Originally posted on my website 10 Jan 08
Often times when I use the word intuition with others, they
either look at me with a blank stare as if they do not know
what I mean, or they imply that intuition is “out there” or that
someone else has it but not them.
According to Webster, Intuition is ‘direct perception of truth,
fact, etc, independent of any reasoning processes; immediate
apprehension’
Einstein also tells us that his genius comes from his irrational
mind.
So whether we are a genius like Einstein or someone else,
we all have and use Intuition. Now why we are not so
confident with it is another question.
Our culture has been emphasizing the logical thinking over
the intuitive since the Holy Crusades during the medieval
times. Intuition before the Holy Crusades was considered a
natural sense as any of the others. It was not as separate.
But then it was considered an evil to think outside the church,
and then later to think outside of science.
When we go to school, we learn that it is important to know
things; we are told how to think. Logical thinking is active
thinking, whereas Intuitive thinking is receptive. We think we
can get by in life without receptive thinking, but not without
active thinking. So we emphasize cultivating really great
logical thinking, and ignoring things that don’t make sense. It
is as is we have been exercising our left arm (logical), lifting
weights, using it completely, but not believing that the right
arm (intuitive) is of any use. So now we have a beautiful firm,
strong left arm where everyone can see it and appreciate it,
but since we and others do not value the right arm, it doesn’t
matter if it lays there limp and of little use. We simply keep
strengthening the left more and more.
Every once in a while the right arm pops up with full strength,
and we either are amazed at it or discount it as insignificant.
This is what we do with our intuitive thinking.
We have become so accustomed as a society to look lopsided
that we are not even noticing that we are not thinking with
our whole self. We either see intuition as something flaky or
something that we do not have or even really need.
What I have seen over the years is that everyone has
intuitive stories, but because it wasn’t a big bang, it went
hiding in our memory bank.
So the question is why is intuition important, and how can it
help us in our practical day-to-day life.
I believe Intuition is important because it helps us to become
clearer in not only who we are, but who others are as well.
Intuition can be used along with logic to come up with
solutions, it can be used to understand from many angles,
and it can even be used to tap into new ideas, hidden talents,
and a deeper self. Integrating intuition with logic can certainly
make life more enjoyable, more enriched, more directed, and
a great adventure. Our logical mind can only take us to
certain places of understanding and intuition can take us to
other places of understanding, together, life can feel more
whole.
There are many ways to exercise (cultivate) our intuition.
One way that I find helpful is when I am making a decision. I
first sit with and feel the various solutions. How does each
solution feel? I then think out the logical solutions to see
which seems the best. I then see if the two can come
together as a creative solution. Or if my intuitive feels
matches the logical choice, I just then go with that. If it
doesn’t match, I then look for other solutions until the two sit
well together. We often think out logical solutions or just go
with the feelings without really putting the two together.
Each of the thinking processes really cannot show the whole
picture when it stands alone. They are both only showing us
one way to see it, which is why it is important to learn to think
through both processes.
Dreams are another way that I like to connect with
Guidance. When I want clarity on a situation, I ask very
clearly to be shown the answer or guidance in a dream. I also
affirm that I will remember the dream, and understand the
answer. When I wake up, I immediately write the dream
down before trying to understand it. That way the reasoning
mind cannot get in the way.
Some times I have asked for a sign to be shown on what to
do. But this can be difficult since it is your reasoning mind
trying to understand the answer.
The most important thing I believe in using Intuition is to ask
for guidance, and then practice doing receptive feeling
(thinking) to feel the answer. If you aren’t clear with the
answer, then ask again until it does become clear.
If you have any questions about how to further develop your
Intuition, then please feel free to ask.