Senses of the heart
Most people agree there are five primary physical senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing and seeing, or kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory, auditory and visual, to use more scientific words. Other senses are less well known or agreed upon, such as the sense of balance, temperature, and proprioception (relative position of body parts), to name a few. We have developed the five physical senses to navigate our seen world and stay safe from danger. As useful as our physical senses are, they also create a false perception that what we experience with our five physical senses is real. Because this false
perception is so useful, our mind makes a logical deduction that if we cannot experience it, it is not real. In actuality, we have flipped the lens: what is real is what we cannot experience with the five physical senses and what we experience with the five physical senses is not real. Our brain organizes our experience with the outside world in a way that makes sense to us, masking over the reality.
For example, our vision creates the perception of color. If we see the grass as green, what we are actually registering in our mind is the reflection of the band of light we have labeled green onto the rods and cones in our eyeballs. This means the grass we see as green is every other color combined except green. All other colors are absorbed into the plant we call grass and the particular wavelength we call green bounces off and registers on our visual apparatus. Another example of how our mind processes visual data is that the lens in our eye flips the image of anything in the world so it hits the back of our eye upside down. It is our mind that interprets this data as right side up.
Just as our five primary physical senses help us navigate the physical world, we have five primary spiritual senses that help us to navigate the spiritual world. For many, these senses have atrophied from lack of use. Just like a muscle, if they are used and practiced, they become stronger and are able to help us navigate the spiritual world, the unseen world.
Discernment is the ability to know what will feed our spirit and what will drain our spirit. Using discernment is practicing the “spiritual smell test,” knowing instantly if something is off with the situation we encounter without knowing the specifics of what is off or unhealthy for us. Discernment gives us the efficiency of making decisions quickly without having to analyze or examine the choice. It is what we generally call intuition and is the gateway to living in our heart.
Connection dissolves the artificial boundaries we create in the physical world. It is the ability to merge with other collections of energy, whether in the seen world manifesting as plant, animal or mineral, or in the unseen world as energies or entities. Connection as one of the spiritual senses transcends time and space, neither of which are present or needed when the spiritual sense of connection is activated. Connection creates the ekstasis experience of knowing that all of Consciousness, both manifested and unmanifested is immediately and eternally available to experience.
Awe is a direct experience of the fabric of the universe manifested by Consciousness. It is seeing the world as it really is rather than as our physical visual apparatus perceives it. Awe has the effect of catching your breath when you see the majesty of a mountain, the grandeur of a vista, or the expansiveness of the ocean. It is the moment of recognizing one’s physical insignificance in the manifested existence. Awe creates the ekstasis experience of needing a microscope to see oneself in the universe.
Surrender is fully embracing the receiving mode, becoming an empty vessel to be filled by the energy of Consciousness. It is listening to the still, small voice within, which is often not a voice at all, but an instant knowing or comprehending of a spiritual Truth. Surrender is encapsulated in the Psalm “Be still and know that I AM God.” Psalms 46:10. It is shifting into the being mode, rather than the doing mode.
Gratitude arises from ingesting the relationship we have with the world and the resulting rise of a feeling of being cared for and loved. Gratitude is cultivated by looking for, and focusing on, the ways that our existence is supported by Consciousness. It arises out of a sense of abundance, feeling that the manifested world is brimming with resources readily available for our unfolding and support. Gratitude comes from satisfaction of our spiritual needs.
While all of the heart’s senses can be developed and experienced independently of one another, there is a general progression of heart sense experiences. Discernment helps us find and know Consciousness, so discernment precedes connection. Connection helps us feel a part of something bigger, so connection precedes awe. Awe helps us feel our disconnected individual power as miniscule compared to the power of Consciousness, so awe precedes surrender. Surrender helps us feel the power flowing through us to manifest in our physical life, so surrender precedes gratitude. Gratitude helps us recognize all our needs are being met, creating a sense of abundance which leads us to discern what is right for us, knowing that we are always loved and supported, so gratitude precedes discernment. This progression creates a virtuous cycle, expanding upon itself as human consciousness moves higher and higher toward Consciousness.
This is part 1 of a 6-part series. I would love your feedback and comments. You can either post comments on my website blog page by clicking here, or email me at the email address below.
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May your path be filled with health, joy, clarity, and Love! Tom