03 Sep 2010 at 12:14
Jim Duthoit
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If we describe a sky as gloomy or cheerful, the science of the present age tells us this is merely ‘anthropomorphism’, or projecting our own human emotions onto an inhuman reality.
The science of the present age believes the world can be described in terms of pure maths and physics, and so it regards anything that cannot be treated this way as unreal.
So when we pick up on an unusual mood in the sky, or detect a silence in the space between trees, or become calm when we walk through a woodland, we reject such thoughts because they are unscientific. But are they?
02 Sep 2010 at 14:12
Jim Duthoit
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There is the perspective of time, when a good night’s sleep will allow us to see events in a different light. These is also the perspective of space, when a good holiday will allow us to put our own lives into context.
But there is another perspective, when we are able to see both ourselves and the events that occur to us in a broader context. This perspective is something that we arrive at inwardly, and involves neither time or space.
Logic is fine if we want to adopt a position and argue it, but it is useless if we want to change our perspective. To see more than one point of view we need something other than logic. This ‘other’ is intuition.
01 Sep 2010 at 12:21
Jim Duthoit
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Logic is fine for classifying and categorising what we can see, but it cannot deal with what we cannot see. We cannot classify what is beyond the senses, and there is much beyond the senses.
Logic can tell us that Elvis met Nixon, that the two shook hands and that there was a photographer present. Intuition however will tell us that nothing about the photograph is quite as it seems.
If we are happy with our view of the world, of ourselves and of others, then logic is fine. But if we suspect there is more to the world than the world we see, then we need a different form of thinking.
31 Aug 2010 at 12:24
Jim Duthoit
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We can do many things without attention – we can read, drive, speak, type and even think without attention - and it is only when this is pointed out to us that we notice it.
Attention is not the same as thinking, speaking or acting, but about being aware that we are doing so. This comes from the intuitive or the watching mind, which stands behind the ordinary mind.
Many of the practices associated with Zen – Suchness, the Koan and Zazen – are designed to prevent the ordinary mind from being in control. In Zen, acting with attention is called ‘mindfulness’.
30 Aug 2010 at 18:49
Jim Duthoit
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We do not just have thoughts, we can observe ourselves having thoughts. There is a part of the mind that ‘thinks’ and there is a part of the mind that observes. We can watch ourselves as we think and speak and act.
We are not normally aware of the observing mind, because habit allows us act without paying much attention to what we do. It is only when we override habit that we become aware of this other mind.
Intuition is the part of the mind that observes. The word ‘intuition’ means ‘to watch’ or ‘to see’ with the mind. We are most aware of ourselves when our intuitive mind is engaged, and we are at our most habitual when it is not.
29 Aug 2010 at 12:56
Jim Duthoit
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The modern era regards Wicca as superstitious nonsense. But witches knew how to employ narcotics, perfumes and aphrodisiacs to evoke fantasy, sexual passion and lunacy in their unsuspecting victims.
Wicca has been called a ‘Moon cult’. The Moon is associated with all that exists in the unconscious mind, including hidden impulses, emotive imagery, sexual desires and animal instincts.
If we are not aware of these hidden elements in our nature, our ignorance can be used against us. Intuition is the means to see that which is presently hidden from us. If we do not wish to be manipulated, we need better intuition.
27 Aug 2010 at 12:24
Jim Duthoit
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The Twentieth century gave us the comic book Superman. The Nineteenth century gave us the Nietzschean Superman. Before that, Supermen were Adepts and Bodhisattvas. Each age has its hero.
Wisdom has no place in Dumb Down culture. To be wise means to be able to see life from a wider perspective, and soap operas, bargain hunting and bonus culture have no time for this.
If we feel dissatisfied with Dumb Down culture, it may be because we need better products, or it may be because the intuitive mind is trying to draw our attention to something we cannot yet see directly.
25 Aug 2010 at 12:28
Jim Duthoit
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The whole of Western culture – science, democracy and economic progress - is based on the idea of freedom. Western culture rejects the idea of fate because this takes away the idea of freedom.
But are we really free? A person prone to mischief is fated to end up in trouble, and a person with a temper is fated to lose it, and yet each of them thinks they act freely. Is this freedom or the illusion of freedom?
We cannot be free if we are governed by unseen forces. Intuition is the means to se that which is presently hidden from us. Intuition is the means to freedom.
23 Aug 2010 at 12:05
Jim Duthoit
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The Monarch butterfly can take as many as four generations to complete its yearly migration from Canada to Mexico and back. This means the butterfly that begins the migration does not live long enough to see the outcome.
Science cannot accept the possibility of a ‘group mind’ because that would mean a ‘mind’ exists outside the physical organism, and the paradigm of materialism will not allow that.
When research is determined by a paradigm, then what is being presented is no longer science but ‘scientism’. Logic leads to dogma; intuition leads to insight.
22 Aug 2010 at 13:00
Jim Duthoit
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The logical mind cannot deal with symbolism. Logic always wants to fix the meaning of a symbol into a single ‘correct’ definition, but genuine symbolism is designed to prevent this.
Symbolic imagery is an expression of the intuitive mind. The intuitive mind stands behind the ordinary mind, and sees more than the ordinary mind sees.
