This article is about what constitutes intelligence.
I have a very simple and basic answer to this question. Intelligence is being able to understand – at all points in time – the situation that you are facing both internally and externally
There is a Tibetan saying: If you are too clever you might miss the point entirely.
Intelligence consists of seeing the point at all times.
So what is the best way to be able to do this?
My answer is: free yourself of the ego and practice present moment awareness. Or rather free yourself of the ego and have presence of mind.
Intelligence does not consist of having bookish knowledge. Such knowledge might either help or hinder. It does not consist of having read a lot of books although that might help. It does not consist of being able to speak good English although that might also help.
It consists of being able to see the point – to understand the situation you are facing and then being able to logically reason and chart out the way forward.
I have written a few blogs on related topics. You may be interested in going through them. These blogs explain or rather describe my method of how to go about training yourself to be intelligent.
Firstly regarding freeing yourself of the ego: Buddhist meditation and mindfulness methods may be helpful. See the resources below:
https://www.dhamma.org/en/index
Next regarding thinking logically. I have a written a few blogs on how to go about learning to do so. Basically you have to imbibe these qualities by exposing yourself to good role models who lead by example and show you how to do so. I have found my role models in detective stories of Dick Francis and Sherlock Holmes. Please visit the blog below for more details:
If you read philosophy it will also help. I read a lot of Bertrand Russell when I was young. I am sure that also helped in enabling me to think clearly.
But the granddaddy of them all is Polya. If you learn mathematics you will have equipped yourself with the purest of thinking skills. See the link below. It is in my opinion the best resource to learn how to think straight. Bertrand Russell had a background in mathematics and Abraham Lincoln also taught himself geometry in order to learn to think straight.
And lastly try to enjoy your reading and meditation practices. If you look at it purely as a self improvement project you will not get all the benefits. If possible, do your reading because you enjoy it. Do it because there is nothing else that you would rather do. This childlike approach is best when it comes to imbibing new qualities.
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