The Wisdom of the Body: Reflecting on Dharma & Sensation

It’s All Happening Here

“If you are unable to find truth here and now, where else will you find it?” — Dogen

The only access we have to the external world is through our nervous system. The stable and static outer reality that we so often take for granted is not inherently existent, but a dependently arisen phenomena. We learn about its existence through repeated stimulations of our nervous system, and through rules that Helmholtz called ‘unconscious inferences’. It is through these inferences that we learn to orient ourselves and navigate in our environment. We learn to map sensation on our retina to spatial coordinates in a cognitively constructed three dimensional realm. In addition to this process, all of our perceptions are generated through a collaboration between our unconscious, and external stimulations from a reality whose ‘true’ form is beyond the scope of the intellect to even speculate on, as it is by definition existing in a realm of phenomena that we do not have access to. These unconscious inference patterns are ways our body-mind system attempt to discern the structure of external reality through sense impressions. Thus, it is not external circumstances that ever cause us to behave in a certain way, as the totality of our experience goes through our nervous system. All the conditions for change are within us, and the primary point of importance is the space between sensation and reaction.

Humans become experts at matching sensations with external objects — but are entirely unskilled in observing raw sensations. As Helmholtz says, it is precisely because we have such practice in associating them with things outside of us, that we ignore any kind of distinct awareness of them (Helmholtz, 10). We have deeply ingrained ways of reacting to sensations, and much of it involves ignoring the raw feelings and engaging in the unconscious pattern of using them to recognize external situations (Helmholtz, 7). Sensation-association is deeply habituated, and is both the cause of our success as a species, and much of our suffering. Knowledge of this tendency gives us a key insight into our subconscious mind — in that it effects every perception we have. What we assume is a raw perception of an event is actually strongly determined by our previous patterns of actions, and that we have essentially primed our minds to recognize certain things.I’ve learned that what I consider to be a fresh, new perception of an event is actually a deeply conditioned phenomenon. Not only dependent on an external stimulus, but on my previous encounters with similar situations. As such, there is now the intellectual understanding that in order to cultivate true behavior change, I must practice attending to pure sensation. Every act performed is both conditioned by the past, and a condition for a future event. Change, in whatever capacity, begins with how one attends to bodily sensations, as this is our only access to the world.

Entering Into the Feeling Body

“Be strong and enter into your own body; for there your foothold is firm. Consider it well, O my heart! Go not elsewhere. Kabir says: ‘Put all imaginations away, and stand fast in that which you are’” — (Kabir 2004, 48)

Whether I realize it or not, every action I perform is both a reaction to a sensation, and a condition for a future reaction. Every moment, patterns of unconscious inference are either strengthened or weakened by my behavior. Helmholtz has taught me that no matter how elaborate a papañca, it can all be traced back to raw sensation. His line of reasoning seems valid, and I can rationally accept his arguments in full. However, even he says that one cannot override these patterns of unconscious inference through intellect alone, these patterns are irresistible (Helmholtz 1866, 6). As such, one must enter into the body.

The first step appears to be the following. Given that there are countless unconscious forces that condition the arising of a given emotional state, to become angry or upset at the mere fact that an affective state has arisen is totally irrational. It only leads to a multiplication of suffering. Judging an emotion for arising is like judging a sensation for arising when your finger touches something hot. This type of reaction only further engrains the initial reaction pattern in our subconscious. The second stage is taking active steps to changing a given unconscious pattern: first through understanding the conditions of its arising, and second by changing our reaction. We do this by learning to pause. Learning to hold space between a physical sensation and a corresponding thought pattern. It is done through the practice of catching oneself in the midst of delusion, in the midst of a spiral of angry thoughts. That’s it. The technique is simple, but infinitely deep. The more one practices attending to internal sensations, the more it is understood that these feelings are the basis for our perception of reality. The problem is we think that Dharma is something dramatic or wildly apparent. The sensations that Helmholtz and the Buddha refer to are simple: the itch on your head, the sweat trickling down your arm, the pain in your stomach. How often is anxiety mistaken for hunger, or anger for throbbing? Much of our behavior is dictated by our subconscious, and many of the conditions for these tendencies were laid in our childhood. As such, it begins with what clinical psychologist Tara Brach calls Radical Acceptance. When the kleshas arise, we accept that they are present, locate the underlying bodily sensation, and stay mindful that we don’t fall into craving or repression. When we do this, our unconscious tendencies are slowly rewritten. This is Vipassana meditation — and it isn’t glamorous. Staying present with the old conditions for arising, and setting clear patterns for the future is difficult, as one is fighting against a lifetime of habit energy. However, from the moment one steps on the path, suffering slowly begins to minimize, and arahantship enters into the realm of possibilities.