THE PURIFICATION OF INTUITION
What is intuition?
Many people seem to think intuition is some kind of ‘gut feel’, or a premonition about something that is about to happen. But to this, Filis Frederick would say, “…intuition” is actually not an emotion or a psychic thing;” The intuition that Meher Baba is talking about (she might add) is rather something much deeper & profound. Meher Baba’s intuition, has to do with developing a higher contact with Reality (or God).
However, the modern SECULAR conception of INTUITION is not the same thing:
According to the dictionary, Intuition is the ability to understand or know something without the need to think about it; It is the immediate apprehension or cognition of something without the need for thinking, or reasoning. A common example given for the secular conception of intuition is of a doctor who quickly diagnoses a patient, even before the test results are in, based only on a few subtle symptoms.
For the secular conception of intuition, the subject matter that is ‘intuited’ can pretty much be anything of the world. But for the Spiritual Intuition that Meher Baba is talking about, the subject matter (that is ‘intuited’) cannot just be about anything. For Meher Baba, “to intuit the truth” means to directly perceive a deeper reality beyond the illusion of the physical world through a deep inner knowing.
Rather than the surface of life, this deep inner knowing is about the essence of life; rather than the outer world, this intuition is about the inner world; rather than the temporal and the fleeting, this intuition hones in on the Real & the eternal; rather than the superficial, this intuition dives deep into the essence of all being and significance.
Meher Baba speaks of 3 different types of intuition.
- Developed Intuition, is basically the same thing as the Secular idea of Intuition, and is pretty much what most people mean when they speak of intuition. According to Meher Baba: “Developed intuition is consolidated and compressed understanding, distilled through a multitude of diverse experiences gathered in previous lives,” which “then become, for the next incarnation, an integral part of the intuitive makeup of active consciousness, without in any way involving detailed revival of the individual events of the previous incarnation.” Developed Intuition, is basically what Emanuel Kant referred to as ‘Empirical Intuition’, and is developed through life experiences.
- Pure Intuition, on the other hand, is the intuitive wisdom already latent in the soul from the very beginning of creation, and is an expression of the soul’s inmost spiritual urge. Pure intuition is that transcendent understanding ‘latent’ in the soul that speaks to us of the ultimate nature & purpose of life & the universe. It is that deep inner knowing that springs from “…the longing to go back to the Source that is present in each being from the very time that it gets separated from the Source by the veil of ignorance…”* When Meher Baba speaks about our highest intuitions, he is talking about this ‘Pure intuition’ that is latent in us all.
- Purified Intuition is Developed Intuition purified through revealed Truth assimilation. Purified Intuition is basically what emerges out of the fusion of head and heart, of intellect and love, as we ‘tweak’ our Developed Intuition through the assimilation of revealed Truths.” Purified Intuition therefor lies somewhere in between Developed Intuition and Pure Intuition. In a nutshell, the more we purify our Developed intuition by assimilating the revealed truths into our perceptual framework, the more purified the Intuitive Makeup of our Active consciousness
WORLDLY DEVELOPED INTUITION vs. DIVINE PURE INTUITION
As far as our Lower Developed Intuition is concerned, the subject matter that is ‘intuited’ can pretty much be anything worldly, or anything of the world. The developed intuition of that experienced auto-mechanic in the previous video, who knew it was your carburetor, as soon as he heard your engine, is a good example of Developed Intuition, developed over the years of experience repairing cars.
The subject matter of Meher Baba’s Intuition, however, could not be ‘something’ that is ‘worldly in nature’ or pertain merely to the ‘surface’ of life. Rather than the ‘surface’ of life, this intuition is about the ‘essence of life’. Instead of ‘the fleeting & the temporal’, this intuition ‘hones in’ on ‘the Real & the eternal’; Instead of being impressed from ‘without’, this intuition ‘dawns’ from ‘within’; Instead of being ‘of the world’ or about it, this intuition hones in on the ‘transcendent’ which is ‘beyond the world’.
The transcendent understanding latent in our Pure Intuition is our highest Intuition, with our Purified Intuition being the next highest form of intuition available to us. When Meher Baba speaks of the importance of intuition, he is referring to these two higher forms of Intuition, and not our lower worldly developed intuition. The higher intuitions are the ones that ‘dawn’ from within and draw us closer to the ‘inner life’, rather than the ‘outer life’. About this intuition, Filis Frederick (a close companion of Meher Baba, who often spoke on behalf of Meher Baba) would say:
“…intuition is not an emotion or a psychic thing; it is not imagination; in some sense it is developing a higher contact with Reality (or God) than that which reason can provide...”
THE AWAKENER MAGAZINE, Vol. 20, No. 2, p. 60, Filis Frederic
These words are significant because they are coming from a rather well-known psychic herself, with all kinds of stories about her psychic abilities. But (according to Edel Walkin) Meher Baba had told Philis to stop all her psychic activities, which she promptly did. For a psychic and close companion of Meher Baba like Filis Frederick to stress that ‘intuition’ is not a psychic thing, or a premonition, speaks to a widespread misconception about intuition, which she was trying to address.
About Pure Intuition, Meher Baba teaches us that:
True Faith, which is grounded in Pure Intuition is an imperative so fundamental and primary that it cannot ultimately be reduced to the conclusions of rational intellect, nor can it be derived from the limited intellect.
To use a COMPUTER as an ANALOGY to explain
how fundamental and primary Pure INTUITION is:
If our ‘minds’ were likened to a computer’s Operating System, then the various skills we developed over the years would be like the Applications that we installed on the computers OS. By ‘applying’ our minds to it, we can become competent in a variety of subjects. In this analogy, this would be like installing different Applications on top of the computer’s OS.
The transcendent understanding latent in our pure intuition, however, resides not at the application level, nor at the OS level, but at the ‘machine code’ level of the computer. Machine code is the lowest level of software on a computer, upon which the OS is installed. And it is on top of the OS that the various Applications are installed.
Because Machine Code underpins the Operating System, the Machine code level of software is an imperative more fundamental and primary than the OS, which in turn is an imperative more fundamental and primary than the application level of a computer.
