We, the human race, need to be more intuitive. This may
seem a fringe concern in the light of the problems that we have carried
over with us into the 21st century. Yet the intuition has a central and
potentially determining role to play in the complex and varied tasks of
human and world renewal. This is so even in the very practical steps
required to address the most immediate and urgent outer needs. For
intuitive insight can identify the right steps and how to take them so
that they lead to the greatest long-term benefit.
We call the lucky hunch, the coincidence, the 'gut'
feeling, or the tuning into how someone close to us feels
"intuition". These are not much help in solving world
problems. They are also far removed from the intuition that Einstein
considered the most important aspect of his talent. Even so, these
commonplace phenomena hint at a higher sense innate in the human being,
the capacity to look and to see in a way that is entirely new. It is the
'intuition' as this higher sense, the peak experience of the seer in any
field, that is a vital ingredient in the creation of a better world.
This is the intuition Einstein referred to when he stated that there was
no logical way to the discovery of the elemental laws of nature:
"There is only the way of intuition."
Jung made the comment: "Intuition is a function by
which you see round corners." This image is particularly apt for
the day-to-day type of phenomena we call intuitions, ranging from the
lucky hunch through to instances of telepathy and pre-vision that are
personal in content. Whereas perhaps a more telling image for true or
spiritual intuition is that it is the ability to see through clouds. The
everyday intuitions could also be thought of as 'horizontal', in that
they occur entirely within the realm of personal concerns. Seeing round
corners captures this sense that they take place on one plane of
existence. Pure or true intuition is by contrast 'vertical'. It is the
spontaneous knowing of some aspect of truth as it exists in superhuman
realms of awareness. It is spiritual insight undistorted by the dark and
heavy clouds of lies, half-truths, selfish desires and illusions - all
human created - that hide the Real; insight undistorted by this fog in
which humanity struggles daily. Pure intuition is characterized by its
universality. To quote Alice Bailey, "it is never interested in or
directed to the revelation of anything concerned with the personality
life".
We use the words that name the highest of qualities,
such as love and intuition, in an endless variety of ways, many true to
the higher meaning in some respect or other, and many not. The word
'love' is used to describe attraction in the personal realm from slogans
in advertisements to sell just about anything, to the sweetest of
relationships. On higher levels love describes the many faces of soul -
the selfless, wise and altruistic. While higher still this same word is
the best we have to describe the mysteries of the Greatest Good - God is
Love. The word 'intuition' likewise is used to describe experiences from
the distorted and trifling to the sublime. This same word is used for
vague personal imaginings; for deep impressions during a middle phase in
which it is being cultivated, whether knowingly through meditation and
spiritual practices or unknowingly through the right combination of
skills in compassionate living; and for the perfect art in which the
human being can "see into the mind of God".
Clearly what I am referring to, in saying that we need
to be more intuitive, is the intuition in its higher expressions. Little
credited though it may be, this higher intuitive perception has
determined the course of human history. Always visionaries have had the
seemingly superhuman capacity to touch and know another reality. Where
they have been able to translate this experience into wise words and
deeds they have become catalysts for human betterment. The intuition
gifts ideas imbued with the spirit of the future. It brings the vision
of new possibilities. This is one of the most important roles it plays
in human affairs. Think of visionaries in the field of endeavor best
known to you, and the role they have played in shaping its most
beautiful and constructive features. Intuitives have already revealed
the foundations upon which to build a better world, inspiring
initiatives in every field with such ideas as those of human rights and
responsibilities, environmental awareness and the need for global ethics
that reflect our interdependence and our common dreams, hopes and needs.
There has been a precious harvest of life-enhancing insights over recent
decades - all signposts for the way ahead, and all justifying the claim
that the intuition has a vital role at this time.
Dispelling the Illusion of Separateness
There is another role that this higher power is playing
and will increasingly play in the future. As more people awaken their
powers of intuition through inner growth, human consciousness will be
increasingly open to and conditioned by its essence, the sense of the
oneness of life. In other words their approach to life will become more
inclusive. The illusion of separateness, carried through from thoughts
to desires, and to actions is the greatest obstacle to human progress.
It is intuition which dispels illusion. Intuition and illusion are
opposites. If intuition is direct experience of some aspect of truth,
illusion is the veiling of truth through wrong perception,
interpretation and expression. If intuition is insight into Reality, the
mind imprisoned by illusion is the 'slayer of the Real'. If intuition is
the experience of identification with the whole, illusion distorts this
into the sense of identification with the part.
