How To Cultivate Intelligence

Tarun Pradhaan

*This article is meant for seekers on the path of knowledge. This information is not for the general public and indiscriminate use of it can cause harm.*

# Intelligence

Intelligence can be defined in many ways depending on the context. In the context of the path of knowledge, it can be defined as a set of abilities of the mind which are necessary for it to exist. The mind here is a multilayered structure. A thorough discussion on the layers is presented in [the video series of Vibronics](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB-JSAbBz5B6lYFPINK6Mzv9ToHFtcQ2K). These abilities are distributed in many layers, or in simple words, we can say - each layer of the mind has its own intelligence or a set of abilities. This gives us an opportunity to roughly classify intelligence based on the layers of the mind. As we go up in the layered structure, these abilities become more sophisticated, and we can call it higher intelligence in contrast to the lower, but keep in mind that all of these abilities are most important.

## Natural Intelligence
The laws of the physical world or biological world can be seen as abilities or characteristics that appear in nature. Examples are climate, evolution, ecosystems and various self-organizing systems. They are apparently indicators of an intent or intelligence, but not really. These abilities are very basic and should not be anthropomorphized or treated at par with human intelligence, which is an evolved form of intelligence.

## Body Intelligence
The human body or bodies of other creatures have abilities to digest, reproduce, grow, repair itself or fight diseases. This can be seen as its intelligence. It knows what to do in specific situations. E.g. healing a wound, producing milk in pregnancy etc. It is mostly limited and hard-wired, although a little bit of learning happens, such as in the immune system. Each cell in the body has its own natural intelligence, memory, processes etc.

## Social Intelligence
These abilities are found in many animals and are most evolved in humans. Examples are - abilities that enable survival in a social structure, such as ability to communicate with others, earn a living, earn money, ability to do useful work/jobs. This also includes the ability to form relationships for mutual benefit, find a mate, defend, climb the social ladder, influence people, lead people, conduct wars etc. This can be called practical intelligence or survival intelligence or street smartness or simply smartness.

## Emotional Intelligence
The ability to recognize ones own and others states of emotions, ability to control emotions and sympathize with others, ability to form bonds with others, ethics and aesthetics etc, can be called emotional intelligence. It does not mean being emotionless, or pretending to not have any emotions or suppressing emotions, it means full utilization of these abilities. Commonly known as having feelings. Most people have these abilities, but some lack them more or less.

## Rational Intelligence
The ability to get knowledge and utilize knowledge, learn complex tasks, arts, logical and rational thinking, curiocity, ability to discover and invent, engineering and mathematical abilities, use of tools, construction, building and creativity, ability to understand and contemplate on difficult topics, problem solving, decision making, planning, teaching, managing complex projects, abstract thought, discrimination of true and false etc. The list is very long obviously, and this is what common people call intelligence. These are found only in humans, but not in all humans.

## Spiritual Intelligence
The ability to ask fundamental questions, to ponder on the deeper meanings, having spiritual goals and paths, recognizing the benefit of spirituality and teachers, understanding of various philosophies, seeking higher truth, to know ones true nature, to find a meaning and higher purpose of human life, and to live a life in the light of spiritual knowledge. It also includes the ability to guide others, broad wisdom and a desire to serve everyone. These abilities are very rare, to say the least.

# Signs

Now that you know what intelligence is, it is meaningful to know how to recognize it, first in yourself, then in others. In this way you can find out which abilities are lacking and can take steps to cultivate them. But first, it is good to know the signs of lack of intelligence, which is also known as stupidity. Obviously, each layer, or each class can suffer from its own kind of stupidity.

## Signs of stupidity

This is not a complete list, these are just examples. Note that the deficiencies in the lower layers can accompany the higher ones. Often all these forms are found together.

**Surroundings** : 
* Dirty surroundings, dirty houses or clothes, unhygienic, cluttered, disorganization in home or office space or even the whole city and country. 
* Crowded with people, polluted, noisy.

**Body** :
* Unkempt body, diseases 
* Either too skinny or obese body. 
* Bad eating habits. Addictions.
* Such people show symptoms regarding surroundings also.

**Social** :
* Unable to communicate effectively, has no friends or relationships or has bad company. 
* Poor, slave-like. Lacks a good job, unable to work hard.
* Violent, aggressive or criminal tendencies. Overly dominating, manipulative, liar or people pleasing, sycophant. 
* Dependent on others for food, shelter and security. Fearful, has no self-confidence. Fights or blackmails to get things. Jealous and competitive. 
* Racist or nationalist tendencies. 
* Avoiding people even when necessary, asocial. 
* Lacks basic manners and etiquettes. 
* Such people can show above two kinds of deficiencies.

