Some people say that after listening to Bhagawan's discourses, they become more often intellectual. But Swami's message is not for such people - it is not to make one an intellectual. Bhagawan's voice is meant to make us intelligent. Swami wants us to be intelligent and not intellectual! At times, an intellectual may be foolish. But an intelligent man is never foolish.
Swami gives the example of Newton, the great physicist. During his days, he went on doing experiments in his laboratory in a small room. He loved his pet cat very much and this cat started becoming a nuisance. He had put out the candle and the papers around were spoiled by the excreta of the cat. Newton was vexed, wondering what to do. Every time he had to take fresh sheets to record his observations.
Although he loved the cat very much, he found it to be a nuisance but he nevertheless could not blame the cat. He found a solution and arranged a carpenter to make a hole in the door so that the cat could jump in and out, when it wanted. In due course, the cat gave birth to kittens. Now, Newton called the carpenter and instructed him to make three additional smaller holes for the kittens to move in and out! The carpenter was highly amused and laughed at the intellectual mind.
"Sir, what is this? The mother cat already has a bigger hole for itself. This hole is enough for the mother as well as for the kittens for going in and out! You don't need three holes!" Then Newton understood his foolishness.
An intelligent man does not think in this direction. An intellectual thinks in this way. An intellectual may be foolish and impractical, without common sense. William Hazlitt, a great writer in English prose and literature said, "Common sense is a rare and enviable thing."
He meant that common sense is not uncommon. That is the quality and position of an intellectual. On the other hand, an intelligent man is practical. An intelligent man is down-to-earth.
(From the book "Sai-Chology" by Prof. K. Anil Kumar)
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