60 Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path
not only see a tree, I also know thatI am the one who sees
it. Moreover, I realize that something goes on in mewhile
I observe the tree. If the tree disappears from my view, a
remnant of this process remains in my consciousness: an
image of the tree. As I was observing, this image united
itself with my self. My self is thereby enriched: its content
has received a new element into itself. I call this element
mymental picture (Vorstellung) of the tree. There would
be no need to speak ofmental pictures if I did not experi-
ence them in the percept of my self. In that case, percepts
would come and go; I would let them pass by. It is only
because I perceive my self, and notice that with every per-
cept the content of my self also changes, that I find myself
compelled to connect the observation of the object with
my own changed state, and to speak of my mental picture.
I perceive mental pictures in my selfin the same way
that I perceive colors, sounds, and so forthin other ob-
jects. From this point of view, I can now make a distinc-
tion, calling these other objects that stand over against me
theouter world, while designating the content of my self-
percept as theinner world. Failure to recognize the rela-
tion between the mental picture and the object has led to
the greatest misunderstandings in modern philosophy.
The perception of an inner change, the modification that
my self undergoes, has been thrust into the foreground,
and the object causing this modification has been lost
sight of altogether. It has been said that we do not per-
ceive objects, but only our mental pictures. I am not sup-
posed to know anything of the object of my observation,
the table in itself, but only of the change that occurs in my
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