Psychic or Simply Present?

Clairvoyance is a gift, much like an ear for music or an eye for fashion — one is usually born with it. I can’t sing and my socks are often mismatched, but recently I discovered that my power of perception has blossomed.

When I first returned home from my meditation teacher training, I jumped right back into teaching writers’ workshops. My students, many of whom I had taught before, began to notice and comment on my observations. Several asked me point-blank, “Did your meditation training make you psychic?” They felt I had the ability to read their thoughts. At first, I laughed it off, thinking that I was simply very present in that moment, and then I realized that was the whole point! After my concentrated meditation practice, I had brought my conscious self into being completely present.

With this, came the understanding that being fully present leads me to observe visual and vocal cues I may have missed before. How did I miss such obvious signs in the past? Perhaps by thinking of a ‘to-do list’ while listening to a friend talk about their job interview, or wondering what to make for dinner while standing in line at the bank.

I think many people are like this. Their body is in one place, but their mind is miles away. Maybe they have read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle or seen a bumper sticker or poster that extols the virtue: ‘Be right here, right now,’ but few people realize that with the ability to ‘be here’ comes the ability to observe far more than the moment. You will be privy to the intentions of other people, and by extension, perhaps the thoughts behind them.

So how do you bring the self fully into the present? The only sure way that I have discovered is Vedic Meditation. When the mantra leads the mind to drop below action — below our distracting trivial thoughts — it drops us into the level of Being (pure consciousness). This pure consciousness is the fountainhead, the source, of all creative intelligence. Once we experience that source, eyes closed in meditation, we then open our eyes, literally and figuratively, to every nuance in the present moment.

If this sounds too airy-fairy for you, then think about the science of what happens when you meditate regularly. Recently, it was discovered that the effects of meditation aren’t just psychological — they are physical. Scientists have recently discovered that MRIs show an increased thickness in the brain matter of people who regularly meditate. One of the areas of the brain impacted is the frontal cortex.

This part of the brain is in charge of emotional response, planning and reasoning, and self-conscious awareness. With this increased thickness comes more integrated brain activity and clarity of thought. So, not only are we more in the present moment and more observant, but physiologically our brain is able to integrate those observations more quickly and allow us to communicate our insights more gently and with greater clarity.

My teacher, Thom Knoles, a man who has been practicing Vedic Meditation for 40 years, was once asked, “Can you see the future?” He answered, “No, I’m just really good at the present.” He meant that he was able to see patterns that give him insight into what would happen next.

If you want to ‘read another person’s intentions’ or identify patterns in the now that will allow you to predict the next moment, try some body-building for the brain and learn to settle your mind. Learn to meditate.