Intuition is a state of perfection of mind. When your mind becomes one-pointed, when it can very easily discard what is not necessary, when it can retain what is very necessary and it remains one-pointed, is not disturbed over small matters, then it is called a perfect mind. When the mind becomes perfect and is properly disciplined, the performance of the mind is called intuition. Its performance will be more accurate and true and from this some kind of siddhis arise.
The Sanskrit word siddhi is generally understood as psychic power, but it does not mean that. The literal meaning of siddhi is perfection in any art, not only in yoga. You can attain perfection in pottery, painting or music – all that is called siddhi, perfection. Most people use the word siddhi for psychic power, because when the mind has become perfect its performances are sometimes very astounding. As the mind becomes more and more perfect and one-pointed, its performances are very great. Decisions are accurate and guidances are perfect; that is called intuition, pratibha.
Intuition has various stages. Just like a college consists of many degrees, intuition has many stages. Intuition is not just a point that you have arrived at. You have entered into the domain of intuition. The mind sometimes works on intuition, sometimes on intellect and sometimes the mind depends on instinct. Instinct, intellect and intuition are the three levels through which the mind works from time to time. Except the mind of a great yogi, all others, even if they are highly developed, does not always work on the basis of intuition. Their mind keeps climbing up and down, from intuition to intellect and instinct. Many of our behaviours are just by instinct. Sometimes we think with our intellect and sometimes it is spontaneous. Sometimes intuition also fails and that failure is disastrous. It has failed many good people and even great saints.
Intuition should never be used for material wellbeing. I am of this opinion. Whatever material wellbeing you want to attain use your intellect. You can make your buddhi more efficient to deal with the material problems of your firm, factory, business or family. Use your intellect. Intellect has enough capability to deal with the problems of the material side of society. For that you do not have to use intuition, because I tell you again the purpose of intuition is to reveal all those processes of the universe about which we have no link, trace and idea. We do not know how to search. If you want to decide whether man lives after death, how are you going to decide it? How are you going to decide if there is God? We have only read about it in books, maybe it is right, may be it is wrong.
How did Christ die? It was a tragic death. The deaths of Krishna and Rama were tragic deaths. Whether it is Christ, Rama or Krishna, they did violate some of the laws of nature because they were the masters of power. They should not have done it. They may have done it, but I am not going to do it in order to become popular. No! I will be popular by my intellectual attainments, not by my intuition. My intuition is my private property and I use it for myself and for my knowledge about those things which I do not get from books.
4 December 1985, Munger