding, reasoning, logic, and analysis. Therefore, in order to move towards using higher intelligence, we must first understand how the intelligence of mind is limited and why we should use wisdom of heart more often than we usually do.
First, let us understand what mind is.
Our mind is a collection of our thoughts. These thoughts can be categorized into our beliefs, opinions, ideas, values, and principles. Therefore, when we look at reality and try to understand with our mind, we see it through our own thoughts. This becomes our own interpretation of reality rather than a true account of reality.
This happens because mind only sees what it is conditioned to see and ignores the rest. Therefore, it becomes impossible to experience reality as it is, using only our mind.
As a result our actions remain flawed and we fail to get the desired results.
This can be more clearly understood with help of an example:
Suppose your wallet is lost somewhere in the house. As you start searching for it, you keep looking at same place over and over again because you always keep it there. So your mind is expecting to find it only there. The expectation limits your search only to a specific area and you become oblivious to other possibilities where it can be found. This results in you not being able to find it. It is only after you suspend your expectation and think of other possibilities from your heart that you are able to find it.
Though it is too simple an example to understand how the mind limits our actions in more complex and challenging situations of life, yet it gives you an idea about how mind actually sometimes acts as a blinder.
This also explains acts of terror where the terrorists are blinded by the perceptions of mind and there is total absence of wisdom of heart. They are unable to think even in their own interest and give up their lives for some ideas of mind.
So it is in our interest that we start using wisdom of heart. Now the question is how do we activate this wisdom? For this, we need to activate the heart first. In order to do this, we need to bring back to life the heart that has been numbed by the pain of past hurts. This can only be done by releasing the pain and the pain is released only by completely experiencing it.
We may ask how experiencing pain can activate our heart’s intelligence. This is a question that often comes to our mind when we are asked to experience pain. We doubt completely the rationale behind the process. We feel that it is useless to remember old hurts and cry over them. It makes us feel weak and smells of a defeatist attitude in life.
Well, it is natural to avoid any experience of pain.
However, there is something that we need to recognize there.
Consider this for a moment, if there is excess salt in your soup and you try to balance the taste by adding more sugar and pepper, still the saltiness remains and spoils the taste of the soup. Why is it so? It is because even though sugar has been added, the excess salt has not gone anywhere, it is there.
Similarly, when the pain from old hurts remains, no matter how much we try to enjoy life through other activities, yet joy of good experiences also is spoiled.
Like if we want to enjoy a good soup we will have to throw this and prepare a new one, in the same way if we want to enjoy life, we will have to throw the old stored pain from our heart.
Pain is thrown out only by experiencing it. There is no other way. Also, the moment we experience pain, we become stronger as an individual.
Once the heart is free of pain, it starts guiding you in life. It can guide you in form of a feeling, or an inner voice, or just a sense of knowing, but it certainly gives you far more accurate account of reality than your limited mind.
So my dear friends go ahead and conquer the pain, allow the wisdom of your heart to guide you, and reclaim the life of joy that you so much deserve.
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