Intuition: The Bay Leaf of Life’s Casserole

by
Greg Nooney

© 11/4/07

I am a bit surprised that I decided on a food metaphor for today’s talk. I am not a chef or even a well-practiced cook. The idea actually came to me in a dream. I awoke with a powerful sense of the bay leaf, the way its tastes permeate the dish without taking away from the leaf itself, which is still intact and which of course, must not be eaten.

In preparation for this talk I read an article by David G. Myers, a Hope College social psychologist, and the author of a book entitled Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. He makes a very strong case for the limitations and dangers of relying too much on intuition. He gives the example of President Bush apparently relying on his intuition in making the decision to invade Iraq. He told Larry King “If you make decisions based upon what you believe in your heart of hearts, you stay resolved.” Well you may stay resolved and if that is the most important quality, then the president has done well, but it certainly doesn’t mean that the action taken was correct or moral.

Dr. Myers also points out that most of us, most of the time, rely on intuition to govern the vast majority of our actions as we are used to operating on autopilot, unconscious of our choices or the risks involved in performing one action over another. In 2001, the year of the attack on 9/11, more Americans died of food poisoning than of terrorism. Our intuition, apparently falsely, tells us to fear terrorism more than that roast beef sandwich we had for lunch. I am also aware that I am speaking to a group that values reason, for the most part, above all else. So how can we trust such a nebulous thing like intuition that is unreliable at best, and often dangerous? In order to adequately answer this question I would like to re-examine the ways we are looking at reason and intuition.

At first glance, it would seem that reason and intuition are on opposite sides of a continuum. This, I think, is why Dr. Meyers would tend to warn us about intuition. Since it is certainly different than reason, he places it on the other end of the continuum. When we act unconsciously, he then assumes that we are using our intuition.

I would like to propose a different understanding of intuition. I agree that it is different than reason, but I do not place it on the other end of such a continuum. One of the necessary qualities of reasoning is consciousness. In order to think something out, we must be aware of it and examine it with our minds. We look it over. We gather data about it. We apply principles of logic and mathematics to the problem. All these activities require awareness. They require consciousness.

I would maintain that the same thing is true of intuition. In order to do intuition well, we must be keenly aware of our bodies, our inner voices, our emotions, our sensations, our deepest truest selves, and we must work to identify and enlighten our shadow parts as well. We must discriminate among all these impulses and pick out which one is intuition and which ones are not. This also requires awareness. It requires consciousness.

So if we must utilize a continuum, it would be this. On one end of the continuum is unconsciousness. I agree with Dr. Meyers that a vast majority of our lives are spent very close to this end of the continuum. Carl Jung talks about the cork floating on the ocean. The cork is the ego and the ocean is the unconscious. Our little egos float along and are mostly unaware of the water. On our best days we are aware enough to look around and see the expanse of water around us in every direction as far as the eye can see. However even that is only the top. We are still unaware of the hugeness that lies beneath the waves.

On the other end of the continuum is consciousness. There are two flavors of it: reason and intuition. Reason and intuition are actually close friends, buddies, pals, co-conspirators.

I think that Albert Einstein exemplifies the close connection between these two attributes. Without the aid of intuition, he would never have conducted his thought experiments. The parameters for the thought experiments were arrived at through intuition. These experiments did not result in pieces of data that could be reproduced through the scientific method. Rather, they were pieces of data gathered through the application of intuition to specific scientific questions. Once he had these intuitive pieces of data, he applied reason to them and came up with the famous equation e=mc 2.

Once this equation came to exist in this world, it opened up the door for all of us to reverse the process that Einstein went through. We can take this simple elegant piece of mathematics, and apply reason to the symbols. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. We contemplate that sentence. We do not really understand the vast speed of light but we do know that it is very fast, so fast that its speed is beyond our comprehension. To square that number puts its range so huge that we are in awe. Then we try to grasp the concept that the amount of energy in something is equal to its mass times that number. What then appears out of nowhere is an insight, an intuition that radically changes our understanding of the universe we live in. We have a perfect marriage between reason and intuition. Intuition is served by reason and reason gives birth to intuition.

Of course that simple equation also created the possibility of unleashing the power of the atom, and has radically changed our relationship with the earth and with each other. The merging of that particular intuition and reasoning created the potential of destroying our own species. So I would suggest that this work of cooperation between intuition and reasoning is a powerful work, and we cannot easily imagine the effects.

