The Sixth Sense

Photo Credit: Intuitive Counsellor and Tarot Reader

 

The Sixth Sense

Sixth sense, or subtle perception ability, is our ability to perceive the subtle-dimension or the unseen world of angels, ghosts, heaven etc. It also includes our ability to understand the subtle cause and effect relationships behind many events, which are beyond the understanding of the intellect. Extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance, premonition, intuition, all are synonymous with the sixth sense or subtle perception ability.

We perceive the gross or seen world through the five physical senses (i.e. smell, taste, sight, touch and sound), our mind (our feelings), and our intellect (decision making capacity). When it comes to the unseen world or the subtle-world, we perceive it through the five subtle-senses, the subtle-mind and the subtle-intellect – this is what is known as our sixth sense. When the sixth sense is developed or activated, it helps us to experience the subtle-world or subtle-dimension. This experience of the subtle-world is also known as a ‘spiritual experience’.

Thus, we are able to perceive them in the order of the Absolute Earth (Pruthvī), Water (Āpa), Fire (Tēj), Air (Vāyu) and Ether (Ākāsh) elements through our subtle-sense of smell, taste, vision, touch and sound respectively. When our sixth sense gets activated, we begin to perceive these Absolute Cosmic Principles progressively, beginning from the most gross to the most subtle. In the past thirteen years or so of regular meditation getting rose, sandalwood, jasmine, havan fragrance has been regular. This happens through the subtle-sense of smell. I have also felt the subtle-sense of touch with a hand caressing me, sense of cold droplets of water falling on the body without any source for the water or actual water being there, vision of a potential accident which comes as a life saver, being protected by a shield of air as smoke from a holy fire rushed towards my eyes, hearing the universal sound once when wide awake and once when deep in meditation.

The subtle-world is all around us. However, we cannot perceive this world. Even though we cannot perceive the subtle-world, it impacts our lives to a great extent. In order to tune into this world, we need a ‘spiritual antenna’, i.e. our sixth sense needs to be awakened. Our sixth sense grows when we do spiritual practice. With regular spiritual practice under the guidance of a realised Master, we increase our spiritual level and are able to perceive and experience the subtle-world to greater degrees.

This is akin to a television set that gives a black and white speckled blur when it is not connected to an antenna. Even if the television station is transmitting signals, the television set cannot catch them until it is connected to an antenna. In the same way, the subtle-world and God’s presence is constantly around us, but we do not perceive it until we start doing spiritual practice, which in turn enables our sixth sense.