|
In Reply to: Sai Baba - guru or lecherous old man? posted by susie on February 12, 2004 at 23:17:30:
Here you err in the generalization and thinking that Hollywood stars are 'intelligent' and democratically elected leaders are 'intelligent' (cf. George Bush for instance)just because of their position. Often highly popular and highly positioned people are of just average intelligence and easily hoodwinked by charismatic personalities and may be puppets of other forces.
Intelligence and intellectuality and thinking ability such as a cognitive intelligence--to name just a few variations of a theme, are all highly relative concepts.
Some people rise to the top not because of 'intelligence': connections, money, looks(cf. River Phoenix), talent, and other attributes can open doors to fame and power, as well as intelligence.
The world is not fair. Sad but true. Perhaps in Christian cosmology it is fair because of the hope for the afterlife when all will be squared by a loving God. But this world in present terms is not fair and the cream does not always rise to the top. Even Berg mentions in his parting wishes to the Family about Alexander leaving his kingdom to the 'strongest' generals, thereby implying the same notion for the Family. To the strongest! That's why we all suffered.
Don't be amazed by the glitterati and the famous and powerful being attracted to charismatic cultists and weird personalities. They may not be as smart as you think they are.
But you can be smart. You have libraries, encyclopedias, world maps, and biographies of great amd intelligent people throughout history at your disposal. Taste and see. Read them and see the flow and flux of history and great thought. The birth of religions and philosophy. It could change your life and you may get smarter and more intelligent than you could ever have imagined.
The Family seemed to really brag about 'pleasure' not being a sin--especially sexual pleasure; all the while forgetting, forbidding, or unaware that intellectual pleasure was also important and all that separates us from chaos.
You are intelligent Suzie, maybe moreso than the folks you mentioned, you just need to keep feeding it and grab for life.
