"Consciousness is directly transmittable ... "

In an interview published Fall 2006 in Unified Energetics, my teacher Lonny Jarrett was asked: “In your experience, how do you balance compassionately meeting patients where they are while simultaneously pointing to something beyond their development?”

His response is the basis for my blog title - Direct Transmission - as the personal development for the sake of my patients which he speaks of has become my primary focus and challenge over the last three years I have studied with him:

“... What I try to do with patients is to make a connection between whatever it is they’re complaining about, and how they behave and what they believe. Ultimately, so they can see that they are making choices and are not victims. What I find is – to paraphrase my teacher, Andrew – everyone wants to get better but nobody wants to change ...

“...I think the goal is less to meet the patient where he or she is and more to push myself to live what I know. Consciousness is directly transmittable. If I have a higher perspective, because I’ve seen more, and I’m living up to it, this creates an “evolutionary tension” a natural pull in the best part of a patient that wants to come further ...

“... One thing for sure is that if we’re really mostly aligned with the sensitive part of ourselves that needs to be handled delicately, that victimized self, then we’re not going to take anyone else on. If we think that we as practitioners are these sensitive selves that can only take so much, and that we don’t want to be judged or held to live up to anything, then we’re sure not going to do that with patients.”

I played around with a bunch of different possible titles, but what made my decision is the Chinese characters that compose the concept of “direct transmission”. For anyone who has not studied Chinese, the strokes of each single word is a story unto itself.

“Direct transmission” is composed of four characters, each with their own virtuous story, and some that, when combined, take on an exciting additional meaning. The story told by these characters speaks to the fundamental principles of Chinese Medicine in an evolutionary context that Lonny points to in the above referenced quote.

I'm sure if I broke down these characters further into their individual radicals, an even more exciting story of Evolutionary Enlightenment would unfold, but since I have not yet unpacked my radicals dictionary, we will just have to examine the words in their entirety for now:

直 zhí: upright, straight, vertical, just
接 jiē: access, to connect or extend

直接: direct, immediacy, with urgency

Our first character symbolizes the upright stance of man between Heaven and Earth. He is the creator of consciousness, and his duty is to achieve vertical development for the sake of what is right and just and will serve the cosmos.

Our second character is the explosion of positive energy – he cannot simply evolve by sitting still, he must extend out and connect with others.

When combining these two characters to form the word “direct” there is an urgency that is added to the mission – not tomorrow, but right now in this very moment. The ego wants more time, always, but the Authentic Self is ready to change and move straight ahead in an instant.

传 chuán: to express, hand down, teach, transmit
输 shū: transportation, delivery, transfusion

传输: transmission

In our first character, through his own struggle to remain upright and evolve vertically in the world, man becomes a teacher to others. His actions speak louder than his words, and unless he is willing to take on the teachings himself and live them, they will not be received by his students. He must transmit them.

In our second character, the lesson is delivered and received by transfusion which can only occur when the teacher has embodied the teaching. This transfusion involves a giving of one's own self - the blood, the virtues that he already contains within himself.

And so consciousness can only be directly transmitted to others if one is living up to what one already knows himself. As much as we all want to struggle with this bold statement, because it requires an amount of honesty and effort that is often mind-blowingly uncomfortable, the reality of this truth plays out time and time again in my own treatment room. When I am focused on changing the patient, nothing happens. But every time I let go of this external focus and turn the mirror upon myself and my own shortcomings, something radical happens in the treatment room. As I take on the personal challenges I know I need to change and improve in my own life, my patients suddenly become alive, excited and motivated to do the same for themselves. It is a direct transmission of consciousness - and it's available to every one of us if we are willing to do the work.