Meher Baba tells us that the transcendent understanding of Pure intuition (which is the ground of True Faith) cannot ultimately be reduced to the conclusions of rational intellect. — because: “It is not derived from the limited intellect but is more fundamental and primary, with the result that it cannot be silenced by any intellectual acrobatics.”
Just as a finger cannot point at itself, the very foundation of our rational intellects cannot be examined by our rational intellects. Yes, we can ‘reason from’ first principles, but we cannot produce primary first principles from reason.
Likewise, no amount of intellectual acrobatics can ever reach the ‘Soul level’ of our being. The transcendent understanding of our Pure intuition is at the ‘Soul level’ of our being, which is an imperative more fundamental and primary than the ‘mind level’ of our being, which in turn is more fundamental and primary than the ‘intellectual level’ (or application level) of our being.
Our Pure Intuition was latent in us at ‘the soul level of our being’ long before our individualized minds were even fully developed – which happens when we reach the human form. Our Pure Intuition, therefore, underpins our minds. In almost the same way, the groundwork for ‘machine code’ was first worked out, long before the dawn of computers, by Blaise Pascal in 1642,; which in turn was long before the dawn of any Operating Systems, let alone Applications.
About our Pure intuition, Meher Baba states:
This intuition may seem to have been the product of past experiences, thus adding to the equipment of the psyche; but it is more truly an unfoldment of what was already latent in the individualized soul. From this deeper point of view, {all our past experiences} are merely instrumental in gradually releasing to the surface the intuitive wisdom already latent in the soul from the very beginning of creation.” -312
The transcendent understanding of Pure Intuition is the intuitive wisdom that was ‘latent’ in the soul of every being since the very dawn of creation. This is true of all ‘beings’ including rocks, trees, and even cockroaches. The transcendent understanding of Pure Intuition can thus be said to be universal, even omnipresent, as it is present in all beings.
Unlike our Pure Intuition, however, our developed intuition can be unique to each individual jivatma, and can vary vastly from one individual to the next, just like the applications installed on our devices can vary vastly from one person to the next.
About Developed Intuition, which only begins to develop once the individual soul (or jivatma) reaches the human stage of evolution, Meher Baba says:
“In the successive incarnations of an individual soul, …there is an uninterrupted reign of the law of cause and effect through the persistence and operation of karma. The successive incarnations with all their particulars are closely and unfailingly determined by rational law, so that it becomes possible for the individual soul to mold its future through wise and intelligent action.”
This ability to mold our future through wise and intelligent action is none other than our lower developed intuition, which is primarily rational. This is because throughout all our previous lives, the primary agent that informed the development of our lower developed intuition are the ceaseless operation of rational processes determined inexorably by (what Meher Baba calls) rational law.
Karmic Determinism, which is the uninterrupted reign of the law of cause and effect through the persistent operation of Karma, is precisely what informed our ability to be ‘wise and intelligent’ – in a worldly sense, that is. And as such, our developed intuitions are always being modified, altered, and upgraded through the persistent operation of rational law.
In sharp contradiction, our Pure Intuition is itself not subject to any kind of change or modification, whatsoever. In this sense, Pure Intuition can be said to be more like hardware than it is software. And as such, it can be buried under the piece meal lessons of the past, or be buried under the tutoring of the mind by the assailing experiences of the false illusory world, but it cannot itself suffer any kind of diminution, alteration, or corruption of any kind.
While our ever-upgrading developed intuition is constantly being ‘impressed’ from ‘without’, our unchanging & immutable Pure intuition is what dawns from ‘within’. Meher Baba puts it this way:
Tuition is impressed from without, while intuition dawns from within.
In another book, Meher Baba states it this way:
Learning is impressed from without, while intuition dawns from within.
About how our Developed Intuition can often stand in stark opposition to our ‘latent’ Pure Intuition, Meher Baba explains:
“In order to intuit the truth, consciousness has to be liberated from its ingrained and resistant inclinations. Intuition has been buried under the piecemeal lessons of the assailing experiences of the false. Tuition is impressed from without, while intuition dawns from within. Tuition thwarts intuition.
Therefore, the tutoring of the mind by external impacts (which is our developed intuition) has to be counteracted by inner awakening. Then and only then can intuition, in its transcendent understanding, truly judge without yielding to the stupor of uncritical impressionability.”
SPARKS OF THE TRUTH, pp. 66-67, Dr. C. D. Deshmukh; LIFE AT ITS BEST, pp. 37-38
Yes, “tuition” here is none other than our Developed Intuition, which is “learned” through past life experiences; and yes, it can stand in stark opposition, and even thwart our pure intuition from ‘dawning’ to the surface of consciousness.
As stated above: “Developed intuition is consolidated and compressed understanding, distilled through a multitude of diverse experiences gathered in previous lives.” Developed intuition is basically the tutoring of the mind by external impacts {which} has to be counteracted by inner awakening.
What is being suggested here, is not to discard our Developed Intuition, or to ignore it altogether, or erase it. After all, it is our lower developed intuition that allows us to be wise and intelligent in the world. What is being suggested here is to Purify our developed intuition. Purified Intuition is none other than our developed intuition purified through revealed Truth assimilation into our perceptual framework, or what Baba calls our intuitive makeup.
The purification of intuition is what occurs when a set of revealed truths (taken as a whole) become an integral part of the intuitive makeup of our active consciousness. As we purify our developed intuition, the revealed Truths go from our heads to our hearts; as we gradually transition from the ‘shores’ of His Ocean of Love, to the very ‘depths’.
So how does the Purification of Intuition actually work?
The purification of intuition is achieved through what our Christian Saints call ‘contemplation.’ ‘Contemplation’ is the act of ‘pondering on the words of God’, with the intention of building up a whole and complete view of life and the universe.
In the Discourses, Meher Baba refers to this type of meditation as ‘General Meditation’; and says that it marks the very beginning of spiritual life. So naturally, as a neophyte Aspirant ‘wannabe’ myself, ‘General Meditation’ (or Contemplation on the revealed Truths), is exactly where I started my journey towards the Spiritual Path.
