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Please see a breakdown of how one may approach the question...

  • 'Knowings' in this sense has not been influenced by external stimulus. One can know things about our environment using the six senses as a substrate between the seeming reality out there and the seeming mind in here. However, one can also have a knowing that occurs apparently separate from this process.

  • Intuition in the question here refers to an instinctual awareness that something is so but interestingly the intuition hasn't arisen through the conventional methods of learning; there has been no previous auto-suggestion.

The knowing itself is the knowing of rebirth. It has been something I've steered well clear of but, suddenly, there was the clear knowing that rebirth is so.

Thus the conflict occurs - if I have relied on my six senses all my life to know things, how could I know rebirth to be so?

What on earth is 'Mind'??? Where is Mind'??? (Rhetorical questions but if you're feeling cognitively malleable then feel free to answer these also!)

  • Why do you need to do something with it? – user3169 Sep 21 '18 at 04:34
  • Because Buddha had these intuitive events and he gained knowledge from them. As I currently understand, it is beyond my capacity to try and comprehend this stuff. –  Sep 21 '18 at 06:28
  • I somehow doubt that one could know the truth of rebirth and not know the nature of Mind but perhaps I'm wrong about this. Either way the only answer for 'what is mind' would be apperception and 'being'. 'Where is mind' would be easier since it is clearly nowhere. You talk of intuition but this not usually considered knowledge, albeit it may be an intimation of knowledge. . –  Sep 22 '18 at 11:58
  • Grab the book Thinking Fast and Slow and have a read. Basically intuition is nothing but pattern recognition (according to the book) – Ravindranath Akila Nov 06 '18 at 14:19

4 Answers4

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Knowing is not dependent upon the external senses, otherwise, how would you know that you have dropped the senses in 2nd Jhana? How would you know the 3rd and 4th Jhanas? Now to answer your question about what is mind. Mind is created or produced by that-which-flows. That-which-flows is the activity of the unborn. Do not think that the unborn is static. It is not, but mind cannot access it. Knowing of the unborn comes by that-which-flows. A glimpse of that-which-flows is the attainment of Sotopanna. Realizing that-which-flows is the fulfillment of Sotopanna (obtaining the fruits thereof). This realization is often called self-realization (not of the ego self). Self-realization is beyond mind. It is the “turning in consciousness” spoken of in the suttas. Consciousness is changed when this realization happens. The first three fetters are dropped and you are never the same.

Dr. Robert
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  • It’s a good question user14082. Although I gave the answer to your question of “what is mind”, I see that you have not received a direct answer yet to the relationship between knowing and intuition. Let me say that intuition is not of the mind, but knowing is. Maybe that’s enough to get you on the right track. – Dr. Robert Jul 09 '20 at 00:58
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This is the question for a genius people who has photographic memory, it's not for an ordinary people, so be careful for reading various answer which some never understood the genius's mind.

At Pa-Auk Tawya, they manage and develop the strong intuition knowing in the tipitaka-pali systematically.

They meditate all kinds of meditations follow tipitaka and the path of purification to manage and train strong intuition knowing and it's photographic into entire real process because some (good) ordinary people can get the strong intuition knowing but they don't know how to understand the entire process and they can't create the methods to manage them all to get out of the suffering completely.

The methods to manage and train the strong intuition were taught by the Buddha in Tipitaka. That's why the Tipitaka Memorizer, Pa-Auk Tawya, use Tipitaka to manage and train them.

That's the answer of "what can can one do with knowings that occur from strong intuition".

Bonn
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In the tradition I follow, if I understand my teachers correctly, the best thing to do is to leave it as it is.

If that feels inaccessible at the moment, you can try just resting in the knowing. Allow your confidence in the path to increase based on your own direct experience.

Another thing you can do is use it as a support for practice; for example, to turn your mind to look at itself. (You seem to already be doing this.)

Lastly, it is also possible to develop this intuitive sense, and different traditions have different methods for doing that, but it is not necessary to go down that road unless it particularly appeals to you.

Try not to get hung up on any of these things, but if you must, here’s an article that might help:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43300365

Fig
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'Knowings' in this sense has not been influenced by external stimulus. One can know things about our environment using the six senses as a substrate between the seeming reality out there and the seeming mind in here.

There five external senses rather than six.

However, one can also have a knowing that occurs apparently separate from this process.

There is no knowing apart from the six senses.

Intuition in the question here refers to an instinctual awareness that something is so but interestingly the intuition hasn't arisen through the conventional methods of learning; there has been no previous auto-suggestion.

A living organism has a nervous system that functions based on feelings (of pleasure and pain) and underlying tendencies (such as survival instinct & fear). Often "intuition" is based in fear of the unknown; which gives rise to a certain sense of "caution". Since life is full of unpredictable & impermanent events, often the sense of cautious intuition seems valid (even though its validity is actually only due to the probability that most worldly scenarios won't be successful).

The knowing itself is the knowing of rebirth. It has been something I've steered well clear of but, suddenly, there was the clear knowing that rebirth is so.

There is no evidence for such thing as "rebirth". "Rebirth" ideas arises from the fear I mentioned above; the fear of the "self" or "ego" not wanting to die.

Note: In the Buddhist suttas, the word "rebirth" refers to the future results that occur due to past actions. For example, killing leading to rebirth in "hell" (trauma; prison; regret; etc). "Rebirth" is not the intuition you existed before due to fear of "ego-death".

As I already posted, people practise meditation and then the ego does not want to die. Therefore, the mind, due to fear, starts creating ideas of past & future existence.

Thus the conflict occurs - if I have relied on my six senses all my life to know things, how could I know rebirth to be so?

Ideas of rebirth are mental thoughts and objects. They are known by the 6th sense; similar to how dreams in sleep are known by the 6th sense. Dreams at night show how creative and imaginative the mind can be.

What on earth is 'Mind'??? Where is Mind'??? (Rhetorical questions but if you're feeling cognitively malleable then feel free to answer these also!)

The above question falls outside of the scope of Buddhism. Buddhism says there is mind and, to be free from suffering, mind must not be clung to as "I", "me" or "mine". Buddhism is only about ending suffering.

Dhamma Dhatu
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  • Thank you for correcting my mistake of the senses. Thank you also for the very detailed response. You've made some assumptions about how the knowing of rebirth occured but that would be due to the lack of information I provided. There is an important message in your answer though: fear arising from the cessation of the imagined concept of me. That's very intriguing and I should perhaps let go of this. Thank you. :-) –  Sep 21 '18 at 06:23
  • @Dhammadatu Sir, If there's no rebirth/reappearance do everything end with death? If so, Ajita Kesakambali had the very same idea; "Bāle ca paṇḍite ca kāyassa bhedā ucchijjanti vinassanti, na honti paraṃ maraṇā’ti." – Damith Feb 27 '19 at 04:50
  • This comment shows no understand of Dhamma; similar to Vacchagotta. This is because of lust for eternalism. – Dhamma Dhatu Feb 27 '19 at 05:44