Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Times of India I February 06, 2015

We are living in a world of professions. In the present world, it is mostly your profession that defines your identity. Everyone is Mr Profession or Ms Profession. The profession-oriented life is the generally accepted lifestyle of every man and woman.

Having a profession means living according to the dictates of the "money market". And everyone tries to develop a professional skill that enables him to be a sharing partner in the flow of money in the market. This culture has resulted in a new phenomenon that was absent in former times, that is, living in accordance with external requirements and setting aside internal requirements. In other words, you no longer live according to what is required by your inner nature.

The result is that while everyone is a developed personality in terms of his profession, in terms of his own nature, everyone is an underdeveloped personality.

Take anyone at random and ask him about his profession. He will readily give you specific answers. If you speak to him about his professional subject, he will give you a detailed answer for every question. But, if you ask him about those issues which pertain to human life, that is, non-professional issues, then you will find that he is not mentally prepared to discuss this subject.

Once I was in a city in Europe, where I happened to meet a learned man. When I asked him about his profession, I found that he was well-disposed to share information with me. I learnt a lot from him regarding his professional field. But, at the same time, he was uncomfortable with his wife and admitted that he had decided to separate from her. I asked him the reason. He replied with some confidence: "She is an adamant person and I don't like adamant people." I said that his wife was doing a very tough job and so she had to be adamant to be successful in it. But, I failed to convince him. The reason was that he knew the science of profession, but was quite ignorant of the science of life.

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This is true of every man and woman. Every person is living in a culture of duality. When it comes to their profession, everyone is well-equipped. But, as far as the science of life is concerned, everyone is ill-equipped. This is so common that finding an exception is very difficult.

It is not a question of balance; it is a question of priority. I am not saying that everyone should keep a balance between these two requirements. I am saying that everyone has to rightly set, or reset his priorities.

The problem is that when you try to reset your priorities, you fear that you are going to damage your commercial interests, because when your mind is engaged in intellectual issues, it will not be able to engage in money-related issues. You gain one thing, but at the same time you lose another. But, this is not a genuine excuse. You should not think in terms of money: you should think rather in terms of intellectual development. Intellectual development is so important that no excuse for neglecting it is acceptable. Adopt a simple formula: make intellectual development your first priority and then try to manage all other aspects of your life.

A lack of intellectual development is not a very simple matter. And it is the lack of intellectual development which has resulted in all those problems that are common in our present age, for example, tension, unnecessary disease, lack of peace of mind and losing that very thing that man so desperately wants - happiness.