Many, if not most, people begin meditation for simple, human reasons: to settle their minds, soothe their emotions, and find some peace inside a world that never seems to slow down. And meditation does exactly that. Studies show it can ease anxiety, depression, and stress, and enhance overall well-being. Perhaps that’s why hundreds of millions of people worldwide now meditate — and why the number continues to grow.
Meditation’s True Purpose: More Than Just Relaxation
Relaxation, however, is only a welcome side effect. At its core, meditation is a method oriented toward enlightenment: the recognition of one’s true nature beyond thoughts, emotions, and ego — the awakening to pure awareness.
And because meditation is such a powerful tool, many subtle shifts begin to unfold in one’s personality and awareness. Sometimes these changes arrive dramatically — as in a spontaneous awakening — and at other times they come slowly, like stones being smoothed by the continuous lapping of waves. Often it is only in hindsight that we realise how different we have become; how little we resemble the person we once were. It can feel as though the very cells of our being have been rewritten.
When Intuition Sharpens Through Stillness
One thing that sharpens significantly with consistent meditation practice is intuition. I remember being in my early thirties, just beginning to meditate, when I attended an event with the mystic writer Caroline Myss at the Findhorn Community in Scotland. The question that burned in me at the time — and that I simply couldn’t figure out — was: How do you know whether it’s intuition speaking or just desire?
So that’s what I asked Caroline, who gave me an answer I can’t remember and that I probably didn’t understand back then. Because the truth is: you only know when you know – when your intuition has become so clear, so finely sharpened, that doubt simply isn’t present anymore.
What Is Clairsentience? The Subtle Sense Behind Clear Feeling
And for many serious and deep meditators, something else awakens, too: clairsentience. Clairsentience means “clear feeling” and describes the ability to perceive information through emotions, physical sensations and inner knowing rather than through the five senses. Someone who is clairsentient can sense the emotional states of other people even when they are thousands of miles apart, the energy of a place or object, or the deeper context behind why certain things unfold the way they do.
While I’ve always been sensitive to energy, this capacity has refined profoundly through sustained meditation and several intensive years of spiritual practice — including a 40-day solitary silent retreat in the Himalayas. Yet it was only fairly recently that I realised just how attuned I have become, and that I can often sense — with surprising accuracy — the thoughts, emotions, and intentions moving through others, without even trying.
Seeing People Clearly: The Gifts and Challenges of Intuition
Sometimes it feels as though people reveal themselves energetically long before they speak — like reading a book the moment it’s picked up. As a clairsentient person, you begin to perceive their light and their shadows, their brilliance, and the places where they still need to grow. Effortlessly, their ego defences, conditioning, vulnerabilities, fears, and wounds become apparent — as does everything that makes them unique. It’s a humbling experience, and one that has opened me to a deeper compassion for the struggles we all carry inside — because I realised that nothing people say or do is ever truly personal. It’s simply the result of their own fears, limitations, and capacity. People generally do the best they can with the tools they have, and many of us have developed unconscious trauma responses to early conditioning that keep us safe, at least on the surface.
Perceiving others, their intentions, and the unspoken currents between human beings with remarkable clarity is a gift. It allows us to understand people more deeply and recognise the roots of their behaviour. The disadvantage, however, is that some may feel exposed, become defensive, or start avoiding you — even when you say nothing at all — simply because you are clear, and because it’s difficult to pull you into mind games or unhealthy dynamics. A few years ago, a man I was dating ended the relationship because my clarity forced him to confront childhood trauma he had successfully repressed until then — and because he couldn’t bear the ‘ugly grimace’ (his words) he saw reflected back at him when he looked into the mirror of our relationship.
The Responsibility That Comes with Clear Perception
Alongside clairsentience comes a great sense of responsibility. Because what do you do with the information you perceive? Do you use it against people — to call them out, humiliate them, manipulate them, or gossip? That is a real danger when your personality is not yet mature enough to simply perceive and do nothing with it, except use it for your own understanding and compassion. It’s always worth checking in with yourself honestly when you feel the temptation to overstep a boundary or place yourself above others.
Can Clairsentience Be Developed?
Clairsentience, like many other so-called siddhis (Sanskrit for supernatural powers that can arise through deep spiritual practice) is not something rare or exclusive that only a select few can attain. Anyone has access to these subtle senses, sometimes by birth, but more often through practice. You can actively develop your intuitive capacities through meditation, yoga, and other related disciplines. You can attend courses that teach you how to heighten your sensitivity; you can journal, or you can simply spend time in silence, solitude, and nature. These senses are natural — but in a world full of noise, distraction, and constant stimulation, many of us have simply forgotten how to listen.
The Heart of Meditation
Yet, as useful and awe-inspiring as they can be, these subtle powers are not the purpose of meditation. One of my teachers, Swami Veda Bharati, always said that the real purpose of meditation is emotional purification — so that we can see ourselves and others with clarity, humility, and love. ‘Make every person feel loved’ was one of his mottos. And that is how you can recognise real spiritual progress: when the heart becomes as wide and open as the sky, and when there is no longer any separation between ‘you’ and ‘I’.
Because in the end, the subtlest sense of all is love.
If this theme resonates, you might also enjoy my reflection on silence — the place where all subtle senses begin: