Maharajji told me, 'Give up anger and I'll help you.' I found _x000D_ that love freed me back into the ocean of love and my righteous anger didn't do that. And I would rather be free than right.
The intellect is a beautiful servant but a terrible master. Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Intellect can be useful but should not dominate our decisions; true unity comes from compassion and intuition.
This quote by Ram Dass emphasizes the dual nature of intellect as both a valuable tool and a potential source of separation among people. While our intellectual capabilities can enhance our understanding and serve our needs, they can also lead to an ego-driven mindset that fosters division. In contrast, cultivating an intuitive and compassionate heart enables a deeper connection to others and promotes unity, suggesting that genuine understanding transcends mere intellectual reasoning.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about teamwork, you might use this quote to emphasize the importance of compassion over intellect.
More from Ram Dass
All quotes βThe gift you offer another person is just your being.
Let the natural flow of the universe, course through your being, and harmonize your soul.
You can be still and still moving. Content even in your discontent.
The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back. _x000D_ _x000D_ In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight. _x000D_ _x000D_ When we see the Beloved in each person, it's like walking through a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us.
When I look at relationships, my own and others, I see a wide range of reasons for people to be together and ways in which they are together. I see ways in which a relationship - which means something that exists between two or more people - for the most part reinforces people's separateness as individual entities.
Similar quotes
Sometimes a fog will settle over a vessel's deck and yet leave the topmast clear. Then a sailor goes up aloft and gets a lookout which the helmsman on deck cannot get. So prayer sends the soul aloft; lifts it above the clouds in which our selfishness and egotism befog us, and gives us a chance to see which way to steer.
Even a soul submerged in sleep _x000D_ is hard at work and helps _x000D_ make something of the world.
He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy. He never dreamed about the boy. He simply woke, looked out the open door at the moon and unrolled his trousers and put them on.
It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, What am I to do?
To the extent to which a man is rational, life is the premise directing his actions. To the extent to which he is irrational, the premise directing his actions is death.
Yet it looks as if the thing we use to solve our problems with is the source of our problems. It's like going to the doctor and having him make you ill. In fact, in 20% of medical cases we do apparently have that going on. But in the case of thought, its far over 20%.