Tipheret – The center and the sun of you Human being
Tipheret, the sixth sphere, is symbolized by the sun and represents consciousness. Consciousness is a fundamental and holistic aspect of the human soul. It is through consciousness that the soul perceives and understands the world. To know is to understand, which involves abstracting the essence and properties of things and beings from reality. These aspects are presented to consciousness through sensory perception and imagination. The abstracted essence of reality is known as a concept. Tipheret is the sphere through which we acquire the concepts that enable us to reason. The cognitive act within Tipheret is referred to as “spiritual intuition.” There are two types of spiritual intuition: abstractive intuition, where the subject grasps the essential nature of something, and inductive intuition, where the subject comprehends universal laws.
Consciousness is a cognitive faculty that allows an individual to know the world through the mediation of their senses (Malkuth), imagination, and memory (Yesod), as well as to know oneself.
As a faculty of objective knowledge, consciousness enables the understanding of what is external and distinct from oneself: the beings of the world. These beings are present in consciousness in the form of images acquired through the senses.
As a faculty of subjective knowledge, consciousness allows for self-knowledge, encompassing the movements and states of the subject (the “Me”), including appetites (desires, will), affects (emotions, feelings), and judgments (moral, aesthetic, etc.).
Furthermore, consciousness is a reflective faculty. While knowing something, one is aware that they are in the process of knowing; they possess an awareness of their own act of knowledge. In consciousness, the act of knowing applies to itself: “I know that I know.” This property of reflexivity is a characteristic of consciousness itself.