A Harmonically Distributed Sensation—Part IV-— Three Being-Natures

Moissac, France

The separation of the centers needs to be more clearly understood, because the three inner minds that have the capacity to manifest independently of one another — intellect, sensation, feeling — can’t be appreciated until each one of them manifests in its own right, in such a way that there's no confusion. 

In this sense, feeling is a whole action of consciousness belonging to itself. 

Sensation is a whole action of consciousness belonging to itself. 

Intellect is a whole action of consciousness belonging to itself. 

If we gain a direct understanding of these three Being-natures, we become more capable of investing within a particular being-nature in order to better cultivate its unique capabilities.

 This is particularly important in the question of sensation, because a very firm investment in that capacity for perception— the sensation – perception of Being— is Peter, the rock upon which the inner church is built. The living force of God flows into us on a cellular and molecular level through this faculty, and it's here that we can appreciate all of the energy that can be taken in, maintained, retained, and concentrated in order to serve as the foundation for the rest of our Being.

That force is concentrated and retained through the help of the breathing. This is why pranayama is so often associated with breathing exercises; yet even the breathing exercises are, to some extent, an inverted understanding of the practice, because one should not breathe in order to sense; one ought to first sense in order to then breathe. 

The sensation is the foundation of the inward and outward breath, not the other way around. If I put my attention on the breathing, I may misunderstand the capacity I have as a receptacle to receive the breathing. This is the aim of pranayama: the inflow of the divine substances and the concentration of them in every particle of Being — not just, for example, in my solar plexus. Sensation is a case where one has to have gold in order to make gold.

It’s certainly possible, using yogic exercises, to concentrate the energy in specific places, but the aim of the harmonic development of inward vibration of sensation is to have it become evenly distributed through all of the parts of the body, in a Catholic way that does not favor one particular center or chakra over another. 

In this way, we quiet the action of the chakras,  each of which spins and gathers force to itself: a partial concentration of energy, not always a harmonic one. One of the meanings of the idea of "stopping the turning of the wheels" lies in this understanding.

So I don’t want to join the mind and the body; I want to separate them so that they do their work with their own energy, with respect for each other. That in its turn leads to a union of a different kind than the one I understand with my head. 

Secondly, I don’t want to put my attention on the breath in order to sense; I want to put my attention on sensation in order to breathe. 

And third, I don’t want to concentrate energy in a particular part of the body, no matter how many exercises I’ve been taught to the contrary; I want to harmonize and unify the distribution of inward energy so that it completely penetrates all the parts of my being in a harmonious field of vibration. 

The unity comes from this field of vibration, which is sensory; and if I develop a sensitivity to this and the field becomes a permanent sensation of life, then I begin to understand that there is a mind-body connection—

but not the one that I thought about or understood with my mind.

Wishing the best for you on this day,

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.