The Nature and Development of Intuition

An Exploration of Inner Knowing

 

In my experience Intuition is an astonishing, profound and mysterious aspect of human consciousness. It is often described as a “knowing from within” or “direct knowing”. It represents a direct perception of truth, or a sudden insight that transcends the limitations of intellect and conscious reasoning.

This immediate knowing or “insight” occurs without the conscious use of reasoning and active thinking processes. It appears as a flash of clarity or an inner sense of what is real, offering a bridge between our current understanding and a deeper wisdom.
 
When i was teaching preschool way back in the 1970s, i had to drive for an hour every day to get to my school. And i liked to drive fast, real fast on those winding backroads of the Austrian countryside.

I clearly remember how sometimes vague pictures of a police car appeared somewhat at the edge of my awareness or a voice quietly said “Polizei”.
Even more clearly i remember my – more or less conscious – struggle to recognize, acknowledge and act on this message from “inner space”.
 
Sometimes i guess, my ego, my adrenaline, the clock or some other more interesting train of thought interfered and made me block out the message.
 
And there – more often than not – they were … the police.
 
Quite an expensive learning curve. But learn i did.
Quite a practical real-life way to learn about intuition at a time when this word was just another colloquial word for me, not very much more.
 

 
Now, looking back at this episode, at this little story of mine, i can see that it already encapsulates quite a number of the elements of intuition that are essential for its working.
 
– Intuition is a innate ability of any human being to know things that she/he actually, logically can not know
 
– Intuition is practical and appears in a certain context
 
– Intuition can appear in the form of a picture, of a “movie” in the mind, a voice or a feeling.
 
– Intuition usually appears on the periphery of our awareness in an unobtrusive, quiet way. It is not trying to grab our attention or make us do something.
 
– intuitive “messages” often come to our attention when we are in a focussed mode – like driving fast – or in a very relaxed mode – like the mode we may be in when we are under the shower or before falling asleep.
 
– For the untrained person intuition is often hard to distinguish from the usual chatter of the mind, from personal biases or fears.
 
– Intuition often runs counter to our known behavior patterns, the usual ways of our personality, our habits. Our ego’s drives. That may be the reason we often doubt the validity of such messages and don’t follow those subtle hints.
 
– Fears and specific expectations can camouflage as intuition.
 
– Generally speaking, we don’t know much – actually almost nothing at all – what Intuition actually is and where such messages are coming from and why.
 

 
Now, ever since those days of my youth, Intuition has been a fascinating topic for me. Those out-of-the-usual experiences that give me goosebumps every time i experience such an intuitive insight.

A glimpse into the world beyond the mind and senses where direct knowing is the natural way to know something that i could actually not know.
 
Over the many years since then i have “collected” a wealth of experiences and insights that helped me to not only experience Intuition and make it one of the foundations of my personal life but also to understand Intuition, to get an idea and a context for whats going on whenever i get my goosebumps.  
 

 
I am sure there are many definitions of Intuition, many interpretations of this phenomenon and I guess that each definition is a reflection of the consciousness of those people who made the effort to define it.
 
For me, definitions are not the truth of a thing, they are merely a mental concept that can help me to put something that is of special interest to me into a mental focus in order to understand it better.
 
Without definition and a general agreement about such definitions we will never be able to understand each other when we communicate about it. Definitions will also change, expand, become more precise over time, when we explore something sincerely.
 
I just wish to make clear that i don’t intend to intellectualize life and the mysteries of intuition here. Having said that, here are some definitions and understandings, some context that makes sense to me at this time of my life.
 

 
INTUITION

 
– The word stems from the Latin root “intueri”, which means “look at, consider” and has been used since the 15.Century in Latin as intuicioun, “insight, direct or immediate cognition, spiritual perception”.
 
– From the Websters Universal Dictionary:
The immediate knowing or learning of something without the conscious  use of reasoning and active thinking processes.
 
– Instantaneous apprehension and insight
 
– Direct perception of truth, independent of any reasoning process
 
– Pure, untaught, none-inferential knowing
 
– Some definitions also interpret Intuition also in the context of instinct, automatic reaction, association, sixth sense, psi, extra-sensory awareness, clairvoyance, unmediated perception, divination, dowsing, inspiration.
 
 
 
C.G. Jung found four psychological functions that we humans all have:

Sensing – Feeling – Thinking – Intuition

As Jung saw it, Intuition is one of the basic function of or psyche, the ability to instantaneously perceive all the possibilities inherent in a situation.
 