**Emotional** :
* Unable to control emotions - good or bad. 
* Unable to understand the emotional states of others. Psychopathic indifference. Distorted sense of ethics or aesthetics. 
* Unclear voice, mumbles, or stutters. 
* Unable to love selflessly, selfish and calculating. 
* Has repressed or suppressed emotions. Impulsive. Compulsive. Mental diseases. Extreme emotions. Uncontrolled emotions. 
* Such people can also display all the above kinds of deficiencies - social, body or surroundings.

**Rational** :
* Illiterate, uneducated, ignorant.
* Inability to learn anything new, no skills, bad communication and bad language skills. Unpleasant to talk to. Inability to read and write properly. 
* Dogmatic, religious, rigid belief system. Blind believers, extremist, luddites. Superstitious. Uncritical, easily accepts anything without questioning. Easy to deceive and manipulate. 
* Uncreative, unable to do anything new. 
* Lacks understanding of even the simplest of concepts. Unable to understand logical statements.
* Lacks concentration and patience. 
* Fears intelligent people, surrounds oneself with people of lower intelligence to feel safer. 
* Does not question, but debates or argues. 
* Does not stay on topic for long. 
* Boring and monotonous. Tasteless. Either talks too much or too little. Incoherent talk and thinking. 
* Overestimating ones own intelligence, assuming I know everything or everyone else is stupid. Too much pride and arrogance. Showy and shallow. 
* Unable to take decisions, illogical decisions. 
* Falls asleep or changes topics when faced with complex topics requiring higher intelligence. 
* Heavily biased, has [cognitive biases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases). 
* Superiority complex. 
* No curiosity. 
* Unable to think or form abstract ideas. 
* The list is very long. Such people can also display all the above kinds of deficiencies from emotional and layers below it. This is what is commonly called stupidity.

**Spiritual** :
* No higher goal in life. No teacher, no path. 
* Spirituality is misunderstood as religion, superstition or occult. 
* No curiosity. Does not question.
* No concept of truth. Borrowed beliefs from so called intelligent people, famous people or leaders. 
* No desire to investigate and explore. Rigid ideologies. 
* Overly logical and rational, unable to let go and recognize the limits of intellect. 
* No self realization
* Assuming the material world as the only truth, materialist. 
* No interest in science or philosophy. 
* Insults scriptures, gurus or seekers. 
* Extremely boring and repetitive. 
* Lacks wisdom and understanding. 
* No desire to help and serve others. 
* Doing strange practices in the name of spirituality or joining cults. 
* Doing arbitrary or self-invented practices. Avoid facing a real master. 
* Arrogance about and attachment to a particular path or tradition. 
* Being spiritual to show off. Faking knowledge and spiritual accomplishments. 
* Fake gurus. 
* Wrong or made up interpretation of scriptures and books.

## Signs of intelligence

Probably you must have guessed, these are mostly opposite of stupidity, anyhow here is a short list. Like before the higher intelligence is often found with all the lower kinds also, but the lower forms can lack the higher. It is indeed very rare for all these qualities and abilities to be present in one person.

**Surroundings** :
* Clean, beautiful, properly organized, minimalist. 
* Shows appreciation of order. 
* Good architecture, beauty and prosperity are seen. 
* Favors natural, quiet, uncrowded surroundings.

**Body** :
* Healthy and beautiful body. 
* Not overly decorated. 
* Hygienic, tasty and simple food in needed quantity. 
* Attractive but not obscene. 
* Body is not taken as an end goal, but only an instrument.

**Social** :
* Polite. Loving and kind. 
* Well placed and respected. Prosperous but not excessive. 
* Likes solitude, has only a few friends, few relationships, quality matters not the quantity. 
* Minimalist. 
* Independent and confident. 
* Does not follow any leaders or religions. Loves freedom. 
* Courageous and difficult to control or manipulate. Powerful, but does not misuse it. 
* Treats everyone equally, but remains detached. 
* Prefers a very small family or remains unmarried.

**Emotional** :
* Good control of emotions. 
* Has all the emotions, but is not a slave of them. 
* Understands others well and provides emotional support. 
* Juicy and enjoyable company. 
* No suppressed emotions. 
* Good mental health. 
* Does not take decisions based on emotions or impulses. 
* Not overly dramatic and not dry too.

