In 1836 Michael Faraday realised that if you build a cage out of certain materials, it would stop most electrical fields from entering the cage. The electrical fields that hit the cage are dispersed and leave the space inside unaffected.

In life, we are not just bombarded by the man-made electrical fields, we are also bombarded by how people act and what they say. We can walk into a room and know there is tension between the people in the room. This is us being able to feel as much, if not more, than we can see and hear.

In fact, people are far more sensitive than we give them credit for. Said another way, we are far more sensitive to the world than we allow ourselves to admit… So how do we deal with that level of sensitivity? Most build a human Faraday cage.

The human Faraday cage is a shield that we build, not from wire, but through beliefs about ourselves and the world, like the hurts from our childhood that we use to justify the effort that goes into maintaining the cage intact and seemingly impenetrable.

These are the foundations of the cage.

However, for many they are not enough – the world still gets in. This means that most of us add layers of reinforcing elements; like eating foods that numb our senses, using stimulants that make us race faster than the tension we may be feeling, or exercising in a way that makes the body harder and less sensitive to its surroundings.

The foundations and reinforcements make the perfect pairing.

The foundations make us convinced this is the only way to live and the reinforcements allow us to change the thickness of the shield so we can feel more (let our guard down) or less (protect ourselves) in different situations.

Voila! We now have the perfect way to get through life and be less affected by the world around us… with three key problems.

(1) The first problem with life in the cage is that this becomes our reality

We become so familiar with its wall that, when we reduce the thickness of the shield, it gives us a sense that we have connected deeply with someone. However, we are still living in the cage – it is thinner, but it is still there.

(2) The second is that we can never stop feeling, we can only become less aware of what we are feeling

Lay a piece of cloth over your arm and then ask someone to touch your arm. You can still feel something but your sensitivity to the touch is reduced. Add more layers of cloth and eventually you will say you can’t feel anything AND you will be right, except for the fact that something is still happening, you are just unaware that it is happening. This is like saying someone was not raped because they were unconscious. Just because we are not aware something is going on, it doesn’t mean we don’t feel it on some deeper level.

This is the lie we live from inside the cage; the fact that on a very deep level, we still feel it all, but we accept a lack of awareness as being a lack of issues.

In fact, at times we defend our own lack of awareness. Not because we are lying to ourselves, but because the layers of the cage are so thick it comes as a shock that someone else might be feeling something different to us.

(3) What we block from the world, we block from within ourselves first

When the foundations and reinforcements block our senses, it becomes harder to determine if what we are feeling is coming from the outside or the inside. Yet if we don’t know the difference between what is coming from around or from within, how can we get a true sense of ourselves?

Life without a cage is more sensitive but those with cages miss the point that it is our sensitivity that gives us our strength. Life without the cage starts with being honest about the layers we have constructed so that we can start unlocking the foundations.

With each layer removed more of life is felt and more of what is inside comes out, revealing an essence that is sensitive yet powerful, sacred yet everyday, magical yet practical and, most of all, it is an essence that is equal to all others.

In appreciation of Serge Benhayon, the man who knows life without a cage is both a choice and a birthright of every person.

By Joel Levin, Western Australia

Further Reading:
Living from the Inside Out
But are they Really ‘Skeptics’?
The Man is Not A Machine – Changing The Building Industry One Brick At A Time