The Sixth Sense and the Subconscious
Mystery is a provisional name for what has not yet been understood.
Science is the system that describes what can be understood.
Human beings possess remarkably high cognitive abilities by nature.
Yet much of this ability does not appear on the surface of conscious awareness.
The subject addressed in this chapter is not about special individuals or rare abilities.
It concerns one aspect of the information-processing structure that all humans inherently possess.
I do not intend to glorify mystery, nor to deny science.
Mystery is simply a provisional name for what has not yet been understood,
while science is the system that describes what can be understood.
To deny something simply because it has not yet been proven,
or to classify it as supernatural for the same reason,
both are premature conclusions.
Human experience always advances ahead of theory.
Science has examined these experiences and organized them into forms that can be shared and verified.
Yet there remain areas that have not been fully described.
For that reason, the unknown should neither be dismissed nor deified.
The position taken in this chapter is one that stands between those extremes.
The Functions of Conscious and Unconscious Mind
In everyday life we feel that we are “thinking for ourselves.”
We select words, construct reasons, and make decisions.
However, the range of thinking that we can clearly recognize is far smaller than we imagine.
What we can consciously recognize are only things that have already been organized into language,
things that have been intentionally selected.
Behind that lies a far larger domain of processing.
In that domain exist pieces of information that have not yet become words,
movements that precede meaning,
and changes that have not yet taken form.
What we feel as “our thinking” is only the result of a small portion of this vast processing rising to the surface.
These two functions differ in nature.
One is the layer of thought that can be consciously recognized.
The other operates before conscious awareness.
These two functions are commonly referred to as the Conscious Mind and the Subconscious.
Below, the terminology will follow that general understanding.
Definition of Terms
■ Conscious Mind
The Conscious Mind refers to the domain of thought and judgment that we can currently recognize.
It is the part that thinks in language, explains reasons, and makes deliberate choices.
The range that we recognize as “our thinking” belongs to the conscious mind.
■ Subconscious
The Subconscious refers to the domain of information processing that operates without conscious awareness.
Based on sensory input and memory, it continuously performs automatic judgments and adjustments.
It is difficult to access directly in everyday life,
and we do not feel that we control it.
This domain that operates outside conscious awareness is what is referred to here as the subconscious.
From this point forward, the discussion will build upon this foundation while incorporating insights gained through personal observation and experience.
As mentioned earlier, humans process vast amounts of information within the subconscious domain.
However, the function of the subconscious is not limited to processing capacity alone.
It also includes the ability to receive information through channels different from the five senses.
The function of the subconscious exists in every human being.
The sixth sense discussed in this chapter refers to a function related to this common structure of the subconscious.
Phenomena that have historically been called “special abilities” are often simply differences in how this structure manifests.
Definition of the Sixth Sense
The sixth sense is often described as intuition or premonition.
However, such descriptions only describe how it appears.
The sixth sense is the information-gathering capability of the subconscious.
It represents a form of input different from the five senses,
and one that the conscious mind cannot access directly.
We perceive the world primarily through the five senses.
Yet alongside them there exists information that is received without rising to conscious awareness.
The sixth sense gathers information belonging to invisible layers.
This includes information that has not yet taken form as reality,
information related to the inner states of other people,
information that exists within reality but cannot be directly observed through physical sight or hearing,
and information belonging to one’s own deeper layers.
Within the framework of the Three-Layer Structure,
this includes domains related to the Inner Mental Layer and the Higher-Order Layer,
as well as aspects of the Foundational Layer that the conscious mind does not normally perceive.
What the conscious mind handles is only a visible portion of the Foundational world.
The Function of the Subconscious
The subconscious performs processing at a speed that the conscious mind cannot follow.
While the conscious mind thinks based on existing knowledge,
the subconscious processes information without being constrained by established frameworks or social assumptions.
For this reason, ideas that surpass existing understanding sometimes emerge when viewed from the perspective of the conscious mind.
The processing of the subconscious cannot be tracked simultaneously by the conscious mind.
What we become aware of is only the result of that integration.
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The Nature of Mystery
When the conscious mind cannot perceive the process,
the result appears to emerge suddenly.
A judgment that cannot be explained.
A certainty without a visible reason.
A feeling that resembles prediction.
These may appear to be manifestations of an unknown force.
In reality, however, input reception and rapid processing are occurring.
Many phenomena that appear mysterious arise because the conscious mind cannot keep up with the speed of processing.
Mystery is therefore a provisional name for what has not yet been understood.
It is not proof of the supernatural,
but rather a reference to processes that occur beyond the range of conscious comprehension.
These processes remain outside awareness and continue to influence subsequent actions.
Selective Nature of Memory
The subconscious does not store all information with equal weight.
