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From Intellect to Intuition - Chapter Seven - Intuition and Illumination
In the truly illuminated man, we have that rare combination of the mystic and the knower; we have the product of the mystical methods of the East and of the West; we have the union of head and heart; of love and the intellect. This produces what, in the Orient, is called the Yogi (the knower of union) and, in the Occident, is termed the practical mystic - which is our rather unsatisfactory way of designating [159] that mystic who has combined the intellect with the feeling nature, and is, therefore, a coordinated human being - with brain, mind and soul functioning with the most perfect unity and synthesis. The illumination of the mind by the soul, and the throwing down into the waiting and attentive "mind-stuff" of that knowledge and wisdom which is the prerogative of the soul, produce, in the truly unified and coordinated man, results which differ according to the part of his instrument with which contact is effected. Leaving the subject of Union and the growth of transcendental powers for later consideration, we will confine ourselves to the direct effects of illumination. We might, for the sake of clarity, sum up these results as follows: The effect on the mind is direct apprehension of truth and direct understanding of a knowledge which is so wide and synthetic in its grasps that we cover it by the nebulous term, the Universal Mind. This type of knowledge is sometimes called the Intuition, and is one of the main characteristics of illumination. A second effect on the mind is responsiveness to telepathic communication and a sensitiveness to other minds which have achieved an ability to function on soul levels. I do not here refer to so-called telepathic communication on psychic levels, or to that between brain and brain in the ordinary intercourse of daily life, with which we are all familiar. I refer to the interplay that can be set up between souls, divinely attuned, and which has resulted in [160] the past in the transmission of the inspired utterances of the world, in the world Scriptures, and in those divine pronouncements which have emanated from certain great Sons of God, such as the Christ and the Buddha. Intuition and telepathy in its purest form are, therefore, two results of illumination upon the mind. On the emotional nature, or, in the language of the esotericist, in the desire or feeling body, we have the registering of joy, of happiness, and the experience of ecstasy. There is a sense of completion, of satisfaction and a joyous expectancy, so that the world is seen in a new light and circumstances take on a happier coloring. "Heaven above is brighter blue, Earth beneath is sweeter green, Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen." In the physical body there are certain most interesting reactions. These fall into two main groups: First, a stimulation to an intense activity, which has a definite effect upon the nervous system, and secondly, there is frequently the appearance of a light within the head, which can be seen even when the eyes are closed, or in the dark. Dr. W. Winslow Hall, in his book on illumination, deals with this aspect of the light, and says in one place that he wishes to prove that "Illumination is - not only a psychological, but also - a physiological fact." - Hall, W. Winslow, MD., Illuminanda, page 19. [161] These results on the triple instrument - mental, sensory and physical - which we designate as a human being, are only manifestations of the same basic energy as it is transferred from one vehicle to another. It is the same divine consciousness making its presence felt in different spheres of human awareness and behavior. Let us deal first with the mental reaction. What is this mysterious thing we call the intuition? It is interesting to note that the word is totally ignored in some books on psychology, and those often by the biggest men in the field. The intuition is not recognized. We might define it as direct apprehension of truth, apart from the reasoning faculty or from any process of intellection. It is the emergence into the consciousness of some truth or beauty never before sensed. It does not emerge from the subconscious, or from the stored up memory, racial or individual, but drops into the mind directly from the superconscious, or from the omniscient soul. It is immediately recognized as infallibly true and arouses no questioning. All sudden solutions of apparently insoluble or abstruse problems, and numbers of the great revolutionizing inventions, come under this category. Evelyn Underhill speaks of this in the following terms: "...this illuminated apprehension of things, this cleansing of the doors of perception, is surely what we might expect to occur as man moves towards higher centers of consciousness. His surface intelligence, purified from the domination of the senses, is invaded more and more by [162] the transcendent personality, the 'New Man' who is by nature a denizen of the independent spiritual world, and whose destiny, in mystical language, is a 'return to his Origin'. Hence an inflow of new vitality, extended powers of vision, an enormous exaltation of his intuitive powers." - Underhill, Evelyn, Mysticism, page 311.
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