But he also found that intuition is mostly unconscious and undeveloped, unappreciated in most western “civilized” people, especially so in males.
 
His four psychic functions correspond to specific regions of the brain:

the Reptilian Brain – sensing
the Limbic System – feeling
the Left Neo-Cortex – thinking
the Right-Neo-Cortex – intuition
 
 
What really interested me is the question: Where is the intuitive information, this intuitive knowing coming from, where’s the origin of those messages and insights.
How can i know something that i actually have no way of knowing???
 
The answers are becoming much more clear the more i understand about consciousness.
 
Consciousness, both in Western philosophy, psychology and quantum physics as well as in Eastern Wisdom teachings is a Unity, a somewhat mysterious and still unexplained continuum of the same “substance” that underlays all phenomena.
 

Although it is considered a Unity, generally speaking it is thought of having four or five distinct different “realms”:

1 – the Ground of Being (the absolute substance of everything in Existence)

2 – the Unconscious (the Collective Consciousness, including human, animal, plant, and raw matter kingdoms, the whole evolutionary chain from the Big Bang till now)

3 – the Subconscious (the Personal Unconscious in humans)

4 – the Conscious Realm (the normal state of fragmented consciousness in humans, our daily state of awareness and what results from it in ways of Culture and Society)

5 – the Superconscious (the higher, increasingly more subtle dimensions of consciousness, the “Higher Self”, the Soul, Atman, “the Divine”, Brahman, God …

 
I admit that i don’t totally know what i am talking about here. This is my – rather intuitive – grasp of the big transcendental realities.
 
 
 
What it means to me, is that everything that is to know about anything in existence is already there, somewhere on this Spectrum of Consciousness.
Ready to be picked up intuitively/directly and translated thru our mind into concepts that we can understand and language we can communicate with.
 
And – for reasons that are still hard for me to understand – we as human beings have the potential and inborn capacity to do that.
To “surf” the spectrum of consciousness up and down and “read” the universal data banks, which are called Akasha in Sanskrit.
 
Rare individuals throughout the ages have been able to do that, from the Rishis of the Vedic times in India to some Lamas and yogis of Tibet to a few high level mediums of our times. And of course a couple of other folks that i have never heard about.

 
Obviously not you and me or the neighbor next door.
Obviously inner development, spiritual maturity and specific methods were/are necessary for such things to happen.
A development and fine-tuning of abilities that are given to us as a birthright but lay dormant in every one of us, waiting to be activated.
 
What an exciting possibility awaits humanity!!!

 
Well, i have no illusions about the state of mind of the general population of Planet Earth. But still …
 
The potential is still there for anyone who feels a longing to raise above the usual jumble and malaise that is going on inside out heads every day.
 
I am talking about our “normal” state of mind, our fragmented awareness and the resulting Brainwave Patterns.
 
To learn to recognize what going on “up there”, develop ways to shift from the Beta Brainwaves of everyday reactive mind activity into Alpha, Delta and Theta and Gamma Brainwaves at will – this will give us the key to the door of different levels of consciousness, direct access to knowing and probably abilities of the brain/mind/soul/spirit that we only can dream of now.
 
It does not matter how much i consciously know about brainwave states, it is clear from experience that intuition as well as any other “higher” form of perception is most possible when i am in a calm, wakeful, openly receptive state with very little mental noise going on in my mind/brain to interfere with the intuitive “input”.
 
In eastern symbolic & poetic language this state has always been compared with a perfectly peaceful pond under the full moon, no ripples or waves breaking the surface.
Like a mirror it perfectly reflects the full moon above.
 
Or the perfectly calm turquoise sea at sunset on a remote pacific atoll, when you can see deep into the transparent water down to the seafloor, see all the colorful wonders there.
 
In scientific language, this state is associated with Brainwave Coherence, which means the synchronization of brainwaves across different regions of the brain. Regions that I have mentioned before:
 
the Reptilian Brain – Sensing
the Limbic System – Feeling
the Left Neo-Cortex – Thinking
the Right-Neo-Cortex – Intuition
 
Coherence is also associated with moments of high creativity, so called “Flow States” of the brain, mental flexibility, openness and presence in the “Here & Now”.
Also there is an experience of Transcendence, like we would quietly allowed to peek over the edge of our personal existence into the bigger world beyond our confines.
 
Researchers who have studied people with Near-death Experiences – as well as other peak experiences that transcend “normal” everyday life experiences – found that such people are likely to be highly intuitive and can talk about things that they actually could not know by normal ways of thinking about such things.
 
