REFLECTIONS ON ZERO AND PRESENCE

REFLECTIONS ON ZERO AND PRESENCE

By Paul Cohen

There’s a common thread with all the things that I’ve found myself exploring. From my early teens I delved deep into Vipassana meditation, became an acupuncturist, and immersed myself exploring the world of Zero Balancing bodywork. My inquisitiveness never leaves as I am continually exploring the notion and concept of zero and that of “being” present. Embodied Touch Bodywork which includes what I call Bone Yoga and Bone Yoga Bodywork, plus Qi Gong and breath work, all have a common theme, that of letting go of all unnecessary tension so we can experience the power of just being, embodied and present.

I work with this state or notion of zero and that of being present, However my head kind of tells me that Zero doesn’t exist, that there’s always a continuation of movement. We know that line, “the only constant is change”. Buddha is reputed to have said that there is a rise and fall of sensation, at the speed of a kalapa, which is equivalent to the rising and falling, birth/decay, 65,000 times in the blink of an eye, so fast that our perception feels things as a constant. There is also a space, an in-between, the pause or poise or zero point between movement, action and thought, In-breath, pause, out-breath, pause. We continually live in a world of on/off, birth/death, left/right. Even at that sub-atomic level of the kalapas rising and falling at such rapidity, there is that transition place. If this is true it relates to everything we do, therefore every part of our existence, known or unknown, is in this transition place.

So does Zero exist? And if it does, are there any benefits of Zero? I believe there is a place that resides in our state of being present, as a feeling sensation, in a place of non-judgment, that is close the notion of Zero. I also believe that being in a place of non judgment has incredible healing potential. It’s the “Yoga Nidra” place, as we drift off into that twilight zone, that place between awake and asleep. And it is said that in this place we can find our true wisdom, our true knowing, when we are in touch, away from the mind’s chatter and its dominance. In Qi Gong it’s called the “Qi Gong” state of mind. Meditation, yoga breath work, sport, walking, cooking, playing a musical instrument or just being, are places where many of us have experienced that state of presence, of just being.

You know that feeling when someone really connects to you through touch, you feel met in a place of connection and stillness without judgment, a place of balance or equilibrium. It’s an embodied connection in the now, when time seems to stop, and there’s just an immersion in the present moment. Being in touch, experiencing a place of zero, has an embodied instinctual knowing and presence to it. Many of us have lost this art, yet it’s still there, there is still deep knowing and understanding that can be awakened and rekindled.

There is an incredible power and potential of being in the now, a place of (relative) stillness, without judgment, a place kindness and of deep ease.

Paul Cohen 13 Oct 2020 www.boneyoga.com

Paul Cohen