In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling, our hero Harry wins a vial of a wonderful elixir called Felix Felicis. Anyone who drinks such a potion will become lucky for the duration of the spell. He drinks it with a goal in mind, procuring a magical memory from his professor Slughorn. Once he drinks it, however, he immediately feels urges to make certain choices. So he feels like it would be better to go see his friend Hagrid, rather than seek out Professor Slughorn. Instead of walking his usual route, he feels the urge to walk a different way. By following these impulses, he ends up not only seeing his friend Hagrid, but also through a series of events, procuring the magical memory from Slughorn as well, his original goal. The elixir actually did nothing except provide Harry with impulses, desires, instincts, to turn this way and not that, to let the silence go on one minute, and speak the next, to perform a spell under the table one moment and do nothing the next. It was up to Harry of course to follow those impulses or not. According to the story, the power of Felix Felicis was such that one easily and confidently followed those impulses even if they did not seem rational. In fact Harry’s very close friends Ron and Hermione were aghast at his decision immediately after drinking the elixir, to go visit Hagrid. They were convinced that the elixir was not working and had made him a bit mad.

None of the actions that Harry chose while under the influence of Felix Felicis were particularly odd or unusual in themselves. It was the timing and the coordination of these actions that made the difference. It was as if the elixir had a different perspective than Harry. “Felix” could see the whole picture and could guess better as to the effects of one action rather than another. This broader or higher perspective might be compared to a person watching a mouse go through a maze. By seeing the maze from above, the person could easily see the best route for the mouse to take to reach its goal, while the mouse had to learn it through trial and error. So from the outside it appeared that Harry was lucky. From Harry’s point of view however he simply followed his intuition.

So how does one go about creating and sustaining intuition in one’s life? We are unlikely to find a vial of Felix Felicis lying about or hidden in a vase in the church’s rummage sale. As an alternative, I would propose that he first step is to be aware of intuition’s constant action in our life. The flavor of the bay leaf permeates the dish without any fuss or obvious action. The leaf itself appears as a sort of embarrassment. One tries to remember to remove it from the dish prior to serving it, because it cannot be consumed whole. I am reminded of Moses on the mountain. He covers his face because the light of the burning bush is too bright. He is afraid to look into the face of his god. It is not a pleasant sight or prospect. Similarly, we have a taste in our mouth when we pluck up the bay leaf, and it is a strong taste. We turn away from the bay leaf, not because it is too bright, but because it is almost repulsive. And yet, we love its effect on the casserole. It permeates it in a subtle and tasteful way. It puts just enough flavor in, not too much. Somehow it knows how much of itself to give up for the sake of the dish. And yet, when we carry it away it shows no sign of being diminished. Then we throw it away because we know it cannot do the same job again. It has completed its task and the meal is ready to serve. This is the lesson of the bay leaf.

So how does one begin to apply this lesson to ones life? It is not an easy task. In fact it is a bit arduous, at least as difficult as the process of logic reasoning. I will provide some beginning suggestions for how to do so. I do not pretend to be an expert as I am only a beginning student in this practice, but I will share what I have learned so far.

First, one must breathe, consciously breathe. This prepares us to enter the end of the continuum where consciousness lies. I would invite each of you to join me in breathing together.

Pause

Secondly, we must allow ourselves to be aware of our bodies. Where do we feel tension, irritation, emotion? Notice these sensations in the body without judgment. Now breathe deeply into any spot in the body where we feel these sensations. As you breathe, allow your natural love and acceptance to flow into those areas of the body.

Pause

Now I would invite you to think about a particular problem or concern you have in your life today. Just allow yourself to be fully aware of all the implications and complications of this issue. Allow yourself to watch and be aware of all the bodily sensations that naturally occur without judgment. Breathe deeply into those areas of the body with full acceptance and love.

Pause

I would not invite you to hold your hand over your heart and search for the center of your being. Allow yourself to sense that center. If you do not feel anything, simply imagine a center to yourself, and imagine feeling that center. As you bring your full awareness to that center place, notice if there are any answers or insights into the problem that you proposed a few minutes ago. Do not try to think of an answer or a solution. Instead breathe deeply and be aware if there are any clues for you. The answers might come as images or sounds or feelings. There might be a sense of direction or a certain feeling or sensation that is meaningful to you. If you sense something that seems important, do not analyze it, but just breathe it in and allow it to permeate your body, your total self.

I would now invite you to take a few more deep breaths and return your awareness to this room. If what you sensed is an important intuition, you will remember it and you will be able later to apply reason and logic to it in such a way as to determine how to manifest it in your life.

I would like to say a few more things about the difference between intuition and simple urges. We all have instinctual responses to various stimuli.

Someone offends us and we get angry and want to punch that person in the nose. If I happen to be the president of the Unites States, instead of punching someone in the nose, I might decide to invade a sovereign nation. This is not an intuition. Rather, it is a process of getting hooked and wanting to act out of the anger that erupts. One key is whether fear is involved. Whenever our impulse is driven by or fed by fear, it is not an intuition. If we link into our center, we can easily tell the difference. The kind of intuition that I am speaking about carries with it a kind of inner knowingness, without much emotion at all. Certainly fear and anger are absent. There will probably be a very gentle sort of pleasantness or clarity to it. It will be non-dramatic. It will be quiet and unobtrusive.

