Chapter One
Frontiers of the Mind
Intuition, Intelligence, and Your Future

Enter the Zombie

One recent strain of thought in cognitive science maintains that we are not really conscious, and that there is no such thing as free will. We think we have choices, but it’s all a delusion. We are really just zombies.

These cognitive scientists have gotten it all wrong. Free will is the absolute essence of human consciousness. However, in a sense we have become a bunch of zombies. Yet the zombie state is not innate to humanity. It’s just that we have forgotten how to think, and especially how to feel, and other zombies keep telling us not to think about anything too important or to feel anything too deeply. Last time I checked, zombies were not usually too good at teaching anyone how to live and think. And just quietly, don’t ever tell a zombie that he’s a zombie. Zombies get offended, and the next thing you know, they want your brain. All these factors have created the zombie delusion.

What Is Integrated Intelligence?

Before we even begin to define integrated intelligence (INI), we should stop for a moment to ask what intelligence is. Intelligence is the mental ability that allows you to function successfully in a given situation. That’s about it, really. The fact is academics have been arguing about this for centuries and still can’t agree on much more than that.

It’s from this definition of intelligence that I define integrated intelligence as the ability to draw on the extended mind and all its intuitive capacities to function successfully and solve problems in your life. The extended mind, in turn, is consciousness that extends beyond the individual’s brain and connects us with spiritual realms. So, in a nutshell, integrated intelligence is using all the abilities of the mind, including the psychic, to live the life you want.

INI allows you to perform at least seven core mental functions.

Integrated Perception is the ability to sense the connections between and among things. Integrated perception includes the higher order enlightenment experiences where the individual’s sense of self expands beyond her immediate body.

Integrated Location is the capacity to sense where things are, without having prior information.

Integrated Diagnosis is the ability to intuitively find the cause of problems.

Integrated Recognition is being able to immediately know somebody or something without ever being told about them or it.

Foresense is when you sense what is going to happen in the future.

Integrated Evaluation involves being able to intuitively determine the wisdom or value of different options and choices.

Inspiration refers to creative knowledge and ideas that come to you from spiritual sources, not your conscious mind.

There are also two outcomes, which emerge from the successful application of INI.

Wisdom, which results from the capacity to use INI to create a life that is deeply meaningful and in alignment with your highest needs.

Transformation. This is a core shift, lifting you toward greater wisdom and intelligence and creating a higher level of consciousness. This causes a transformation of your entire being.

Where Integrated Intelligence Comes From

To speak in slightly simplistic terms, the knowledge in your mind arises from two sources. The first is mundane knowledge gleaned from life experience and the way your mind processes that experience. A lot is known and has been written about this in mainstream psychology. You can find out about it by opening any psychology textbook. The second source is beyond the brain, the home of the INI. This nonlocal mind incorporates several different sources of information. First there are the energy fields contained within each individual thing and the universe itself. The second source of transpersonal knowledge is the information that is given to you by Spirit.

Spirit will not grant you higher knowledge and power until you show you can handle it.

Spirit, in turn, consists of two channels of information. The first are spiritual entities, sometimes known as spirit guides, who have chosen to oversee part or all of your life and guide you through it. We all have them, although many people are completely unaware of this fact. The kind of information you are given by Spirit depends on your level of spiritual maturity and how much you need it. The second category of Spirit is the wisdom of the universe itself. Personally, I like to call this intelligence “God,” but this word has different meanings for different people. I tend to think of it in impersonal terms rather than the personal God of religious lore.

Now, even though the voice of Spirit is not in your immediate control, you can actively ask it for help. You can, and should, develop a relationship with Spirit. The more you actively seek out the assistance of Spirit, the more Spirit is able to work with you.

If you show that you are a person of wisdom, Spirit will repay you by giving you more knowledge and, by implication, more power. When I first began my spiritual journey, I met an Australian Aboriginal woman named Maria, who clarified this point for me. Maria was an intuitive counselor and a clairvoyant. Being young and naive, I sought her out for help. I have never forgotten what she told me. She said, “You will be given power by Spirit. But not yet.” I asked her why. She said, “Because you are not ready for it. If they gave it to you now, you might destroy it.” That was some seventeen years ago.

What she told me was true--for all of us. Spirit will not grant you higher knowledge and power until you show you are ready to work with the power in a responsible way. What you can do, regardless of where you are on your journey, is to work with Spirit in the only place you will find it--the here and now.