More on the Step Two Sensory Concentration Exercises
© 2002
>> How have others experienced this exercise, particularly as smell seems inextricably bound up with and consanguineous with, a kinesthetic feeling sense. <<
The 'feeling' sense is attributed to Akasha, therefore all of the senses (at the stage of Step Two work) are bound to it in the same way.
sight = Fire
hearing = Water
feeling = Akasha
smell = Air
taste = Earth
I'm sure you noticed the same sort of kinesthetic information arising with the visual and auditory exercises. Probably more so with hearing than with sight, yes? If you examine the list above, you'll see a certain pattern of relationship between the senses that manifests in the Step Two exercises as the degree of difficulty in the isolation of each sense. For example, it's harder to separate sight from hearing than it is to separate sight from feeling. It is harder to separate smell from feeling than from hearing. It is very difficult to separate taste from smell. And so on. Oddly enough, feeling itself, is the easiest to isolate.
Ultimately, the point is to isolate each one completely. In the case of smell, I suggest that you use the kinesthetic feeling information as your guide for going still deeper into what the smell itself is trying to communicate. In other words, focus in on the associated feeling and seek out it's essential *mental* meaning (as opposed to its emotional significance), and then let its feeling-form go, leaving just the essential meaning. Do you see what I mean here???
The emotional component (the form) of the perception of kinesthetic feeling, hides within it the perception of the essential meaning. Once you reach down and find the essential meaning, the form is no longer needed and can be let go of. This reveals the raw sense of smell itself, bereft of all other influences. It then comes without judgment and reaction, and provides a direct perception of the odor's essential meaning.
>> Could you give me a real-life example of what you are writing about here? <<
Okay. Say you're smelling a rose. It has a fruity lemon overtone and a musky undertone, which strike your olfactory sensors in two distinct places. This gives you a feeling of an expansive lightness, but with a sense of groundedness. It pleases your body to smell this rose. You are happy and content.
What I am suggesting is, at this juncture, you shift your focus to the kinesthetic feelings of expansive lightness, groundedness, happiness and contentment. Examine them, using the one-pointedness technique, and find out what these emotional responses are communicating aside from their obvious emotional content. Perhaps they are simply communicating an encounter with Beauty? Perhaps these smells are linked to past pleasant memories? Perhaps these emotions are telling you something about your body, such as it's lacking in something that this smell brings or reminds you of?
Once you have isolated the meaning behind these kinesthetic/emotional reactions, return to your focus upon the smell. Set aside the kinesthetic input (i.e., detach from it and ignore it) and replace it with your awareness of the essential meaning it was communicating. Now look again at your perception of the smell and see how the *smell* communicates what you formerly perceived through your kinesthetic feeling sense.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
29 Aug 2002