Our intelligence in the West is mainly applied to reason, or the same, the faculty of explaining nature, often simplistically. From here we move into the natural sciences where we have what we believe to be an understanding of nature. Judging from the results, however, science did not actually explain the phenomena of nature, it merely described it. A case in point was electricity. From Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) and the present, electricity cannot be fully explained.
Electricity’s actions can be described using the analogy of water through pipes but that is inadequate in the long run. What electricity is, essentially, still waits to be discovered. And if our sun and the rest of the suns of the universe are proven to be basically electrical (the SAFIRE project’s mission) and not just hydrogen bombs in the sky, what then? Are we willing to admit that our entire explanation of the universe is wrong and that much of what science holds to be settled is largely unsettled?
I dare say the West is undergoing a huge change that will shake its very foundation. Not only in science but our very perception of the world will be affected. Major cracks in this foundation have already appeared but has thus far been covered over by the skillful use of propaganda and indoctrination which has been increasing in our intellectual academies otherwise known as universities!
Buddhism and Hinduism, in this earthquake, are the two religions that can accept the cracking of the West’s foundation and reveal a more solid foundation, one based upon Mind or spirit which means that our universe is fundamentally spiritual—not material. In light of this, we are spiritual beings not clock-work like robots. We cannot be mechanically duplicated.
Looking at this from the perspective of our normal, everyday life in which we seek out what is most useful for us, we have only managed to engage in our world through our emotions and sexual drive. We lack the necessary intelligence (but certainly not cunning reason) to enter, adequately, the true world of Buddhism and what it offers.
Sadly, we want Buddhism to be our daddy or mommy and cater to our wants and needs. But Buddhism wants us to use our intelligence in a unique way and rely much less on the intellect. In a nutshell, the former is concerned with gaining direct knowledge (e.g., seeing our true nature) while the latter deals with giving reasons or explanations. The two are quite different. Another example, koans require great intelligence to solve them, not the intellect. It is the overuse of the intellect that keeps the adept from solving the koan. It is this intellect, also, that keeps the wheel of suffering turning and our intelligence declining.
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