Under the title, the ‘Function of General Meditation’ Meher Baba states:
The task of bring together the different facets of the Truth and build up a whole and complete view of life is attempted by General Meditation in which thought is free, comprehensive, and receptive to all aspects of the Truth.
He adds:
In its comprehensive scope, general meditation seeks to understand and assimilate the divine Truths of life and the universe.”
Building up a whole & complete view of ‘life and the universe’, is the ‘ultimate mission’ or ‘final objective’ of General Meditation. For a Meher Baba follower, the revealed truths given through his teachings must form the metaphysical foundation of our worldview first, prior to appending to it, the teachings of other Masters and Faiths.
To this end, Meher Baba adds:
The discourses or the writings of the Avatar and the Perfect Masters, whether living or of the past, are suitable objects for this mode of general meditation, because the assimilation of divine Truths revealed through them enables the aspirant to bring his life into line with God’s purpose in the universe.
For general meditation, the key phrase here is ‘comprehensive in scope’. This is because, as Meher Baba says:
True spirituality is comprehensive.
In the Discourses Meher Baba says:
The life of the spirit is a unified and integral existence that does not admit of exclusive or unrelated compartments. The life of the spirit is an unceasing manifestation of divine love and spiritual understanding, and both these aspects of divinity are unrestricted in their universality and unchallengeable in their inclusiveness.
In other words, to abide in the life of the spirit, not only must our love be unrestricted in its universality and unchallengeable in its inclusiveness, but also our spiritual understanding must be unrestricted in its universality and unchallengeable in its inclusiveness.
For an Aspirant, this means that the revealed truths that have come to humanity through all “The Masters of Wisdom” – whether living or of the past – can all be brought together like beads on One string to form a spiritual understanding, in which thought is free, comprehensive, and receptive to all aspects of the Truth.
Case in point, Upasni Maharaj’s ‘Selected Talks’, for example, need not forcibly be excluded or arbitrarily restricted into some unrelated compartment by the Aspirant. In the preface of the ‘Selected Talks, it clearly states that his teachings were for people of all walks of life, including Muslims, Zoroastrians, & Christians. When Meher Baba says The discourses or the writings of the Avatar and the Perfect Masters, whether living or of the past, are suitable objects for this mode of general meditation. – I believe, by ‘living’ he was specifically referring to Upasni Maharaj’s teachings. Instead of relegating Upasni Maharaj’s teachings to some unrelated compartment, the Aspirant can include Upasni Maharaj’s teachings as an integral part of his (even more) comprehensive spiritual understanding. The same can be said of the revealed Truths given to humanity by all “The Masters of Wisdom” that Meher Baba (for example) included in the curriculum for the Hazrat Babajan School – which was a school formed by Meher Baba for the ordinary children of Arangaon (and not the Prem Ashram, which was a school formed for the spiritually advanced).
Having said this, it is important to point out ‘again’ that one should be thoroughly well acquainted with Meher Baba’s cosmology and metaphysics, prior to appending to it the teachings of these other Masters, Saints and Religions included in the Hazrat Curriculum – (see Lord Meher).
Trying to fit in all the various teachings of all the Masters of Wisdom together into One comprehensive metaphysical whole is no easy task, and can take nothing short of furious thinking. To this end, Meher Baba tells us that:
The perception of spiritual truths requires not merely strenuous and furious thinking but clear thinking, and true clarity of thought. 381
Meher Baba has said that he had “come to revitalize all religions and bring them together like beads on one string.” He did not say that he had come to destroy all the religions and turn them into ashes, now did he? Yes, many of the dogmas, creeds, rituals, and rites of these religions may have to go to ashes for the New Humanity that is coming, but the eternal principles & truths contained in the doctrines of these Avataric Religions are to be brought back to life, by none other than the Avatar Himself. To this end, he said:
“I have come not to establish anything new – I have come {Instead} to put life {back} into the old.”
– Meher Baba
Throughout eternity I have laid down principles and precepts, but mankind has ignored them. Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. -God Man 343
These principles that the Avatar had laid down in the past for humanity are eternal. As Aspirants, in due course of time, we can expect these eternal principles contained in True Christianity to be revitalized & brought back to life; as well as the eternal true principles of True Buddhism, True Islam, and the True Sanatana Dharma, etc. All the 5 Major Avataric Religions (as Meher Baba says) will be revitalized and brought to life in their former glory one day (soon) to kickstart the New Humanity.
The task of General Meditation (as Meher Baba puts it) is to bring all the different aspects of the Truth together into one universal and inclusive spiritual understanding that does not admit to any exclusive or unrelated compartments.
It is astounding to think that such a monumental task as General Meditation, only marks the very beginning of spiritual life. In essence, General Meditation can be said to be where it all begins.
However, it is important to note (here) that General Meditation is not an attempt by the mind to understand the limitless with the limited intellect. The revealed Truths are very clear about how the limitless infinitude of God could never be understood by the limited intellect. To even think that one could understand the limitless with the limited intellect, indicates an utter lack of understanding of the revealed truths as a whole, and an utter misunderstanding of the function and purpose of General Meditation. General Meditation (make no mistake) is instead a comprehensive war on ignorance, and false Dogmas.
WHAT IS COMPREHENSIVE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING?
In Lord Meher, in a section titled “Our ills and our remedies”, Meher Baba says (and I paraphrase)
“True Spiritual Understanding,
which is as much of the heart as of the mind,
that includes and supersedes all forms of knowledge
is the remedy of all remedies
for ALL of Humanity’s ills.”
–
ALL OF THEM!
For this to occur, for most of us, the assimilation of divine Truths into our Heads & Hearts is essential. For a select few, this might have already been achieved, to a great extent, in previous lives. But still, a refresher course couldn’t hurt, now, could it?
The assimilation of a revealed Truth, is what begins to occur when a revealed Truth is grasped & understood, in such a way that it fits in nicely with a network of interconnected revealed truths that taken together form a coherent whole.
