Being and Knowing

Brain and mind have always been at odds with one another! Yet those whose brains move faster than their hearts, whose emotional capacity falls short, or those rare few blessed enough to have forged a marriage between brain and mind—for them, this antagonism hardly registers as something to puzzle over.

We spend most of our lives following the brain's logic and lose the trail of our own heart. To understand another's heart, one must first understand one's own. The injunction "Know thyself!" has not gained such prominence without reason.

He who spends all his time with himself yet cannot enter the sanctum of his own being, who lacks the capacity to understand himself—such a person cannot possibly understand another human being either. It is much the same as this: one cannot truly love another if one does not love oneself. That is simply how it works!

Yet reality is not a believer in mere wanderings within the chambers of the heart. Here, the brain's machinery is evident, its precise calculations running the whole of life! But there is a caveat here too…without the heart's urgency, those who live by brain alone would never feel the desire to seek life's mysteries, and thus that very curiosity would never be born.

But we are sentimental Bengalis, after all. So even if we do not show much interest in this mechanics, this brain's game, or the fine accounting of the two, when it comes to displaying warmth or standing by a complete stranger as "O friend!" in their hour of need—ah, there we show enthusiasm aplenty!

This is why, even though we have not yet inscribed our names in the ledger of lightning-quick success, we have earned considerable reputation for hospitality and emotional generosity. Yet we harbor no regret about this; if anything, we take some pride in it!

In the fulfillment of human duty lies the cultivation of our humanity, and at day's end, we sentimental Bengalis tend to this most carefully! If we gave all weight to the brain alone, then there would be no difference between a machine and a human! Yet I say it again—without some realism, it is terribly hard to survive life's battle. Thus, merely peeking through the heart's windows, or drowning in the bottomless ocean of the heart's whims while rendering the brain entirely useless, and seeking to dwell in the palace of pleasure—such a thing is quite impossible!

Despite all else, only an intimate friendship between heart and brain can forge that priceless humanity. Then one both endures in reality and floats upon the currents of success, tasting its luxuries too! Yes, if one knows how to be, all becomes possible—one need only find the right harmony, on the right path, at the right moment!