「通灵」也常被称为「灵听」或「天耳通」，是一种超感官知觉的能力。指的是一个人能够听到正常人耳无法听到的声音、话语、等等。这些声音并非通过物理耳朵传入，而是在脑海中被感知到的。这种能力被认为是一种接收来自非物质世界（如灵界）信息的管道。拥有「通灵」能力的人，会通过内在的声音体验到这种现象，就如在脑海中听到一个声音，听起来像自己的思绪，但传递的信息或措辞却不是自己会有意识想出来的。在灵学与信仰体系中，「通灵」信息的来源通常被认为是来自于指导灵或天使、已故的亲人（亡灵）、高我或更高意识、神明或宇宙意识。「通灵」与精神疾病有着很大的区别。在灵性范畴内讨论「通灵」时，需要将其与精神健康问题所伴随的“幻听”区别开来。在灵学与信仰框架下，「通灵」接收到的信息通常被认为是具有帮助性的、有逻辑的、不具威胁性的，旨在提供指引或慰藉。相比之下，临床上的幻听可能会令人痛苦、造成困扰，并且通常是需要专业医疗关注的潜在疾病的症状。总而言之，「通灵」是一种“清晰聆听”的超自然能力，使人能够接收到来自灵界或非物质维度的听觉信息。

Clairaudient, derived from the French words clair ("clear") and audience ("hearing"), literally means "clear hearing." It is a term used in spirituality and parapsychology to describe a form of extrasensory perception (ESP). Clairaudience is the psychic or paranormal ability to hear sounds, voices, or words that are not audible to the normal human ear. These sounds are perceived internally, in one's mind, rather than through the physical ears. It is considered a form of channelling or receiving information from a non-physical source. A clairaudient person might experience this ability as an internal monologue, hearing a voice inside their head that sounds like their own thoughts. However, the information or wording is not something they would consciously formulate. In spirituality, the source of clairaudient messages is often attributed to spiritual guides or angels, deceased loved ones (spirits), higher consciousness or the "higher self", deities or universal consciousness. It is important to distinguish clairaudience within a spiritual context from auditory hallucinations associated with mental health conditions. In a spiritual framework, clairaudient messages are typically perceived as helpful, coherent, and non-threatening, often providing guidance or comfort. In contrast, clinical auditory hallucinations can be distressing, disruptive and are symptoms of an underlying medical condition requiring professional attention. In summary, clairaudience is the psychic faculty of "clear hearing," enabling an individual to receive auditory information from spiritual or non-physical realms.