My holiday vacation in beautiful Baja Mexico was both invigorating and breathtaking. Relaxing at a magnificent spot where the desert meets the ocean enabled me to reconnect with nature and tune in to the environment surrounding me. As I did so, my sense of serenity surfaced and I became more at one with the world around me. However, this tranquility was tempered by the ongoing reports of the recent tsunami disaster in Indonesia. I felt inclined to read the daily reports of the tragedy that was unfolding. After several days, reports began to surface that amazingly there wasn't a single indication of any death to wildlife from the wave. The New York Times had written that the animals might in fact have a sixth sense; something that humans apparently were lacking.

With this notion in mind I left the beach and went to my room to begin to write about this phenomenon. From my understanding of quantum physics, the universe reveals itself to be an undivided whole, whereby there are no divisions or separations. The sixth sense being reported upon I believe, is in fact, the natural state of our being. Many centuries ago, with the beliefs of Descartes and Newton amongst others, our minds began to fragment and divide things up. When we did so we separated ourselves from nature and from one another. After all, are humans not part of nature? Animals, of course, didn't experience this paradoxical shift of consciousness. They retained their sixth sense, while we submerged ours.

Synchronicity

As I was writing these thoughts, a bird flew in from the open window and perched itself on the chair next to me. For a few moments, suspended in an eternity of awe, we simply looked at each other. The bird then departed as unsuspectingly as it had arrived. I had just experienced a first order synchronicity. This was no simply coincidence. When unconscious material becomes manifest in the physical world, or when psyche and matter join, we experience synchronous events. Often, such experiences serve as a resounding pat on the back that we are indeed on the correct path. The bird, both literally and figuratively, heralded this extraordinary event. The bird, a paragon of the wildlife community, was affirming my speculation.

Upon returning home, I sent off an email to a colleague who had written a leading book on the subject of synchronicity. Within a few moments he responded and shared that this was in fact a most remarkable synchronicity. But there was a further synchronicity still at hand. He told me that as he opened my email he was reading a chapter from the renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake's book on how animals predict earthquakes. He suggested that I email Dr. Sheldrake and share this with him, which I did.

I share this story as an encouragement to re-engage with the wondrous and joyful universe that we are an integral part of. When our thoughts fragment and dissect, we remove ourselves from all of the wonder and splendor of the world. We literally construct small compartments in which we place ourselves, imprisoned by our self-deception. When we do so, we suffer in the illusion of separation. Learning to cast off the burden of our constructed reality permits our lives to emerge with purpose. Our sixth sense is there, just beneath our surface waiting to re-emerge.

Our Forgotten Sixth Sense

© 2008 by Mel Schwartz. All rights reserved.