For an Aspirant who is a Meher Baba follower, as a general rule, the metaphysics and cosmology revealed through the words of Meher Baba should form the bedrock foundation of his worldview first, prior to appending to it, the teachings of any other Master or Faith. Likewise, for someone who is a Muslim, (for example) the teachings of the Quran & Prophet must first form the bedrock foundation of his worldview, prior to appending to it the teachings of other Masters or Faiths.
But in the end, for the Aspirant, who is someone who seeks Right Understanding, all the teachings that have come to humanity through all the various (verified) Masters of Wisdom should ultimately come together like beads on one string to form a coherent spiritual understanding that is all inclusive & comprehensive in scope.
Our worldview is what alters our view of the world. A revealed Truth cannot be said to be assimilated unless it has become an integral part of the intuitive makeup of our active consciousness. And this function of General meditation requires nothing less than a wholistic approach.
Like watching a video of a building demolition in reverse, it is when the various pieces of revealed truths come together (like beads on one string) to form an integral whole, that we experience that resounding ‘Aha moment’. It is this moment of intuitive apprehension (or recognition) of a ‘latent’ deep inner Truth that ‘ignites’ our hearts, initiating the Truth assimilation process.
This “Aha!” moment of ‘comprehension’ is what results in ‘conviction’, which in turn naturally leads to heartfelt ‘assimilation’. We are only ever ‘really convinced’ of the things that we feel we ‘fully grasp’; and once fully grasped we naturally ‘take it to heart’ (which IS ‘assimilation’).
I can recall many occasions wherein, a set of ‘revealed truths’ once thoroughly grasped, would (in a flash) devastate the very landscape of my previously held ‘faulty’ worldview.
FALSE ‘CORE ASSUMPTIONS’ of MODERNITY
All post-Renaissance ideologies are plagued with fundamental false assumptions, or false core Dogmas. Of all the different types of falsehoods that one could dogmatically embrace, the fundamental assumptions that lie at the very foundation of our worldview are the most detrimental, and difficult to uproot. Uprooting & replacing these false ‘first principles’ or ‘false core assumptions’ with the infinity of the Truth can have a profound effect on the individual jivatma’s psyche, eventually affecting a wider part of his personality.
When a revealed truth eviscerates a firmly held ‘false first principle’ (or false ‘core assumption’) at the very foundation of our worldview, the cascade of repercussions reverberating throughout the structure of our perceptual framework, can drastically alter how we see & experience everything. Before you know it, the very tone & tenor of life has shifted from ‘within’ – guided (of course) by the revealed Truths. Reverberating from the inside-out, the cascade of these profound perceptual adjustments can be both devastating, and blissful at the same time.
But in the end, make no mistake, Meher Baba says (and I paraphrase) “Destruction is a need for reconstruction,” and this process starts from within. It is from the ashes of my previously held ‘faulty’ world view, that the phoenix of a newly upgraded worldview can arise in its place.
Like a Master Potter remolding the clay of my perceptual framework, over the years Meher Baba’s revealed truths have remolded the very contours of my world view, many times over, and through it, remolded the intuitive makeup of my active consciousness, at times even from the very ground up. It is only through the destruction of the previously held faulty worldview, that a path opens up for a new way of perception to come into view.
For the Purification of Intuition to occur, as it should, it is important that the Aspirant remains receptive to all aspects of the Truth, regardless of how ridiculous some revealed truths may sound at first. And as such, picking and choosing only the teachings (or doctrines) that suit our tastes, and our ‘current’ ideas of life, and ignoring the ones that we find somehow disagreeable, or bothersome, can result in a profoundly skewered and vitiated worldview. As Meher Baba would often quote:
About what you hear from the Master, never say it is wrong, because, my dear, the fault lies in your own incapacity to understand him. -Hafiz
The quest of the Aspirant, in General Meditation, is to see the world through the Master’s words, as guided by the Master’s words, in such a way that conforms to both the ‘Letter and Spirit’ embodied in the Master’s words. And for this to occur in earnest, imagination is key.
IMAGINATION
For the purification of intuition, imagination is key. Meher Baba’s disciple Bhau Kalchuri once told us in person, (and I paraphrase):
“Imagination is what got us here — stuck here, in illusion – and it is only imagination that can get us out. We must imagine our way out!” -he would exclaim.
The same thing said in Meher Baba’s own ‘atomic words’ are:
“Imagination is false, but imagination itself is the medium for the INFINITE INTELLIGENCE to experience Its Reality.”
Creative imagination guided by the ‘revealed Truth’, coupled with a deep and living faith in the Master, is precisely how the Aspirant begins to upgrade his worldview to the next higher fractal of understanding. In order to ‘grasp’ a revealed truth (or a set of related revealed truths), we must first be able to imagine how they can all come together, first! We cannot begin to grasp, that which we cannot even imagine. Metaphysically, what we cannot imagine (even a glimpse of) cannot be grasped.
Luckily however, our imaginations are actually up for the task. According to Meher Baba:
…. in man because of the creation of unnatural sanskaras imagination expands to an infinite extent.
It is this (expanded) imagination that enables us to ‘intuitively imagine’ *(at least a glimpse of) the higher Truths; The structures of speculation of our imagination are ultimately what enables us to imagine our way out of illusion.
Let’s take a simple example from Meher Baba’s own words. He says:
Imagine the Ocean as God’s INFINITE MIND, an Ocean of Mind, {an infinite shoreless ocean of Mind} and the drops in that Ocean as … the ordinary minds of men.
With this simple analogy, we can use our imaginations to imagine an infinite shoreless Ocean as the infinite Mind of God, with all of our souls as drops within that Ocean, wherein (as He tells us) every drop contains the Ocean. As we dwell on this most paradoxical of mysteries, we are engaging in the bewilderment of what Meher Baba calls ‘general meditation’; or what our Christian Saints called ‘contemplation on the Word of God’.
KALYAN
One of the greatest things to possess is faith, which ultimately leads to conviction;
and from conviction one day arises realization {or Knowledge}.”
LISTEN, HUMANITY, pp. 184-185
Conviction in the Master is what leads to conviction in the Master’s words, and vice versa.
