Die Kraft der Intuition

Das TriAngel-Zentrum im oberbergischen Bergneustadt hatte die Gelegenheit, die renommierte amerikanische Psychologin Jean Houston zu interviewen. Die Bestsellerautorin von 17 Büchern wie „Der mögliche Mensch“ oder „Die Begeisterung für das Mögliche“ gilt zusammen mit ihrem 2008 verstorbenen Mann Robert Masters als Vorreiterin auf dem Gebiet der Persönlichkeitsentwicklung.

Mit ihrer New Yorker Foundation for Mind Research erforschten die beiden Wissenschaftler seit mehr als 40 Jahren die innere Welt der Menschen. Ihre Ergebnisse und Einsichten über die Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten von Körper, Psyche und Geist haben sie weltweit in unzähligen Seminaren weitergeben. Die wohl prominenteste Anerkennung für ihre Arbeit erfuhr das Paar in dem ihnen von John Lennon gewidmeten Lied „Mind Games“.
Derzeit berät Jean Houston die Vereinten Nationen und schult deren Mitarbeiter in einem von ihr entwickelten Programm. Das TriAngel-Zentrum sprach mit der Psychologin über die Bedeutung von Intuition für das Management.

TriAngel-Zentrum: Mrs. Houston, what is your understanding of intuition?

Dr. Jean Houston: It is the access to the vast knowledge coded into every man. Everyone of us is a product of evolution and therefore contains in his organism all the information of the world existence and even the prospect of the next step of development.

TriAngel-Zentrum: Can you explain that?

Houston: We all contain knowledge that goes far beyond our conscious personal experiences as man in this life. Look for example at our development from the early foetus to adulthood. We go in quick-motion through all stages of evolution from the amphibian to the modern man. The vast knowledge of evolution is coded in our genes and also as scientist have shown in our brain.

TriAngel-Zentrum: In what way?

Houston: Our brain has evolved in a hierachic fashion and consists today of three basic parts. The oldest part is called reptilian, which regulates our basic functions like hunger or sleep and is responsible for our habits. The next step in evolution was the limbic system or midbrain, which provides for the emotional momentum and development of relations. And the newest part of the brain is the neocortex which enables us to think, plan or invent things. To be intuitive we have to tap into the knowledge of all three parts of the brain and integrate them.

TriAngel-Zentrum: Why is that important?

Houston: Our environment is getting more and more complex. And the rational thinking of the neocortex alone is not capable of dealing with it and find new solutions. Creativity is only possible if we use our ability to look inward, gain insight into the feelings of others, have compassion, reflect upon us and dream of the possible. I made a study of fifty-five of the most creative people in America like the architect Buckminster Fuller, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, the chemist Linus Pauling or the bacteriologist Jonas Salk. They all had one important thing in common: They were each familiar with their interior world by delving into it and believed that its ideas and images could spark their projects.

TriAngel-Zentrum: Can that be trained?

Houston: Sure. Everybody is intuitive but most of us do not use their intuition consciously. They have to train that ability again.

TriAngel-Zentrum: What does that training look like?

Houston: To tap into the vast knowledge within us a whole mind, whole body approach is required. That means a training which addresses the whole person. I developed for the United Nations Staff such a programm which I called Social Artistry.

TriAngel-Zentrum: What do you do concretely?

Houston: In these workshops I simultaneously train with the participants the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual sides of their being. They for example learn a better feeling for their body, they sharpen all of their senses and they expand the functioning of their brains by experiencing different kind of states of consciousness through visualising. In past societies such training was usual.

TriAngel-Zentrum: With what result?

Houston: The people are much more sensible for themselves, others and their situation. They are open for new ideas, develop much more abilites, strengthen their memory or are more capable to make the right decision by solving problems in dreams. Moreover experiencing their inner world gives them more freedom and purpose in life.

TriAngel-Zentrum: Many management trainings still praise a specialising on certain techniques like NLP, body exercises or behavioral games. Is that the wrong way?

Houston:  These trainings are offered in terms of the intensity of the focus and the specialising. But as I said, to be intuitive involves the whole person. A social artist is therefore a master in all of his or her aspects and not only one. He is cooking on more burners and activates more capacities.

In dem Interview erklärte Jean Houston, dass sie für die Schulung der Intuition einen "positiven Weg" gewählt hat, der die Wahrnehmung der gesamten Fülle an inneren Bildern einschließlich mythischer Symbole und Sinneserfahrungen umfasst. Demgegenüber versucht der so genannte "negative Weg" etwa in Form der Zen- oder Transzendentalen Meditation Intuition über die Leere des Geistes zu erreichen. Beide Wege haben ihre Berechtigung. Sie führen zu einer Umstrukturierung der neurologischen Verbindungen im Gehirn, die jedem Einzelnen die Entwicklung seiner Potentiale eröffnet.