Information that is deeply related to one’s present or future tends to remain strongly.
Information whose role has ended gradually fades, even if the experience was intense.
Sometimes something repeatedly surfaces even though we thought we had forgotten it.
This is not coincidence.
The unconscious continuously selects information.
This selection appears in everyday life as subtle tendencies in feeling and judgment.
How the Subconscious Appears in Everyday Life
The processing carried out in the subconscious proceeds in a layer separate from conscious thought.
The conscious mind uses language, constructs logic, and performs deliberate judgments.
The subconscious, however, handles information that lies beyond the range of conscious awareness.
Its results appear as sensations or tendencies.
For example:
• A vague reluctance without a clear reason
• Attraction that cannot be logically explained
• A lingering sense of discomfort
• A feeling close to certainty
These are often referred to as unconscious behavior or unconscious emotion.
The conscious mind receives them without realizing it.
The Filter of the Conscious Mind
Even when the subconscious indicates a direction,
that direction does not always appear directly in the conscious mind.
The conscious mind has an important role:
it enables adaptation to society.
It translates internal understanding into forms that function within the structure of the external world.
Common sense, social evaluation, precedent, rationality.
These frameworks allow inner understanding to take shape in reality.
However, the conscious mind often prioritizes social expectations, past experiences, and fear of evaluation.
In the process, subtle signals from the subconscious tend to be postponed or ignored.
Even when the subconscious indicates a direction,
the conscious mind does not necessarily choose it.
Instead of following discomfort, we choose what “should” be done.
Instead of following attraction, we choose what is socially rewarded.
This is rarely an intentional rejection.
Most of the time, it happens unconsciously.
Modern society strongly values explainability and reproducibility.
Signals that do not meet those criteria tend to be dismissed.
As a result, people often discard directions that could otherwise be meaningful.
The question here is not whether someone possesses ability.
Everyone has a subconscious.
Everyone receives sixth-sense input.
The difference lies in how much one notices and respects those subtle directions.
The things that attract you for no apparent reason may carry far more significance than they appear to.
If something feels uncomfortable or does not sit right with you, it may be worth pausing and examining the deeper cause.
If a sense of certainty arises—even when the conscious mind cannot yet explain it—it may still be worth moving forward.
At times, this inner sense can be more accurate than the chain of reasons constructed by the conscious mind.
Pay closer attention to feelings that appear without clear explanation.
Sleep and the Subconscious
The activity of the subconscious continues constantly.
However, during sleep—when the activity of the conscious mind is largely suspended—linguistic organization and social judgment temporarily stop, and the subconscious can proceed with its processing more deeply.
The enormous amount of information received during the day is reorganized, connected, and sorted during sleep.
The condition in which we wake the next morning is greatly influenced by the quality of this processing.
When sleep is insufficient, processing accumulates before it has been completed.
As a result, the directions that rise from the subconscious may become vague or fragmented.
Processing is still occurring,
but it becomes more difficult for the results to appear in a clear and organized form within the conscious mind.
When night comes, we sleep.
When morning comes, we wake.
Adequate sleep duration and environment influence the quality of life far more than we tend to realize.
This is not a matter of mentality.
It is a matter of information processing.
Dreams may represent fragments of the processing that continues during sleep appearing at the surface in some form.
The processing of the subconscious is not constructed primarily through language in the way the conscious mind operates.
Instead, it is handled as structures of images and relationships.
For this reason, dreams are rarely direct.
Events are often replaced by other forms.
This is not a mystical phenomenon.
It is a compressed format of information.
In other words, the subconscious possesses a mode of processing that differs from language.
The next chapter, Symbols, will examine this mode itself.
From this structure, some people take the position that analyzing dreams can lead to an understanding of the deeper mind.
However, I do not recommend this approach.
It is true that dreams are likely related to the subconscious and deeper layers.
But dreams are not expressed directly.
Events appear in substituted forms.
For this reason, interpretation inevitably allows for a wide range of possibilities.
If the state of the conscious mind is not stable, current anxieties or assumptions can easily become layered onto the interpretation.
And recognizing that overlay is not always easy.
Sometimes insight can be gained.
At the same time, however, interpretation can reinforce existing assumptions.
The same is true of meditation.
Observing one’s own tendencies as they repeatedly appear in everyday life often leads to a far more stable understanding.
The processing that progresses during the night tends to appear in its most stable form in the morning.
Immediately after waking is a time when social judgments and external information have not yet begun to flow in.
It is a rare moment when the integrations that occurred during sleep can be handled in a quiet state.
New ideas are often born during the night or in states of relaxation.
Morning is the time suited to organizing them and establishing them as structures.
At night we find the stars.
In the morning we sit at a desk and connect them with lines.
The stars were already there.
