Intellectual Life

INTRODUCTION 

            Love is the beginning of everything in us.  We do what we love and more obviously love what we do.  When given a chance of having biryani, I will surely go for it than having the daily dal and rice. The human mind is so complex and yet so simple.  It does the complex tasks if remembering so many things that come as information.  It also does some simple things like recalling facts already stored in the brain.

            The brains that we have been gifted by God are like the C. P. U of the computer.  The brain gives a command and the body responds in a like-wise manner.  Humans possess a right brain and a left brain.  The left brain controls the right side of the body while the right brain controls the left side of the body. There are thousands of chemical reactions continuously going on in our body and more so in our brains.

            Knowledge comes to our mind mainly through our senses. We have images of what we see, hear and so on in our minds. Knowledge is just a remembrance of what already exists in the mind.

            The intellectual life is one of discipline and continuous striving. It is a continuous thirst for knowledge. From the cradle to the grave we keep on learning. Learning is a never ending process. The more knowledge you get the more you feel like gaining more of it through reading, watching a movie, listening to a clipping and so on.

            The intellectual life also calls for moral responsibility towards others. The knowledge that is gained is to be shared with others so that it helps the other. Let’s journey through this amazing field of the intellectual life.

PRAYER

            Have we trials and temptations, is there trouble anywhere……   Take it to the Lord in prayer. This hymn teaches us that we can convert every moment, experience, and upcoming event and so on into prayer. As faithful Christians and disciples of Jesus (or faithful disciples of the God you believe in) we ought to begin every event with prayer. Through prayer we invite and also at the same time allow God to take care of everything; in short we place or better still, we surrender everything in His tender and loving hands.

            Prayer is raising one’s mind to God from time to time. It is not as easy as it seems to be especially in the intellectual life. It becomes very difficult to raise one’s mind to God to pray when going gets tough. It is very important for the intellectual to pray as it helps him to place everything in His hands.

            It is said that when the going gets tough the tough get going. Only being tough is not enough, putting one’s whole effort and leaving the rest to God is also equally important. Faith in God that is prayer and work are like two sides of a coin or like the two wings of a bird. In prayer the intellectual offers himself to the Lord so that He may take care of him.

VOCATIONAL INTELLECT

            Vocation to anything, anyone or any way of life comes from heaven. It is God given and not manmade. When life is taken as a vocation then one finds joy in living it on a daily basis. Everyday seems to be a brand new day and every moment seems like God’s gift. On the other hand when something is not taken as a vocation then it becomes like a job or a burden. The following words are often on the lips of a person who doesn’t treat something like a vocation; “That’s not my job, I’ve done what I was supposed to do…….”

            The intellectual life requires one to take this way of life as avocation and not as a job or a career where one finally lands up in a rat race. A mother doesn’t need to be explained as to how she should take care of her child. Taking care of her child is her vocation! She uses creative ways to take care of the child and so on. In the same the intellectual person who has taken up this vocation finds creative and refined methods of boosting his intellect.

            Also when the intellectual life is taken as a vocation one realizes that one has become so engrossed and merged into it that days have turned into months and months into years. This is the magic of treating something like a vocation.

DISCIPLINE

            Where there is a will, there is a way. And from the way comes the destination. In the same way where there is a brain, there must be a plan, and from the plan shall come the time-table. The time-table will come because there is discipline. Like any other field, the intellectual life requires discipline so that the functioning may be better.

            It is easy to expect discipline from others but very difficulties to practice it oneself. Being disciplined involves being punctual, brisk in one’s movements, temperance in eating, so on and so forth. To be a good teacher on must first be a good student. Amazingly there is a DISCIPLE in the word DISCIPL (IN) E.

            The intellectual must clearly know his aims and motives for doing something. Discipline requires effectivity and maturity. There could be many temptations which could make the intellectual lazy, frustrated, fail and so on. This is precisely the time when prayer becomes an effective tool.

            Some practical tips to become a disciplined person are as follows: Starting with small targets, resolutions and others things will help. Rewarding oneself with some relaxation and music when the target is achieved so as to encourage oneself. Affirming oneself with words such as ‘I CAN DO IT’ could prove to be helpful.

            In all this one needs to continuously keep a check on oneself so as to keep progressing.

           

YOGA

            The most important thing is will. You can take the horse to the water but cannot make it drink the water. Most of the battles or trials in life are won or lost in the mind. Yoga is something that joins or unites.

            Yoga is like a tool for the intellectual to calm down his mind. The intellectual doesn’t entail continuous filling of the mind with knowledge. The breathing and physical exercises of yoga, when done with precision, amount to the relaxation of the muscles and the brains. Meditation too is of good use to intellectual. Meditating on the gentle flow of the river or even its stillness helps the mind to become still and gentle like the river.

GAMES

            Hey! How are you feeling? Are you feeling tired, bored, and lonely…..  These questions are important to the intellectual because he is a human being and not a robot. All you who think that you are intellectuals need to become aware of your humanness.