When it comes to revealed Truth assimilation, the degree of conviction for the Master’s Words that the Aspirant brings to the table is VITAL. At the very apex of the game of revealed truth assimilation stands Kalyan, who is referred to often by Meher Baba as the quintessential disciple ‘par excellence’, and role model for all truth-seeking aspirants everywhere – for all time, that is. Meher Baba says:
If you have the complete faith that Kalyan had for his Master, in believing it was night, although it was day, because his Master said so, then you will know Me.
Upon hearing this, some of you might assume that Kalyan was probably just a very gullible guy, perhaps not very educated, who due to his naïve credulity was engaging in nothing short of “blind faith”. But for an intellectual giant & scholar like Kalyan, nothing could be further from the truth. So, (you may ask) what’s going on here?
Let me explain. Meher Baba says:
“The right of testing the Master through critical reasoning has always been conceded to the disciples.” — since time immemorial. This is so that the disciples may arrive at complete faith.
There is an old saying that goes something like this: “there is more faith in an honest doubt.” We only become thoroughly convinced of the ‘things’ that we have doubted, tested & critically examined. Strong conviction is often preceded by strong doubts. Critically examining the Master, is not discouraged in True Faith; on the contrary, it is often openly encouraged, as in the case of the Buddha. Only False Faiths shy away from critical examination. Thomas (Jesus’ disciple, often referred to as “Doubting Thomas”) was never rebuked by Jesus for doubting His resurrection. It was when Jesus allowed Thomas to touch his wounds, that Thomas’ ‘shakable’ faith turned into ‘unshakeable’ conviction. Thomas was later to become the only male disciple to travel with Jesus to India.
About True Faith, Meher Baba importantly notes:
“Faith need not be at any stage be blind, in the sense that it is not allowed to be examined by critical intellect. True faith is a form of sight and not of blindness. It need not be afraid of the free functioning of critical reason.”
Blind faith in anything, always requires the ‘suspension of critical reason’. Blind faith in the Master therefore is not the ideal way for the Aspirant to proceed with his faith. As Al Gazali says, Comprehension is what results in conviction, not self-coercion. Meher Baba says: Love is in no way amenable to any form of inner or outer force. Love and coercion can never go together. Blind faith is a form of inner self-coercion, or inner force. And as such, the Aspirant need not at any stage resort to blind faith. However, Meher Baba adds:
But if, after testing and being satisfied about the Perfection of the Master, a disciple shows any wavering of faith, it is a result of a deplorable deficiency in his sincerity of approach and integrity of purpose.
In General Meditation, Meher Baba maintains that the Aspirant’s mind must “make intelligent use of the expositions of divine Truths given by those who know -without renouncing its critical powers and inherent zest for the Truth.”
If you condense this statement a bit, Meher Baba just said:
Do not renounce the critical powers of your intellect.
Kalyan’s level of conviction could not be the result of self-coerced ‘blind faith’ induced through the ‘suspension of critical thinking’, but instead, is the result of having thoroughly examined his Master’s Perfection with the full powers of his critical intellect – to its satisfaction, already. His conviction was already at a level wherein no doubt could any longer be shed on his Master’s words.
When the world suddenly turned to utter darkness, just because his Master said so, I suspect (for the first time) Kalyan was seeing the world for what it really was all along –Nothing – Nothing but the utter darkness of Nothingness –a discussion for some other time, perhaps.
The point Meher Baba is making here is that: The degree & strength to which the Master’s words leave an impression on the Aspirant’s mind, invariably determines the degree & strength of revealed Truth assimilation. Meher Baba has said: “My words are like Atom Bombs; But they have to be put into action.” Before they can be put into action, these Atomic Words of our Master must first be properly understood, grasped and then assimilated.
For Kalyan his Master’s words were indeed like ‘atom bombs’ that could radically reshape not only his worldview, but also the intuitive makeup of his active consciousness, literally on the spot. Contrary to naive credulity, or blind faith such perceptual malleability to the Master’s words, is an indication of Kalyan’s critical intelligence, ultimately resulting in his God realization. According to Meher Baba, such vulnerability to the Master’s ‘words’ is what makes Kalyan’s discipleship so exemplary.
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Now that we have armed ourselves with a better understanding of what Meher Baba means by ‘intuiting the Truth’, and how it can be differentiated from the more common Secular idea of Intuition– let’s zoom out a little bit and look at the bigger picture of how intuition relates to humanity as a whole, from an Avataric standpoint.
THE AGE OF INTUITION
Meher Baba has said that he had come to usher in the ‘Age of Intuition’. By this, I’m sure what he meant was the ‘Age of higher purified intuition’, and not the ‘age of lower developed intuition’.
What is the purpose of ‘Revealed Truth’ anyway, if not to adjust how we see things? The purpose of Divine revelation, is to affect our worldview, our perspective, and through it ultimately the intuitive makeup of our active consciousness. According to Meher Baba the process of Revealed Truth Assimilation is what enables us to bring our lives into line with God’s purpose in the universe.
However, for these ‘revealed truths’ to even be articulated clearly and understood widely, a uniform system of philosophical thought was needed; and it was the ‘Age of Reason’ that provided humanity with the intellectual discipline necessary for such a system of thought.
THE AGE OF REASON
According to Meher Baba, ‘the age of reason’ (which is being brought to a close now) was the work of previous Avatars. It was Jesus (the very embodiment of ‘The Logos’) that ushered in the ‘Age of Reason’ or ‘the Age of Logos’; and it was the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) who further encouraged its development with powerful words like this:
…without the proper application of reason, your Taqwa(or relationship with God) is defective, your claim that you are a Muslim who has submitted to God is defective. You lower the standards so that you can master them. And thus, your love for God is defective…
It was the ‘Age of Reason’ that provided humanity with the necessary intellectual discipline required to properly receive and grasp divine Truths. The Prophet was warning us that without the proper application of intellectual discipline, our understanding of God may become defective; which could render our relationship with God defective, and even our love for God defective. The assimilation of defectively understood revealed truths can profoundly vitiate & deform our worldview, and through it the intuitive makeup of our active consciousness. Hence, when it comes to studying the revealed truths, the proper application of ‘intellectual discipline’ is strongly encouraged by the Prophet.
