"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

 

Ancient Wisdom

“From the unreal lead me to the real!

From darkness lead me to light!

From death lead me to immortality!”

Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad

          Throughout human history, we have always known that there was more than one kind of intelligence and more than one way of knowing. This can be understood as two modes of consciousness—rational, and intuitive. They have most often been associated with science and religion respectively. In Chinese philosophy, this dual intelligence is represented by the now familiar yin/yang symbol—sometimes thought of as masculine and feminine ways of knowing. In the eastern religions, the intuitive, or yin side of the equation is held in equal regard to the rational/yang. In the Upanishads, these two ways of knowing are referred to as higher and lower knowledge—and unlike the western interpretation, the lower knowledge is associated with the sciences, and higher with spiritual awareness. Buddhists refer to ‘relative’ and ‘absolute’ knowledge, and to ‘conditional truth’ and ‘transcendental truth,’ with one being rational and the other being intuitive.

As we in the west recognize, science changes as we learn more; covid has taught us much in this department. This limited knowledge was recognized by the great human minds of the past: “I know that I know nothing,” (Socrates), and “Not knowing that one knows is best.” (Lao Tzu) Our scientific knowledge is incomplete and ever changing, but there are universal truths that transcend intellectual understanding and these we feel rather than think. (reference: The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, p.26-27; Shambala Press, 1975)

          Rational intelligence (scientific knowledge) resides in the realm of the intellect and gives us the ability to “discriminate, divide, compare, measure, and categorize.” (Capra, p. 27) It has been fundamental in helping us to manage our environment, stamp out killer diseases, and create machines that make our work easier to name just a few. Science has been invaluable in helping humanity to overcome many irrational fears and superstitions. It is characterized by linear thinking, and sequential categorization and has dominated our thinking and speaking. We have tended, on the other hand to denigrate intuitive knowledge as “woo-woo” and pseudoscience, which has led us to degrade the feminine in general, and therefore, to disrespect females. If a woman is highly intuitive, too often in western cultures she is regarded as a crazy eccentric, or worse, a dangerous witch.

          There is a balance to be gained by returning the feminine means of understanding to the equation. Of not fearing information that comes through intuition as somehow coming from the “dark side.” There is so much in the universe that our rational minds cannot yet explain, or even understand, yet we know them to be true. “The Eastern mystics repeatedly insist on the fact that the ultimate reality can never be an object of reasoning or of demonstratable knowledge. It can never be adequately described by words because it lies beyond the realms of the senses and of the intellect from which our words and concepts are derived.” (Capra, p. 29) As we know now because of brain mapping (science), it comes from a different part of the brain, and perhaps is a product of our ancestral and ancient heritage bequeathed through our genes.

          For me, both rational and intuitive are essential and equally valuable. We are only whole when we are fully capable of using both, of putting them together and allowing both to inform us. In Psalm 139; v. 14, David recognized the genius that created such a creature: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Now, it’s up to us to use all the abilities that the God has given us to create a better world.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane