11: Honoring Your Intuition Through the Teachings of Eckhart Tolle

On this episode of Living With Tolle we explore ways to cultivate your intuition through the teachings of Eckhart Tolle. We discuss how to trust your intuition to help inspire your decision-making process in everyday life situations.


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Key Insights From Our Conversation:

image intuition living with tolle episode 11
We begin the conversations exploring how the question “how am I being called to serve?” can be answered through “intuitive knowing,” a process in which we listen to our intuition. Typically, with that answer comes a sense of expansion and a positive feeling. But soon we begin to hear the voice of the ego that second guesses our own intuition with words like: “you could never do that,” or “you don’t have enough money to do that.” This can thwart or challenge your intuitive sense around how you’re being called to serve.

So, is the guidance you are hearing that of your intuition or that of your ego? A good way to know this is to sense how the thought makes you feel. Do you feel expansive, positive, creative, or do you feel constricted, contracted and closed off to your creativity. Remember, the goal of the ego and pain body is to thwart your intuition if it does not feed the ego!

Leo shares his experience at a recent meeting at work, how intuition was guiding his decision to participate, and the energy that kept him from contributing – the energy of internal doubt. Once he was able to let his intuition speak, there was an expansion of his ideas and the ideas in the room.

How do you foster and nurture intuition?

Greg shares a key insight from the works of Tolle – the body is a portal into the now. Unlike your mind, which can project a phantom self into the past and future, your body is completely grounded in the present moment. You body is fully anchored in the now. The key is to give your conscious attention, or your energy, to your body – instead of allowing you energy to be consumed in thoughts about the past and future.

A fundamental practice is to give you attention to what Tolle describes as your “inner-body.” This spiritual practicing involves tuning into the inner energy field of the body and sensing an inner tingling sensation, or inner “aliveness.” (There is a video on the website that will guide you in the process of connecting to the inner body.)

Intuition is a response of the body, the intelligence of the body and how it perceives the energy of another person, along with what is being spoken. The body interprets the vibration and the information.

So trusting your intuition is really a process of trusting the intelligence of the body, even though the ego is generating thoughts that are second guessing your intuitive responses.

The ego is trying to protect itself, and your intuition can be a threat to the ego.

Awareness of your thoughts is key. A great practice to determine the source of your thoughts, whether your intuition or ego, is to ask the questions: what is the nature and quality of these thoughts. If they are expansive, foster creativity, connection and service, it would be a good guess they are coming from your intuition. If your thoughts are contractive, selfish, constrictive, fearful or limiting, they are probably emerging from the ego.  What experience are your thoughts creating?

How can your intuition guide your productivity?

Greg shares that with all the information coming at us in today’s world, using your intuition to evaluate the “value” of the information coming across your awareness will be an invaluable tool for increasing your personal productivity.

In the past, you may have been able to look at each piece of information and analyze it, to really digest the information, but now there is just too much. It is far more effective to use your intuition to sense the value of what you are doing right now, and also how those actions resonate with how you are being called to serve.

Greg also shares how your intuition can be of value in your dealings with clients. By sensing the state of your client, you can better suggest solutions that align with their needs. This is contrary to “selling” your client what the ego will derive the most value from.

Guiding your children through your intuition.

image intuition living with tolle episode 11Our children are growing up in a different time and facing challenges that are different from those when we were growing up.

Cultivating your intuition will enable you as a parent to sense how your child is interacting with a challenging situation – and then intuitively ask the appropriate questions that are guiding instead of demanding.

How can you interact with your children intuitively so you can sense how they need to be supported? Is your support allowing them to expand, to thrive, and to enjoy their journey in life? How can your intuitive guidance nurture your relationship with your children?

Questions for further thought and comments:

  • Are you harnessing your intuition to be in service or to be in service to your ego?
  • How will harnessing your intuition impact your life?
  • How will a deeper access to your intuition nurture your most precious relationships?

And, in the spirit of intuition, how are you being guided to provide feedback on the podcast and on the web site. Please send us your comments and your suggestions for future topics. Thanks everyone for listening!

Peace,

Leo and Greg


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There Are 2 Responses So Far. »

  1. Perhaps a bit premature of me to post a response given that I haven’t read Tolle’s work, but I find the take on intuition interesting. While I agree that trusting it is of paramount importance, it’s somewhat odd to see it characterized as a response of the body. My spiritual practice and work with my own intuition - decades long and still ongoing makes me feel that my intuition is a spiritual response, sometimes affecting my body (through shivers, gut feelings, what have you…) I can see how the body is influenced by intuition but is intuition ITSELF a purely biological event? Given that you call giving attention to your inner-body, “spiritual practicing”, it seems fair to say that there is some spirituality to Tolle’s work - in which case I’m confused by the intuition-as-body-response definition. The tingling, the shivering, those are all RESPONSES to intuition, I would think, but not the intuition itself. This may be semantics but is, to me, an important distinction…

    Of course, I realize I’m more than new to Tolle for reasons I’ve already explained to Leo in person (I think). But I’m always open to new ways paradigms…

  2. Hi Leian,

    Thanks for your comment on intuition. This is a very hot topic now days! The body is important because it is the vehicle for the experience. You don’t experience “presence” over there, but right within your very body. You don’t sense your intuition via another person, or an inanimate object, but within your body.

    The ego is hyper active in projecting your attention away from the body and to any and all objects “out there.” So giving your conscious attention to the body is important and truly a spiritual practice. Eckhart explains that the body is a portal to the Now because your physical body is completely grounded in the present moment. Your thoughts can be scattered and completely absorbed by the past and future, but your body is always here and now.

    The intuition itself comes from a deeper realm, what Eckhart calls the “inner-body.” The inner-body is the inner energy field at the core of your body, and at the core of all forms in the universe. You have an intuitive sense about a person or situation because this field is connected to everything and recognizes the vibration of all forms - then transmits that vibration to you. Your body receives that vibration, your “gut” sense is an acknowledgment of that vibration, then your mind has a thought about it… and if this is confusing or threatening to your ego, then your ego throws out a negative comment, judgment, complaint to try and negate the intuitive response.

    Again, without your body you would have no experience of intuition. Intuition is knocking at your door all day long, but if your attention and awareness is completely absorbed by thought, then you will be unable to hear it. As your body grows in presence power via your conscious attention, then the response of the body is able to penetrate the noisy patterns of thought in your head and be heard. As you continue to grow in presence power you will be able to consistently hear this intuitive guidance and then act on it! Then you are guided by truth and not the ego.

    I trust this reply answers your question. Let me know if you need anything else clarified. Thanks again for your comment.

    Greg

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