The Sixth Sense: Trust your Gut?
I found when reading Kripal's Author's of the Impossible that many of the unexplainable circumstances that he examines as a possible sixth sense sounded very familiar. I too have found myself often in weird circumstances I assumed was a coincidence. As Kripal discussed in his story about the assassination of Robert Kennedy I have felt that some of these incidences would have to have been a hell of a coincidence to come to be. In his case Kripal notes that so many factors and elements would have had to have happened for him to 1) wake up so instantaneously 2) feel the urge to turn on the radio 3) have the radio one the exact station that tuned into California news, five minutes before Kennedy was shot. The circumstances are too bizarre and complex to simply be a coincidence. I have found myself in situations myself where this sort of "gut instinct" tells me I should do something a particular way or maybe opt out of something I should do for no obvious reason. "Trust your gut" is a common phrase in our culture and yet as Kripal pointed out we are unwilling to acknowledge this as a possibly real phenomenon.
I love your image. I wonder if there's something to our cultural "location" of these intuitive, sometimes eerie instinctive feelings and awareness in our bellies, our "gut." What do you think? Our guts are certainly sensitive to emotional stress, at least my gut is.
ReplyDeleteYour post reminds me of something we practice/believe in yoga with chakras. The solar plexus chakra is located in your stomach area and is known to be responsible for confidence and self-esteem, as well as helping you feel in control of your life. Do you think this is related?
ReplyDeleteWow Marissa! Your right, I had never thought of that connection before. I guess I had always considered the phrase "trust your gut" as an American saying referring to that pit like feeling in your gut when your doing something that maybe you shouldn't, and I guess the reason I didn't think of chakras was because I guess I've never thought of chakras as having a physical feeling. However the creation of these two concepts although different I feel must both be derived from that same sort of feeling or idea.
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