The inner voice as a guide in decision making

The Inner Voice as a Guide in Making Decisions

Judit Hegedus

It is quite difficult to have the clarity of the inner voice strong enough for it to guide important decisions at will in our lives. Especially in times of crisis, it is difficult to even sense the presence of the inner voice. Often it seems all kinds of voices speak to us, from all kinds of directions. The definition of the inner voice can also be interesting as well as challenging: is it the Soul speaking to us? Is it the integrated personality intelligently guiding its vehicle on the physical plane? Where do we actually hear the inner voice – at the top of our head? In our hearts?

The inner voice is not what we refer to as “gut feeling” in our solar plexus. We have an old saying in Hungarian, according to which you cannot make a good decision unless you are blessed with the “presence of the Soul”. In English, the translation is normally “presence of mind” but the Hungarian language clearly states the presence of the Soul is required, not that of the mind. This is often used to describe good decisions made in grave, often life-and-death situations, where one cannot analyze all the available information to arrive at a decision, either because information isn’t available or there isn’t enough time to analyze. This would imply that the inner voice is a flash – it can be sensed or seen for a split second, and then it disappears. However, the presence of the inner voice can be longer: it should be cultivated in the background of our lives, always close to the surface, but rising above the surface and becoming visible at will, every time it is needed. It is like a reservoir to draw upon in our daily lives, not just to make seemingly important decisions.

This inner voice then signifies the presence of the Soul indeed – or to be more precise, a connection to the Soul itself. In the battle of the Soul to infuse the personality, lasting many lifetimes, this inner voice pulls us towards our Real (and better) selves, towards the world of Soul qualities like love and compassion. The inner voice can be a reminder to live those qualities on the physical plane. As the Soul impacts the personality, the presence of this inner voice can ebb and flow. With a speeding up of events on the physical plane comes a need to quiet down internally, on the subjective plane. Etheric stillness is always important but now probably even more so. Emotions often cloud the etheric body, decreasing its effectiveness. This is connected of course to the cleansing of the emotional body: a mental polarization held, a controlled thought life cleanses the astral body and also helps keep the etheric body clear.

The voice of the personality, not to be confused with the inner voice, also speaks to us, actually all the time: it wants to do things the way it has always done them, with a false security, going forward in an attempted linear fashion, usually not taking others into account, and always being fearful. This can often be experienced as a mental chatter, leading nowhere. There is no clear action forward, just fears, false hopes, maya. “Lead us from the Unreal to the Real” is very important and relevant. When we see ourselves as Souls and belonging to the One Humanity, the inner voice connected to the Soul can be heard in the mind – and it should also be acted upon, to connect the knowledge of the subjective reality with implementation on the physical plane. Everything we spiritually know, we should implement to shape the physical reality based on the spiritual reality, since the two are really One. If we accumulate lots of spiritual knowledge but implement very little on the physical plane, this is problematic, this just dissipates one’s energies with no result to speak of.

An important starting point to make the inner voice heard is the loving acceptance of one’s circumstances in life. As the psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli stated: “Many people are used to taking life, situations, people, too seriously; they tend to take everything tragically. To free themselves they should cultivate a looser, serene, more impersonal attitude. It's about learning to overlook the human comedy, without getting too emotionally involved in it; of considering the life of the world as a theatrical performance in which everyone plays their part. This should be recited in the best way possible, but without identifying completely with the character it impersonates." So much is packed into this quote, and so relevant for the inner voice.

The importance of detachment practiced in daily affairs helps lead to a controlled emotional body – a special task during our current times for all of us. Right identification is crucial: we should aim to identify with the Soul, always. Controlling out thoughts and mental polarization are really important. A lifetime of meditation, aspiration and service will help in achieving this. Integration of our experiences into a mental framework based on love, goodwill and group identification allows synthesis – cycling through experiences and creating ever bigger circles to include them. Synthesis on the mental level will reflect itself in unity on the physical plane – unity for Humankind and also a unity with all living beings. Another important element to keep the inner voice vitalized is an alignment of mind and heart. The fiery love from the heart needs to stay connected to the mind, the receiver of Soul impressions.

Whatever role we are assigned in any given life for the personality to play, we should aim to play the role well, with the help of the Soul. Rather than focusing on directly offsetting perceived karma, follow the inner voice where it leads us and gives us opportunities to practice Soul qualities. These opportunities can all work off karma as a by-product but the focus is on building the connection with the Soul. We don’t actually know where we are going since the starting point, the journey itself and the destination are things we cannot actually know, at least not intellectually. We need to stay invested in the process, not the outcome: the process is letting the Soul control its outer form, and implementing Soul qualities on the physical plane – like love and goodwill towards others. Practically speaking, when we hear the inner voice, we shouldn’t ask why or what it wants or how it fits into our current situation. It is speaking to us from the place of a Higher Purpose, from a place yet not knowable, but we are all on the path of eventually knowing it. The presence of the inner voice is proportionally connected to the extent we are able to keep the Light in the Head and our group identification.

Finally, group identification is necessary and this brings us back to synthesis a bit. Unless we see ourselves as part of the Greater Whole and as part of our groups, we cannot be effective in keeping the inner voice vitalized. Group identification is the One Reality, it enables us to see an ever-greater slice of the One World and shift our sense of self towards the Real.