**Rational** :
* Very rational and logical. 
* Ability to solve problems, find solutions, think deeply, think for a long time, concentrate and focus. 
* Highly educated, studious, good command of languages. 
* Highly skilled. Self-motivated. 
* No blind beliefs, critical ability, skeptical. 
* Interesting to talk to, highly engaging and positive. 
* Inventor, scientist, engineer, mathematician, artist. Experts in their field. Such people drive humanity forward. 
* Contributes to social welfare. 
* Discusses topics deeply and thoroughly. 
* Not judgemental. Free from cognitive biases and other biases. 
* Prefers company of intelligent people, avoids stupid people. 
* Prefers solitude, contemplation, reading, writing, arts. 
* Creative, learns new skills easily. 
* Accepts mistakes and corrects them quickly. 
* Questions and answers instead of arguments. 
* Respects views of others and learns from others. 
* Usually this kind of person is commonly called intelligent, but it is the tip of the iceberg.

**Spiritual** :
* Highly curious. Intense desire for freedom.
* Thinks beyond the social and logical constraints. 
* Has a higher life goal, has a path, a guru or teacher. 
* Attracted to the mysterious. 
* Having deeper or higher knowledge, self realization is the highest kind of knowledge one can have. 
* Has little or no interest in worldly knowledge and society. 
* Does not memorize facts etc., but focuses on the essence. 
* Deep interest in spirituality, philosophy and science. 
* Not worldly, no worldly or lower ambitions. 
* Simple and minimalist life. Either has no family or friends, or has a namesake. 
* Wise and loving. Tendencies to serve and teach others. 
* Prefers solitude or company of teachers, wise or other seekers. 
* Intense desire to progress spiritually and let go of ones limitations.

# Ways to improve intelligence

As you can see, it is a holistic matter and a difficult matter, not a weekend job to say the least. It takes work, discipline and patience to improve ones intelligence. However, the gains are immense. Just like any other ability of the mind, intelligence can be increased, only sky's the limit.

**Identify your shortcomings**
* Now the benefits of breaking down the intelligence into layers will be obvious to you. Search for deficiencies in yourself in each layer and remove them one by one. Divide and conquer. 
* The signs presented above can help. Make a list of the signs that show less intelligence in you, keep it secret, and work on it. 
* Obviously, a teacher is of great help in this great work. 
* You can also make a list of signs of intelligence and work on them to make it even better. 
* Start from the most important ones, do not get lost in minutia.

**Surroundings**
* Purify your surroundings. Stay away from the crowd and noise. 
* A well organized and clean house saves time and is less confusing. Having less things means less expenditure, less need to clean or maintain things and more time for important work. 
* Be a minimalist, which means getting rid of unimportant things and living a comfortable and high quality life. Less is more.
* Showing off is a sure sign of inferiority complex and stupidity. 
* Stay in natural and beautiful surroundings as much as possible. A healthy body is a natural result of a pure environment.

**Body**
* Identify any diseases or problems in the body and get them treated as soon as possible. An unhealthy body has a bad effect on the intelligence of other layers also, you must have noticed it. 
* Again minimalism helps here, eat nutritious and simple vegetarian food. Less is better. Avoid overeating or malnutrition, both decrease intelligence and cause diseases. 
* I need not say - get rid of addictions and bad habits, do not abuse the body. 
* Do not suppress the natural needs of the body, they emerge as diseases sooner or later. 
* Sleep enough. 
* Keep your body clean, fit and beautiful, but do not be obsessive about it, unless you are a fashion model by profession. 
* Decorating an unfit body with expensive and obscene clothes or jewelry to look more attractive is a sign of stupidity, it is an attempt to cover up the real problem. A healthy and fit body looks beautiful, no matter how simply you live. 
* Remember it is only your vehicle and it is temporary, make good use of it. 
* With age the body weakens naturally, and it is intelligence to adapt to its changing needs rather than forcing it to get young again. That will not increase your intelligence, as intelligence is a natural outcome of life experiences. As you age it makes you more intelligent naturally, provided you live a productive and good life. 
* Good health is not only a cause of intelligence, it is also a cause of happiness.

