Two as One: Reflections on Unity in Mind-Body Experience

What might be termed the psyche-soma, aka: “the body-mind problem” (Sella, 2018, p.18), poses a challenging paradox facing anyone committed to therapeutic interaction in whatever form. How can we genuinely empathize with a patient’s suffering, enter their experience as it were and truly “be” with them in that place, yet strive to be effective in our attempts to analyze and interpret by essentially remaining separate and impartial in the same moment? How can subject and object discover synchronicity and somehow capture the essence of both a phenomenal and interpretative experience simultaneously? In short, how do we meet the myriad emotional, psychological, and physical needs of our patients while engaging equally the sensory intuition and deductive logic of our whole being? This surely is the greatest challenge facing any therapist of whatever discipline.

Our Western classical philosophical heritage, from Plato and Aristotle to Descartes, has consistently claimed the body as material, the mind as spiritual and though the body and mind may interact, matter and spirit apparently do not. Science, religion, and medicine in the West have reinforced this dualistic paradigm, emphasizing logical reasoning as the superior form of rhetoric, thus creating the blueprint for body-mind dualism. Language itself has immortalized this dualistic paradigm: material-immaterial; body/flesh-soul/spirit; physical-psychological.  Only in the modern/post-modern era in the West do we begin to find challenges to this inherited dualistic model. Examples include in philosophy, Heidegger’s concept of Dasien (“Being there” or “Being in the world”); in physics, Schrödinger’s Cat (Thought experiment illustrating the potential of parallel modes of being) and Einstein’s theory of Space-Time; in psychology, Bion’s notion of “at one-ment” (the unitary experience of creating a symbiotic, timeless state between both the giver and receiver and at the same time between the mind and body of each one). What Dogen calls “being-time”.

Which brings us to East Asian philosophy and medicine and our own work. Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism have each profoundly shaped the cultural evolution of all South and East Asia. The Taoist concept of the Taiji (“oneness before duality”), the Confucian concept of Harmony (between Heaven (天 Tian) and Earth (地 Di), and the Zen Buddhist focus on Kensho (“perceiving one’s true nature”) are all suggestive of a relational, integrated nature of experience rather than a transactional, dualistic one. Consequently, the traditional medical systems of the East have naturally embodied, both in theory and practice, the same recognizable focus on integration and wholeness. From this perspective there can exist no absolute distinction or separation between self and other, between doctor and patient, between diagnosis and treatment, between doing and being. Rather, the experience of “healing” or “being healed” emanates from an interdependent relationship between mind and body that is ongoing, synchronous, and constantly changing.

In East Asian medicine the interdependent nature of body and mind is most clearly and uniquely confirmed by the concept of 気 Ki. “Body and mind (are) not seen as a mechanism (however complex), but as a vortex of energy and vital substances interacting…….to form an organism” (Maciocia, 1989. P.35). Amongst the foundational energetic theories used in clinical practice, perhaps the most illustrative of such body-mind interdependence is the 三寶San Bo (“Three Treasures”), wherein the 神 Shin (the immaterial, spiritual vitality) is linked to the 精 Sei (the material, physical form or “essence”) through the myriad potential and constant exchanges of the Ki (breath / energy). In practical terms, it is through the practitioner’s connection to this Vital Energy that the ability to connect thoughts, feelings and emotions directly to the physical functioning or disharmony of the body can be realized (both in the self and the patient). Sensing the connection to the Ki, whether through direct touch or a needle or other means, precisely uncovers the potential for a unitary experience whereby “self” and “other”, “subject” and “object” melt away and “being” and “doing” become one. But how to achieve this state when the “doing” appears innately paradoxical to simply “being”?

In a Zen Shiatsu class during the earliest part of my training, I remember distinctly the first time I was offered an opportunity to practically experience what has been called “the sensation of two as one-ness” (Masunaga, 1976, p.50). My teacher, Suzuki Takeo, had been one of Masunaga’s students and initially took over as director of the Iokai Shiatsu Center in Tokyo upon his teacher’s death in 1981. Now, it was 1984 and Suzuki began this particular class by demonstrating a method of holding “two points as one”. This involved selecting two separate points (not necessarily standard points) along the same channel (in this case on the arm), located at some distance from one another, settling into the 腹 Hara and applying pressure equally to both points such that both giver and receiver at some moment might experience the sensation of one single unified point rather than two separate ones. 

Similarly, in Meridian Therapy Acupuncture class, we would spend hours trying to develop the sensitivity in each hand when needling; the steady, foundational 陰 In energy of the 押手 Oshide (supporting hand) and the light, dynamic 陽 Yo energy of the 差し手 Sashide (striking hand). Yet here too, in order to gain an authentic sensation of 気 道 Ki Do (“the path of the Qi” or Ki sensation), proof of the therapeutic potential, the two hands would need to dissolve into one unified energetic experience, so that as my teacher would say, “you feel it arrive in the Hara, like an echo”.

