We use our five senses to experience and make sense of the world around us. The information received via our senses must be, however, processed by our minds for us to be able to interpret the data. Thus, a sick, distorted mind would also result in sick, distorted interpretations of the world. A healthy, capable mind, on the other hand, is able to not only correctly interpret the data, but also to make connections between different types of data that the different senses relay. Hence the saying “mind over matter.”

The method of making those connections is often referred to as “intuition” or the “sixth sense.” From actual science, we know that by withdrawing one or more senses, we are able to increase the capabilities of the others. This is one of the tools of yoga - pratyahara. Now, the goal is not to withdraw all senses, forever, and to live in a deep, dark, quiet cave for the rest of our lives. But going into that cave, and staying there, from time to time, can be incredibly useful. Through that sixth sense is how you can really learn about yourself, and the world as we know it. Overwhelming those five senses can work in the exact opposite way, however, which is why I think cities as they exist today cannot really be the places for human flourishing.

Embrace the senses, but be wary of them. Train your sixth sense. Then, “mind over matter” can become “mind with the matter.”

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#philosophy #yoga #tunestr