Among the five human senses, touch is the one that gives us the strongest sense of "reality." What you see, hear, or smell might all be fake. But when your stomach feels full, that's when you know you really ate something. When your feet hit solid ground, that's when you know you really made it ashore. When your hands reach out and caress, that's how you know the girl from your dreams is really in your arms.
Touch makes everything feel real.
At the same time, our most basic sense of space also comes from touch. When you reach out to feel something, when you walk step by step, when you jump up and land, that's how people develop ideas like "near and far, high and low" and form their original sense of space.
Touch is even more important than sight. You can still struggle to live without vision, but without touch, you’d unknowingly injure yourself all over—and eventually die of neurotrophic issues.
That’s why the fourth layer of the Insight Technique—Subtle Change Sense—is so crucial. According to the scripture, both Dragon Elephant Wisdom Art and Insight Technique have twelve layers, with every four layers marking a major threshold. Subtle Change Sense is exactly that threshold.
On that night of the microwave attack, Jack Young’s body suffered heavy trauma, inside and out. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, and was forced into a state where two senses were shut off. In that lonely world, Jack felt almost dazed. He didn’t know if he was awake or asleep, didn’t know if he was truly conscious or just hallucinating like in a dream.
All he knew was that through every nerve ending, every sensory unit, he was experiencing a completely different world. He could feel the outside—the wind brushing his skin, not hearing it but sensing every tiny hair on his body ripple like waves. Even more amazing, he could feel himself—never before had he been so familiar with his own body.
Every muscle moved just the way he wanted.
That might sound simple, and lots of people think they can do it. But in reality, there are tons of muscles you just can’t control on purpose. Some people can wiggle their ears, most can’t. Some can straighten their ring finger while curling the other four, but the majority just can’t.
Jack Young once saw a show about a martial artist who could swallow a rope and send it into his stomach. Using his skills, he’d move his stomach muscles to coil the rope into a ball. Then he’d close off his cardia, tighten his esophagus, and could even use the rope’s outer end to lift a bucket. For regular folks, that’s unimaginable—your esophagus muscles aren’t under conscious control, so how could you just tighten them or make them move at will?
But that martial artist managed it, and now, Jack Young can pull it off too—no sweat.
He’s got every little detail of himself down pat, total control. And thanks to this inner insight, he’s got a read on how everyone else’s blood and energy flow works. That’s what amps up his internal martial arts, letting him pull off wild feats like controlling flying stones.
Honestly, mastering the fourth layer of the Insight Technique has been a total game-changer for Jack Young.
Right after this huge power-up, Jack Young is ready to face off with Death on The Roller Coaster, once and for all.
The Roller Coaster climbed to the very top, paused for a beat, then thundered down. Potential energy became pure speed, the car roaring over the tracks. Jack Young stood right at the front, wind whipping past, grinning like a madman, eyes blazing.
The heavy, murky atmosphere was so thick you could almost see it. Jack Young sensed every wisp and strand gathering—right at the crucial point of attack!
The Roller Coaster barreled over the wave section.
"Here!" Jack Young suddenly stomped his foot—boom!—right on the car, steadying it just as it threatened to shake itself apart.
The Roller Coaster whipped around a sharp turn.
"Here!" Jack Young flicked a streak of light, knocking away a bouncing screw.