The Forgotten Gift of Discernment

When the mind closes itself, the other is no longer seen as a complex human being and is instead reduced to labels, categories, and simplistic judgments.

The mind of the ordinary person is often inhabited by rigid generalizations, by so-called “immutable truths,” and by beliefs that are hermetically closed to dialogue, inquiry, and revision.

These are conclusions reached too early, repeated too often, and rarely examined with intellectual honesty.

Within this way of thinking lies a silent danger. In its broadest expression, it becomes the root of human violence, not only physical violence, but also psychological, moral, and symbolic violence.

When the mind closes itself, the other is no longer seen as a complex human being and is instead reduced to labels, categories, and simplistic judgments.

These generalizations infiltrate every domain of life: religion, behavior, clothing, politics, relationships, lifestyles, ideas of what is right or wrong. As a result, a world is created that is divided between “us” and “them,” between what is acceptable and what is condemnable, between what deserves respect and what must be fought.

Living this way is, in itself, a form of existential misery. It is a life that contradicts the very nature of human evolution and wastes one of the greatest gifts granted to us: the intellect.

This intellect, buddhiḥ, as taught in Vedānta, is one of the rare distinctions between human beings and other living creatures. It is the foundation of our capacity to discern, reflect, learn, communicate, create, revise our positions, and expand our understanding of reality.

Through this extraordinary instrument, the human being transcends raw instinct and becomes capable of ethics, empathy, worldview, and responsibility. However, when this gift is ignored or deliberately abandoned, the individual regresses, imprisoning themselves in a dungeon of sameness, ignorance, and limitation, believing they are safe, when in truth they are spiritually and intellectually stagnant.

Therefore, renouncing the conscious use of the intellect is an affront to one’s own existence. It is an act of ingratitude toward life and toward God. It is the squandering of a rare opportunity for growth, maturity, and self-knowledge that the human condition offers.

Moreover, it is crucial to understand that true spirituality does not demand closed minds, but sensitive hearts and living intellects. It does not flourish in rigidity, but in openness. It does not expand through blind repetition, but through sincere inquiry. It does not manifest through the exclusion of the other, but through the expansion of tolerance and understanding.

Thus, in an increasingly polarized and segregating world, it is imperative to remember that expanding the mind, refining discernment, and questioning one’s own certainties does not weaken the human being, on the contrary, it humanizes, expands, and integrates us.

Pune, December 16, 2025

Translated from Portuguese, by ChatGPT.

Photo by Ecliptic Graphic on Unsplash