Intelligence is aided by secret determination;
Secret determination leads one on the road to intelligence.
If secret determination is not practiced as the cause of intelligence,
Intelligence reverses and becomes a hindrance.
One cause of intelligence is good deeds done in past lives. However, good deeds should not be done for publicity. They should be done but not spread about – for example, if one ransoms prisoners, it should be done without letting them know of the identity of their liberator. Another cause of intelligence is the recitation of sutras. Reciting the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra several tens of thousands of times, for example, is a good cause of future intelligence.
If one does not practice secret good deeds in this life, however, one’s intelligence backfires and becomes an obstacle. How is that so? If one is not at all clever, he cannot do very many bad deeds; but those who are clever not only are able to do evil but are just as good at covering up their tracks so that they never get caught. One of the most intelligent men in China was the notorious general Ts’ao Ts’ao who was even more clever than ghosts. He did a great many indecent things. Those who are wise will hear the verse cited above and put it into practice by doing deeds which will benefit mankind rather than harm it.
- Commentary on the Sutra Of The Past Vows Of Earth Store Bodhisattva
