Use the power of your intellect.

Swami Parthasarathy shares his philosophical wisdom during his upcoming annual lecture tour. By Helen Grange

IN THE face of life’s difficulties and challenges, the practice of honing your intellect – which enables you to be resilient and objective – is the only way to find balance and peace. This is one of the key teachings of pre-eminent philosopher Swami Parthasarathy, who returns to South Africa at the end of this month for his annual lecture tour.

“Humans need a strong intellect to exercise the right choices in life. When your intellect is not fortified you are at the mercy of your mind,” says Parthasarathy, who has reached the ripe age of 91 and still lives a full, healthy life. “People do not make use of their existing intellect fully, which explains why people regret their own actions,” he says.

Parthasarathy has been visiting South Africa since 1986 disseminating the ancient knowledge of Vedanta from India, a philosophy that dates back several thousand years. It is a scientific system of principles that govern human life – the digest of great thinkers and philosophers over countless generations. Its timeless principles transcend culture, race and religion, making Vedanta universal in its application. The philosophy trains one to develop the intellect, the human faculty of reason and judgement. Thus Vedanta is a user’s manual for life that

explains the human constitution and how to use the body, mind and intellect for maximum peace and prosperity in all aspects of life – official, social and domestic.

“The crux of the problem humanity faces today is the failure to distinguish the intellect from intelligence. Intelligence is built by gaining information, knowledge from external sources, from teachers and textbooks, from schools and universities. Using those sources you become informed, knowledgeable, even brilliant in one or more subjects that you take up. Intelligence provides you with the means to make a living. No more,” Parthasarthy explains.

The intellect, on the other hand, is the faculty to think, to reason, to judge, to decide on the pros and cons of life, “the capacity to enquire, and not take anything for granted”. Parthasarathy says intellect is developed by the self. “The constant exercise of thinking, reasoning, questioning all through your life, strengthens your intellect”, he says.

“The world presents endless trials and tribulations. The human species alone is provided with an intellect to fight against and surmount mundane challenges. A powerful intellect helps humans overpower these onslaughts,” says Parthasarathy. During his lectures, Parthasarathy will expound these founding Vedantic principles.