Let's look briefly at this illusion of separateness and
how the intuitive, inclusive approach weakens it. I have called it the
greatest single obstacle to human progress. It is a way of thinking that
denies interdependence by promoting the advantage of the part - the
individual, the group, the organization, the country or the group of
countries - at any cost to the greater whole. The ever-growing chasm
between rich and poor in the human family demonstrates the potency of
this illusion, as does the global environment crisis. The idea of
separateness underlies the materialistic ethos that champions the
superficial and the short-term. Deeper issues are ignored in the forward
thrust of the money markets. If the priority is the right image, the
slogan that will catch the eye and 'sell' the product or function
regardless of quality, then it's easy to turn a blind eye to harmful
long-term consequences. There is going to be little concern for any
debate on ethics from businesses and organizations that operate such
bizarre practices as the re-labeling of shoddy or environmentally
harmful goods or services to give them a more trendy image with no real
improvement to them.
If the myriad social ills of today are anything to go
by, happiness for most people does not lie in this approach which
'packages' the human being as exploited labor or consumer. How can it
when the soil in which materialistic systems are rooted has little
goodness in it, when they thrive on ruthless competition, greed and
self-interest. How can it when the illusion of separateness that
underlies these systems can be traced as the primary cause of global
poverty and inequality.
For most people, the sense of fulfillment and personal
worth depends upon social practices and relationships that are rich in
spiritual values. The well-being of humanity now and in the future
depends upon us choosing spiritual values to live by. It depends upon
our choice of shapers of society (be they in government, business,
education or whatever) who reflect and express the humane, inclusive,
wise and far-seeing capacities of the human being -- capacities that
materialistic structures and norms obscure, deny or parody. This in turn
depends on our ability to recognize values that are truly life-enhancing
in the first place. For this we need that intuitive sense of our shared
humanity, our common destiny and our interdependence. From this
inclusive approach we then can recognize what is most likely to be of
benefit to the whole, allowing us to choose from the vantage point of
greater wisdom.
How do we Become More Intuitive?
We can think of the intuition as our seventh sense, and
its unfolding as the next step in the natural process of human
development, as inevitable in its emergence over time as have been our
other senses; hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, and that distillation
of wisdom which we call the common-sense. The true intuitive, the one
who can see through clouds, is rare. But intuitive perception is
increasing as many now are spiritually awakening and accepting the
changes they need to make to realize their higher potential. To become
more intuitive we have to face ourselves, know ourselves, and find how
to let go of spiritually limiting and corrosive habits, ambitions, and
the separatist tendencies of a little self. We have to learn how to ask
ourselves the right questions, and how to hear and act on the answers
that come. How can I help? What is it I truly want? The answers to such
questions will come in different words, symbols or forms. However if we
interpret the response in the light of the soul it will inevitably
express in some way the incentive to do all we can to help those who
suffer, and to contribute to the creation of a better world.
The ageless wisdom teachings indicate the most effective
approach if the aim is to become more intuitive: "Only as the heart
enlarges its capacity to suffer with all that breathes, to love all that
is contacted, and to understand and sympathize with the least desirable
of God's creatures can [this] work go forward." Tolerance is said
to be the first expression of intuitive understanding, reflecting the
essential nature of the intuition as "the synthetic, inclusive
grasp of the life and needs of all beings", as the sense that
"negates all that builds barriers", as the means by which we
achieve "the identification with that which is loved". Perhaps
it is not too fanciful to read a deeper significance into the choice by
the UN General Assembly to proclaim 1995 The International Year of
Tolerance in the lead-up to the new millennium. To affirm and to
strengthen the quality of tolerance is, knowingly or not, to recognise
the need for intuitive understanding.
We become increasingly sensitive to the world of the
intuition through persistent efforts to live by our higher impressions.
An idea strikes us that seems particularly lighted and we sense how it
could help others. It can pass in a fleeting moment. Years back I heard
a play by Vaclav Havel. It was broadcast by the BBC when he was a
dissident, long before his later role as the president of his country.
In the play a character says of the inner voice that prompts us to
better deeds that all you have to do is to 'hum a little tune and you
drown it out' or words to that effect. It so easy to do just that. But
if we seize these higher impressions and act upon them so that others
benefit we will find, over time, that our lives become more selfless and
inspired and that the flower of the intuition begins to unfold.
Imagination is the "seed" of this inner
flower. The pathway for the manifestation of all ideas is via the
imagination. First they are grasped by the intuition, then they are
imaged and 'thought through' the various stages of the journey into
form. Until we begin to meditate or become deliberately conscious of our
thought processes for some other reason, we may be largely unaware of
the way our imagination conditions our experience of life. If our
'daydreams' are negative, full of anxiety, fear or harmful images they
act as a magnet drawing negativity to us. If our imagination is fired by
altruistic concerns it lifts our consciousness and energy flows to them.
If we use the creative imagination to build images of human unity and
peace we strengthen these qualities in ourselves and in our environment,
evoking response from higher levels of awareness. To cultivate the
creative imagination in this constructive manner sends a powerful call
to the intuition.