 
For me, this means that a healthy and coherent nervous system (mind-body/psycho-physical) can process higher-level knowledge in an orderly fashion and naturally lead my attention to the needed information at the right time without my personal ambition or effort involved.
 
This is exactly how i experience those moments of intuitive knowing, that give me the goosebumps. 
 
 
It is also my experience that the depth and clarity of my intuitive perception and insight can be increased by my own spiritual practice, whatever this may be.
 
In my case it is meditation, for other people it may be Tai Chi or a deep artistic process that creates a Flow state of mind, where time and space and identity is somehow transcended.
 
Meditation has been the traditional way in the East, the most deeply explored and developed path to understand and utilize our inner potential, the abilities of our mind and what lays beyond.
 
That meditation is not taught in kindergarten and not practiced in school is – in my eyes – one of the tragedies of our present culture.
 
Instead of practicing “inner methods of development and happiness/coherence” most of us are busy practicing technological methods of distractedness and entertainment.
And our educational systems and institutions are content with filling the brains of children with secondary information and tons of secondhand knowledge.
 
Technology can be pretty cool and helpful, i am not against it at all.
Neither am i speaking against thoughtful education / edu-care. 
 
But i guess technological progress needs to be in balance with the development of inner abilities, character and value development, spiritual growth and soul qualities like empathy, compassion and the understanding of service to All There Is.
 
 
 
What a Crown of Creation Humans could be then, it is even hard to imagine.
 
If only we could transcend our ego-based identifications.

 

 
It is also my experience that intuition is not something we can control or access at will. It is something that is happening, a kind of grace from above/within that can broaden our scope and perspective.

And although we can not control it, we certainly can do lots of things to prepare our “receiver”, fine tune our radio to the proper frequencies.
 
Before i will point out a few things that work for me, here a things that are not recommended:
– Scrambling your brain on your Facebook feed, Twitter stream or YouTube video binging
– Lots of partying and random socializing
– Getting drunk aimlessly
– Indulging in recreational drugs
– Deafening Rap music, bumping Techno …
 
I am kidding a little here, but you probably get my drift:
All activities that scramble the brainwaves or overexcite the nerves are not really helpful if you wish to become more receptive to intuitive input, if you want to refine your antennas and improve your extra-sensory perception.
 
Here is what works for me (and probably for you as well.
 
– Developing and nurturing qualities of character like:

Childlike curiosity
Ability to let go of preconceived notions
Awareness
Assertiveness
Emotional balance
Autonomy
Mental clarity
Commitment
Courage
Detachment
Ease
Empathy
Flexibility
Freedom from other’s opinion
Independence
Joy
Lightness of being
Inner peace
Joy
Ability to risk
Quick thinking
Relaxation
Spontaneity
Wisdom
 
Other activities and attitudes that worked for me:
 
– Cultivating silence
– Loving solitude
– Listening to rain, waves, birdsong
– Drawing, painting
– Knitting
– Doodling
– Writing poetry
– Daydreaming
– Naps, siestas
– Long walks in nature, all by yourself
– The beach, the wide horizon
– Free flowing movement, dance
– Long showers
– A full hot soapy-bubbled bath tub
– Massage, deep relaxation
– Good slow sex
 
Shall i say more?
Thats already a lot of wonderful activities to refine our antennas, right?
 
Of course, it also helps to speak (or write) a clear intention that you wish to listen more closely to your intuitive messages … and also follow the hints.
 
Intuition has also been called “The Still Small Voice of the Heart”.
 
Well, if the voice is still and small and unobtrusive, it is clear that i need to be still too, quiet the ever-squeaking monkey mind in my head to be able to hear it.
As i repeatedly point out, meditation is the most effective way to do that.

Especially the practice of Vipassana/Mindfulness Meditation conditions my mind to be in a state of highly awake and open awareness. Witnessing and observing all movements and impulses from within and without.

And that is the best condition for the still small voice of intuition to be noticed and heard.
 
Meditation synchronizes the activities of the left brain hemisphere  and right hemisphere and creates coherence of the brainwave patterns. In other words, this means that the centers of thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting are aligned and working in unison.
 
 
 
To wrap it all up, i may reiterate what helped me to become a intuition-world-champion in 10 days ; )-<:
 
INTENTION – my clear and stated will to develop and follow the still small voice of my heart – aka Intention
 
 
QUESTIONS – “Ask and it shall be given :  )”
A true question coming from my heart, spoken or unspoken or written down clearly on paper is focussing my awareness to a certain area of my present life that is relevant and where i need a clarification. I need to hold this question in my consciousness in an open and unstressed way, maybe even for a longer time and be receptive with all my expanded senses for answer.
No rush, no stress, no tension!
 
