Does surrender necessitate checking the brain at the door of the house of God?

Does surrender necessitate checking the brain at the door of the house of God? – Surrender doesn’t mean checking our brain at the door on the way to God; it means checking whether our brain is directing us toward the way to God.

Some people think of devotion, especially devotional surrender, as not just unintelligent but even anti-intelligent. They believe that such surrender requires one to put aside or even cast aside one’s intelligence and to unquestioningly believe anything and everything told by those who claim to represent God. Such a notion is superficial at best and malicious at worst—or at least misleading.

After all, God has not given us intelligence simply to ask us to give it up. If there is any trivialization or, worse still, demonization of intelligence in the name of devotion, such devotion is most likely cultish, deceptive, and even destructive. Far from being devotion to God, it is probably the weaponization of the rituals associated with devotion by power-hungry people whose only devotion is to themselves and who want others to become devoted to them in the name of being devoted to God.

The Bhagavad-gita offers a very nuanced and refined understanding of devotion wherein God himself does not demand unthinking or unquestioning surrender from his great devotee, Arjuna. Instead, Krishna develops reasoned arguments and addresses Arjuna’s pertinent questions to help him come to his own conclusion about whether he should surrender or, put alternatively, harmonize with Krishna’s will. This specific call to use one’s intelligence for deciding how to use one’s independence is one of Krishna’s concluding declarations in the Bhagavad-gita (18.63).

Some people who have never encountered philosophical devotion as explained in the Gita and have only encountered sentimental devotion—as is often practiced by the masses and propagated by self-styled charismatic teachers—tend to dismiss the role of intelligence in devotion. They believe that just as we are told to check any dangerous objects such as weapons at the door when entering high-security buildings, we are similarly told to check our intelligence at the door when entering the world of devotion.

However, we do need to use our intelligence to evaluate whether we are on the path to God. Life requires us to constantly make choices, and its complexities can make many seemingly simple choices turn out to be not that simple. Intelligence is a vital and indispensable resource for making good choices, including those that will take us toward God and ensure we don’t move away from Him.

The notion that we have to check our intelligence at the door to the house of God is itself a notion that should be checked at the door by those with a cynical conception of God and devotion to Him. When they cultivate a little more open-mindedness and a little less cynicism, they will be introduced to ancient traditions of theological deliberation by some of the greatest minds who have walked on Earth and will appreciate how intelligence is valued and even lauded on the path of devotion when used to glorify God and attract others to His glories.

Having highlighted the importance and value of intelligence in the path of devotion, it’s also important to recognize that intelligence shouldn’t be overvalued. The path of devotion implicitly and explicitly centers on the understanding that God is the supreme reality and is therefore of supreme value. The value of intelligence must always be subordinate to the value of God.

What does this mean practically? Not that intelligence is of no value but that we shouldn’t value it so highly that, if something doesn’t make sense to us, we give up on God for the sake of our intelligence. Sometimes, God and His ways may not make sense to us. At such times, we need to let go of our intelligence and hold on to God, never letting go of Him because of stubbornly holding on to our intelligence.

While we do need to use our intelligence to understand during our devotional journey, we need to be cautious that this capacity does not become bloated and insist on understanding everything, rejecting what it cannot grasp. When we appreciate the value of intelligence within the overall hierarchy of values, with God as the topmost value, our intelligence will aid us in moving toward God and never impede us.

Summary:

• Those who think that intelligence should be checked at the door when entering the house of God through devotion and surrender have only encountered sentimental devotion and have hardly encountered the philosophical devotion outlined in the Bhagavad-gita.
• God has not given us intelligence so that we can give it up, but so that we can use it in His service—to understand whether our choices are taking us toward Him, to comprehend His glories, and to make those glories understandable to others.
• While intelligence must be valued, it shouldn’t be overvalued to the point that it becomes more important than God, who is the supreme value.

Think it over:

• Why do some people propagate the idea that intelligence should be checked at the door when entering the house of God?
• What’s wrong with such an idea?
• How can intelligence be both valued and not overvalued on the path of devotion?

***

18.63 Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.