But only when the lines are drawn do they become a constellation.
When you wish to organize confusion,
when you wish to articulate a concept,
when you want to give form to an idea,
try using the quiet hours of the morning.
Essential Happiness
Have you ever felt as though there were another self within you?
You may believe something is correct.
The reasoning seems sound.
From the outside, there appears to be no problem.
And yet somewhere inside, a sense of discomfort remains.
You try to move forward,
but something quietly causes you to hesitate.
Or perhaps the opposite happens.
Something strongly attracts you,
even though it does not appear rational.
This may feel like a kind of internal division.
But in reality, it arises because two forms of consciousness are judging according to different criteria.
Even when the conscious mind concludes that something is correct,
the subconscious may indicate another direction.
When these two align,
actions become natural and hesitation decreases.
When they do not align,
a subtle gap remains inside, even if external success is achieved.
Fulfillment is determined not by the quantity of achievement,
but by the degree of alignment between inner and outer life.
If the conscious mind continues to choose according to external evaluation,
a distance from the inner self gradually emerges.
Prioritizing others’ expectations and repeatedly choosing the “socially approved version of oneself” may produce external success.
But if those choices do not align with the direction indicated by the subconscious,
the inner self will not feel satisfied.
Even when recognition comes from outside,
if the inner self does not agree, the sense of fulfillment will not remain stable.
The resulting dissatisfaction may drive the pursuit of further evaluation,
and the cycle continues.
When making a choice, it becomes necessary to ask:
Is this a choice that brings genuine satisfaction to oneself,
or a choice made to present a version of oneself that will be evaluated positively?
The sense of comfort indicated by the subconscious does not always appear well organized.
It may be imperfect, unstable, or difficult to explain rationally.
But if it feels natural for who you are at that moment,
it can be an important clue.
At the same time, it must be distinguished from simple avoidance, laziness, or escape that the conscious mind can clearly explain.
The things that feel right will also change.
Remaining the same forever is not the answer.
Human beings exist within change.
Direction also continues to update.
Why This Chapter Exists
The understanding of structure presented throughout this site did not originate from the conscious mind.
I have spent long periods thinking and examining ideas.
However, the starting point of the understanding appeared before language.
After extensive processing by the subconscious,
there are moments when the overall structure rises suddenly into conscious awareness.
Rather than constructing a theory step by step and reaching a conclusion,
the structure is grasped first, and language follows afterward.
It is as if an understanding that could eventually be organized as theory first appears in the form of sensation.
What is discussed here is not about spiritual phenomena or psychic powers.
I have no personal experience in those areas and therefore cannot affirm or deny them.
The subject here lies within the domain of human information-processing structures.
A certain scientist is said to have visualized the completed form of an engineering solution internally.
A certain psychologist is said to have recognized symbolic structures within the unconscious.
In my case, it appeared as an ability to perceive the current position and the structure of situations—in other words, a visualization of structures connecting the inner and outer worlds.
These are not special abilities.
They are simply cases in which the subconscious processing and sixth-sense inputs described in this chapter appeared in a clearer form within conscious awareness.
The subconscious always handles enormous amounts of information.
In my case, the understanding formed through that processing simply appeared as a relatively clear image.
And the object of that understanding is not fixed.
The direction of understanding will likely change depending on one’s condition at a given time.
On the Three Structural Chaptersて
The understanding of the structures presented on this site—the Three-Layer World Structure, the 19-Year Cycle, and the Lunar Cycle—was grasped as an overall image through the workings of the subconscious described in this chapter.
However, as explained earlier, the process of grasping such understanding and the process of expressing it in language are not simple.
Even if the understanding formed through the subconscious is valid,
the moment it is expressed through the conscious mind introduces layers of interpretation.
These include:
• the possibility of misrecognition by the conscious mind
• room for theoretical reexamination
• the need to distinguish between personal meaning and universal meaning
Subconscious processing occurs in a layer that precedes language.
Fixing it in language inevitably involves simplification.
For that reason, the contents of the three structural chapters should always be understood as including the possibility of further reconsideration.
Human beings inherently possess remarkably high capacities for perception.
Yet much of that capacity is not fully utilized in daily life.
As society has developed, it has placed value on what can be visualized, measured, and reproduced.
Scientific verification has become the standard of trust,
and functions that cannot easily be observed tend to be pushed to the margins.
Yet science itself is also a human endeavor,
a system that continues to evolve.
Long before theories or measuring instruments existed,
people were able to sense differences and directions through perception.
Science does not deny such perception.
It simply examines, organizes, and expresses it in forms that can be shared.
Many discoveries begin with the feeling that
“something is different” or “something is there.”
Direction often emerges from awareness before logic.
What has been attempted in this chapter
is to reinterpret that awareness as a structure.