Life Positive — January 2018

66 LifePositive | FEBRUARY 2018^

For anyone on the spiritual path, there is no
bigger ally than the power of intuition. Intuition
teaches you to see rightly and to act unerringly.
It takes you where your senses can never take
you—deep into a person’s soul or indeed, into
the Universe’s plans for you.
How, for instance, do you identify the right
path, the right guru, or the next step? There is
no Google map for the inner journey. Only your
intuition can guide you here. Without it, you
are lost. I once participated in a psychology
programme where each participant was
supposed to take therapy from one of the
two principal teachers. I recoiled from one
instinctively because his soul seemed dark, and
chose the other. At the end of six months, the
programme exploded into smithereens because
the one with the dark soul had been discovered
to be sexually abusing the women under his
tutelage.
Intution is an inner knowing, a gut feeling, a
hunch, that may militate against all logic and
reason, but which will lead you faultlessly. It
is looking at someone and knowing if you can
trust them or not, or if you should marry them
or not. Intuition also tells you what your next
step should be. Should you end that relationship
or not? Should you leave the city and take
up farming? Mostly, we take these decisions
based on feelings or logic, but neither of these
is reliable. Feelings are notoriously subjective,
while logic will not shine light on the really
important things—like whether the time is right,
or whether the decision is right for you.
I, personally, only take major decisions guided
by my intuition. My decisions to quit Society
magazine, to join Life Positive, to become its

SPIRIT

Cultivating and listening to your intuition will not only protect you from mishaps but

also ensure that you succeed in your endeavours, says Suma Varughese

The power of intuition

editor, to start my writer’s workshops, to quit

Life Positive, were all prompted by intuition, and

therefore they have worked for me.

So how do you cultivate intuition? Start by

paying attention to it. How many times have you

noted ruefully that something had told you not to

have gone out for a date with X? Next time, pay

attention to those hints from within. The more

you listen, the sharper they get.

Secondly, learn to distinguish intuition from

feelings. Feelings are compelling—they move

us in the direction of what we crave or what

we resist. Intuition, on the other hand, is more

objective. It may sometimes make you take

decisions you don’t really want to—like end that

relationship or quit the job. Moreover, intuition

feels different. It seems to come from a deeper

place and there is a certainty about it you won’t

find in feelings. Intuition can also show up in

different ways. For me, when I get really excited

about something or see a stream of possibilities,

I know that I need to head in that direction.

Intuition is sourced in the vast intelligence of the

Universe and arises from our subconscious mind.

Not using it is tantamount to having a Mercedes

purring in your garage and rattling around on a

scooter instead. Upgrade yourself, please!

Suma Varughese is a thinker, writer, and

former Editor-in-Chief of Life Positive. She

also holds writer’s workshops. Write to her at

[email protected].

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