Learning to Trust Your Intuition

I want to say something about thinking for one’s self. About questioning everything we are told to be true and about developing our power of intuition so that we my make up our own minds according to our internal compass without the need for confirmation from an outside source. 

In this day and age of the internet we are bombarded with information of all kinds. It’s confusing, frustrating and dangerous to not be able to distinguish truth from lies anymore. Where do we turn to fact check anymore? If there were a clear source of truth it would be easy to navigate, but there just isn’t. in the end how can we know the truth?

Instead of looking for external support, it will serve us best if we learn how to distinguish truth from lies simply by developing our own powers of judgment and intuition. This needs to be the primary base from which we make our big decisions. Only we know if a particular person, place or thing is right for us, no one can know that but us. What this means is that we must become our own fact checkers, to the best of our ability. 

We could start our fact checking adventure by sifting through mountains of misinformation, disinformation, lies and opinion on the internet but in the end we will only compile bits and pieces of information that feel right and which confirm what we already believe, so why bother relying on outside sources in the first place?! We already know truth, it’s just a matter of learning to trust that knowing, which we call intuition. Intuition comes from a mysterious device within us that helps us navigate the world. It’s signal can be quite subtle if we haven’t spent some time honing it and learning how to tune in and trust it.

So how do we get in touch with our inner guide? How about we explore some ideas that we think are a closed-case, the facts are in. Pick something that resonates with you. I find it useful when starting a thought experiment like this to just close my eyes and let my imagination do some initial exploration. Explore the subject you want to know about by putting yourself in the situation where it occurs. Feel into it. Use imagination balanced with rational thought. Ask questions and try to answer them for yourself.

What we are doing here is exercising our free thought muscles. Play with ideas not colored by others opinions and information that may or may not be truly scientific or historic. Free yourself from the sea of the known, from the wasteland that is the internet, and just let yourself think freely and for yourself. Allow yourself to dive into far-out ideas and possibilities. How do those ideas feel in your body? (Try muscle testing if you’re familiar with that practice). In doing this what will mostly arise first is a strong feeling about what you don’t believe in, and that’s a good place to start, but question even that, especially that! Why don’t you believe in that?

Lets say you hit on an idea that feels really exciting but after a quick Google search you find no evidence to support it or worse, you find that it’s an unpopular opinion. What now? Here’s the thing: Not everything you feel to be true needs to be validated by someone else! That’s what intuition is, it’s a sudden knowing that comes from within. For one thing, everything we know now was once unknown and only became common after a seed was sown in the mind of an individual and then brought into being through their own volition. That’s how it works, and it could start with you. 

Every idea, every well developed system we have now, from science to religion is an invention of human beings. Now more than ever, new ideas are frowned upon, especially if they go against the established school of thought. For example the institution of modern science polices the everyday person from having new ideas by stating that new ideas need to be proven or they are just rubbish and not valid of consideration. But like I said above, everything was once a new idea without evidence! 

Footnote: Is it a coincidence that in order to be taken seriously you’re going to need lots and lots of money for scientific research? This means not just anyone can have valid ideas worth consideration. It’s an invisible wall that separates the individual from experiencing the glory of their own truth, which is inherently unscientific and unprovable.  

This can feel very stifling at times until you learn to ignore that oppressive system, and that’s exactly what many of the great thinkers of the past have done. Many were (and still are) laughed at, ridiculed, and canceled for their ideas only to be proven right many years later. It’s a repeating cycle and it’s interesting that science, who’s primary motto is to question, is the most guilty of destroying the individuals who actually put this to the test by questioning already established beliefs. (Take Rupert Sheldrake for example). Ultimately, true progress is in the hands of the free thinking individuals who dare to invent new worlds of the mind and re-explore and challenge what is believed to be known already. 

There’s another method for disarming free thinkers. A lot of free thinkers will get labeled as conspiracy theorists, which is a brilliant tactic to stop people from questioning the mainstream narrative. That title “conspiracy theory” has become a fantastically powerful tool to stop people from expressing valid concerns and to expose corruption because its a kind of hot-potato that no one wants to be left holding when the spot light hits them. It stops people from really looking into something with an open mind and asking questions. The Potato is nine months pregnant with the great spell of doubt and shame, and it’s potential of getting you canceled by your friends and larger community is high. No one wants that and so simply suggesting these two words is enough to keep people’s minds in-check and unquestioning.  

Conspiracies get started because there is always at least an ounce of truth in them, and that means that there is at least an ounce worth exploring. Concrete answers in the form of brick walls must be hit before we should stop exploring a train of thought. Even then, can we go under the wall? 

I’m using conspiracy theories as an example here because its something we can all relate too, but the point I want to make is that we need to be able to think for ourselves. That means we need to be able to trust our intuition and like I said before, intuition is like a muscle that needs to be trained and developed. 

In many arts we need to hone our senses to the subtleties of sound or sight before we can experience the many layers and nuances and distinguish one note from another, distinguish the hum from the buzz, or in this case truth from untruth. Honing out intuition requires the same kind of direct experience in order for it to be developed. 

I can think of many cases in my own life where I had a sudden knowing without any direct proof or often any reason to believe, I just suddenly knew something. I was picking up on some subtle frequency perhaps that my body recognized. What we are taught to do in this modern day society is to ignore these subtle messages from our intuition; to doubt them and suppress them and just carry on as if nothing were wrong. Thankfully with these experiences I had of ‘just knowing’ I was later given confirmation that what I had felt was true! With this confirmation I was able to recognize what truth feels like in my body. After several experiences like this, I have honed my intuition so that when I feel truth now I know it and I can make appropriate decisions without looking to others for confirmation first. This is very powerful! I have my own built in fact-checker that isn’t funded by a major corporation.

Once we have become sensitive to our intuition through direct experience we can begin to trust it as if it were fact even though there may be no direct proof. Once again: we do not need proof for our intuitive thoughts to be valid. 

Learning to trust our unproven intuitions is the training ground of true faith and it often needs to be done alone. Don’t expect anyone to back you up, you will often need to stand solitary and confident in your conviction and either have the courage to state your point of view and be challenged, or else be comfortable keeping it to yourself in peaceful silence. Whether you’re challenged or supported, stay in tune with what you feel in your body to be true and hold your ground. And remember, it may be a truth that is unique to you only.

In all my explorations of religion and spiritual philosophy I have come to rest on one principle that I find the most useful; the Taoist concept of The Way. The Way that cannot be described, and if it can be described it is not the Way. What this says is that each of us has our own beautiful unique way in which we dance through life, my way is not yours or anyone else’s and your way can not be mine. 

I can share my wisdom and maybe you’ll find it inspiring or not, but I can’t tell you of any absolute truth because there is no absolute truth to be discovered and known. There is only a vast universe which responds to our imagination and play, one which rewards courageous exploration and challenging our self-made barriers…

The universe is a blank canvas. Dream Big!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading this extra long post. Comment below if you have any thoughts on this matter. I appreciate it. Also check out my artwork or handmade drums if you feel inclined.