Robert's Response

[Robert Greco]

#650

Sills description of BFS really spoke to me: “a kind of ‘global perception of the whole of arising process in any one moment of emergent experience – a sense of “all of it.” All those sensations, emotional tones, mental constructs, symbols and images that compose our self-constellations are directly experienced as an embodied and coherent whole.”

I’ve had experiences like this before, usually fleeting, but when I turn to translate these experiences into my writing, I find the words wanting. For the moment when I have the Felt Sense experience, I hold my breath and I try not to think. I know, without knowing in the words in my head, that once the words flood back into my mind, I’ll have lost the moment, the temporary understanding that I’ve gleamed. I try to hold onto that moment as long as I can, to elongate my qualitative experience of that understanding, but it doesn’t last.

As a writing teacher, I see my job as largely about helping my students to bring themselves to the page. Although this often takes the place through academic texts that can lack vibrancy and luster, there is a certain them-ness that I want my students to bring to their writing. We typically call this voice, but when I think about my own writing, I don’t strive to create a voice. It’s something that comes from within me, something’s that’s part of the intuitive way in which I approach text. Now, I’m wondering about how all of this connects to felt sense, and how it connects to those uber moments of felt sense, those get it moments. I think of those moments of perfect voice, a voice so pure it can’t be communicated, like Alanis Morissette at the end of Dogma.

Felt sense, around 1 minute in 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YS19p_1CUo

[Sondra Perl]

#674

In my understanding, felt sense or BFS is more directly connected to the language that arises from it. The ‘wordless space’ is, I think, the result of moving thru a series of focusing steps as Lavender describes with the word ‘manageable.’ What you are describing sounds to me of more of an ‘aha’ moment — an ‘I totally get it’ moment that does arise and then disappear pretty quickly. Does this make sense to you?

[Robert Greco]

#682

I’m starting to see what you’re saying. And now I’m thinking of those times when I had a “language comes from” response, and I see what you mean by the ah-ha moment, but the sensations have certain similar characteristics, but the going out seems a key distinction. The ah-ha moment is about loss in many ways. I get it but when I try to put it into language, I lose it. Then with the BFS, I’m starting from the place of loss and flowing into the language. I’m not sure I’m clear here, but I think I’m starting to get it. 🙂

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