Fw: re. Synesthesia

["Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>]

Dear Friends,

Here's the post on Synesthesia that 'M' referred to.

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
05 Dec 2003
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>
To: "FBM" <FranzBardonMagi@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 5:48 PM
Subject: re. Synesthesia


Dear M,

>> I am going to update my thread - First of all I think that from the
start this post has gone somewhat off topic. <<

Indeed! ;-) Or at least partly, since Peter's post was very relevant
to synesthesia. His point that what Don described of being able to
feel his brain, etc., had nothing to do with synesthesia, was very
accurate.

>> Synesthesia per my understanding is the crossing of the senses -
hence SEEING sound, or FEELING scents, etc. <<

It's really the *combining* of senses, because when you see sound as
color, for example, you're also hearing that sound. But first, let me
say something about the difference between clinical synesthesia which
Peter described very well, and what an occultist would *call*
synesthesia.

We occultists have the bad habit of taking modern scientific terms,
which have very specific definitions, and using them to explain or
describe occult concepts. This is another case of that where we've
adopted the scientific term synesthesia to mean something slightly
different than what the scientific definition really is. *Clinical*
synesthesia is as Peter described -- a matter of neuronal connections
within the brain itself. *Occult* synesthesia however, has nothing to
do with the brain's structure -- it has to do with *perception*.

>> This presumably encompasses the astralmental bodies, as they are
where sensory information is processed (I think), as well as the Brain,
as this is where physical sensory information is received. My original
question was, does anyone have an explanation for why/how sensory
crossing occurs, or how to develop the 'ability'. I also think that it
would be invaluable to understand how the brain and it's processes
relate to the other bodies, and exactly how the brain CONNECTS to the
other bodies (i.e. how the astral/mental matrix works). <<

In the Step Two sensory concentration exercises while you are trying to
isolate each sense, you will notice that each sense has a strong
affinity with at least one other sense. For example, while you're
trying to visualize that clock on the wall, it's very difficult to
isolate the *visualization* from the *sound* of the clock's ticking.
And likewise, when you're trying to *smell* a rose, it's very difficult
to isolate the smell from the *image* of the rose.

These affinities occur at an astral/emotional level. This is the body
which *personalizes* the perceptions of the mental body. The process of
personalization is one of associating the perception with one's own past
experiences, one of drawing upon things you already know in an effort to
understand the perception.

The Step Two exercise however is a *mental* exercise, so one focuses
upon isolating each sense from all the others. This separates the
senses from the astral personalization process.

The Step Two exercise is the *creative* use of the mental senses and is
not *perceptual*. Synesthesia on the other hand, is a combination of
creativity and perception, but mostly it is perception. Where the
creativity comes into play is in the intentional combining of senses and
bodies of perception (mental plus astral).

The *mental* senses perceive essential meaning. The Fire region of the
mental body perceives essential meaning *directly* and without any
clothing of form (such as thought or emotion). This *direct* perception
is then processed by the Air region of thinking and is given its first
layer of clothing -- thought. Here one thinks about the perception and
condenses it into finite concepts. Next, these thoughts penetrate the
Water region of the mental body -- the astral or emotional body. Here,
the thoughts about the direct perception are given the clothing of
emotional significance and they take on form as sensation, color, tone,
shape, etc., all of which are drawn from the storehouse of one's past
memories. These direct perceptions, clothed in thought and emotional
significance, then make their way into the physical body (the Earth
region of the mental body) and, most especially, into the brain. This
triggers electrical impulses within the brain and autonomic nerve
system, causing the physical body to respond according to the input.

So, *occult* synesthesia is a matter of perceiving essential meaning
*through* more than one *astral* sense at a time. The first step is to
isolate the mental sense. For example, close your eyes and focus
exclusively upon the sound you're hearing and isolate just your mental
perception of the essential meaning of that sound. Once you're in this
focused *listening* mode, draw that perception down into your astral
body and open yourself to *seeing* color, shape and rhythmic movement.

Don't try to force it because this will take it out of the realm of
*emotional response* and *perception* and into the realm of
*rationalization*. Just open yourself to seeing what you hear. The key
however, is making that initial mental perception of the essential
meaning of the sound.

Also, you must understand that this *seeing* is just like in the Step
Two exercise -- it is a *mental* vision, not a physical vision.

The applications of *occult* synesthesia can be found primarily in the
art of *in*direct perception of essential meaning. Through
experimentation one can learn how to *clearly* perceive essential
meaning *through* the astral filter; or rather, how to translate astral
perceptions into essential meaning. A sort of grand form of synesthesia
would be kabbalistic utterance in which one is combining both the
creative and perceptual aspects of *all* the senses simultaneously. It
can also be a source of great inspiration to the painter or composer,
etc. It can also be pure entertainment. :)

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
02 Dec 2003
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
http://www.ABardonCompanion.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BardonPraxis
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