I will share a couple of examples from my own life. I do not share these examples to offer the idea that these experiences are uniquely important or unusual. I am sure that most of you could easily offer similar examples. The first is a very simple thing. I was driving through downtown at lunch time, on my way to Morningside, without an intention of stopping for lunch. I was on Pierce Street and passed the Chicago Deli (which used to be on 4th and Pierce) and had an intuition that I needed to stop there for lunch and meet someone. I initially dismissed this, as I didn’t have any such plans, but then I decided to obey the intuition as I figured I had nothing to lose. I got my sandwich and sat down to eat it, curiously looking around to see if there was anyone there I knew. There was no one, so I finished my meal and was about ready to leave when I noticed an old friend who had come in earlier but I hadn’t noticed her. So I went over to her table and talked to her a few minutes. It turns out that she had been wanting to get in touch with me but didn’t know how. So we exchanged numbers and got together at a later date.

The second example had to do with my partner Ibu and our decision to move to Sioux City in 1990. We had bought a house a couple of years earlier in Durham, North Carolina. We both had good jobs. Our first son was just born. We had purchased a ten acre plot of land outside of Durham with a plan to build a house there. We had lots of friends. From a rational point of view, it made no sense to move to Sioux City. We were in reality just getting our lives together in Durham. Financially it certainly didn’t make sense. We had not been into our house long enough to have much equity. Even if we could sell it, we would be lucky to break even and would have no capital for a down payment on a new house. So we would be going back to renting which would be a step backwards in terms of our long tem financial plans.

However, both of us had strong intuitions that we needed to uproot our little family and move to Sioux City. So we did. About a year later my father died, and we were certainly happy that we had a good year in town with regular contact with him. Of course, now this is our home and we are very settled and rooted here.

In both of these examples, the intuitions we felt were without any of the so-called negative emotions. No anger. No fear. Of course we had some fear as we moved forward with our plans to move to Sioux City. And of course we faced obstacles. But whenever we consulted with our hearts, with our intuitions, we were clear that it was the right move for us. I am very glad that we were able to listen to our intuitions.

In summary, intuition will not be accompanied by fear or anger. If those emotions are present, it is not intuition. There will be no drama about it. It will be subtle and quietly clear. If it takes you to drama, it isn’t intuition. It is often a bit unexpected. In its simplest form it says turn right or turn left. It says stop and take a breath. It reminds us of what we care about and what we love.

So, from whence does this intuition come? If we refer to the work of Carl Jung, we might conclude that it comes from the collective unconscious. But of course all kinds of strange and unusual things will emerge from the unconscious and we must discriminate and interpret these images and symbols in order to connect them to our life’s choices.

I think it would be more accurate to say that the kind of intuition of which I have been speaking comes from the Creator. It comes from our higher selves. It comes from our Buddha nature. It comes from Allah. It comes from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It comes from Jehovah. It comes from the sacred heart of Mary. It comes from the gods and goddesses who favor us. It comes from Qu’an Yin. It comes from our ancestors. It comes from the Great Spirit. It comes from grandmother Earth. It comes from Almighty God. It comes from our center. It comes from the mighty Zeus. It comes from our household gods. It comes from the center of the Earth. It comes from the angels and archangels. It comes from the grandfathers. It comes from our inner voice. It comes from our divine self. It comes from Odin. It comes from Airmid. It comes from the Holy Spirit. It comes from Myrrdin. It comes from the ascended masters. It comes from Yahweh. It comes through a message from a future self. It comes from the ethers. It comes from Benten. It comes from Kane. It comes from the Muses. It comes from the crystal realms. It comes from Belobog. It comes from I AM. It comes from the unnamed. It comes from the unnamable. It comes from nowhere. It comes from the place where there is no thing, where there is nothing. It comes from the source. It comes from our own Divine Self. We can call it what we will. We would do well to stand for a moment in awe of it. And then decide whether to listen to it or not. And then watch to see what happens.

Intuition is never absent from our lives. We can easily choose to dismiss it or ignore it completely. When we are living on autopilot, like unconscious robots, intuition will find it almost impossible to get through. Even though intuition appears without drama, ironically drama will sometimes take us to a place where we are willing to listen to this inner voice. We get so frustrated with the drama that we let go. In that instant intuition has a door into our consciousness. Yes there is a connection between intuition and the unconscious. It does emerge from the unconscious. However it does so in support of consciousness and we must be conscious in order to hear its voice. So anything that improves our ability to wake up, to be aware, to be conscious of this moment, will also help us to be able to hear our intuition and distinguish it from other impulses. In the 70’s and 80’s, some of us talked a lot about raising consciousness. I do not know if it has to be raised, as that implies a sort of hierarchy that tends to confuse the issue. However I am a big supporter of embracing consciousness and waking up. I sincerely hope that this talk may have inspired some of you to do the same. Thank you.

References

Myers, David G. Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. 2002: R.R. Donnelley and Sons. ISBN#: 0-300-09531-7. See also http://www.davidmyers.org.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

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