Why Unresolved Problems Block Intuition
Intuition arrives from the superconscious mind by passing through the subconscious, so every problem you leave unresolved clutters that floor and blocks the intuition from reaching you.
Dandapani explains why he resolves problems quickly, using the three states of mind: an unresolved argument moves from the conscious mind into the subconscious, and a cluttered subconscious stops intuition from coming through. He gives the monastery's rule of settling arguments before bed, and then lays out how to clear what is already stored there: focus first, then self-compassion, then choosing the one thing to resolve.
What this talk covers
- An unresolved argument lives in the conscious mind while it is happening, then registers in the subconscious once you walk away, and the more of these you accumulate the more cluttered that floor becomes.
- Intuition lives on the third floor and has to pass through the subconscious to reach the conscious mind, the way sunlight has to pass through the sky to reach the ground, so a cloudy subconscious lets nothing through.
- Monks aim to live intuitively rather than intellectually because intuition never guides them wrong, and most people avoid resolving problems because facing, owning and talking about them is uncomfortable.
- Arguing is fine, including with a spouse or business partner, as long as you set the guideline in advance that you will calm down separately and sit down to resolve it before the day ends.
- To clear what is already in the subconscious you need focus to hold your awareness there long enough to see it, self-compassion to accept yourself as a building still under construction, and then the willpower to work on the biggest thing you find.
I am a product of evolution. I am a building under construction. I'm not done yet.Dandapani
Questions
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Because of what you are carrying unresolved. Intuition comes from the superconscious mind and has to travel through the subconscious to reach you, and unresolved problems clutter that layer like clouds between the sun and the ground.
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In the monastery that was the one rule. Monks could argue as much as they liked, but they had to resolve it before they went to bed at night, sitting together under a mango tree until it was settled.
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First build focus, because you cannot see what is in there if you cannot sit quietly with your awareness held on it. Then look at yourself with extreme self-empathy, as a building under construction rather than a finished thing. Then identify the biggest thing in there that is pulling you away from your purpose, and work on that.
Transcript
1,110 words · 5:47
You said, problems are meant to be resolved as quickly as possible and not to be carried on gruelingly through life. Yes. Can you talk about this? Yeah. Going back to the three states of mind, if you and I had an argument and we don't resolve it,
we have it now in the conscious mind. And once we walk away, that problem gets registered in the subconscious, which is the second floor. We talked about the second floor. The more problems we have unresolved in the second floor, the more cluttered the second floor becomes.
The super conscious intuition lives in the third floor. For intuition to go to the conscious mind on the first floor where we can cognize it, it needs to go through the second floor. And if the second floor is cluttered, intuition can't come through.
So most people don't like to resolve problems because it involves facing it, accepting it, owning it, having a conversation about it, resolving it, and it's painful and uncomfortable. So as monks, our goal is to live more intuitively rather than intellectually
because our intuition never ever guides us wrong. And the more cluttered the second floor is with unresolved things from our past, it's harder for intuition to come through. A simple analogy would be this.
Imagine the sun as the third floor, the superconscious mind, the sky as the subconscious, and the ground, the earth as the conscious mind. In order for the sun's rays to hit the ground, it needs to go through the sky. If the sky is really cloudy, filled with unresolved clouds, rays of light don't get through.
If it's a clear sky, you get this beautiful sun rays. So the sky would be the subconscious mind. When it's filled with clouds and the rays of light coming from the super conscious mind never gets through. So the idea of resolving things as quickly as possible, especially before you go to
bed at night with a spouse is a great… The monks had that practice. So if monks had arguments, which my guru was totally fine with monks arguing with each other, the only rule in the monastery was that you had to go resolve it before you went to bed at night. So do you think you should fight when you're angry with someone?
You know, I think if it's with a partner, a spouse, even a business partner, relation, whatever it is, it's fine as long as you set up the guideline that lets, you know, we can have a heated argument, walk away, have a few hours by ourselves to calm down, But we will get together before the day ends and sit down and resolve this.
So in the monastery, there was a big mango tree with some seats under it, and that's where we would go and resolve the problems. When you see two monks sitting under the mango tree, they're resolving a problem. So if you had that rule, it's normal to have misunderstandings, even if you're a spiritual
person. So as long as you plan to resolve it, then you're not taking it to bed with you. How do you make the clouds move? How do you unclutter the second floor?
You resolve things in the day, but what about all the historical stuff that's already up there? What is the practice to see the sun again? You cannot see what's in the second floor if you cannot focus.
Because if I can't sit down quietly in a chair, not meditating, in a state of self-reflection, just looking inside of me, if I start to do this and after five seconds I go, what should I have for lunch? My phone ringing, should I answer that?
I had a text come in. Maybe he's trying to reach me. He was trying to reach me all day. I should really get back to him. And that's the conversation most people have. But if I can focus,
I can hold my awareness on my second floor long enough to see everything in my mind. That's the first step, focus. Focus allows you to see what's in there. The second step is having extreme levels of self-empathy and compassion, looking at yourself as a product of evolution. So the way I look at myself is I look at myself as a building under construction. If you've ever been
into construction site, you see rebar and concrete and broken glass, and you never complain because you go like, well, there's still building, there's shit lying everywhere, right? But if you go to Tiffany's and you see a broken glass, there'd be five people around it and say, oh, we're cleaning this up, don't come here, there's broken glass.
So when I look at myself and I see the mess in my second floor and the good parts, I go, this is me. I am a product of evolution. I am a building under construction.
I'm not done yet. still work being done, and I can accept that. I can own that. Now it takes all that pressure off me
to be something that I'm not. I can accept myself for who I am and where I am in my evolution. Now I identify what's the biggest thing in my subconscious
that I want to resolve, because the biggest thing that basically is influencing me in a way that's unaligning me from my purpose. So the willpower, bring it into your daily life.
Finish what you begin, the coffee cups, the shoes, clean your desk before you go home at night, put everything away. The focus, every time you speak with someone,
give them your undivided attention. Keep your ball of light on them. It drifts away, bring it back. It drifts away, bring it back.
And if you just practice this all day long, you become good at it. Now you have willpower and you have focus. You can start to reflect and identify
what's inside of you that you need to adjust. And if we don't do the work on ourselves, will never be the person we need to be to achieve what we want to be because we don't have those skills to match the goals we have.
Yeah, I really like that. I am the biggest obstacle in my life. Me too. To my business, to my relationships, and everything I do.
So I don't worry so much about fixing a lot of the external things. I need to fix me. And the more I fix me, the better I am at every part of my life.