Gita 7.10

Sadhak: "Guruji, when Krishna says He is the eternal seed of all beings, does this mean He created us like a gardener planting seeds? That feels very distant—a creator separate from creation."

Guru: "Think more carefully about the nature of a seed. Does the banyan tree ever separate from its seed? Can you find the boundary where seed ends and tree begins? The seed doesn't create the tree and then step back. The seed becomes the tree while remaining seed. Krishna as bīja is not the distant planter but the very substance transforming into all forms."

Sadhak: "But if Krishna is the seed within me, why don't I experience that? I feel very much like a separate, limited individual."

Guru: "Does a seed covered in soil know it contains a tree? Your feeling of limitation is like the hard shell protecting the seed. It's not false—the shell is real. But it's not final. Spiritual practice cracks the shell so the potential within can emerge."

Sadhak: "The part about intelligence troubles me. If divine intelligence thinks through me, then who is responsible for my mistakes? If I make a foolish decision, was that also Krishna?"

Guru: "Notice Krishna says He is 'the intelligence of the intelligent'—buddhi, the capacity for discrimination and wisdom. He does not say He is every thought, every choice, every whim. Intelligence properly functioning IS divine. When that intelligence gets clouded by ego, desire, and fear, the resulting confusion is not intelligence—it's the shell preventing intelligence from functioning."

Sadhak: "So when I have a moment of real clarity, of genuine understanding—that's not 'my' achievement?"

Guru: "Here is the beautiful paradox: it is most truly yours precisely when you stop claiming it. The moment you grab it—'My intelligence, my insight!'—you've created separation and lost it. When you remain open, humble, receptive, intelligence flows unobstructed. The ego doesn't produce intelligence; it only obstructs or permits it."

Sadhak: "What about brilliant people who use their intelligence for harm? Is that also divine?"

Guru: "Intelligence can be pure, but the vessel it flows through may be distorted. Water from a pure spring remains pure, but if it flows through rusty pipes, it carries rust. The brilliance is divine; the distortion belongs to the ego-structure it passes through. This is why spiritual purification matters—not to create intelligence but to remove obstructions."

Sadhak: "This makes me feel like I can take no credit for anything good I do."

Guru: "Exactly! And what a relief that is! The burden of being 'someone special' falls away. You become a grateful witness to grace operating through you. This is not passivity—you still act, still strive, still grow. But the anxious claiming, the exhausting ego-maintenance, dissolves. The instrument plays beautifully when it stops trying to be the musician."

Sadhak: "How do I practically recognize this divine seed in daily life?"

Guru: "Start with moments of genuine insight—those 'aha' experiences when understanding suddenly dawns. Instead of quickly moving to 'I figured it out,' pause and feel the grace of that clarity. Notice it came to you, not from you. Cultivate this recognition until you begin seeing the divine seed in others' intelligence too—your opponent's clever argument, a stranger's creative solution. The seed is everywhere, hiding in plain sight."