Avoiding Self-Deception While Developing the Power of Intuition

When a seeker begins to explore the inner realms and undertakes what Sri Aurobindo describes in his epic poem, Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol, as an ‘adventure of consciousness and joy’, he is confronted with numerous unfamiliar circumstances, powers, forces, and pressures that are not all benign, and not all supportive of his spiritual aspiration and development. As he begins to develop the power of intuition, the seeker must exercise real caution to ensure that he is not simply opening the door to impulses, ideas, and forces that take the shape of intuition to his inexperienced view. The rush of energy, the feeling that this is something new and powerful can overpower the sense of balance, and if the mind has been brought to a state of quiescence, its natural skeptical tendency may also be reduced or eliminated, thus accentuating the danger of self-deception.

As with other aspects of spiritual development, the assistance of an experienced and trustworthy guide is certainly helpful. Additionally, a certain sense of inner review, to ensure that it ‘feels right’ and does not simply violate or abrogate general guidelines placed to protect the seeker from dangers of the vital forces, is clearly necessary.

There was a case of an individual who felt an intuition that he could walk into the middle of a road and not be harmed. Chaos ensued as drivers had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting him. He was pulled back by friends who recognised the imbalance in his perceptions.

A somewhat similar story out of India was of a young seeker who was told by his Guru that he was Brahman. He walked out into the road and an elephant with a guide was coming directly in his path. The driver of the elephant shouted for him to get out of the way, which he failed to do because after all, he was ‘Brahman’. He got driven out of the way by the elephant. When he went back to his Guru, the Guru asked him why he did not get out of the way when the elephant-Brahman was coming and the elephant-driver-Brahman shouted for him to get out of the way. His intuition was obviously a form of self-deception.

The Mother notes: “Naturally, first these two faculties must be developed; then, as soon as there is any result, one must observe the result, as I said, and see the connection with what is happening, the consequences: see, observe very attentively what has come in, what may have caused a distortion, what one has added by way of more or less conscious reasoning or the intervention of a lower will, also more or less conscious; and it is by a very deep study — indeed, almost of every moment, in any case daily and very frequent — that one succeeds in developing one’s intuition. It takes a long time. It takes a long time and there are ambushes: one can deceive oneself, take for intuitions subconscious wills which try to manifest, indications given by impulses one has refused to receive openly, indeed all sorts of difficulties. One must be prepared for that. But if one persists, one is sure to succeed.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Powers Within, Chapter XXI Intuition, pp. 160-161