“The intuitive mind is a divine gift, and the rational mind is its faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” – A. Einstein

“You have to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.” – I. Asimov

• • Have you ever run into someone you hadn’t seen in a long time, right after you happened to think of them just a few minutes earlier?
  • Have you ever randomly opened a book or a newspaper and found exactly the information you needed at that moment?
  • And haven’t you ever been struck by a phrase or an unusual expression, only to hear it repeated several times throughout the day in completely different situations?
  • Has it ever happened that someone paid back a debt you had forgotten about just when you needed it?
  • Or that you discovered the solution to a problem while chatting with a stranger while waiting for the tram?
  • And how many changes and important decisions have occurred in the course of your life because of small, seemingly random events?

If, as I believe, this has happened to you and you’ve been struck by it, then you’re ready to learn how to harness

THE POWER OF COINCIDENCES.

Before continuing, a preliminary remark is in order. It has been said that the purpose of knowledge is not heuristic but hedonistic; in other words, when we find an explanation for a phenomenon, we do not so much seek to establish a “truth” as to find a coherent model that satisfies our need for an explanation of the observed phenomenon.
For example, any schoolchild in ancient Greece “knew” that lightning was the expression of Zeus’s wrath, while any contemporary schoolchild “knows” that it is the product of electrically charged clouds.
Now, frankly, I don’t see a big difference between the two models, since both serve perfectly well to provide us with an explanation for a given phenomenon; above all, neither of them changes the fact that if I’m struck by lightning, I’ll be incinerated.

I say this because whenever we tackle a “borderline” topic, it is quite easy to fall into two opposing but extremely common errors: one is that of excessive skepticism, which leads us to deny everything we cannot analyze and measure, and to dismiss it as superstition of the past; the other is to uncritically believe all the nonsense that fills the pages of newspapers on parapsychology, UFOs, seers, etc.

Jung and the Idea of Synchronicity

The phenomenon of coincidences has been thoroughly analyzed by the psychologist Carl Jung, who called “synchronicity” the relationship between two events linked by meaning but not by a cause-and-effect connection.
Like any other phenomenon, synchronicity can be explained based on the belief system and worldview that each of us holds—that is, in probabilistic, mystical, rational, psychoanalytic, historical, mechanical, religious, and other terms.

A comprehensive analysis that satisfies all these perspectives would obviously require far more space than a newspaper article, and once again would serve only to satisfy our need to find an explanation; it seems far more interesting to me to find an answer to two questions:

1) Is there such a thing as a “meaningful coincidence”?
2) If it exists, can we find a way to make use of it?

For most scientists, the answer is obviously no. Experiences of this kind, though strange and recurring, are nothing more than a normal expression of chance, a creation—neither divine nor mystical—of what is possible. Ignorance of the laws of nature, they say, makes us fall prey to superstitious beliefs, inventing supernatural causes where none exist at all. In fact, they continue, the occasional manifestation of what is rare and improbable in everyday life is not only possible but, in fact, inevitable.

But sometimes the coincidences that happen to us are truly too powerful, too orderly to be the product of chance, no matter how much we want to stretch its meaning. So how do we explain them?

The Limits of Pure Rationalism

In fact, what our hardline rationalist scientists seem to completely ignore are precisely the discoveries of twentieth-century physics, and above all the latest frontiers of quantum mechanics, fractal geometry, and chaos theory, which demonstrate to us that space and time are relative concepts, that the observer influences the observed, that there are precise limits to what can be known through the classical scientific method, and above all, that the classical laws of cause and effect operate only at the most obvious and superficial level.

At a deeper level, recent research is beginning to demonstrate what mystics of all religions have taught us for millennia: everything that exists in the Universe—atoms, cells, molecules, plants, animals, humans—does not exist independently, but participates in a dynamic network of interconnections whose significance we are only now beginning to glimpse. Since I do not have the space to delve deeper into this issue, I refer interested readers to Fritjof Capra’s extraordinary book, *The Tao of Physics*, and to the equally enlightening *The Dance of the Wu-Li Masters* by G. Zukav (both world-renowned scientists).