**Social**
* Again minimalism is the mantra. Less people, less to do, less waste of time. Usually people cause discomfort, poison your mind, cause suffering and reduce intelligence. It is because the majority of them are unrefined, that is how the world is. Instead of fixing them, fix yourself, that is intelligence. 
* Earn only as much as you need for a comfortable life, do not compete with greedy and corrupt materialistic people. That is stupidity and a cause of misery. 
* Avoid stupid people, cults, religious and political extremists at all costs, you will become like them if you dont. 
* Keep your friends to a minimum, focus on quality not quantity. Be with wise and loving people. 
* Do not get into toxic relationships. Get rid of such people, even if they are so called *close relatives*. 
* Stay away from brainwashing media like TV or newspapers. Remain informed, but not influenced. 
* Spend your time in solitude and act in social situations only if very necessary. Have nothing to do with people mostly. This will increase your intelligence and peace also.

**Emotions**
* Avoid speaking, acting or taking a decision under the influence of a strong emotion. Delay your action suitably. Especially, when facing negative emotions, such as anger, fear or jealousy, you should not act or decide, but the same is true for positive emotions. When the mind is clear and you are able to think rationally, take action, make a decision. 
* Let the emotion be there, do not suppress it, express it when needed. When there is no danger, let the emotions play. 
* Positive emotions are a result of a good lifestyle, positive surroundings and positive people. So fixing the layers mentioned above brings positivity in emotions naturally. 
* Your nature is happiness and love, express it. Demanding love or happiness and playing games to get it from others is a sign of stupidity and even mental disorders. 
* Women usually suffer from a lack of emotional intelligence, as many of them are naturally over-emotional, this covers up the intelligence of other layers also, even if there is intelligence there. One fish pollutes the whole pond. So women need to be more careful here in this particular layer. 
* Balance is the key, not excess or total suppression. That is true for both men and women.

**Rationality**
* The most effective way to increase intelligence is to be with rational and logical people. They have the most influence on how you think and what you think. In ordinary language we can say - be with wise or intelligent people. Surround yourself with intelligent people, copy them initially. 
* Just like you are avoiding less intelligent people, they are also avoiding them and initially they may not like to mix, but you can always ask respectfully and lovingly. Be useful to them, like become an apprentice or assistant, become a student, ask politely to teach. 
* Pick seniors as your teachers or mentors. Return the favor if possible.
* Especially stay away from people who disrespect intelligent people or condemn intelligence due to their conditioning or inferiority complexes.
* Learn to think for yourself rather than depend on others for answers, decisions and instructions. Liberate yourself from narrowmindedness or indoctrination imposed on you since your childhood. The real slavery is mental, not physical. 
* Read good books written by intelligent people, there is no shortage of such books, give up cheap entertainment. You will find that intellectual entertainment is a thousand times better than what stupid people consume. Books are not only a source of knowledge and entertainment, they also help to grow intelligence. The Internet is also a good medium, if you are aware that it has a lot of garbage and misinformation also. Do not believe everything you read, hear or see on the internet.
* Learn new skills, pick up new creative hobbies. Challenge yourself to learn difficult things, this will sharpen your intellect in addition to being useful in daily life. Intellectual work prevents intellect from getting lazy and dull.
* Learn logic, especially formal logic. Learn to think like a scientist, a lawyer or a court judge. Know what constitutes evidence and what not. Learn what are valid means of knowledge, and valid criteria for truth. If you are interested in the Indian logic system, learn [Nyaya philosophy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyaya). It is very useful if you are on the path of knowledge. Try the [logic quiz on this website here](https://gyanmarg.guru/l).
* Identify your [cognitive biases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases) and get rid of them. Even the most intelligent people suffer from such biases, removing them will cause great leaps of intelligence in you.
* Although sharp memory helps in thinking and saves time, it is not that important to memorize each and everything, instead focus on learning and understanding from first principles. Memorize only that which is useful and is often needed, instead of memorizing useless facts of all kinds. Intelligence is not rote learning, perhaps this is never taught in schools, they are based on mindless memorization and repetition. It is time to get rid of old and outdated methods of learning.
* Cultivate writing skill. It is absolutely a requirement if you want to become intelligent quickly. Writing helps to concentrate on a topic, it gives a tangible shape to abstract thought, it helps to think systematically and logically. Contemplate and write regularly on the topics you like. 
* Communicate more in writing rather than by talking, as in phone calls etc., whenever possible. This gives you more time to think, to clear your mind of emotions, if any, you can edit your message before sending. This facility is not there when you speak and so there are chances of mistakes here. Spoken word is like an arrow, it cannot return back. Usually later people support what they have already said, and if they said something wrong, they will support it causing problems and loss of intelligence. So it is very important to say every sentence correctly.
* Do not speak too much, not too less. Whenever you speak, make it short, sweet and very interesting, instead of ranting for hours. This way your words will be seen as valuable. This will also give you a lot of time to analyze and think logically before speaking. Ask questions instead of assuming anything, whether it is about a topic or about a person. Clear the situation, clear any doubts. Do not assume or prejudge.
* Learn the meanings of words. Accurate meanings increase intelligence and prevent ignorance. You will soon learn that everyone has their own meanings in their minds, and meanings depend on culture, country, time etc. That is, meaning is contextual. So it is very important to learn the correct meanings and definitions. This trick alone would double your intelligence overnight. While communicating, always clear any confusion over meaning or definition. You will see that most of the misunderstanding is due to differences in meanings and interpretations. This will also save time, save your relationships and will surely increase your intelligence.
* Do not believe everything and everyone, and do not also disbelieve, instead, listen carefully, evaluate, find evidence, search for the truth of it in your direct experience, and accept it as a fact only if it is useful for you and convinces you, else not. In case it is not useful or is false, you can simply ignore it. Do not try to convince other people, they usually do not want to hear it, they will become bitter if you show them their mistake. Simply say thank you and walk away. 
* Do not be influenced by authorities or even teachers, no one is always right. Do your own research, especially in important matters, where simply believing someones advice can cause harm.
* Keep consultants or advisors, always consult experts, not ordinary men on the street.
* Listen to the criticism calmly and honestly. Act suitably. When someone points out your mistakes, they are doing you a favor, you will progress very fast if you keep critics around.
* Plan as much as you can, fully knowing anything can happen. Be prepared for surprises. Act only after contemplating on the consequences of your actions. Take your time to decide, never hurry, especially if it is not an emergency.
* Be open to new ideas, new concepts, new thinking. Do not judge anything new immediately with respect to your old and narrow conditioning. Contemplate on the new information, new ideas. Be broad minded but skeptical. There is no need to accept all new ideas as truth, and there is no need to reject them as nonsense without giving it enough thought.
* Make friends in new areas, which you have never explored before. Do not get stuck in the rut of the old. Expand your social circle to expand your mind. Meet interesting people, who think differently. Take interest in new subjects, skills and modes of thinking.

