Sadhguru: If one is focused on enhancing one’s perception, then the element that matters is akash. In common language, the word “akash” means “sky.” This is correct in terms of meaning, but incorrect in terms of most people’s perception because they generally understand sky as a kind of roof. The sky is not a roof but a consequence of the etheric energy that is around the atmosphere.
Due to a lack of words in English language, I will refer to the element of akash as “ether.” Every physical body is dynamic in some way. In that dynamism, there is a little bit of burning. Something may seem cold to you, but it is still burning in some sense because the atomic content is in a dynamic state.
Ether – A Doorway to the Beyond
Every physical object has an etheric space around it. Whether you take a rock, a human being, the planets, or other big celestial objects, every one of them has an etheric space around them. Unfortunately, we are putting a lot of holes in and are disturbing the planetary etheric space – I am not talking about ozone – for which there will be a price to pay. We are already beginning to pay the price in many ways, but there could be a much worse price to pay for disturbing the ether around the planet’s atmospheric bubble.
Every physical object has an etheric space around it.
Even your own body has an etheric bubble around it. One important reason for maintaining a certain physical hygiene of not being in physical contact with anyone is that you do not want your etheric space to be disturbed because you are striving for perception. The entire basis for brahmacharya comes from wanting to strengthen your etheric space so that your ability to perceive is enhanced. This is important for both the planet and the body, but we are not taking care of it.
If you do not perceive something beyond physical nature, you will live a very silly life, but you will be proud of your silliness. This is happening everywhere. When your entire experience of life is limited to physicality, you think you are the center of the universe. You, me, and everyone else could just get squashed in the next moment. The planet could fall apart. Maybe not in our time, but it will fall apart one day.
To be able to perceive something beyond your sense perception and touch a non-physical dimension is very important for a human being. All other creatures, whether it is a dog, cat, pig, or cow, are living their lives to full potential, unless we interfere with them. Only the human being is self-restricted. No one needs to restrict you or put you in a prison; you are an expert in doing it to yourself. To break through, you need perception beyond sense perception. For that, you need akash.
To be able to perceive something beyond your sense perception and touch a non-physical dimension is very important for a human being.
Akash has been eulogized by people because it is about perception that is not concerned with physical nature. Only when you start thinking of life beyond survival will these things become relevant to you.
Finding Your Own Etheric Space
There is a way to find that place where your etheric bubble is. To touch that point, you need a certain level of focus towards it. Only if you enhance your perception beyond physicality will it be possible to know everything you wish to know in the universe. Right now, your eyes can see only that which is physical, or, in other words, only that which stops light. This is the nature of the sense organs. Ether is not visible, but if you start seeing, experiencing, or living dimensions which are not physical in nature, everything will start blossoming in that direction.
The physical is limited – the non-physical is limitless. If you try to make the physical limitless, you will destroy yourself and the world around you. That is what is happening in the world right now. If you touch the non-physical, you are naturally limitless. For most human beings, their etheric point is somewhere between 15 to 21 inches from between their eyebrows. This point offers a complete opening up of one’s perception. You will not find that point right away; it will take some work. Akash is a subtle, all-pervading substance.
Akash is the medium that transports you to that which is beyond physical.
Akash is the medium that transports you to that which is beyond physical. It is a protection for the physical from the non-physical. Akash is a bubble without which we would not exist. It is a wall, a thin bubble, but at the same time, it is a transit and a possibility to go beyond the physical.
Everything physical about you is accumulated. Once there is a little space between you and the body, between you and the mind, it will open up the possibility of experiencing the non-physical. Once you touch the non-physical, there will be a sense of limitlessness to who you are. It is my wish and my blessing that every one of you should know this. Having come here in this human form, you should not leave without knowing what is beyond the accumulated physical.