In 漢方 Kampo (Sino-Japanese Herbal Medicine), where the tactile experience is limited to 腹診Fukushin (Abdominal Palpation) and 脈診 Myakushin (Pulse Diagnosis) and where the “mind” might seem overly engaged compared to the body, there is nonetheless the same potential for unitary experience. I would compare the sensation of the “arrival of the Ki” in Shiatsu or acupuncture to the moment in Kampo practice when the carefully gathered evidence defining the patient 証 Sho (Pattern) is suddenly and unquestioningly understood and experienced as correlating perfectly to a particular formula Sho so that in that exquisite moment, the diagnosis and treatment become inextricably linked as one single integrated and imminent phenomenon.

These experiences (and many besides such as sitting in the zendo or practicing in the Dojo), can seem elusive, almost fantastical. At times, the mind emptying out and bringing itself into one-pointed focus while the body is left feeling only “left” and “right”. At others, the body coming to unified stillness while the mind is screaming “why can’t I feel it?” For me, the principal ally in this challenging process of searching for unity in mind-body experience, is the Hara itself and its corresponding energetic center located in the lower back and hips, the 腰 Koshi. At least in Japanese culture (especially the martial arts) it is the 姿勢Shisei, the outward Physical Posture through which the 心Kokoro, meaning “heart” or inner spirit of the person may be perceived (Dawes. 2021. p.34) . Thus, once again, body and mind, form and function can be linked in one’s experience as a unified, integrated whole.

In the realm of medicine, for both practitioners and patients, strong Hara and strong Koshi imply deep reserves of compassion, resolve, intelligence, and skill housed in a robust, healthy constitutional envelope (the body). This perceived relationship between form and function has vital implications in the realms of prognosis, diagnosis and treatment (Dawes. Ibid. p.36). 

Hara and Koshi, Oshide and Sashide, left and right, mind and body, two points as one!

Nigel is well-known nationally and internationally for his work on Fukushin - abdominal diagnosis and application in clinical practice – and has recently published a book on the subject: Fukushin and Kampo, Singing Dragon, 2020. He has multiple peer-reviewed journal publications in the field and is author of 3 other books, including a translation of the modern Japanese classic: Kampo: A Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice, Churchill Livingstone, 2010 and a bodywork text: Shiatsu for Beginners: A Step by Step Guide, Prima Lifestyles, 1995.

He is founder and director of the NYC Kampo Institute and Kampo Fellowship offering seminars and programs in Traditional Japanese Medicine at the post graduate level, including in acupuncture, Shiatsu and Kampo herbal medicine. He teaches both nationally and internationally and has been on faculty with several accredited colleges of East Asian Medicine in New York, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Montreal, Lisbon, London, Brisbane and Tel Aviv. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Endnotes/Resources:

1. Sella, Y. (2018). From Dualism to Oneness in Psychoanalysis: A Zen Perspective on the Mind-Body Question. Oxford: Routledge.

2. Heidegger, M. (1927). Being and Time (Sein und Zeit).

3.  Schrödinger, I. (1935). The present situation in quantum mechanics (Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik).

4. Part of: Einstein, A. (1920). Relativity: The Special and General Theory.

5.  Bion, W. (1970). Attention and Interpretation. London. Tavistock Publications.

6. His essay: Being-Time (有時 Uji), is part of Eihei Dogen’s larger work, The True Dharma Eye (正法眼蔵Shobogenzo), written in 1240 while at Koshoji temple in Kyoto.

7. 太极 Taiji. Usually translated as the “Supreme Ultimate”.

8.  Corresponding to social harmony in which the secular is regarded as sacred, guided by certain moral laws, thus transcending the split between religion and humanity.

9. 見性 Kensho, used interchangeably with 悟りSatori, meaning understanding or insight, both of which are often translated as: “enlightenment”.

10. The Vital Energy thought to permeate and connect all living things

11. Maciocia, G. (1989). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. London: Churchill Livingstone.

12. Masunaga, S. (1976). Zen Shiatsu: Harmonizing Yin and Yang for better health. Tokyo: Japan Publications.

13. 経絡治療 Keiraku Chiryo - Style of Acupuncture founded by 柳谷素霊 Yanagiya Sorei in the early part of the 20^th Century.

14. Dawes, N. (2021). Fukushin and Kampo: Abdominal Diagnosis in Traditional Japanese and Chinese Medicine. London: Singing Dragon.