The ”LONG BODY” is perception of the present moment, it is the sum of everything.

The Iroquois talk of the “LONG BODY” as such; Through your senses your body extends beyond its immediate boundaries, {e.g. lacrosse stick, paint brush, violin, hammer}.

You are connected via the “LONG BODY” to the odors you are smelling, you are as one. The sense of smell goes directly to the limbic system of the brain. The reptilian part, the oldest, of the brain. Here reside our emotions, memories, fears and behavior. This direct connection to the brain makes scent, or smell, the most evocative of our special senses, a superhighway into our brains.

Zen teacher Seung Sahn Soen-sa says; “But name and form are made by thinking. If you cut off all thinking, you will see everything just as it is. No ideas hinder you. Then your correct relationship in any form appears by itself. This mind is clear mind. With this clear mind you can perceive your correct relationship with anything and use it freely.” As you can see there is a strong relationship between the Native American belief and the Zen teaching.

When a concept is strong the form is simple. The message of the scent is primary, that being so, the structure of the scent is secondary. TRUST and CONFIDENCE allows you to focus. “LONG BODY”, a single consciousness, is likened to a body connected where it operates as a single entity; functioning, sensing, and feeling as one.

Having TRUST and CONFIDENCE in the “LONG BODY”, believing in the concept one will have less difficulty in the perception that comes from the limbic system and what you are smelling. The connection of all become one. The “LONG BODY” connects all into one sensation; TRUST,  be CONFIDENT and FOCUS.

Categories: PERSPECTIVES Philosophical Perspective

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.