Ages
ago, in some of the oldest writings in the world (Tamil literature, the Tolkāppiyam),
there were 6 senses, not 5. The 5 senses through which we receive impressions
all flow into the biggest “impression-producer” on Earth – our own minds.
So the
five senses put data in, and the amalgamation and processing of that
information is the “sixth sense”. The sixth sense is the Mind. This is in line
with the different Chittas as described in Vedic philosophy, “chit”
being “consciousness” or “memory bank”. For us humans, five fingers make up a
hand, and remember we have to oppose the fingers with the thumb for the hand to work. And the five senses come together to produce the mind, and by controlling the five senses with our mind it becomes our “hand” for touching and dealing with the world.
On
this blog promoting “Self-Awareness” we have to reject the commonplace “sixth
sense” as some kind of paranormal or extrasensory perception. It is a
misnomer and just a convenience term for strange sensations… "um, ’six’ comes
after ‘five’, and we have five senses according to traditional teachings, so
anything we can’t explain should be, um, the ‘sixth sense’, right?” Well, no.
It’s not that simple…
I
maintain along with the Tamils, the Buddhists, the Yogis and others from
Asiatic traditions that the five external sensory inputs fall upon data
already inputted in the past – experiences, memories, idiosyncrasies, conditioning
and programming already present in the mind – and this in turn gives rise to
the “sixth sense organ” of the actual mind that processes these inputs,
consciously or unconsciously. This is why we can “see” without seeing, “observe”
without observing, or why suddenly we “notice” something special when we had
always looked without actually “seeing” – producing a surprising kind of aliveness.
Of
course not everyone can fathom this. It takes a degree of Self-Awareness
to observe and confirm this, in oneself and others. Take any common example:
you know a person, and this person has a set of beliefs, described in so many
words. If you say a specific phrase contrary to these beliefs, there will be an
adverse reaction in that person’s mind. Repeat the experiment, and the person
will react in the same way, regardless of your intentions, arguments or explanations. Opinions
are fixations of the mind-stuff. The word simply triggers the reaction, a set
of mind patterns. Or in oneself: I have a set of tendencies, and when I myself try
to change these tendencies and put myself in a different position or situation,
I encounter friction in my own mind and either have to give way, or make a
greater effort of will by being aware of this and forcing myself to change my usual
posture.
So
on minimal levels of Self-Awareness, our minds are us and we just
react; we are our minds, and our supposed “willpower” can do
nothing about it. Consciousness is trapped in the actual mental reaction,
produced by thought and reinforced by emotion, and we are completely identified
with that. When this happens, we can wreak havoc upon others to defend our
“mental” position, or what we call our outlook or opinion. Isn’t the world full
of vehemently defended “opinions”?
Self-Awareness, on the other
hand, provides the tool for observing both the 5 inputs from the senses, and
the reactions to these inputs in the mind itself, the “sense” or “nonsense”
being made of the 5 raw materials being supplied. Because, unlike low-level
awareness where consciousness is trapped in a thought, standing apart from the
mind with Self-Awareness allows us to witness this “sixth sense” of our
own mind’s reactions. Test it and see.
I
have found an interesting symbol for this and will now continue with various descriptions of
this very curious invention dating from the 12th century… More soon.
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