I is for Intuition

I is for Intuition

Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.- Jonas Salk

I have a feeling about this…a mother’s intuition…a hunch…

We have all heard the phrases and more importantly experienced those moments of clarity when you simply knew what to do in a particular situation. You didn’t need to give it much thought, the answer came from within:  Intuition. Intuition comes from the Latin word “intueri” which means to see within. Although I think it is more about listening than seeing within. Intuition is listening to that place within ourselves where God dwells. It is listening to the soul 

In the fall of 2010 Harvard researchers published the findings from a study indicating that people with a more intuitive thinking style tend to believe in God more deeply than those with a more reflective thinking style. A reflective style of thinking is weighing the pros and cons, looking at all the options carefully, or approaching decisions from a purely logical frame of reference. Intuitive thinking is an approach to decisions or assessments where one trusts one’s gut or intuition; where one looks internally for the answers more so than weighing facts. The study didn’t indicate which came first --intuitive thinking or deep faith-- only that those who tend to trust their intuition have greater faith than those who did not generally rely on intuitive thought. Both intuition and faith have been described as knowledge without reason. Faith is often unreasonable. Faith is an intuitive belief in a power greater then ourselves, a Divine Power. Faith is its own kind of cognition.   It makes sense then that those with a deep faith would be less inclined to solely use reasoning as a means of processing information.

For me, intuition and faith are inseparable, integral components of the Holy. I believe faith feeds our intuition.  Both are manifest in that small voice that speaks continually even though we, or at least I, do not always trust it or can even hear it. Learning to listen to our intuition and trusting it, it seems to me, would lead to greater faith. And the greater our faith the more likely we trust that inner voice. But that small voice too often gets drowned out by all the noise in our head. It gets pushed aside by logic that says that doesn’t make sense, it hasn’t been thought out enough. Grace is the courage to listen to the voice no matter what the mind thinks.

A Mystic is anyone who seeks a deeper relationship with God though most are known for their extraordinary experiences and expressions of faith. I would say that Mystics are experts at tuning into their intuition.  Through their faith and disciplined practices, Mystics readily connect with God within themselves.  Not seeking God out-there-somewhere but the God within. Intuition in this sense is that place where the mind listens to the voice of God dwelling within; its listening to the soul.  No one would call mystics logical and many did call them crazy.

Unfortunately, it isn’t an easy thing to tap into our intuition, at least not for me. It requires quiet and time, it especially requires pray erthat quiets the mind. Without practice it is easy to confuse intuition with an initial reaction to something.  I am guessing that most of us have had a first, gut reaction to something or someone that, upon further reflection, was proved wrong.  First thoughts are too easily tainted by prejudice or misinformation. One clue that what you hear is God speaking through your intuition  and not an initial reaction is that intuition will evoke a sense of peace whereas an initial thought may be disquieting or push us to ask even more questions. I think it is also easy to confuse intuition with the ego. The ego will also prompt us to act but its voice usually isn't so small and rarely quiet. 

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." - Albert Einstein,

Einstein points out that the logical mind should serve the intuitive mind. The quote indicate that both are important but indicates that one should serve the other…logic should serve the higher mind…intuition. St Thomas Aquinas argued that faith and reason must coexist. Thus, we find evidence of God in nature. For those of us with faith we see God in all creation: creation becomes evidence of God.  God doesn’t ask us not to think, he doesn’t want us leave our brain at the church door. He gave us that brain so expects us to use it. But our ability to be reflective must serve a higher purpose. We are thinking beings but our thinking, even for the best of brains, is limited. God isn’t limited and intuition channels God for those willing to undergo the discipline to learn to listen.