According to Indian and Buddhist philosophy, and adapted to the Tibetan-Mongolian philosophy, the eight sources of perception are form, sound, smell, taste, feel, sight, thinking, and the five elements (earth, fire, water, wind, space). Five of these sources are senses. This meditation will help you discover which of your inner senses predominate. When you know this, you will know where to find your intuitive guidance.
Here is a senses meditation. It is best if someone reads it to you or your group The "..." are pauses.
Find a position where you can be comfortable for a few minutes. If you are sitting in a chair, make sure your back is straight and your feet are flat on the ground or floor. You can lie or sit cross-legged. Your back needs be straight, so the energy can run easily. Close your eyes. Take time to notice your breath. Take a deep breath through your nose. Feel your breath go down to your abdomen and exhale through your mouth. Make a sound. Allow any tension or pain that you feel go out with your exhale. Relax your body, starting with your feet and ending with your scalp....
Now, go to a place that you find comfortable...
It can be any place, but choose only one...
Really be in this place...
This is a place you want to experience fully...
What does it look like?...
Turn around in all directions. Look up, look down.
What do you see?...
Now listen. What sounds do you hear?...
What do you taste?...What kind of taste do you have in your mouth?
What do you smell?...
What do you feel inside you?...
What feelings and textures do you feel around you?...
Relax in your space. This is where you can be fully you...
This is your space...
You can be here any time you want...
It is always here for you.
Now get ready to leave. Before you do, take the time to be fully present...
Remember all the aspects, all the senses are alive...
Now you will be leaving this space...
Remember that it is always available to you...
When you are ready, open your eyes and come back to the room, knowing that you can go back to your space at any time...
Ask, where did you go? What did you see, smell, hear, feel, touch, and taste? Which sense was strongest? Is it a surprise?
How can you use this information? Often, people assume that their strongest inner sense will be the same as their strongest outer sense. Do you call yourself a visual person? An artist, maybe? Do you see everything around you more intensely than your friends? Do you assume that your intuitive information comes from a vision? And yet, you hear a little voice that you discount?
Or are you a good listener? Have you been listening and listening and nothing has come? And yet, when you get a picture of a situation, do you assume that it's nothing? After doing this guided meditation, you know where to pay attention. As you continue to notice your predominate sense and the messages it gives you, you will develop it, like a muscle. You will have more and more access to your inner knowledge.
What if your sense of smell was the strongest? Do you wonder what this can tell you? One of my students finds that her sense of smell is strongest For a week, she pays special attention to it. One day she is in the parking lot of Wendy's and smells the scent of Patouilli. She immediately thinks of one of her friends who uses that oil. She walks around her car to see where the smell might be coming from, but there is no one there. When she gets home, she calls her friend, who is in the middle of a crisis. The friend is very grateful for her help.
My first time in Mongolia, I meet Dr. Boldsaikhan, doctor of Traditional Tibetan-Mongolian Medicine. He is giving us a tour around the Institute of Traditional Medicine, where he works. As I am following him, my heart starts pounding out of my chest. As a Quaker, this is often a signal to speak in meditation. I let myself speak.
Would you take an American disciple? I ask him
Yes, he says.
And from acting on this pounding feeling, my life changes in unimaginable ways, including living in Mongolia for seven months. As we develop our dominant sense, we begin to pay attention to other senses and become like an antenna, ready to receive guidance any time, any place, any way.
[Excerpted from Discovering Your Intuition, by Sas Carey]