> — Sri Chinmoy
Intuition is an inner faculty which all human beings have. But everyone has not developed this faculty or brought it to the fore so that he can use it, so some people are not yet convinced that they have it. One form of intuition is inside the mind. But real intuition comes from the soul. Sometimes we use the subtle mind and feel that our mental understanding is intuition. But this is not true. Intuition is the machine in us that sees the Light immediately. Intuition itself is the conscious Light in each individual. It is the faculty in us that sees the Truth and Reality all at once, without separating these from their entire existence and essence. In the ordinary life, most of the time we will see that Reality is at one place and vision is somewhere else. But in the case of intuition it is not like that. In intuition, the Reality and the vision go together; they cannot be separated.
When a small child looks at an elephant, what does he see? Immediately he sees the tail or the legs or the trunk. His attention is concentrated only on one part of the elephant, but he feels that he has seen the whole elephant. But when we see something while using our intuitive power, immediately we see its whole existence. It is like seeing the whole body of the elephant at the same time. We will not only see all the limbs of the elephant simultaneously but also, at the same time, its inner existence as well. The power of intuition sees the inner and outer Truth completely, as a whole, without separating the two aspects.
The outer existence we see with the outer eyes: one portion, one limb of the elephant we see when we use our outer eyes. But intuition comes from the third eye. If we are fed by the soul’s light, then it becomes very easy to open up the third eye. The third eye, which we call the ajna chakra, actually has infinitely more power of vision than just intuition. Intuition is only a part of its capacity. You may call it a significant part, yet I call it insignificant in comparison with its total capacity. But again, the difference between the human eye and the intuitive faculty is enormous.
There is a great difference between perception and intuition. Perception is of a very, very low origin and intuition is of a very, very high origin. Perception comes from the mind proper, from the vital, or from even lower regions. Perception can never go beyond the ordinary level of mental consciousness. Even when we perceive something to the fullest extent, this perception comes from the mind. But intuition comes from a very high level of consciousness far above the mind. In perception there is very rarely a direct knowledge of Truth; there is no direct wisdom. Perception is an indirect way of approaching the Truth, a roundabout way. But intuition is an immediate and direct way of approaching the Truth. There can be no comparison between perception and intuition.
If we try to open up the third eye or cultivate the intuitive power without being fully energised in the heart, then the intuitive power may only create problems for us. We will be disturbed by it. Right now, if I see with my intuition that my father is going to die tomorrow, then I myself will be dead today. My very fear will kill me. So what is the use of torturing myself with this knowledge? But if I have developed will-power, if I have claimed the soul’s light as my own, at that time I become one with the Supreme’s Will. Then, even if I know that my father is going to die, I will not be disturbed because I know, after all, who my father is. He is only a child of the Supreme as I myself am also a child of the Supreme. My father is now here on earth playing in the Lap of the Supreme. As soon as he leaves the body, he will be inside the Heart of the Supreme. You may take this as a theoretical experience. But no! This is what we feel when we see the Truth through the Eye of the Supreme.
Again, if we see with our intuition that the future is very bright, if we see that something very good is going to happen, then our impatience will kill us. We are like a child. A child sees a mango, but his mother is not giving it to him. The time has not yet come, the hour has not yet struck for him to get the mango. He feels miserable. He says, “Since it is for me, I should eat it now.” But the mother knows when is the best time to give the mango to the child. Similarly, with our intuitive power, our intuitive light, if we see something coming we may try to grab it. Then, if we don’t get the result or cannot pull it down right in front of our nose, we feel miserable. We may see it, but we cannot hasten its arrival; we have to wait for God’s Hour to strike. So we feel miserable. Right now, if we have intuitive power, we will be like a child dealing with a knife: a child may cut his finger or may even stab himself.
But if we first open up our heart centre and become one with God, then when we see the future we will not be disturbed. So the best thing is to wait until the heart centre is open and we have imbibed the soul’s light to a great extent. We can best embody intuitive power only when we live in the soul’s light. At that time, if we have the intuitive power, we will be safe; nothing will go wrong. I tell my disciples not to think of intuition right now. It can help considerably, but only at the right hour, when it is properly understood. Intuitive power will automatically come when our own inner being develops, when our psychic surrender is complete, when we have established our conscious inner oneness with the Supreme. At that time we will not misuse it. It will be of constant help to us.
> Conscience and Intuition are the inner experiences of the soul that try to protect and perfect our outer life.
> — Sri ChinmoyFrom:Sri Chinmoy,Aspiration-Plants, Agni Press, 1974
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