Recipient or  Content?! Indeed the truth is that we  are not only  constituted of  a mortal physical  body with  five  senses that will  perish with  us  at  our  death, but that each of  us has also a soul or  energetic body, invisible but immortal. This invisible body has five  senses specific to its own world level; we can label this invisible world  by  the generic title  of  “sixth  sense,” in  order to  differentiate it  from  the five  physical senses. In  our  daily  lives, our  ordinary five  senses dominate. The senses of the soul that inhabit our body are automatically switched off  to  such an extent that we  even forget that we  have a soul, that we  are a  soul that temporarily inhabits a body. Yet, as soon as the soul leaves the body, as it  does when we  dream, and definitively when we  die, the five  senses of  the soul take over.  This  is  the invisible world  of  the soul, where we  shall all  go  someday, at the latest on  the day of  our death, our definitive departure from  this earth. Thus, during his  lifetime  on  earth, the  human being may  be  compared to  a bird  imprisoned in  a small cage. The bird  can stick its feet out between the bars in  order to  walk,  but the cage is  so narrow that its wings remain stuck to  its body. The bird  completely forgets that it has wings. It  even forgets that it  is  a  bird  and believes that it  is  the cage! A  moving cage with  an internal mechanism. This might sound amusing, but the soul is like  a bird that could fly  to infinite invisible worlds if  it  were not stuck in  the material, physical body, which is a cage. We believe ourselves to be this limited physical body, whereas we  are a soul-bird. The first goal of  Sufism is to  awaken the senses of  the soul, named the sixth sense, and a range of  other abilities related to  the soul or energy of  the  body. These abilities seem to  be  supernatural or miraculous if  you  remain within  the  reahn of  the  ordinary five senses, but they are the attributes of  those who master their enersetic bodies.

This is what we nlean by “personal development.” It  is a question of consciously controlling and giving life  to  the abilities of  the soul, while  we  inhabit our physical body. This requires long and sometimes dangerous training, but it  can be done if  one correctly follows an efficient teaching. In  antiquity, one of  the most irnportant spiritual places in  the Mediterranean was  the  temple at  Delphi,  seat of  the  celebrated Pythia oracle. There is  an inscription on the pediment, written in  classical Greek, with the following precept: “Know  yourself and you will  know the universe and you will  know  Godo and you will  become God.” Sufi  teaching has adopted this ancient maxim: by  developing his soul’s potentials, the follower gains consciousness of  liis own aptitudes beyond his ordinary faculties. He acknowledges his real spiritual dimension. He  acquires self-knowledge, and how  to  evaluate the possibilities of  his  energetic body. Thus, through personal and direct knowledge, he becomes certain of  his  immortality. Above all,  he  will  recognize that he  is  a  soul, or  energetic body, temporarily  contained in  a  physical body  for  the duration of  a  lifetime. This certitude, born from his own direct experience, will  give him not only  great spiritual elation, but  also a  feeling of  responsibility towards his  fellow  humans who  never went through such experiences and who  go  on  living  in  the complete ignorance of  things beyond. The follower will  have experienced the crossing of  the veil, what we call  death –  because he lives outside of  his physical body. He will come back, testifying that death is not an end, as such, but only one stage; it  is  a  change of  vehicle to  travel further, with  vehicles better adapted to  the circumstances. For him  there is  no  more anxiety or  fear of  death.When the bird manages voluntarily to leave its cage, it  realizes that it is  a  bird  and that it  can fly.

It  stops identifying itself with  the cage, and thus leaves the cage with  ease. Through personal experience and under the direction of  a master, the follower  may  acquire direct experience of  the universe beyond the reach of  the five  senses, using the faculty of  his soul called the sixth sense, which he has developed for this purpose. At  this  stage there is  no  longer any need to  believe in  dogmas. All veils  fall,  one by  one, as the  student learns more. According to  the level of  his maturity, he acquires answers to  his questions. Throughout his apprenticeship, and through his personal experiences, he forms his own idea of  the world, using his own visions, dreams or meditations. He  attains this  under the permanent guidance of  his  teacher who  watches over him  and leads him  along this path full  of  pitfalls and hazards. To the seeker, this learning process knows no  other limit  than his capacities and personal work.  Thus he can go as far  as the end of the  universe, as far  as the ultimate truth,  as far  as the throne of God.

By Dr.Mostafa Azmayesh.