In exceptional spiritual visionaries intuitive
perception may seem to be an effortless knowing, an easy bridging
between the sacred and everyday understanding. However, no matter how
effortless this process, it will be the hard earned result of long
practice of spiritual living in the past. Such spiritual attainment
always reflects a significant expansion of consciousness and its
manifestation in the meeting of real human or world need.
Intuition & Service
That the spirit of altruistic service is now widespread
in the human family shows how increasingly people are turning from
materialism, realizing how it vastly underrates human potential and is
profoundly life-destroying. This realization indicates a shift towards
more spiritual values. For many it triggers a major step forward in
self-realization. With inner work and outer service there is new
sensitivity to higher levels of consciousness and intuitive perception
is cultivated. A new perspective results. The bonds of unity between all
who work effectively in any way for the betterment of humanity and the
world become almost as if visible. Events and initiatives that are
life-enhancing seem as if they are lit up from within, so appealing are
they. Leaders and groups with good motives and a genuine concern for the
greater good are recognized as if one has an inner tuning fork that
sounds its note in response to integrity. These are signs of the
intuition.
From this perspective another realization dawns. It
becomes increasingly apparent that any initiative in any field that
changes consciousness for the better and that meets real need is in
essence a group effort. For instance, who writes the books that bring
new vision into human thought? Certainly the one who wields the pen or
labors at the keyboard, whose thoughts push frontiers of understanding
and who is able to grasp ideas imbued with the spirit of the future and
then clothe this new understanding in words that do it justice and have
meaning to the wider readership. In this manner insights previously too
subtle, too rarefied for recognition are precipitated into the human
field of conscious knowing. This may seem to be a classic example of a
solo effort, but not so. New ideas are not conjured up in the thin air
of elevated thought by the intellect of the writer. They are
precipitated from higher levels of consciousness where they have been
nurtured, magnetized and made attractive to pioneering human thinkers
through the contemplative powers of the more enlightened. Every outer
achievement of true value to the human family and to the world has this
inner counterpart, for the most part unrecognized and unacknowledged.
Yet the human creator, the one through whom new insights gain entry into
human thought may often, in the peak experience of revelation, know that
higher forces are aiding him or her.
On outer levels any noteworthy positive achievement is
more obviously a collective effort. It results from the contribution of
the many who have focused thought and labor in that particular area of
endeavor. The individual may write the book or make the breakthrough in
some field of art or research, and by so doing win the laurels of praise
or the ridicule that is so often the lot of the pioneer. But many
others, known and unknown to him or her, have also played a part. These
others have created the footholds on which the one who makes the
breakthrough will have climbed. They have helped condition the
environment in which intuitive insight became possible.
Straight Knowledge
Hope for the future springs from inner sources. Its
foundation is the heart-centerd intuition, innate in every human being,
and now, at this time of crisis, awakening in so many. Its role is
crucial. Its presence illumines all that is life-enhancing, bridging as
it does between the sacred and the everyday world. "Straight
knowledge", is a term used to describe true intuition: straight
knowledge - spontaneous and undistorted. "High freedom" it has
been called, this experience, in waking consciousness, of the presence
of our true Self in every other form, the glimpsing for a moment of the
light that radiates from every atom, the transformation of perception
that comes when a truth becomes one's own direct experience.
By releasing divine ideas into the turbulent realms of
everyday human thought the intuition provides the richest nutrients for
the growth of spiritual values. Any future worth living will mean that
this seventh sense is far more awakened. This will reflect the rite of
passage from a materialistic era with its fixation on the little self,
the superficial and the short-term. A more intuitive humanity will be a
more mature humanity, no longer primarily the consumer, no longer living
as if future generations do not have a say.
Theory about the intuition has become direct experience
in many of those who serve with real spiritual power. The Dalai Lama is
an outstanding server who demonstrates this. His message to the world on
January 1st, 2000 calls for humanity to learn from the
"constructive as well as extremely destructive" experiences of
the twentieth century. "We need"' he said, "to approach
the next millennium more holistically, with more openness and
farsightedness." His consistent advocacy for compassion and a
universal sense of responsibility ring true. His words carry the power
of authenticity, they transparently reflect the good heart. U Thant, a
former UN Secretary-General, spoke of the need for "a revival of
humanism in our hearts" and to explain what he meant he described
the sense of identification with others: "A dead child in the arms
of its grandmother is my child. The wounded soldier -- whether American
or Vietnamese or Jew or Arab -- with inevitable thoughts of his home,
his family, his village, his town, his country, is my son." The
intuition is this experience of oneness. In its light we see that right
resolution of the crises of our time depends upon our choosing pathways
that are forged by the will-to-good, pathways of an inclusive love and
compassion.
*The Way of Intuition, by Jan Nation, is reprinted from www.intuition-in-service.org
by permission. To see a review of their web site, click
here!
