Sixth Sense?

Have you ever wondered where do we go after we are gone? Some believe in life after death, ie our souls either go to Heaven, Hell or the Purgatory in between. Some believe in reincarnation, ie our souls would be reborn as an animal or human, depending on how good or bad our previous lives had been. There are some who believe that some souls wander around aimlessly, mostly harmless, except for a few mischievous ones.

There are people who can “see” things, people who are blessed (or cursed?) with what is called sixth sense, or psychic powers, or the “third eye”. In fact, I know a couple of guys who can actually see and sense things. Seems like it is always guys, never girls, at least never any I know or heard of, that has this uncanny ability.

I have friends who went through army training at Pulau Tekong, one of the offshore islands, supposedly to be the most “unclean” of all army camps. This guy I know used to be rather sickly when he was young. Once, after a major illness, the priest at the temple which his mum and grandma was attending said the spirits knew he could “see” them, thus he was more prone to their attacks. Accordingly, he was made to drink some concoction and opened his “third” eye, and from then, his health got better.

Anyway, he was recounting that in the middle of the night while in camp, he went to the common bathroom and was about to relieve himself when he saw a while form sliding by. He just finished whatever he was doing and went back to bed. We were all astounded at his calmness, but he said as long as we did not do anything, they would not harm us.

Things like these got me thinking just how much is fact and how much is fiction. But my friend has no reason to tell a lie, especially about things detrimental to his entire health and mental state. My ex-boyfriend’s great-grandmother ever sensed something at her old place, and witnessed a chair rocking by itself. And the other friend who can “see” things is a born and bred staunch Catholic, but even he also once recounted how he saw two spirits having a conference together.

So does it mean that people who are Christians shall not believe or will not be prone to spiritual stuff? My secondary school is a convent, so there are crucifixes and prayer messages in every room, but I have teachers and schoolmates who have felt and heard things in certain rooms. I do believe that there are lots of unexplained events out there, things which no matter what religion you are or how staunch your beliefs are, still can never ever be explained.

Even in print and media there are stories like these circulating around. And genres on science-fiction and spiritual happenings are very popular among people. How do you think local writer Russell Lee’s True Singapore Ghost Stories series are so popular? Incidentally I submitted a story into Book 11 recounting my friend’s experiences, and although it was not published, I won S$50.00 for it.

There used to be a series of Japanese manga about a teacher who is a ghostbuster, and he dedicated his time to help save those students who had been possessed by ghosts and demons. The comic series included “beings” like the incubus and the succubus, the Japanese 100 Legends of ghosts (or something to that effect, anyway it was about a hundred more famous ghosts folktales). One of the strips also gave tips on how to open one’s “third” eye. Personally, I will never want to open any “third” eye whatsoever. Sometimes it is better not to be able to “see” anything.

I guess the best explanation for these “beings” seemed to be given by young Haley Joel Osment in the movie “Sixth Sense”, where he told Bruce Willis that he could see dead people. Sometimes these “people” did not know that they are already dead, thus still lingered on, probably because they did not die in peace or still have unfinished business. His words proved to be true in the show, when at the end of the movie, Bruce Willis realized that he had already been dead for a while, but never discovered that fact, as his unfinished business was to take care of the kid.

I hope I can have a good night’s sleep tonight …..