Meaningful Coincidences

Let’s return to our question: do coincidences have meaning?

If, as everything seems to demonstrate in spite of the skeptics, the answer is “yes,” then we must be ready to make a complete paradigm shift in the way we view the world.
We must, in other words, be ready to admit that events are not random, but that they follow a preordained design that is up to us to discover and utilize.
I will, of course, leave it up to each of you to answer the question “Who determines coincidences?” as you see fit: God, karma, the collective unconscious, luck, fate,…

What is important to realize is that:

a) coincidences exist;
b) they contain a message;
c) this message must be decoded;
d) recognizing and understanding them depends on our mental state.

From here on, I’ll refrain from further explanations, and I simply ask you to try verifying what I’m saying in practice, reiterating that results can only come on an intuitive level and with an open and receptive state of mind.

Is the Universe Trying to Tell Us Something?

So, the next time we encounter a coincidence that surprises us, instead of shrugging it off or thinking about paranormal phenomena, we can ask ourselves: “Is the universe trying to tell me something?” “Why did this happen?” “Is there a message I need to understand?”
And, with the utmost openness, let’s try to listen to the answers coming from our intuitive mind: the result will likely surprise you.

But if this works so extraordinarily well—as I hope you’ll have the chance to verify—then we can’t avoid the next question: do only the most striking coincidences hold a message for us? Or are we, in fact, constantly inundated with messages of this kind, which only our own obtuseness prevents us from recognizing and understanding?
Could it be that everything that has always seemed trivial and random to us actually hides much more?

If you’re still reading, and what I’m saying seems to make sense to you, then perhaps you’re ready to take a further step that could completely change your relationships with others: “Could it be, by any chance, that every person we meet is in fact a ‘coincidence’?”

Every Encounter Carries a Message

Please pay attention, because the paradigm shift in this case is truly massive and fundamental: if nothing is random, then EVERY PERSON WE MEET HAS A MESSAGE FOR US.

The next time we meet someone, instead of the usual small talk full of platitudes and clichés, let’s try listening with the right attitude to see if they have something to tell us: you’ll be the first to be amazed at how much richness and potential there is in our fellow human beings, if only we’re willing to accept it.
Some might say you can’t talk to every stranger, and that’s true. Besides telling you that, if you’re willing to accept this perspective, you’ll very quickly develop the sensitivity to understand when it’s appropriate to do so and when it isn’t, I can give you a couple of suggestions for understanding when it’s worth seeking contact:

a) when you happen to make a fleeting eye contact
b) when you feel like you recognize someone you’ve never seen before
c) when you encounter the same person multiple times

It is very likely that at first you will not be able to immediately and clearly understand the message sent by that person, but if you persevere, the results will not be long in coming.

Learning to Recognize Patterns

The other question we asked ourselves was whether and how it was possible to use coincidences for practical purposes.
For this, I suggest a simple exercise:

1) Retreat to a quiet place for a few minutes and try to enter a state of mental calm
2) Define and express your question or desire as precisely as possible
3) Do not worry about the “how”
4) Return to your daily activities, but observe what happens to you with an attitude of faith and openness.
5) If you do not disrupt the process with anxiety or fear, the answers and results will come more quickly than you ever thought possible

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the desired results on your first few tries.
The mental process, which is easy to describe in words, is much harder to properly translate into reality. In this case, too, it’s a matter of “training,” of practice.
Gradually, you’ll discover that certain events seem to occur precisely to lead you to your desired destination. You will discover that often an apparently disastrous event hides a message essential to your success, that seemingly adverse events and situations can become landmarks on the path of personal evolution.

********************

I hope I haven’t pushed your belief system too far: in the last issue, I took the liberty of suggesting that each of us has a mission to fulfill, one that must be discovered; this time, I added that the universe provides us with all the means to carry it out, if only we know how to look and listen in the right way.
I’d like to offer more examples, suggestions, and explanations, but space doesn’t allow it: I hope I’ve stimulated your intuitive mind enough to make them unnecessary.
Good luck with your work and… happy coincidences.