The domain of the sixth sense is non-physical. It lies in the dimension of abstraction. The sense organ that specializes in the sixth sense is the mind.
Yes… the mind is essentially a sense organ. It senses mental objects. The other five sense organs – eye, ear, nose, tongue, body – sense physical objects. The physical senses operate primarily at the level of physicality. The mental sense operates throughout the dimension of abstraction.
The sixth sense of mind underlies these five senses. It not only extends these five senses, as in imagination, but it also perceives purely abstract patterns and associations, as in mathematics and logic. Deeper in the dimension of abstraction we may find spirituality and the source of intuition that flowers into arts and sciences.
Abstraction is a dimension in its own right. It may be called ‘the fifth dimension.’ It adds to the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time. The upper limit of abstraction is physicality, which we perceive directly with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body. The lower limit of abstraction extends deep into spirituality, much of which is still unexplored.
Reality consists of what one perceives through the five physical senses. Reality is extended as one perceives the underlying patterns and associations.
Reality is the perception of physicality and of the abstraction beyond.
Sanity consists of seeing things as they are and not as they seem to be. Sanity is extended through an inherent sense of consistency found among objects and underlying patterns.
Sanity is seeing things as they are using an inherent sense of consistency.
This inherent sense of consistency is a major element of the sixth sense. Any time the direct perception and the inherent sense of consistency is violated, a bit of unreality and insanity creeps in.
Thus, reality and sanity arise from direct physical perception, and an inherent sense of consistency as one proceeds into abstraction. This is the level of science, mathematics and logic. The physical reality acts as the anchor to sanity.
The above gives us a clue to unreality and insanity. The worst of insanity is a psychotic break. This condition precipitates when the anchor of physical reality breaks away. The person is completely lost. Verbal communications no longer work. The possible remedy comes from somehow restoring contact with physical reality.
For a person suffering from psychosis, any exercise that systematically restores contact with physical objects through direct perception, is a powerful remedy.
I have documented such exercises at Mindfulness Therapy. Even a normal person may benefit from doing exercises that increase one’s contact with physicality.
In the normal course of activity, the best way to develop this sixth sense is seeing things as they are. It starts with physical objects but then extends into seeing mental objects as well, deep into the dimension of abstraction. The procedure for developing sixth sense is called mindfulness.
I hope that you enjoy developing and using your sixth sense.
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[For further details, please see: KHTK Mindfulness]
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Comments
Vin: Sanity consists of seeing things as they are and not as they seem to be.
Chris: I’ve been having a problem with the wording of this statement being so or to me seeming so tautological. But the world that I know more and more seems to be a set of processes, a set of values and abstractions, a set within a bubble and the reason that it seems to have edges or a surface or a skin is that when I send out inquiries into it, when I try to perceive it as you say as it is rather than as it seems, I get a ping back and that ping comes back as tautology. I know that is not very precise language so I will continue to work on it to make it clearer. And meanwhile, I will continue to also think about your admonishment to see things as they are and not as they seem to find a key to the inconsistency I sense there, as I said, tautology.
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The difference is in seeing with and without the filter.
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I very much like the mind as sense organ and of the dimension of abstraction. I think this is a useful model to represent how we perceive.
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Since we are on the sixth sense, I’d like to bring up the subject of our perception of motion.
Do you feel that the process going on whereby we abstract motion is what is there or what seems to be there?
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There are filters within. There are also filters without.
The sequence seems to be
(1) Take care of the filters within.
(2) Then take care of the filters without.
The world simply appears… layer by layer.
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Excellent article!
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Thanks Maria! 🙂
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The most basic capability is to see through inconsistencies and establish the inherent consistency. This is done best by using the dimension of abstraction. Science does it through the use of mathematics. That is how the theory of relativity came about.
“I” is basically a reference point. The sense of “I” gets strengthened by the sense of body, and of the set of considerations associated with it. Inconsistencies with “I” present themselves in the form of psychosomatics, compulsions, obsessions, inhibitions, etc.
We can use our sixth sense (the inherent sense of consistency) to sort out these inconsistencies with “I”.
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The mind is a computational appliance.
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The mind is primarily a sense organ. It perceives mental objects. When it can’t perceive directly it makes a conjecture and then searches for the mental object using abstract computations. This is the basis of the scientific method.
