All power of knowing borrows its ability
from intuition. The highest expression of intuition is that by which the soul
knows itself: The knower, knowing, and known exist as one.
When intuition comes in touch with
matter, it passes through various stages of evolution. As the soul evolves in
expression through five stages, or koshas, as the various qualities of inert
matter in minerals, as life without cognizing the power in plants, as
consciousness and sense perception in animals, as intellect and ego
consciousness in man, and as divinity in enlightened, so also the knowing
powers of the soul undergo evolutional progress and refinement through these
various stages of soul evolution: as unconscious response in minerals, as
feeling in plant life, as instinctive knowledge in animals, as intellect,
reason, and undeveloped introspective intuition in man, and as pure intuition in
the Self Realized.
The
Grasping Power of Intuition
The grasping power of intuition is the
constancy of the mind in soul perception, the soul's direct realization of or
connection with Truth or Reality.
The person in whom discrimination
awakens, begins in lesser and greater degree to draw on his innate intuition,
the underlying source of all his mental powers.
The fully awakened man, anchored in his
true Self, becomes all-knowing through the omniscience of pure soul intuition.
Five Forms of Intuition
In man, the conscious awakening of
intuition expresses itself in five forms, as determined by the effects of the
five koshas inherent in his consciousness. They are as follows:
(1)Basic Feeling is the first form of
intuition, the crudest form, is the basic feeling that "I exist with a
body and a mind." Every human being has this feeling. This is called the
intuition of the annamaya kosha, the consciousness of existence in the gross or
matter plane. When one is limited to sense knowledge or inferential knowledge,
he is on this crude plane of intuition.
Why is this called intuition at all?
Because in every thinking or sensing
process, there is the immediate feeling of "my-ness." This feeling is
a direct awareness; it cannot be given by any middle person in the world. Every
being knows that he exists. It is a feeling that is with him even in sleep and
dreams. This knowing comes from the knowledge or intuition of the ever
conscious soul.
(2) Immediate Knowledge of the Life
Forces.
The second form of intuition is of the
pranic energy, the vital or life current that courses through every cell of the
body. It is the intuition, or immediate knowledge, of the pranamaya kosha, the
plane of the life forces that create and sustain the
body.
In the primary form of this intuition, one
hears subtle sounds, sees subtle lights, feels subtle sensations, smells subtle
fragrances, and tastes subtle flavors. These are not outward sensations; they
have nothing to do with the physical sense organs. In the higher form of this
intuition, one feels the pranic force in the subtlest way in every part of the
body. Intensified forms of the intuition of prana, for example are, when the
person perceives the soul as Cosmic Sound, as depend upon the succeeding stages
of intuition. When one is in this second form of intuitive knowledge, or prana,
he has partially or wholly withdrawn his consciousness from the matter plane of
annamaya kosha.
(3) Direct Knowledge of Mind
The third form of intuition is the direct knowledge of
manas or mind with its effects and its combinations with other principles of
perception and cognition, along with the separate knowledge of the subtle
organs of sense. When one has attained this stage of intuition, the attention
is not on the matter plane, that is the body, nor much on the pranic plane;
though some action of prana may be involved in the experiences of this state.
This is called the intuition of the manomaya kosha, or mind plane. The
consciousness in this plane may be worked on by prana, or life energy, and
visions are then seen. In this form of intuition, one is not conscious of the
outside world at all, or very little, depending on the depth of meditation.
In the undeveloped stage of this form of intuition,
one may see visions of all sorts, either fitfully generated, or voluntarily
willed. For some people, it is not under control and so visions are fitfully
generated.
For the adept, such phenomena are voluntary and under
control of the will. Visions are astral in substance, projections of prana and
consciousness as lifetronic images. Visions experienced by those whose
intuition is still in undeveloped stages may be little more than entertaining
phenomena—glimpses into the subtle astral realms (distractions eschewed by the
serious God-seeker). Meaningful visions, having true spiritual value, are
engendered by the soul and Spirit through pure intuition working on prana and
the God-attuned consciousness of the devotee for the purpose of elevating him
to ever higher spiritual states—as for example, beholding the soul as Cosmic
Light.
(4)
Direct
Knowledge of Intellect
The fourth
form of intuition is the direct knowledge of the
operation of
buddhi, or discriminative intellect along with knowledge of the ego. One in
this stage does not feel the whirl of mind, the race of prana, or the weight
and confinement of the body. He feels existent above them, an existence without
any other adjunct or condition; though there may remain a doubt in him whether
he knows his true Self or not. This is the intuition of the jnanamaya kosha, or
intellect plane. When this stage is fully developed, it is called cognitive
meditation. It begets keen discernment of truth, manifesting as Wisdom.
(5)
The fifth
form
The fifth
form of intuition is the direct knowledge of bliss as depending upon no object.
This is intuition of anandamaya kosha. It bestows all-fulfilling joy, crowning
divine experiences with ultimate satisfaction. In this, as in the previous
states, the consciousness has been wholly withdrawn from the body plane, or at
least nearly so.
Remember
that the first form of intuition is possessed by everyone; the other four forms
must be developed. These latter four forms of intuition are not wholly
separate. As they develop, one form may manifest when others are present also
in some measure. In meditation, when the devotee sees subtle light or hears
subtle sound, for example, he may have the intuition of bliss mixed with it to
some degree. Or when he intuitively feels himself consciously existent without
consciousness of the body (as in the intuition of jnanamaya kosha) he may have
simultaneously the intuition of unending bliss flowing throughout his being.
The highly
advanced devotee has this intuitive experience. He feels the soul reflected in
the purified intellect as ananda or divine bliss,. Even during the performance
of worldly duties, the higher intuition of that spiritual man remains with him
in greater or lesser extent according to his spiritual development.
Pure intuition
is soul intuition, knowing the soul by the soul; seeing the soul with the eyes
of the soul. Here there are no modifications of intuition, as the intuition of
intellect, or prana, or mind, or matter. In this state, knower, knowing, and
known have become one. He is fully conscious of his true Self. This is the real
soul-consciousness; and, in fact, it is God-consciousness, for the soul is
realized as nothing other than the reflection of Spirit.
Only the
highest of spiritual beings have this pure soul intuition. Some have it at
times, as when in deep meditation. Some are often fixed in it for longer
periods, even after meditation. The more one is anchored in this consciousness,
the more one feels the whole cosmos as his own body. Stars, earth, plants,
animals, man, he feels all to be pervaded by the same soul, which he feels to
be himself.
When soul
intuition intensifies, and the person remains constantly in that consciousness,
with no desire or effort to hold on to the delusion of maya or appearance, then
even his body-cage cannot last. He is one with God. Thus is declared the wonder
of the soul; that it cannot be known by the ordinary or even keen intellect,
but only by those who actually perceive it through intuition.
Finally through
correct meditation practice, intuition makes the experience of the different
stages of soul awareness possible and ultimately the soul realizes its oneness
with Spirit.
This paper
is based on the teachings of Kriya Yoga as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.
