Science of the Rishis: A Daily Rhythm

Part IV: Leave Your Office at the Door: Why Your Mind Needs a Reset Button

I used to stay in Calcutta in the house of a High Court judge. His wife told me that, “You are the only person my husband has any respect for. If you say something he will listen, otherwise he won’t listen to anybody. I have tried my best but I have failed. That’s why I am telling it to you.” I said, “What is the problem?”

She said, “The problem is becoming bigger and bigger every day. He remains a judge twenty-four hours. Even in the bed with me he is a judge — as if he expects me also to say ‘Your Honor’. With children also he behaves as if they are criminals. With everybody! We are tired. He never gets down! He carries this role continuously; he never forgets. It has gone into his head.” And she was right — I knew her husband.

It is good to be a judge when you are in the court, but by the time you leave the court… It is only a function to be a judge, you are a functionary; you don’t become a judge — that is not your being! But we get confused; it becomes your being.

He carries it home, then he starts behaving the same way with the wife, with the children, with everybody. The wife was afraid of him, the children were afraid of him. The moment he entered the house there was fear everywhere. Just a moment before, the children were happily playing, enjoying. They will suddenly stop, the wife will become serious. The house will immediately turn into a court.

This is the state of millions of people: they remain the same, they carry their office home.

Your intellect is needed, Rajendra; your head has its own function. God never gives you anything without any reason. Head has its own beauty, but it should be in its place. There are far greater things which are beyond the reach of the head, and when you are moving into those realms you should put the head aside. You should be capable of that. That’s flexibility, that is intelligence. And remember never to get confused between intellect and intelligence.

Intellect is only a part of intelligence. Intelligence is a far bigger phenomenon, it contains much more than intellect, because life is not only intellectual, life is intuitive, too. Intelligence contains intuition.

You will be surprised to know that many great discoveries have been done not by intellect but by intuition. In fact, all the great discoveries have been done by the intuition.

Something far more deeper exists in you. You should not forget it. Intellect is only the periphery, the circumference, it is not the center of your being; the center of your being is intuition.

The word “intuition” is worth understanding. Intellect needs tuition, it has to be taught. Hence the schools, colleges, universities, they all give you tuition. Intuition needs no tuition, it is your inner world; it is something given by God as a gift — you bring it with yourself.

When you put your intellect aside, your head aside, then something deeper inside you starts functioning which is incomprehensible from the periphery. Your center starts functioning, and your center is always in tune with Tao. Your circumference is your ego, your center is in tune with Tao. Your center is not yours, it is not mine; the center is universal. Circumferences are personal — your circumference is your circumference, my circumference is my circumference — but my center and your center are not two things; at the center we all meet and are one.

That’s why religion comes to realise about the oneness of existence — because it depends on intuition. Science goes on dividing, splitting. It reaches to the minutest particle, called it the electron. The world becomes a multiplicity, it is no more a universe. In fact, scientists should stop using the word “universe”, they should start using a new word, “multiverse”. “Universe” has a religious tone — “universe” means one. Religion reaches to one; that is the experience of the center. But the center can function only when you move from the circumference to the center. It needs a quantum leap.

Rajendra, you say: SHOULD ONE NEVER USE ONE’S HEAD AT ALL?

I have not said that. I am talking against the head only because my work is religious.

There was a nymphomaniac whom nobody could satisfy. Men from all over the world did their best, yet failed. When Machista came, the two went into a room for five hours… but when he finally came out he was totally exhausted, an absolute wreck. He had to admit failure.

Tarzan too made an attempt. He was brought all the way from the jungle to try. Lots of people waited outside for hours, thinking that he would surely make it, but when he came out he just muttered: “That woman is a wonder! Nobody can do it!” and disappeared.

More and more ambitious men came with high hopes — still, it did not happen. Then one day this little Jewish tailor, whose shop was on the street corner, passed by. He was curious to know what it was all about, and even though most of the crowd thought such matters were not for him, they told him. To their great surprise he said immediately, “I will do it!” So just for a laugh, they let him go in.

Fifteen minutes later he and the lady came out, hand in hand, beaming, smiling from ear to ear. There was no need to say anything. It was a success. “What’s the trick, how did you do it?” everyone wanted to know. “Well, there are situations when you have got to use your head,” he said nonchalantly. Get it?

Theory: Are You Using Your Head, or Is Your Head Using You?

Mindful Workplace (Sattva): Sankalpa-Sannyasa (Mindful Role Detachment) – You carry out a role (Karta), but the role is not your essence.

• Workplace Practice: Establish a strict transition ritual between work and personal life. When logging off or leaving the office, intentionally signal to your mind that the functionary is closing shop. Do not carry the authority, critical mind, or stress of your title home to your family or friends.