There is no computation for its own sake that may be called ‘consistent’. All consistent computation occurs in the context of the scientific method… forming a conjecture and then proceeding from there to discover the actual mental object.
All computational activity outside of the scientific method may be regarded as inconsistent.
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“I” = set of molecules + set of considerations.
It is an incorrect assumption that molecules and considerations are separate from each other. Hardware and software are intimately associated. Considerations are most probably made of the configuration of electrons in macromolecules, such as DNA.
So, when the body dies, the molecules get scattered and so does the considerations. There is no “I” that continues after death, only bits and pieces of it.
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Gradient scales are vitally necessary in the application of the sixth sense. The word “gradient” is meant to define lessening or increasing degrees of condition. The difference between one point on a graduated scale and another point could be as wide as the entire range of the scale itself, or it could be so tiny as to need the minutest discernment for its establishment.
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Good.
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If we drop the idea of thetan, then the resolving of inconsistencies would simply involve a gradual restructuring of the unwanted condition and the “I,” and in that process to gain the understanding of the exact flaw or error.
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You and I have long since dropped the idea of thetan. Time to move on from that.
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I am currently commenting on the CREATIVE PROCESSING technique of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course.
I think that there is much to be learned from that technique if we look at it without the filter of thetan.
See the section on “Creative Processing” in Scientology 8-8008.
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My bad, I thought we were discussing the sixth sense.
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To me the sixth sense is the sense of inherent consistency in the dimension of abstraction. We took out thetan because it seems to be arbitrary and inconsistent. It is a conjecture of Hubbard that cannot be force fitted when examining the procedures of Scientology that actually work.
Creative Processing must have worked to some degree, but later we don’t hear much about it from Hubbard. He probably put it aside because it did not fit with rest of his thought structure based on the idea of thetan.
I am exhuming and looking at Creative Processing without the idea of thetan to understand what can be salvaged from it.
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I am applying the sixth sense to Creative Processing, to understand it better without relying on Hubbard’s explanations.
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The inconsistencies to do with “I” are expressed as unwanted conditions. An insight into such unwanted condition may be gained by constructing situations in one’s imagination that involve that unwanted condition.
Such a construction of situation would be done in gradient steps. At each step one would explore the considerations involved. If there is a consideration that makes one feel uncomfortable then it may provide a clue.
One may then use much finer gradient in reconstructing the situation in the area where the uncomfortable consideration appears. Use the sixth sense to carefully check for consistency at each gradient step of reconstruction. This may lead to insight into that unwanted condition.
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Hubbard says, “In truth, all sensation which he believes to come from these masses of illusory energy known as the MEST universe, are first implanted through agreement upon what he is to perceive and then perceived again by himself, with the step hidden that he has extended his own sensation to be felt and perceived by himself. He is fully convinced that the MEST universe itself has sensation which it can deliver to him, whereas all the MEST universe has is an enforced agreement which though of no substance, yet by a gradient scale came to be an illusion which seems very masterful to a preclear.
Perception is part of what is there. Sensation is part of what is there. Answer to ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ will come by itself from fully recognizing what is there without assumptions.
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Here is my take on the CREATIVE PROCESSING of Philadelphia Doctorate Course.
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GOAL: To handle limitations because of “I”.
PROCESS: Develop the ability to create, change and destroy the illusion of “I”.
TECHNIQUE: Apply the principle of gradient and consistency to the concept of “I”.
(a) Start as broadly as possible with the concept of “I”.
(b) Subdivide the concept per the principle of gradient.
(c) Look at the details which now emerge with respect to the concept of “I” per the principle of consistency.
(d) Spot considerations that are relatively fixed, and any change to them makes one uncomfortable.
(e) Zoom into that aspect of “I”.
(f) Repeat steps (b) to (e).
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Here is the progression from my looking per creative processing:
• “I” is a concept that includes a set of molecules (the physical body), and a set of considerations (the spiritual body).
• Molecules and considerations are probably tied to each other like the hardware and software.
• Both molecules and considerations disperse at death. No “I” persists.
• At birth, bits and pieces of existing molecules and considerations may come together in new configuration to create a new “I”.