To love God ‘as he ought to be loved’ we must understand Him ‘as he ought to be understood’. The great Al Ghazali once said:
“Fools cannot love Him, for the love of Him springs directly from the knowledge of Him.”
– Al Ghazali
PHILOSOPHICAL NATURALISM
However, Meher Baba makes it clear that the application of ‘intellectual discipline’ by itself, without the aid of Divine Revelation, cannot lead to conclusive results either; he says:
Philosophical meditation that consists in free and (unaided) thinking does not lead to conclusive results.
By ‘unaided’, he means ‘unaided’ by Divine revelation. Philosophical Naturalism is man’s attempt at developing an intellectual grasp of the ultimate nature of life and the universe, but without the aid of Divine revelation. About this category of effort, Meher Baba has said:
Much of what is included in philosophy is a result of trying to develop an intellectual grasp of the ultimate nature of life and the universe. – but without the aid of Divine revelation.
Philosophical Naturalism is the view that everything in the universe is natural, governed by natural laws and processes, and is knowable through the scientific method.
What all modern secular ideologies, such as naturalism and humanism reject most adamantly is Divine Authority – which is the Source of Divine revelation.
However, Meher Baba tells us that all such endeavors to understand reality (without the true spirit of Religion) that rely solely on the machinations of human intelligence & human ingenuity are doomed to fail. He says:
In some parts of the West, particularly America, intellectual understanding of Truth and Reality is attempted, but without the true spirit of Religion.
It is all like groping in the dark. – He says.
THE AWAKENER MAGAZINE, vol. 12, pp. 2-3, ed. Filis Frederick
About this type of philosophical thinking, Meher Baba has said:
It often leads to diverse, conflicting systems or views;
{Which it certainly has. Yet, Meher Baba says}
Nevertheless,…
Nevertheless, philosophical thinking is not without value. Besides leading the aspirant, a certain extent into the realm of knowledge, it provides an intellectual discipline that enables him to receive and grasp divine Truths when he happens to come upon them through those who know. –by those who know, he is referring to “The Masters of Wisdom”.
Thus, for an aspirant to think that philosophical thinking is frivolous, unnecessary, and irrelevant for all matters spiritual, would be a mistake. For an Aspirant who is a seeker of the Truth, the intellectual discipline provided for by philosophical thinking (as Meher Baba says) is not without value because it provides the Aspirant with a proper ‘digestive system’ (so to speak) that enables him to receive and grasp (or digest) the revealed Truths adequately (as intended by its Divine authorship).
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THE DOGMAS AND CREEDS
OF MODERNITY
Make no mistake, General Meditation is an attack on falsehoods. When a ‘falsehood’ is ‘taken to heart’ as true, what we have is a false Dogma.
Unlike casual opinions & theories, Dogmas are ‘core assumptions’ that are held firmly with enthusiasm by both the mind and the heart. The main target of General Meditation are these false Dogmas entrenched firmly in our hearts. Replacing these false dogmas with the Truth, by contemplating on the revealed Truth given to us by the Masters of Wisdom, can be said to be one of the ‘esoteric’ purposes of General Meditation.
Meher Baba says: “Faith is so indispensable to life that unless it is present in some degree, life itself would not be possible.” Everyone, even atheists, live by faith; and all faiths are comprised of ‘core assumptions or Dogmas that are taken to be true ‘beyond question’. Together these Dogmas constitute the individual’s ‘active worldview’. A materialist (for example) is someone who has unquestioning faith in the dogmas of materialism, which ‘assumes’ the primacy of matter. To him, it is the network of neurons in his brain, that are producing his thoughts and awareness.
In sharp contradiction, Meher Baba reveals to us that consciousness is the ground of being, upon which matter is nothing but a by-product, an epiphenomenon, having no reality of its own. In fact, according to Meher Baba: “God alone is Real.”
If you think your brain is doing your thinking – you may have to think again!
It is the Mind that has imagined a brain doing its thinking,
and not the brain that has produced the mind.
The falsehood that our brains are producing our consciousness (as any so called ‘good’ neurologist might tell you) is not an easy false Dogma (or faith) to remove from our worldview; as it is a falsehood that is believed wholeheartedly by so many people. All Dogmas are ‘believed to be true’ by the individual with both his heart and mind. When a group of Dogmas come together to form a belief system, this set of dogmas can be referred to a creed.
General Meditation is the process of removing these false Dogmas & Creeds not only from our minds, but more importantly from our hearts, by replacing them with the Truth – through the process of revealed Truth assimilation.
Meher Baba says: “The acceptance of falsehood is always a forced compromise.” He says the blind acceptance of a falsehood into our minds & hearts is usually due to external conformity to the ways of the world, which requires the suspension of critical thinking. About Dogmas and creeds, Meher Baba explains:
Dogmas and creeds, as compared with barren views and doctrines, have the distinct advantage of being embraced not only by the intellect but also by the heart. They cover and affect a wider part of personality than purely theoretical opinions. Though the mind and the heart are involved in allegiance to dogmas and creeds, both function in such cases under the serious handicap of suspension of critical thought.
For an Aspirant, the suspension of critical thought is a serious handicap. About Dogmas and Creeds Meher Baba further adds:
Dogmas and creeds generally, however, are as much a source of evil as of good, because in them the guiding vision is clouded owing to degeneration or suspension of critical thinking.
For while dogmas or creeds are blindly accepted, they are often held with a fervor and enthusiasm that supply a dynamic element to the ideology that has been accepted by the person for the moment.
Meher Baba says that some dogmas and creeds, especially the ones that were provided for by the Avataric Religions (though blindly accepted) can still be a source of good and benefit. He says Even at the stage of shariat, or karma-kanda, allegiance to religions is not infrequently a source of inspiration for many selfless and noble acts. In fact, both Shariat for the Muslims and Karma-Kanda of the Hindus, he says, are the usual method for gradually dissipating the load of sanskaras.