When we feel that something is not being expressed directly, or when we have a thought but cannot say what it is exactly, it is the intuitive mind speaking to us. It is the purpose of symbolic imagery to evoke such thoughts.
21 Aug 2010 at 12:59
Jim Duthoit
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Why do we believe that ideas last forever? Fashions change, attitudes change and ideologies change, but we believe that what we now regard as true will always be true - forever.
We treat such things as progress, freedom and democracy as absolute values rather than merely concerns of the present age. We assume that Darwinism is an absolute truth, and can never be changed, altered or challenged.
Logic is absolute, but intuition is relative. Insight allows us to see what is presently hidden from us. If we had all the information, we could not have insight.
20 Aug 2010 at 13:06
Jim Duthoit
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Is it possible that the heliocentric view of the universe is an illusion? The idea of a moving Earth did not come from Copernicus, but Philolaus, whose own model was far more complex than either the heliocentric or geocentric models.
An optical illusion draws our attention to the way the mind deals with complex images. The mind tries to simplify such images into one ‘correct’ interpretation, but the optical illusion will not allow this.
If we cannot see an illusion it may be because there is no illusion, or because we can’t see it. When we question what we see, it is the intuitive mind prompting us to look again and think again.
19 Aug 2010 at 13:11
Jim Duthoit
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Insight has been the source of every major development in science and technology, from Archimedes’ bath to Newton’s apple to Tesla’s motor, and yet it is little understood – why?
Many believe that the Large Hadron Collider will provide insights into the fundamental laws of nature – it will not, simply because that is not where insight occurs. Insight occurs because what we see is limited not by the eyes, but by the mind.
Insight occurs instantly and without warning – rather like switching on a light in a dark room. Insight is the intuitive mind in action.
17 Aug 2010 at 13:11
Jim Duthoit
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The Renaissance arose because the Roman Catholic church withheld knowledge from the wider population of Europe. When the Greek philosophical texts re-emerged through Moorish Spain, the rediscovery of logic gave rise to science.
The problem with logic is that it can only label and classify the more obvious elements of experience. So when logic was rediscovered, astrology became astronomy, alchemy became chemistry, and numerology became mathematics.
The dogmatic approach of Richard Dawkins is a direct consequence of this. Science should be about discovery and insight – not about attacking anything that does not conform to current thinking.
16 Aug 2010 at 18:13
Jim Duthoit
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It is not clear whether the above image was intended as a gestalt or not. The image we see says more about us than about what is actually presented.
If we never question what we think or see, we probably have a weak intuitive faculty. Logic demands that we defend what we think and attack any views contrary to our own. Intuition tells us that the truth of something is relative.
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
15 Aug 2010 at 12:27
Jim Duthoit
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We assume our ordinary conception of time is correct. We assume that the past and future exist only in our mind. It is like believing the earth is flat because that is how it appears to us.
It is possible to have a precognitive dream, when images of the future are intermingled with the usual dream images; then when the event occurs we remember we had the dream. We could not do this if the future did not exist.
Just as the ordinary mind gives us our ordinary conception of time, the intuitive mind can reveal both past and future through hindsight and foresight. This can only happen if we attend to the intuitive mind.
13 Aug 2010 at 13:09
Jim Duthoit
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The West has no time for reincarnation. Most people take the view that if we have lived before, we cannot prove it and we cannot remember it. So reincarnation is not on the agenda.
Karma Yoga is about dealing with the unpleasant things that happen to us. When we pause to reflect on such events, it allows us to alter the way we react to them. Karma Yoga is the means to do this.
This ability to reflect on what happens to us, to consider ourselves from a wider perspective and to think about how we might respond, comes from the intuitive or ‘watching’ mind. Logic dismisses reincarnation as unproven; intuition tells us to think again.
12 Aug 2010 at 12:52
Jim Duthoit
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What makes something an anomaly? An anomaly is something that doesn’t fit into our present understanding.
Before Copernicus, the retrograde movement of the planets was explained by a complex system of cycles and epicycles. And before Einstein, the discovery that light was a constant was explained as a “failed experiment”.
Logic deals with anomalies by labeling them as ‘anomalies’ and hoping they will one day fit. Intuition treats anomalies as opportunities for insight. There is always more to the world than the world we see.
“The only real valuable thing is intuition” Albert Einstein
11 Aug 2010 at 12:07
Jim Duthoit
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We object to the deception of propaganda because it is used without our agreement or knowledge. But we do not object to the deception of stage magic because we have agreed to be decieved.
The question is not whether deception exists, but whether we see it or not. If we see a deception, its influence over us is weakened. We can only be deceived if we are not aware a deception is taking place.
We pick up on deception intuitively, when we have the gut-feeling that something isn’t quite right. Intuition is the antidote to deception; the weaker our intuition, the more we can be deceived.
10 Aug 2010 at 12:57
Jim Duthoit
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Logic can only count up to two. With logic everything has to be on or off, good or bad, right or wrong. When we look at the world through logic, we see the world in black and white.
Intuition picks up on those things that do not fit into this mold. If we observe a child intuitively, we can observe their inhereted traits (nature), the influence of their upbringing (nurture), and something else which cannot be accounted for by either.
Logic will dismiss all this as airy-fairy nonsense, but just because something cannot be defined logically doesn’t mean it is not real. Intuition is the means to approach the enigmas in life. And there are many enigmas in life.