• It is the inconsistencies in the configuration of molecules and considerations, which make up the “I”, that show up as psychosomatics, compulsions, obsessions, inhibitions etc.
• Such inconsistencies may be sorted out by applying the principles of gradient and consistency.
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Is the mind able to change its agreements by itself? I think it may do so by using the principle of gradients along with the principle of inherent consistency.
We seem to be venturing into the laws that act in the dimension of abstraction.
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Perception is part of what is there. Sensation is part of what is there. Answer to ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ will come automatically when one fully recognizes what is there without assumptions.
This is mindfulness.
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Hubbard says, “To prove the reality and solidity of the MEST universe, the preclear could pound his fist upon a desk and demonstrate that his fist had met something. He is making again the error of implanting sensation and not knowing he has implanted it, for the fist which he pounds on the desk is a MEST universe fist consisting of MEST universe energy, which is itself a MEST universe agreement, and it is meeting a desk which is MEST universe; he is only demonstrating that when the MEST universe is perceived to impact upon the MEST universe, one can then implant a realistic impact and perceive it for his own wonderful edification. Reality, then, is a delusion because it is one’s own illusion which has been disowned by one and is then received by one as being another thing. Only by shedding all responsibility for one’s own energy can one fall into this covert trap. If one is unwilling to be responsible for energy, he is capable of using energy and then not perceiving that he uses it. One who blames others continually can be discovered to affect most of the things for which he is blaming other people. In such a way, an individual with the “very best MEST universe, Mark 10,000 ears” takes no responsibility for having implanted the sensation of sound in order to receive the sensation of sound.”
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The viewpoint of the universe that contains both Theta and MEST is saner than taking the viewpoint of either Theta or MEST. Certain perception is defined as solidity. Such definitions are part of reality.
Solidity is not illusion. Reality is not delusion. Blaming is simply the inability to see what is there.
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A person who is mindful simply perceives what is there. He is neither in agreement, nor out of agreement. “Agreement” may be the characteristic of the filter he is looking through, but even that dissolves as he practices mindfulness. Pure awareness comes from being mindful. You don’t need to tell him what he needs to be aware of.
The attention can spread broadly over a region, or it may focus itself to a point. Others may see the same thing that he sees simply because that is what is there, and not because of some “agreement.”
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According to Hubbard, the preclear is a person who is undergoing Scientology processing to clear himself of all unwanted conditions. With processing, the preclear moves toward the natural state of a thetan that is beyond matter, energy, space and time. A thetan is capable of controlling every aspect of the physical universe.
With Creative Processing the preclear would be able to operate with or without a body. He would be free of psychosomatics, compulsions, obsessions, and inhibitions. Furthermore his reaction time and intelligence will improve greatly.
These goals are still sold in Scientology, but, after decades of such promises, increasing disillusionment is becoming visible on a wide scale.
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In Creative Processing we get a glimpse of the genius of Hubbard. Mocking up (creating in one’s imagination) the unwanted condition is an interesting way of analyzing it in a very intimate way.
The principle of gradient scales is brilliant, and so is its application in discovering the mental elements that might be contributing to one’s unwanted condition.
The basic technique of Creative Processing is to create, alter and destroy the illusion of “I” (the thought that one is the body and the mind), and to reestablish the person as a thetan, which is the essential spiritual “individuality”.
Here is the deep fixation that we find in Hubbard’s thinking. Hubbard could not imagine the destruction of individuality as in “nirvana” of Buddhism. He could not conceive of a higher state than individuality as Buddha did. To Hubbard, the destruction of individuality meant that one would become an automaton in the nature of the physical universe. Thus, the goal of Scientology became the attainment of ultimate individuality as represented by the thetan.
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Yes, I think you’ve nailed an important and maybe the most important deviation in Hubbard’s spiritual path.
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Hubbard makes the excellent observation that a disability, or an unwanted condition, could be resolved effectively by addressing it in gradient steps. The person could be made to imagine a scenario involving the unwanted condition in small steps. Discomfort in imagining a step would then provide a clue as to what to imagine in greater detail.
One would then imagine that area of discomfort in smaller steps. One would continue with this technique until one must imagine the very core of that discomfort. One may then gain such an insight into the unwanted condition that the condition blows away completely.
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