Training the Faculty of Intuition

Summary

The speaker presents intuition as a deeply human faculty that arises from an internal process of integration, comparison, and judgment rather than from mystery alone. The talk frames intuition through Buddhist psychology, especially the idea of six sensory machines: the five familiar senses plus a sixth faculty, the mental coordinator. This coordinator is described as a kind of inner computer that receives sensory testimony, compares it with accumulated experience, filters out error, and stores the results as usable wisdom. In this model, intuition is not random inspiration but the product of a living system that quietly records experience, recognizes patterns, and draws conclusions before the conscious mind can fully explain them. A major theme is the contrast between the frontal or objective mind and the deeper coordinating faculty. The frontal mind is portrayed as superficial, reactive, and easily misled by emotion, prejudice, vanity, or self-interest. By contrast, the coordinator works with long-term evidence, cause and effect, and the accumulated record of life. The speaker argues that many daily mistakes come from interfering with this deeper process. People often act from impulse, defend opinions instead of principles, and ignore the testimony already available within themselves. Intuition becomes clearer when such interference is reduced. The talk repeatedly links intuition to moral honesty. The speaker insists that self-deception, compromise, selfishness, and dishonesty block inner clarity. A person becomes more intuitive by becoming more truthful, more disciplined, and more willing to accept the consequences of action. Cause and effect is presented as a universal law that the coordinator understands perfectly. Because the inner record has already observed patterns of behavior, it can often predict outcomes before the conscious mind can. This is why intuition can seem prophetic: it is the result of honest internal accounting, not supernatural guesswork. The speaker extends this idea into many practical domains. Doctors, ministers, bank tellers, scientists, and experienced counselors are cited as examples of people who sometimes “just know” what is wrong because they have built up a large internal store of evidence. The talk also emphasizes that intuition is especially active in moments of rest, silence, meditation, and dreaming. When the conscious mind is quiet, the deeper faculty can surface through symbols, hunches, sudden realizations, and meaningful dreams. A daily practice of retrospection is recommended: at the end of each day, a person should review reactions, irritations, mistakes, and motives in order to strengthen self-knowledge and reduce future error. Another important strand is the ethical and spiritual dimension of intuition. The speaker connects intuition with humility, compassion, service, and the common good. Mystics are described as especially intuitive because they are less dominated by personal advantage and more open to truth, God, and service to others. Buddhism’s bodhisattva ideal is invoked as a model of self-sacrifice and non-competition, while Christian teachings such as the Sermon on the Mount are presented as aligned with the laws of existence. The speaker argues that intuition grows when a person lives according to universal law, avoids vanity and luxury, and seeks to help others rather than merely advance personal ambition. The talk also uses historical and symbolic references to reinforce the point that wisdom comes from an inner elder or counselor. The coordinator is compared to grandmother, grandfather, an oracle, Virgil guiding Dante, and the wise figures of religious and philosophical tradition. Figures such as Plotinus, Eckhart, and the prophets are mentioned as examples of people who accessed deeper truth and spoke with authority. The speaker concludes that intuition is the revelation of reality as it is, not as one wishes it to be. It is the fruit of accumulated experience, honesty, discipline, and alignment with truth. As a person grows in integrity and quiet reflection, the inner coordinator becomes more available, and intuition increasingly guides life toward wisdom, purpose, and spiritual maturity.