RELAXATION – continuously letting go of physical and emotional tensions gives Intuition the space to enter into my conscious awareness.
 
MEDITATION – nothing more to say to that!
 
SILENCE – Intuition flourishes in silence. Quieting my mind and clearly observing the different voices and impulses of my psyche is part of the training if i want to be more intuitive.
 
DISCERNMENT – knowing myself, being honest to myself about the biases of my ego, my personal preferences, fears and habit patterns helps me to discern my ego’s preferences from true wisdom of my Soul/Higher Self  that tries to speak to me thru Intuitions.
 
SENSITIVITY – finely tuned sensitivity to energy and physical/emotional experiences will provide more information and intuitive knowing.
My goosebumps or a specific ringing in my ears or a “real” voice in my head or a distinct uplift in my energy are examples of that shift that sometimes accompanies intuitive messages.
To recognize such messages or impulses is one thing, to act on them is often another thing altogether.
 
TRUST – trusting myself, trusting the process, trusting my inner experiences are the keys to trust and develop intuition.
 
UNDERSTANDING – and belief that there is a “higher intelligence”, my Soul or Higher Self beyond the somewhat limited confines of my conditioned personality … this of course is the basis on which i can come to trust those impulses we call intuition.
 
OPENNESS – to all, even never considered possibilities of a given situation, even when intuition is running contra to my habits and logic or the expectation that other people have of me definitely takes:
 
COURAGE – my fear to step into unknown territory, to walk a path less traveled is necessary if i wish to be guided by my intuition away from what i usually would do or say and experience.
 
ACCEPTANCE and SELF-ACCEPTANCE – a nonjudgemental attitude, accepting myself with all my wrinkles allows intuition to flow freely.
 
NON-ATTACHMENT to pre-conceived notions and conventions – the willingness to accept reality as is and not try to manipulate things to be as i want them to be or wish them to be allows intuition to emerge. Being not overly attached to the fulfillment of my wishes and imaginations is very helpful for the enfoldment of reality, “the bigger picture”. 
 
LOVE & GRATITUDE 

 

 
To round up my personal take on Intuition, I wish to share a very personal note about “following my intuition”.

Ten years ago when i was living in Thailand, i started to hear a voice in my “head”, a very clear and distinct soft voice saying “Costa Rica”.
Out of the blue and with no real context this repeated on various occasions.
Although i had never ever been attracted to South America in my life i felt a deep sureness and truth about it.


And so i went.


And here i still am.
Happy as a dog : )

 

 

 

In order to provide a more comprehensive and authoritative perspective on the concepts of intuition, the source of intuitive information, the nature of ideas, and the understanding of the “spiritual worlds” I have been rummaging thru the works of Rudolf Steiner, who I consider unique authority on such matters.

 

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher, scientist, and educator.
From his early life, he had awareness of both the physical and spiritual realms.
He pursued studies in philosophy and science and is known for his work in editing Goethe’s scientific writings. Steiner developed “Anthroposophy”, a “science of the spirit” that sought to create a bridge between science, art, and religion.

 

His work emphasized the spiritual nature of human thinking and the potential for individuals to gain knowledge of higher worlds through the cultivation of their inner faculties.

Steiner was a significant figure in various practical fields, founding initiatives in Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
He is recognized for his holistic understanding of the human being, and his early works include those books you may download here, if you are interested in further exploration of the topics.

Be forewarned though, his books are a “hard read”!

 

 

 

 

Understanding the concepts of Intuition, intuitive Thinking the source of intuitive information, the nature of ideas, and the understanding of the “spiritual world.”

 

1) Definition of Intuition according to Rudolf Steiner:

Intuition is the initial way in which thought-content appears inwardly. It is a conscious experience of purely spiritual content from within the Realm of Spirit.

Intuition is for thinking what observation is for sensory perception.
Intuition refers to clear and luminous source knowledge of things for which one has full conscious recognition, distinguishing it from the more general vague notion of intuition.

 

2) The Origin of Intuitive Information

According to Steiner, intuitive information originates from the spiritual world, a supersensible realm beyond ordinary physical perception.

Even in our everyday thinking, there is a connection to these higher, supersensible origins. The processes behind our daily thoughts are fundamentally the same as those enabling our highest spiritual capacities, both stemming from the supersensible worlds.

