The driving forces of fear and greed We think we are very intelligent and so we try to mould our children to become intelligent like us. When we start this process, we first teach the child the logic of running in life driven by either fear or greed. Either he has to do something to achieve more, or he has to do something to prevent what he doesn't want to happen. When you want something to happen, it is greed. When you are afraid that something will happen, it is fear. Either he has to study so he can get better grades and win admission in a good college this is being driven by greed. Or he has to study so he is not left behind in his future professional life - this is being driven by fear.

The motivation for the child is greed or fear, never inner fulfillment. Naturally, the child gets into the rat race and just keeps running - with no time to even look whether he is running for what he really wants. He does not even know that he can enjoy the run! He has been taught that with any other diversion, precious time will be wasted in reaching the goal. But how many people have felt fulfilled after reaching the goal? When you reach the goal you have set, you realize the goalpost is no longer there. It has moved further and you want something else now! Understand, if you are living your life based on just seeing what others are doing, you are just wasting your precious life.

This is what they call herd mentality – joining the rat race because everybody else is a part of it. You may even win the rat race but you are still a rat! What is the measure of intelligence? Can we measure intelligence? Is there a standard to measure intelligence? Right from school, we use standard benchmarks to determine a person's so-called level of intelligence. In the grading system used from elementary school through college, we compare and grade all children for various skills and aptitudes. We need to understand an important thing here: one kind of intelligence is needed to be a scientist and another kind of intelligence is needed to be a poet. To be an Olympic swimmer one needs yet another kind of intelligence! Intelligence is the ability to respond to a situation or challenge.

Everyone is born intelligent; it is a question of just discovering each one's unique dimension of intelligence. Spontaneity straightforward intelligence You have a natural, spontaneous intelligence inside you. You have tasted it as a child. As a child, you looked at things in a very simple, straightforward way. That is why you were so spontaneous. What took away that spontaneity as you grew up? The societal conditioning that has been telling you right from when you were a child, You are not enough… Because of this, you are constantly trying to become something else, prove something to others. By constantly thinking that you are not enough, you try to imitate others and waste the wonderful natural energy bubbling inside you.