Hello friends. This is Mohanji.
Last time, we spoke about a sarcastic comment from Osho, and I think or I hope you have thought about it or contemplated about it. It’s like a mirror shown on our own face as to what we are and how we behave in this world.
Today, I would like to speak about an interesting discussion I had this morning with somebody and this question is really a food for thought. Since we are having food for thought each time, I would like to bring to your plate this question.
There are four types of people in the world as per the scriptures, four major types. We can’t say exactly everybody is in one compartment or the other because there are mixtures. So, if you categorise the world in four; the first part or the maximum is emotional bad people. When I say bad, it is not the actual word ‘bad’. It’s that emotionally insensitive, very insensitive but emotional, and they go through all indulgences, they do everything. If somebody pays the money, they can even go and kill a person, they are very insensitive in the world. This is the broad spectrum.
The next or the lesser amount, is the emotional good; they are sensitive, very sensitive, very committed, they are very good people, but at the same time they are emotional, they make emotional decisions, they sometimes are very, very dogmatic.
Then the other two sets or category of people; one is the intellectual bad, again please don’t think that bad means bad, as in English terms, it’s insensitive but intellectual, means they’ re selfish, you can call intellectual selfish. You can see a lot of people like that, there are industrialists, there are businessmen, there are so many politicians, intellectual, very intellectual people but their whole interest is selfish. They only have a selfish interest; they only do things for themselves.
Then there is another set of people, a fraction of the community, a very small number; they are the intellectual unselfish – the good ones. Their whole interest is for the welfare of the nations, or welfare of the world. They live for the world. They live only to help the world, heal the world, work for the world. And their interest is to have a better world. So these are the four major categories.
The question came to me today from one person who I was discussing with. He asked me “Is there a similarity between the intellectual selfish and the intellectual unselfish?” I said, “Yes, they are more or less like the two sides of the same coin.” So, he was a psychologist and he has done certain research in the field of psychology. So he told me, “You know Mohanji, there are a lot of similarities between these two.” He has been visiting the prisons for giving motivational services to the prisoners, to bring them back to social life.
So, he spoke to many prisoners and they all had a bit of saintliness in them. They can be great saints. They can actually become totally selfless. And most of these people have had a bad childhood, means they were not regarded, they were not recognized; they were not accepted or they were criticized heavily and (kind of) pushed to a corner. So, what causes a person to be intellectually selfish, (being intellectual still be selfish) or being intellectual unselfish?
So, this thought was very good, and he was telling me that he has seen similarities because he has been interacting with various Masters, spiritual masters, highly evolved people and they had the same thing, the only thing is that their whole point is unselfish. They are not doing it for themselves. They want the world to be better, they want the world to be happy.
So, the intellectual selfish can easily become intellectual unselfish, just by the right guidance, the right motivation and when they become unselfish, they are extremely powerful in the world. So the thin line is between selfishness and unselfishness and that is sitting in everybody. And the motivation or orientation whether it is emotional or intellectual, that is where the trick is. So the people, the majority of emotional people, I mean their operating level is their mind, not intellect; they can be easily manipulated, by the intellectual good or bad, intellectual selfish or unselfish. They can influence them, manipulate them.
Intellectually unselfish will not manipulate anybody because they don’t have any need for that; they are giving, they are here to give, not to take anything from anybody. So, that’s a major difference here but intellectual selfish have selfish interests, and they will do anything to attain their selfish interests. So, this is one category which you have to be very careful with because they are very intellectual so they can manipulate people and they can take away whatever they want from you. Understand that, everybody has the potential to become a saint. Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past.
I would leave you with these thoughts and do remember to contemplate on it and see what you find out of this. Maybe we can communicate about this later. But this is the thought I would like you to know. But please remember, there is nobody only in one category because there are mixtures. So, there is a bit of emotional, there is a bit of intellectual, there is a bit of mind, there is a bit of intellect in everybody. So, what is predominant in you that is what people call you as. So, don’t think you are just one. You are a mixture. All of us are various kinds of mixtures, various proportions. What proportion is predominant in you, that’s what you are.
Have a great day. I sign off. This is Mohanji.
Transcribed by Gayatri Jayshankar
Proofread by Rekha Murali
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