But the same cannot be said about the false Dogmas of Modern Secular ideologies. By ideology (here) what Meher Baba is referring to (without being too specific) are the many post-enlightenment secular ideologies that have been accepted for the moment by the masses.
Unlike previous times in history, the main source of false Dogmas & Creeds in Modernity are the many well-established secular ideologies that together constitute the modern way of life, or what Baba calls ‘the ways of the world’. These dogmas and creeds of modern secular ideologies can be held by a person with just as much fervor and enthusiasm as any religious dogma or creed.
Let’s take a very prevalent modern secular ideology as an example.
SCIENTIFIC MATERIALISM
“The Dark Ages were the ages of light: the Renaissance was the twilight of our present black night of materialism.” – Meher Baba through Francis Brabazon in (Stay with God, 94)
‘Philosophical materialism’, is arguably by far the most influential and well-established modern secular Ideology in the world today. According to google:
Scientific materialism is a worldview that asserts everything in the universe, including consciousness, is ultimately physical. Scientific materialism posits that only matter exists, emphasizing the material world as the fundamental reality; It is an ideology that asserts that the laws of physics and natural science can account for all phenomena, including consciousness without the need for supernatural or non-physical explanations. – In other words, without the need for God.
THE CHURCH OF SCIENCE
The ideology of Scientific Materialism can actually be seen as a type of religion (or faith) replete with all the bells and whistles that you might expect of a religion. The “Church of Science”, if you will, has its own dogmas and creeds, rights, rituals and even ceremonies; It has a priest class of PhDs, its own form of ‘the inquisition’ known as ‘peer review’, and even a Supreme Council of sorts known as ‘a panels of experts’, whose integrity we dare not question. The ’Church of Science’ even has its own founding fathers, high priests, and even its own version of heroes & saints, and perhaps even a Messianic figure yet to come in the future…
If you want to test whether or not scientism is a faith, just add these three magic words in front of any assertion to someone you know and see what happens. The three magic words are “According to science.” Spoken by the right person, in the right way, say on a network news program, for example, these three magic words can deliver nothing short of “spellbinding” results.
The primary Dogma, or ‘first principle’ that ‘Scientific materialism’ ‘posits’ or ‘presumes’ is the ‘false assumption’ that matter is real; with consciousness being nothing but an epiphenomenon, an emergent property, a kind of ghost in the machine, if you will.
Further, it is important to note here that this ‘first principle’ of scientific materialism is not a conclusion that scientists came to through the so-called ‘Scientific Method’. The irony of all ironies is that the fundamental principle of scientific Materialism was never conclusion arrived at through the scientific method, but just presumptions – upon which the entire ‘Church of Science’ was built.
In sharp contradiction, according to all the major Avataric religions of the world, and their respective Masters of Wisdom, as well “According to Meher Baba” Spirit, Soul (or Consciousness) is the ground of Being, from which the physical world emerges only as an illusion, an epiphenomenon, an imagined creation, or byproduct.
What Scientific Materialism posits as its foundational ‘first principle’ (or primary Dogam), is literally a perfect inversion of the revealed Truth contained in All Divine Revelation.
On this issue, for the Aspirant, there can be only one of two choices. You can either go with “According to All Divine Revelation including Meher Baba” or go with “According to Science.” The only other option would be to choose a blatantly irrational & contradictory ‘cheep’ compromise between the two antithetical ‘posit’-ions. As two swords cannot be put in the same sheath, nothing can bring these two antithetical positions together.
Meher Baba says:
When a person gives up uncritically accepted dogmas and creeds in favor of views and doctrines to which he has devoted thought, there is a certain amount of advance-insofar as his mind has now begun to think and critically examine its beliefs.
According to Meher Baba, there is a rightful place & role for science, but answering ‘the big questions of life’ is not one of them. The answers to the ultimate questions of life are to be sought from ‘within’ and not from ‘without’.
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About why Modern Secular Scientific Naturalism could never arrive at the Truth, Meher Baba explains:
“Spiritual experience has a hold on the deeper truths that are inaccessible to mere intellect; {He says} it cannot be born of unaided intellect.”
Yes, unless aided by the Divine, the limited intellect on its own has no chance at arriving at the limitless Truth. The transcendent understanding of Pure Intuition ‘latent’ in us all, can be ‘unveiled’ through Divine Aid, but it cannot be born of the ‘limited intellect’. Unaided, the intellect on its own has no chance at arriving at the deeper truths. Thus, Divine Aid is essential.
Among the many mysterious ways, the Divine can aid us, Spiritual Experience is of the highest import.
The importance of SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
Meher Baba says:
What can be understood in a flash through spiritual experience takes ages to grasp intellectually. – The NEW LIFE
This is because:
The purely intellectual grasp of divine Truths remains feeble, incomplete, and indecisive, owing to the limitations of the experiences that may be available as the foundation of the structures of speculation.
Without the aid of ‘spiritual experience’ (which is a form of Divine Revelation) our grasp of divine Truths can at best be feeble, incomplete, and indecisive. For an Aspirant, who is someone who seeks nothing short of direct experiential certainty, a purely intellectual grasp of the Truth could never be enough, anyway. Thus, for an Aspirant, Spiritual experience is seen rightly as paramount.
Yet, all of us have had ‘spiritual experiences’ to one extent or another. This is true even of Atheists. Even a beautiful sunrise could suddenly transition into a profound spiritual experience. But, an atheist (by his own admission) is someone who’s structures of speculation do not allow the Divine foot in the door (so to speak). Even if such a person were to have a genuine spiritual experience, he is likely to dismiss it as a fluke of nature, or a hallucination of some sort.
But, for the Spiritual Aspirant, whose intuition has been dynamically energized by the assimilation of revealed Truth, a genuine spiritual experience can have a fundamentally transformative effect on his psyche. Meher Baba says:
The Religion of Life is — dynamically energized by the assimilation of Truth, grasped through lucid and unerring intuition which never falters and never fails, because it has emerged out of the fusion of head and heart, of intellect and love.
