Spiritual Topic for March 2025 - Intuition and Discernment

Discernment is a word that is tossed around frequently these days. “Use your discernment,” people advise. But what is discernment, and why is it so important?

Ancient spiritual traditions designate discernment as an advanced spiritual quality. In Sanskrit, spiritual discernment is believed to be the “crowning wisdom” on one’s spiritual path. According to Indian sage Patanjali, spiritual discernment helps one achieve a “luminous state,” also known as spiritual illumination or wholeness.

The word discernment comes from the Greek word diakrisis which embodies several ideas; to see, consider, examine, understand, hear, and judge closely. In short, discernment is the ability to determine what is true and not true and real versus not real.

Discernment is individual. What feels right or is true for one person is not necessarily an absolute truth for another. Some situations are easy and straightforward to discern, while others are tricky. When considering other’s thoughts and opinions, it can be hard to determine absolute truths. Also, when deception is involved, it can be very difficult to discern the truth.

Attention, intention, and inspiration are all important when developing discernment. One needs to pay close attention to one’s own and others’ intentions, and discernment involves divine inspiration connected with one’s intuitive heart, mind, and gut centres.

Discernment requires a deep desire to seek and learn the truth, even if it means letting go of long-held beliefs and prior programming. Discernment entails looking within, connecting with your heart centre and opening to the truth, even when it’s not what you want it to be. We are all like different facets of a diamond. We bring our own experiences and points of view to a situation, which may affect and cloud our judgment. Cultivating discernment takes time, desire, and practice to avoid traps such as the ego, spiritual bypassing, and judgment.

As you contemplate discernment, consider what you wish to discern and what is most important to you. For example, do you wish to find the truth about a particular historical event, discern the best food for you to eat today, or uncover whether JFK Jr, Lady Diana, and Michael Jackson are dead or alive? For the last example, if they appeared and spoke to us, how would we know it was really them and not an actor wearing a mask?

We use intuition every day to help us decide what choices to make, where to go, what clothes to wear, etc. Intuition is an important factor in making informed decisions. A beneficial tool, using the acronym BRAIN, incorporates intuition to help one make informed decisions about daily life choices. Please see the QRG (Quick Reference Guide) for more information on the BRAIN process.

It may not be a good use of one’s time to attempt to discern everything, so a good practice is to consider where it’s most important to use discernment. Ask yourself whether it’s more important to discern things outside of yourself or what’s true inside yourself.

How does one develop discernment? The simple answer is that one must develop one’s intuition.

“When the body functions spontaneously, that is called instinct. When the soul functions spontaneously, that is called intuition.”―Osho, Indian philosopher, mystic and founder of the Rajneesh movement

Intuition is often referred to as that gut feeling or the little voice in one’s head. Many ancient wisdoms believe that intuition is composed of three centres. The Celtic and Taoist traditions consider three key centres in the body—one resides in the abdomen, one in the heart, and one in the head. Our Higher (Divine) Self encompasses all three centres.

The Indian culture recognises chakras, which can be viewed as lower (root, sacral, solar plexus,) middle (heart and throat) and upper chakras (third eye and crown). Chinese traditions identify Dan Tians, which also represent three centres in the body—the upper dan tian, Shen, is tied to the third eye; the middle dan tian, Qi, is located in the centre of the chest; and the lower dan tian, Jing, can be found below the navel.

Regardless of your preferred tradition, we can connect with our Higher Self through any of these three centres. Gut intuition aligns with our physical body, heart intuition aligns with our emotional body, and head intuition aligns with our mental body. Gut intuition differs from how you feel with your heart centre, which differs from how you feel and think with your head. To develop your intuition to the best degree, you need to have all three centres—gut, head, and heart—in alignment and communicating with each other.

You can conduct exercises to see if you can differentiate between your three intuitive centres. Ask yourself:

- What is your gut feeling about ‘X’?

- How do you feel about ‘X’ when connected with your heart?

- What do you think about ‘X’?

Can you differentiate between these three aspects? Can you feel the connection? Are your three centres aligned?

Some people use divination tools to aid in developing and/or, most effectively, working with their intuition. Examples of divination tools include Runes, angel or oracle cards, dowsing rods, pendulums, crystal balls, and tarot cards. These tools are not for everyone; however, some find them helpful to connect more easily with their Higher Self to obtain intuitive guidance.

While spiritual traditions have long recognised that the gut, heart, and mind are all intelligent centres in the body, science is beginning to accept this as well. A study published in SAGE Journal classifies all three (the gut, the heart, and the head) as functional brains and indicates complex neural networks exist in all three. This awareness has essential implications from a wellness perspective. (1)

Good bacteria are connected to our intelligence, heart-centredness, and intuition. We hear a lot about good “gut health”, but studies have shown this doesn’t only apply to the gut. Good bacteria concentrate in areas where nerves are intense, such as one’s gut, heart, and head.

If you kill off good bacteria, it dramatically impacts your overall health. Please note that this is not medical advice; everyone is encouraged to do their own research on the connection between good bacteria and these energy centres and how good bacteria helps with intelligence and intuition.

These three intuition centres (or functional brains) are separate yet connected. When connecting with your Higher Self through whatever spiritual process you use (meditation, prayer, being in nature, etc.), it’s important to make sure you are fully grounded. Otherwise, you will connect in ‘spirit’ only. Some people believe connecting with our spiritual nature is moving upward. In reality, it’s going deep within and all around us.

