Problems Bared, Essays on Buddhism

36
nor perceived, which is not conceived or thought about, but which
is an immediate realisation, holding good only for that moment.
It is not quite what is understood in our present times by extrasensory
perception, on which much valuable research has been carried
out recently. For, clairvoyance is a kind of perception with an
object of cognition so widely different as to make any further comparison
impossible. Perhaps the simplest way of indicating their differences
is that clairvoyance perceives the external object although
not through the external senses; while intuition is aware of the inner
nature of the object of thought. Intuition is like the awareness of
beauty which is a harmonious combination of qualities which delight
the mind. Such harmony cannot be produced, for, apart from the
conditioning stimulus there must be the corresponding thrill to the
challenge which causes the awareness of beauty. Similarly, intuition
is an immediate apprehension by the mind without reasoning, an
apprehension which seizes the very nature of the object as it is; and
it knows that it is so beyond any doubt.
Such a momentary flash will indicate the direction for further
action, if action is necessary at all. For, such a moment of enlightenment,
arising out of doubt, may well illuminate the entire scene,
and thus show up the false deductions and conclusions, which were
built upon false premises and axioms.
It may be the revelation of a totally new approach, it may be the
dissolution of a problem, of all problems, because of its inherently
incoherent structure. And thus it may be the ending and cessation
of all conflict.
But doubt does not build up towards a projected goal. Doubt
has a negative approach, which at least is indecisive. It is the state
of an open mind, which it is so difficult to acquire. Our minds are
cluttered and confused with all the acquisitions, intended to fortify
the position of the “self”. And the cessation of such acquisition is
the first step to clear the view. This clearing, however, cannot be
done even by thousands of acts of renunciation, which only increase