Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academ-advaita.com
The Netherlands

19 March 2020

Conviction (1)

“Belief”


Conviction is a strongly held belief or opinion. Intelligence appears as intellect in the mind. The intellect logically reasons in the mind, which gives you a deception that the logical reasoning is applicable to life. 

Logical reasoning applies to the mind and not to life. You must have heard somewhere that life is illogical. You might have also heard it in another way that life is mysterious. 

Have you put any attention to the two words illogical and mysterious? The way the mind thinks is this: it can apply logic and reasoning to become mysterious. Just as the mind believes that you can do something to become the non-doer. 

Understand that it is not the mind’s fault. Mind with knowledge cannot understand that life is illogical, meaning that there is no logic applicable to it. That is why life is mysterious. 

Understand that every time the mind uses logic, the mystery will be logical and not illogical which life, as a mystery, is. And so life passes on. You are stuck in the mind, trying to be mysterious using logic. 

Understand that it is not you who is using logic. Intellect reflects logic so that deep understanding of life may happen to you. Deep understanding of life will happen to everyone. 

Understand that you are just attentive to the mind speaking to yourself. And that is normal. That is how humans lead their lives. Humans are blocked in the mind. It is okay because they cannot be other than they are in any moment of life.

Understand that, if each one observes his or her own life, it would appear as if life does not listen to him or her and the mind does not listen to life. It appears that sometimes life listens to the mind and sometimes the mind listens to life. This is the conviction, is it not?

This is the scenario. Is it not? How do you understand this? Sometimes life is listening to your mind. There is planning. There are decisions. And friends are friends. Everybody agrees to go to a place. And all go to that place. It looks as if mind can control life and life is listening to mind. 

Understand that sometimes you plan your life and everything goes haywire. 

Plenty of arguments in the mind. Disappointments around in the mind. So it looks as though life has not listened to your mind. 

The wise understand that every moment in life is not made by man and every moment cannot have anything besides what the moment has. Furthermore, every moment in life happens mysteriously and without logic. This is their conviction of life, which is irrefutable.

The enlightened admire the mysterious life every moment without logic.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V.S. Shankar 2020

Editor’s Note:
The very nature of life is here described as being mysterious. A mystery never discloses its virtue, hence it defies being understood by the mind. The mind is gifted with logic and reason to find its place in daily life. It is resolute in establishing its authority in man’s journey in life. In other words, it has acquired convictions that are resilient to argument or even gentle persuasion. Mind will also pit its beliefs against what is actually happening in daily life, for there no trust in life itself. The wise, however, in their compassion for man, are gifting here their deep understanding of the intelligence of life. Thus, they accept that whatever happens in every moment cannot be other than what happens in every moment. Understanding this is at the heart of trust.
Julian Capper. UK

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