**Spirituality**
* If you are on the path of knowledge, it becomes necessary to have a very advanced and sharp intellect. This includes all the mentioned layers. This is a necessary quality of a seeker. 
* More intelligence means more knowledge, and more knowledge will increase intelligence. They mutually augment each other.
* Contemplate on higher topics daily, write down your conclusions, share them with fellow seekers and invite criticism, ask for corrections.
* A teacher is a must in this case. There will be no progress without someone guiding you, someone who has already traveled on this path before. That is your guru. Respect your guru, you will reach nowhere without a guru.
* Remember that here your everyday intelligence will be of limited use, although it is very helpful. Here, there will be a purification of intellect, and finally dropping of it. It will be revealed to you that intellect is helpful only in removing the assumptions, indoctrination, delusions and wrong ideas from your mind. It can remove the obstructions that are between you and your true nature - the final truth.
* Listen very carefully to the teachings, they are not like something that is taught in schools or colleges. Most of the words have a totally different meaning in spirituality or philosophy. Usually the written material is useless here, unless it is correctly interpreted with the help of a teacher. Only your direct experience and sharp intellect will make you progress on the path.
* Here you will face deeper questions, matters of right and wrong, true and false, and even other-worldly phenomena. Here our worldly or lower intelligence is helpless, it is impossible to understand these things, and so a higher intelligence is needed, which develops as you get more experience in this field. This will not happen overnight and there are no shortcuts or tricks here.
* On the path of knowledge, awareness takes precedence over intelligence. However, we do not throw away the intellect and all its abilities. It is needed to keep us from drowning again back in ignorance.

# Conclusion

Higher intelligence differentiates us from animals, makes us truly human and also takes us beyond human. It is immensely important, it is not like any other skill or any sports ability, some fancy trick to impress others or to show off, or to get good grades in exams, it is most essential for your growth and a happy and fulfilled life. I hope this short article will help my fellow seekers in realizing the importance of intelligence and in cultivating it further. My best wishes are with you.