Intuitive thinking is a primary means through which we can consciously experience the spiritual world and its purely spiritual content. By intentionally focusing attention and engaging in what is called “pure thinking,” a conscious experience of spiritual content can be attained without needing altered states of consciousness.

 

3) The Nature of Ideas

Ideas are understood as being not fundamentally different from concepts, but rather as more comprehensive and saturated forms of them.

Thinking is the active process through which both concepts and the fuller formations of ideas arise. While intuition represents the initial appearance of thought-content, ideas are the result of further elaboration through thinking.

Similar to intuitions, ideas also originate in the supersensible or spiritual world. Our thoughts in the physical world are described as being like “shadowy pictures” of their true, living reality within the realm of the spirit.

 

4) What is the “Spiritual World”

The “spiritual world” in Steiner’s terminology refers to a realm of existence that cannot be perceived through our ordinary physical senses. Instead, it becomes accessible through the development of higher cognitive faculties and spiritual perception.

This spiritual world is not a physically separate location but rather represents different states or levels of consciousness. It is a realm inhabited by spiritual beings, forces and archetypes that are the fundamental causes behind the phenomena observed in the physical world.

For instance, the forces that shape physical forms originate from the spirit world. Steiner indicates that human thought, in its essence, exists as living, independent “thought beings” within this spiritual realm.

Understanding the deeper aspects of human nature, especially during the period between death and rebirth, requires knowledge and intuitive insight into this spiritual world. And in order to perceive the soul and spirit worlds, we need to cultivate our inner life and spiritual senses, just as we use our physical senses for the material world.

The spiritual world is not “next to” or “outside” the physical world spatially, but rather interpenetrates it, becoming apparent as we develop the capacity for supersensible perception.

 

 

When studying Steiner’s Work it helped me to write a glossary of short definitions of the terminology he is using.

 

Steiner’s Glossary of Concepts:

 

Supersensible: This term refers to realms of existence and knowledge that are not accessible through the ordinary physical senses . It describes a reality beyond what can be seen, heard, or touched physically, but which can be experienced through developed inner capacities, inner senses, higher cognitive abilities.

Archetypes: These are spiritual primal images or fundamental patterns that exist in the spiritual world and serve as the underlying blueprints for things in the physical and soul worlds. They can be considered the embryonic seeds of life forms and thought beings.

Clairvoyance: This is a higher faculty of perception that allows individuals to perceive aspects of the supersensible world. It is often used synonymous with “higher vision” and is essential for discovering facts of the unseen world. Steiner indicates that even ordinary thinking contains a “pearl of clairvoyance”.

Thought-content: This refers to the substance or material that constitutes our thoughts. Intuition is described as the form in which thought-content first makes its appearance inwardly. Our thoughts are seen as having a real being in the supersensible world, of which our conscious thought-content is a “shadowy picture”.

Concepts: These are elements of the world of ideas, grasped by thinking. They are used by thinking to connect and understand percepts / perceptions. While they are conceptual counter-images of percepts in our everyday awareness, Steiner sees them as having a more significant role in understanding reality.

Ideas: According to Steiner, ideas are fuller, more saturated, and more comprehensive concepts. They are not merely individualized but have a broader scope. Like concepts, they ultimately originate from the spiritual world. The creative expression of the human spirit in the physical world through ideas is seen as a reflection of germinal thought beings in the higher spiritual world.

Ordinary thinking: This refers to the everyday thinking process as it usually occurs, often bound to sense perceptions and external impressions. Steiner suggests that even in ordinary thinking, a “pearl of clairvoyance” is contained, linking it to supersensible origins.

Pure thinking: This is a form of thinking that is free from the influence of the physical senses. It is described as a self-sustaining spiritual entity and a means to consciously experience purely spiritual content and the spiritual world. Intuition is closely linked to pure thinking as the conscious experience of this spiritual content.

Higher cognitive faculties: These are the developed inner powers or “spiritual senses” within every human being that enable the acquisition of knowledge about higher, supersensible worlds. Their development through practices like meditation and concentration allows for perception beyond the physical senses.

Levels of consciousness: Steiner suggests that the soul and spiritual worlds are not spatially separate places but rather different states of consciousness. Access to the supersensible world and its experiences is achieved through attaining specific states of consciousness, such as those resulting from meditation on symbols or “imaginations”. These different levels allow for varying degrees of perception of spiritual realities.

 

In case you are interested to know more about levels of consciousness and spiritual realms, have a look at this article.

 

THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY