I'm very happy to announce the continuation of our question and answer video series after
a gap of about two years.
At the end of this video, I'll tell you how you can submit your questions to be answered
in future videos.
Recently, I received a question from Kristina, who lives in Mexico.
She asked, "What is the role of one's intuition in gaining enlightenment?"
Intuition.
Hmm.
To answer this, we first have to understand the nature of intuition itself.
Intuition is usually understood as being the mind's power to gain knowledge without using
rational thought.
That is, intuition is an ability to understand or know something without conscious reasoning
or analysis.
It's an unconscious mental process that enables you to make decisions or judgments based on
your prior experiences and accumulated knowledge.
Intuition is often described as a "gut feeling" or "sixth sense" that gives you some kind
of insight or understanding without deliberate mental effort.
For example, your intuition might tell you what someone is going to say before they say
it.
Or when you're lost, your intuition might give you a sense of the right direction in
which you should go.
Or when you're about to purchase something, your intuition might warn you that you're
being cheated.
But, even though your intuition can help you find your way home or avoid getting cheated,
the fact is, intuitions are not always correct.
Your gut feeling might be right, or it might be wrong.
That's hardly surprising because we all make mistakes.
Yet some people strongly believe that their intuition is always right, in every situation.
Maybe that's because they only remember occasions when their intuitions were correct, and they
forget all the times their intuitions were wrong.
So, any intuitions you might have about spiritual truths might be correct, or they might be
incorrect.
You can't be sure.
But there's bigger problem here.
As we saw before, intuition is based on your prior experiences and accumulated knowledge.
But what if the truth you seek lies outside the scope of your experience and knowledge?
For example, if you don't know what cryptocurrency is, your intuition can't help you predict
the price of Bitcoin.
So, what if the spiritual truths you seek are transcendent, beyond this worldly dimension,
and inaccessible to ordinary human understanding?
Well, according to the rishis, the sages of ancient India, that is exactly the case.
Thousands of years ago, they were able to discover the transcendent, inner divinity
that dwells in every person.
They called it atma, the true self.
In a scripture called Kena Upanishad, one of those rishis said, you cannot see it with
your eyes, nor can you describe it with words, nor can you grasp it with your mind.
His striking revelation completely dismisses the value of intuition and other means of
understanding.
He went on to say, rather cryptically, "Those who say it is known, they do not know.
Those who say it is unknown, they know."
But, what does that even mean?
Earlier in the text, the rishi described atma as shrotrasya shrotram, the ear of the ear,
chakshushash cakshuh, the eye of the eye, and manaso manah, the mind of the mind.
So, if you reflect on all this, it eventually becomes clear that he was referring to a fundamental
inner reality, the consciousness or awareness that is your true, essential nature, your
nature as an awareful being.
That consciousness enables you to be aware of what's happening right now all around you,
as well as what's happening inside your mind.
Objects in the world and thoughts in your mind are all known to you.
And you are the conscious knower.
As the conscious knower, you are categorically different from all that's known.
That's what the rishi meant.
"Those who say that consciousness is known, like an object, they do not know.
Those who say that consciousness is unknown, because it's not an object, they know."
Consciousness is unknown in the sense that it's not an object than you can perceive with
your five senses or know with your mind.
The rishis discovered that consciousness, the consciousness present in your experience
right now, has a vast, hidden dimension.
It's like an iceberg that's mostly hidden under the surface of the sea, except for a
little part protruding from the water.
The full nature of your consciousness is concealed or covered by a so-called veil of ignorance.
According to the rishis, your consciousness is actually unborn, uncreated, limitless,
vast, and utterly untouched by worldly suffering.
That's why it's called the inner divinity.
Unfortunately, when you fail to recognize that inner divinity, you become subject to
suffering.
How?
Suppose a man who is homeless and penniless happens to be the rightful heir to a vast
fortune, but he doesn't know his true wealth because no one can find him and give him the
good news.
So, even though that fortune already belongs to him, it can't help him escape the suffering
he experiences living on the street.
In the same way, your consciousness is already uncreated, limitless, and free from suffering,
but if you don't know that, if you fail to recognize your true, divine nature, how can
it help you?
According to the rishis, to free yourself from worldly suffering, you have to remove
the ignorance that conceals your true nature.
And to remove that ignorance, knowledge is required, a special kind of knowledge, knowledge
of atma, the true self.
When the homeless man gains knowledge of his inheritance, he can enjoy the great wealth
that he already possessed.
In the same way, when you gain knowledge of atma, your true self, you will reap the blessings
of your already-existent divine nature.
So then, how can knowledge of atma be gained?
Well, how do you gain other kinds of knowledge?
You learn from teachers, from books, and from instructional videos like this one.
To gain knowledge, you need someone or something that can teach you and help you understand.
The teachings of the ancient rishis are meant to remove the veil of ignorance covering atma,
and lead you to discover your true, divine nature.
That discovery is what's commonly called enlightenment.
But then, how did the ancient rishis make that discovery in the first place?
They had no access to teachers, or books, or instructional videos like this one.
Their discovery was the result of deep meditation along with intense self-inquiry and a special
kind of intuition.
Normal intuition is based on your prior experiences and accumulated knowledge.
But the rishis were spiritual geniuses.
They were blessed with an extraordinary kind of intuition, an intuitive ability that's
often considered to be the result of divine inspiration.
If you happen to be as blessed as the rishis, perhaps your intuition could lead you to enlightenment.
But fortunately, there's no need to depend on intuition if you have access to proper
teachings and skillful teachers.
If you're lost somewhere, you don't have to rely on intuition if a fellow traveler can
show you the way.
And if that traveler accompanies you to your destination, it's better yet.
So, instead of relying on intuition, it's better to take guidance from a teacher who
has already discovered what you want to discover, a teacher who can accompany you on the path
of spiritual growth and lead you to discover your true, divine nature.
If you'd like to submit a question for a future video like this one, please send it to me
at the email address shown on the screen.
Be sure to indicate Video Question in the subject line.