Subconscious conversations occur inside us, with ongoing communications between our gut, heart, and head. Intuition is not just a mental challenge (going upward) or just a gut check or just going into one’s heart. Intuition is strongest when there is clear communication between the gut, heart, and mind (our physical, emotional, and mental bodies). The spiritual body connects with and encompasses all other bodies. When there is a clear connection between all four bodies, you create a stronger alignment with your Higher Self, and thus it is easier to tap into your intuition and discernment.

“We can access our heart’s wisdom through a process that can be summarized in five simple steps: Focus. Breathe. Feel. Ask. Listen.”—Gregg Braden, The Science of Self-Empowerment

Discussion Questions

• Ancient spiritual traditions consider discernment to be an advanced spiritual quality. Do you agree or disagree, and why?

• What techniques do you use for improving your discernment?

• What techniques do you use for improving your intuition?

• What are some spiritual traps related to discernment, and how can you avoid these? Please see the worksheet for some ideas.

• How can you discern between your three intuition centres—gut, heart and head? How do you reconcile differences you may experience between them?

• What are your thoughts on good bacteria impacting the three intuition centres? Do you have any tips to share with the group on how to use good bacteria for one’s overall wellness? 

  
  

Footnotes

Soosalu, G., Henwood, S., & Deo, A., “Head, Heart, and Gut in Decision Making: Development of a Multiple Brain Preference Questionnaire”, Sage Open, 9(1), March 18, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019837439.

A Deeper Dive: Psychic Intuition

March 2025 

Psychic Intuition Overview

Part of the ‘higher vibe’ side of intuition is psychic intuition or psychic experiences. A psychic experience can be defined as information or impressions received by means that cannot be explained scientifically.

Sometimes psychic experiences are subtle, like having a feeling that something isn’t right or thinking about a friend who calls a short while later. Other times psychic experiences are more apparent, like receiving a channelled message or seeing a spirit.

Psychic experiences can occur in many ways, including:

• Clairaudience—“Clear Hearing”—The ability to hear sounds or voices beyond the normal hearing range.

• Clairsentience—“Clear Feeling”—The ability to physically feel and/or experience the feelings and thoughts of another.

• Clairvoyance— “Clear Seeing”—The ability to visually perceive things beyond the normal range of vision. This may include seeing auras, subtle energy fields, chakras, colour symbols, concealed objects, etc.

• Claircognisance—“Clear Knowing”—The ability to know psychically without a physical explanation or reason. Claircognisance includes precognition and retrocognition, which is knowledge of the future and the past.

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Other ways people can have psychic experiences are through channelling; communication with angels or spirit guides; physical sensations like smelling a perfume or cigar smoke where there is no obvious source; feeling someone stroke your hair when no one is around; vivid dreams; visions; seeing colours, shapes, or symbols; automatic writing; past-life recall; astral travel; out of body experiences; etc.

Children often have these abilities naturally because they live in closer alignment with their Higher Self. However, over time, they are often taught that these are the fantasies of a childish imagination and not ‘real’. e.e. cummings refers to this in his poem, anyone lived in a pretty how town: “children guessed (but only a few, and down they forgot as up they grew…)”.

Many adults dismiss less obvious experiences, hoping instead for a big encounter like finding a glowing parental ghost sitting on their front porch. However, most people don’t regularly experience psychic intuitions in this manner. It may be difficult to live our everyday lives and fulfil our missions on Earth if we consistently see spirits, hear ethereal voices, or take on the feelings of another. Instead, we are more often blessed with the gift of smaller synchronicities and subtle responses to our questions. Part of our spiritual growth is learning to look for, recognise, and embrace each of these gifts, large and small.

The Deeper Dive – Discussion and Self-Reflection Questions

• Have you ever had a psychic experience which was later confirmed?

• How can we encourage children to embrace their natural psychic gifts?

• Can you share examples of subtle psychic intuitions you have experienced?

• Have you ever had a subtle psychic experience that became a larger revelation or growth?

• How do you develop your psychic abilities?

Quick Reference Guide

BRAIN

A tool for informed decision making, which includes intuition.

BRAIN is a great tool to use for informed decision making. Using this process allows you to combine data (information) with intuition. When using BRAIN, you consider each of the below components before making an informed decision.

SPIRITUAL TRAPS

Spiritual discernment is the ability to determine the truth from deception or what is real from what isn’t real. When developing spiritual discernment and growing in one’s spirituality, there are many traps one can fall into. A list of ten traps follows:

10 SPIRITUAL TRAPS

• Ego – This includes attachment to one’s spiritual experiences and thinking one is superior because of particular experiences or spiritual training.

• Judgment – Judging another’s selected path as not right or not as good as yours.

• Group Think – Believing what others do, simply because they are a part of a spiritual community.

• Spiritual Dependence – Needing a teacher or guru to tell you what is right, true, or how to think about a particular topic.

• Road Race Spirituality – Believing you can take a fast and easy road to spiritual growth.

• Spiritual Bypassing – Avoiding both deep self-realization and completing inner work.

• Spiritual Fads – Dabbling in each of the latest trends to be fashionable.

• Over-Espousing – Not respecting boundaries and attempting to help someone who doesn’t want help or isn’t ready for it.

• Spiritual Materialism – Buying every new book, course, or product as a quick fix or a quick route to enlightenment.

• External Focus – Relying solely on external means for spiritual growth, instead of looking inward.

Note that this list is not comprehensive; there are many other traps one can fall into when developing their spirituality and discernment.

We all fall into one or more of these traps at one time or another. Keeping balance and moderation in mind is important. For example, it can be helpful to buy a new spiritual book or use a teacher or guru, but it is ideal to do so while balancing the external and internal to avoid becoming overly reliant on external sources. Spiritual growth is about finding balance and sovereignty.