Emerging out of the fusion of head and heart (of intellect and love) is our purified intuition, which is dynamically energized by the assimilation of Truth. It is when a genuine spiritual experience, is AIDED by the assimilation of revealed Truth, that the deeper truths can (finally) become ‘accessible’ to the Aspirant. In this way, (Meher Baba says) knowledge of the deeper truths comes to those who use both discrimination and intuition.
In the Discourses, in a section (actually) titled: “Use of discrimination and intuition”, Meher Baba says:
“The sadhana of knowledge, or dnyan, remains incomplete unless the aspirant exercises constant discrimination and unveils his highest intuitions.” -261
For an Aspirant:
Everyday life must be guided by discrimination and inspired by the highest intuitions. -262
Could this not be what Meher Baba means by the “fusion of head and heart” or “the fusion of intellect & love”?
And could this not be how the ‘Age of Intuition’ will emerge, not out from under the ‘Age of Reason’, nor from its ashes, but firmly on its shoulders?
Reason is not the enemy of True Faith. Reason, discernment, discrimination, & critical thinking, could indeed be the enemy of False Faiths, but they certainly could not be the enemy of True Faith. True Faith, like True Mysticism, Baba tells us, has no problem with the free and fearless functioning of critical reason; when it is, as it should be, a vision of reality. Meher Baba says that:
There is nothing irrational in true mysticism, when it is, as it should be a vision of Reality.
True Mysticism, may be supra-rational (even transcendent), but it certainly cannot be irrational. It can be paradoxical (or even supramental) but it cannot be contradictory. This is why what the Masters say, always make so much sense.
Once upon a time, I had falsely assumed that True Mysticism could not be rational. However, (thanks to Meher Baba’s revealed truths) I have since corrected my faulty worldview on this issue; or (you could say) purified my faulty developed intuition on this issue. It turns out, only false mysticism can be irrational. True Mysticism, on the other hand, enjoys nothing less than “The perfect absence of irrationality”. Meher Baba assures us of this, so we can rest assured, and have no doubts about it:
There is nothing irrational in true mysticism… NOTHING!
Yet many people of Faith nowadays (including many Meher Baba followers) seem to be firm adherents to the rigid dogmas of fideism.
FIDEISM
What is Fideism?
Fideism is a standpoint that maintains that faith and reason are antithetical towards each other, and that they are hostile towards each other. The word fideism comes from the Latin word for faith, or ‘fides’, and literally means “faith-ism,;” A Fideism–ist (or Faithism-ist) is someone who asserts that there is no place for reason in all matters of faith; or that, there is no place for ‘rational thinking’ in all matters spiritual. But Meher Baba assures us that this is not true at all of True Faith. Only false faiths, are plagued with a variety of incoherences and contradictions.
If you think that Faith and critical thinking are antithetical to each other (as I once did), or that faith and ‘critical reason’ working together is barren, ineffective, and meaningless (especially, when it comes to all matters Spiritual), then you may be a bitter subscriber to the false ideology of Fideism.
In sharp contradiction, in the Discourses, in a section ‘actually’ titled Faith and critical reasoning, Meher Baba asserts that:
True faith is grounded in the deeper experiences of the spirit and the unerring deliverances of purified intuition. It is not to be regarded as the antithesis of critical reason but as the unfailing guide of critical reason. When critical reason is implemented by a deep and living faith based on pure intuition, its functioning becomes creative, fruitful, and significant instead of barren, ineffective, and meaningless. On the other hand, many forms of naive credulity cannot be broken through except by the fearless and free working of critical reason.
QUALIFICATIONS OF THE ASPIRANT: IV 367
It is due to the prevalence of naive credulity (or gullibility) that the rejection of ‘discrimination’ and ‘critical reason’ has become so prevalent in the world today. The powers that be (it seems) would rather not have a population capable of ‘discrimination’. Nowadays, more than any other period in history, critical thinking & discrimination have been falsely demonized due to naïve credulity.
In sharp contradiction, Meher Baba tells us that it is only through the fearless and free working of critical reason (coupled with a deep and living faith in the Master’s words) that can break the grip of naïve credulity to these false modern ideologies. He further adds that:
The perception of spiritual truths requires not merely strenuous and furious thinking but clear thinking, and true clarity of thought. 381
To recap up to this point: Meher Baba says:
The Religion of Life is dynamically energized by the assimilation of Truth, grasped through lucid and unerring intuition which never falters and never fails, because it has emerged out of the fusion of head and heart, of intellect and love.
Emerging out of the fusion of head and heart (of intellect and love) is our purified intuition, dynamically energized by the assimilation of Truth, and guided by the constant use of BOTH discrimination and our highest intuitions.
Now that we’ve seen how critical reason and True Faith can work together in a creative, fruitful, and significant way, in what Meher Baba calls the “effective manifestation of a rational faith”, let’s examine the Purification process of Intuition, a bit deeper.
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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the Purification of Intuition requires the following 3 basic components (not in any particular order):
- Unwavering conviction in the Master’s words (or revealed truths), which can become like ‘atom bombs’ for the manifestation of the Aspirant’s rationalized faith; as we saw in the case of Kalyan.
- The intellectual discipline needed to properly grasp, understand, and digest the revealed truths, taken as a whole, comprehensively; through the use of both the full powers of our critical intellect as well as our highest intuitions.
- And finally, but not least, our creative imagination.
Once the revealed truths (taken together as an integral whole) are sufficiently imagined, and grasped by our Heads, then it is our Heads that can help assimilate these truths into our Hearts through ‘contemplation’. Only when the revealed truths are finally assimilated into our Hearts, do they show up as a natural part of our intuitive makeup – or (more precisely) the intuitive makeup of our active consciousness. This fusion of the head and the heart, of intellect and love, is precisely how our Intuition is Purified.
“When it is from the mind, it is not intuition. Intuition means that which comes from the heart. In the divine path, first there is intuition, then inspiration, then illumination, and finally Realization. If it touches your heart, follow it. And God willing, from today you will know that if it is intuition, it is right.”
Jai Meher Baba!