When we see perceptive people who catch things quickly and execute expertly, we may feel challenged: “I am not that perceptive.”

We can increase our perceptiveness to some extent. But even with our existing perceptiveness, we can perform better if we can increase our receptiveness. Let’s see how.

Significantly, perceptiveness is not just a faculty of the senses; it is a faculty of the intelligence that helps us make sense of the information entering through our senses. Based on the orientation of our intelligence – verbal, spatial, musical, mathematical, logical and so forth – we are more perceptive about certain things and less perceptive about other things. In areas where our perceptiveness is weak, we can improve by appropriate training. But that improvement can’t usually be dramatic; a tone-deaf person can’t become the next Mozart.

Nonetheless, we can dramatically increase our inner receptiveness. To be receptive means to know that the universe is actually a university wherein the supreme teacher is eager to help us learn if we just open our eyes and intelligence to him. That supreme teacher is Krishna, who, the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) states, is the source of knowledge.

The time-honored process of bhakti-yoga tunes our consciousness to Krishna, thereby increasing our receptivity to him. With that increased receptivity, we can better sense his inner voice. That voice makes us more aware of threats and opportunities: threats to steer clear of, and opportunities to maximize our contributions using whatever perceptiveness we have. When our receptiveness to Krishna thus helps us make better decisions, we can use whatever perceptiveness we have more effectively.

Irrespective of how much perceptiveness we have and how much we can improve it, we can always increase our receptiveness. And by that receptiveness, we can expand our inner Krishna connection and outer devotional contribution.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image
Explanation of article:


Podcast:


Download by “right-click and save”