            It is rightly said that all study and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Very true, just as study is like an exercise to the mind, so are games to the body. In life we remember what we do more than what we say, in the same way games could be used as tool to learn or to help others learn something. When the mind is tired or bored it tends to lead the body into relaxation or demands a change of activity as it can no longer concentrate.

            One shouldn’t ignore the needs of one’s body while also being careful at the same time, not to indulge in too much recreation. The recreation I’m hinting at is surely not of the intellectual type for example playing chess and the like games. Through the game the mind should be made to relax so that when one comes back to book one is refreshed and ready to begin afresh.

            What happens on the field shouldn’t however be carried to your study room. The matters of the ground should remain on the ground, if one feels that games would cause mental unrest then one could substitute it with a walk or something else that helps one to refresh oneself.

INTELLECTUAL REST

            Work and rest are like hands and legs for the body. When one at work one should give ones 100% so that the resting may be peaceful, knows that one has given ones best. Doctors recommend 7-8 hours of sleep every day.  This is important and if it is taken care of then there is full productivity when one applies oneself to work.

            In an hour of intense study there should be at least 7 to 8 minutes of relaxation. Drinking water and splashing water on the face helps in getting refreshed. When I feel tired or bored I rest by singing songs in my mind or by drawing some cartoons so as to get refreshed.

            St .John Bosco had taken a resolution to rest not more than 5 hours every night and to stay up one night in a week to do reading and to study books. He died very early due to physical exhaustion. He himself says that this is not recommended. This is a practical example of what happens when a human being over- works and exerts his body. The other extreme of this that is laxity and laziness is also very bad. Procrastination and sloth sets in, there is no purposelessness in doing tasks.

            In life everything should be done in due proportion, when one tries to experiment with extreme ways one tends to face some problem or the other as an effect. ‘Do your best and God will do the rest’. The word rest here has a different connotation but it calls the intellectual to give ones best and leave the rest in God’s hands. Sometimes rest could also mean silence. Silence is the content of the words that count much in life.

ENVIRONMENT

            The environment or the situatedness of the person in a particular place is also of grave importance in his intellectual life. The nature, trees, birds, weather and many more factors affect the way an individual works and thinks.

            Neighbors, family and friends are an integral part in an intellectual’s life. The way the neighborhood functions is the way the brains of the intellectual functions. This doesn’t always have to be so. Jesus in the Bible says that it is not what goes inside a person that defiles the person but what comes out. The exterior or the surrounding may be suitable or be a hindrance to ones intellectual life. Some people get used to all the disturbances of the surroundings while some don’t.

            The important fact to be realized sooner or later is that there are disturbances both within and without; the family plays a major role in helping to get rid of many problems. By sharing our experiences and problems with our family members (especially the ones who understand us we can resolve matters to a large extent.)

            It is of grave importance to feel comfortable and be able to relax in the company of one’s friends. Friends lighten our anguish and are like honey on the wound. When an intellectual’s stressed out or bored he should push himself to go out with his family or his friends

FAILURE

Try and try but don’t cry. Don’t ask God ‘Why me…?’ There are thousands of stories of people who have failed and yet have passed. There has to be evil if there is good, for if there was no evil there wouldn’t be good and vice versa.

‘Failure is a stepping stone to success’ and sayings of the like manner help us to encourage ourselves to give a second try. In the intellectual life there will always be difficulties, struggles, anxieties and most of all failures. The word ‘Failure’ in itself is a great teacher, the way one looks at it depends how much one is going to learn from it.

Coping with failure is difficult but not impossible. Firstly one has to accept that one has failed for which responsibility has to be taken. After this if one is mature enough and is able to look at his own failure one should go to its roots. After having excavated the cause, one must begin the process of boosting one’s self esteem so as to do better the next time.

            The next time one must really give his best and prove that ‘Failure is a stepping stone to success’. A very good example of taking failure optimistically is Thomas Alva Edison. He said that he knew 999 ways of how not to create or make a bulb. Right view and attitude towards life helps in solving many puzzles of life.

CONCLUSION

            The journey through these writings about the Intellectual life seems to be quite quick, however it is not so in reality. In our daily life, applying all the principles as presented in the chapters is a lifelong process and a struggle.

            From my own experience and from that what I have heard from others, I feel that entering the intellectual life without self-discipline will be like committing suicide. The intellectual life demands many qualities which finally make a person a gentleman. The intellect of a person is gauged with the marks one scores in the exams or by the number of degrees on holds.

I personally am totally against this type of system. All have different types and levels of intellect. One has developed a liking for History which doesn’t have to be so for a second. In being reasonable St. John Bosco says that educators must ask children to do things which they are capable of and not force unnecessary impossible demands on them.

All of us are on this beautiful journey of the Intellectual Life and different levels. The prime thing to be kept in mind that we have to continuously challenge ourselves to be and do better. The only best competitor we have to be better, than is our own selves. Competing with others is of no use, it will only seem to boost your ego while the other is dejected. Remember ‘The only competitor you have is you’