Mark Foote

I-80 in Pennsylvania:

Thanks for the Nisargadatta quotes, those are wonderful. And now for something completely different and yet I hope relevant, from the piece I'm currently writing: Why the emphasis on the breath? As I wrote previously: There’s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the necessity of breath can place the point of awareness in such a fashion as to engage a mechanism of support for the spine, often in stages. (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages, edited) The exact nature of the frailty of the lower spine and the precise mechanism of support I have gleaned from the medical literature. Studies made in the 1940’s established that the discs of the lumbar spine cannot, on their own, withstand the pressure of lifting significant weight without rupture. In the 1950’s, D. L. Bartelink concluded that pressure in the “fluid ball” of the abdominal cavity takes load off the structure of the spine when weight is lifted (“The Role of Abdominal Pressure in Relieving the Pressure on the Lumbar Intervertebral Discs”; J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1957 Nov; 39-B(4):718-25). The pressure in the “fluid ball” is induced by activity in the abdominal muscles, and Bartilink was able to establish that in weight lifting, the pressure induced is proportional to the weight lifted. Bartelink theorized that animals (as well as humans) make use of pressure in the “fluid ball” of the abdominal cavity to protect the spine, and he noted that breathing can continue even when the abdomen is tensed: Animals undoubtedly make an extensive use of the protection of their spines by the tensed somatic cavity, and probably also use it as a support upon which muscles of posture find a hold… Breathing can go on even when the abdomen is used as a support and cannot be relaxed. (ibid) In the 1980’s, Gracovetsky, Farfan and Lamay suggested that in weight lifting, the abdominals work against the extensor muscles of the spine to allow the displacement of the fascial sheet behind the sacrum and spine: If this interpretation is correct, it would partly explain why the abdominal muscles work hard during weight-lifting. They apparently work against the extensor muscles. Futhermore their lever arm gives them considerable effect. In fact, we propose that the effect of the abdominal muscles is two-fold: to balance the moment created by the abdominal pressure (hence, the abdominal muscles do not work against the weight lifter) and to generate abdominal pressure up to 1 psi, which would help the extensors to push away the fascia. It is essential that the supraspinous ligament and the lumbodorsal fascia be brought into action to permit weight lifting without disk or vertebral failure. … It must be kept in mind that in some circumstances ligament tension may reach 1800 lb., whereas no muscle can pull as hard. (Gracovetsky, S., Farfan HF, Lamay C, 1997. A mathematical model of the lumbar spine using an optimal system to control muscles and ligaments. Orthopedic Clinics of North America 8: 135-153; bracketed added) Dr. Rene Cailliet summarized these findings: In the Lamy-Farfan model the abdominal pressure is considered to be exerted posteriorly against the lumbodorsal fascia, causing the fascia to become taut…. thus relieving the tension upon the erector spinae muscles. (“Low Back Pain Syndrome”, ed. 3, F. A. Davis Co., pp 140-141 Farfan, Lamay and Cailliet referred to the “lumbodorsal fascia”, now more commonly referred to as the “thoracolumbar fascia”. My guess is that a cross-legged posture exacerbates the shearing stress on vertebrae of the lower spine in the movement of breath, and that the free location of consciousness can lead the balance of the body in activity to relieve that stress. Critical to the relinquishment of willful activity in the body is the recognition that the ligaments of the body can regulate muscular activity, In research done at the close of the 1990’s, the sacroiliac ligaments were shown to regulate activity in the gluteous muscles and the muscles of the lower spine (Indahl, A., et al., “Sacroiliac joint involvement in activation of the porcine spinal and gluteal musculature”, Journal of Spinal Disorders, 1999. 12[4]: p. 325-30). The stretch allowed by a ligament is slight (less than about 6% of the total length of the ligament), and yet the study by Indahl and associates suggests that even a slight stretch may influence muscular activity. I would say based on my own experience that other ligaments of the body can also regulate activity in associated muscle groups. The metaphors Gautama offered for the initial states of concentration speak to the role of “one-pointedness of mind” in engaging the stretch of particular ligaments. The ligaments in turn regulate reciprocal activity in various muscle groups that attach to the thoracolumbar fascial sheet, including the abdominals, and thereby control aspects of the stretch and displacement of the fascial sheet. My guess is that even when the spine is not under significant load, stretch in the thoracolumbar fascial sheet may still be engaged to provide support to the structure of the spine, and thereby ease the nerve exits between vertebrae along the sacrum and spine. The free occurrence of consciousness in the body I believe depends in part on that ease. In a cross-legged posture, the necessary ease can perhaps be brought about in stages, as in the concentrations that Gautama detailed.

A key aspect of the bodily self is self-location, the experience that the self is localized at a specific position in space within one's bodily borders (embodied self-location). (Journal of Neuroscience 26 May 2010, 30 (21) 7202-7214; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3403-09.2010) The “self… localized at a specific position in space” is generally associated with consciousness. The Indian sage Nisargadatta described the self as “the consciousness in the body”: You are not your body, but you are the consciousness in the body, because of which you have the awareness of “I am”. It is without words, just pure beingness. Meditation means you have to hold consciousness by itself. The consciousness should give attention to itself. (Gaitonde, Mohan [2017]. Self – Love: The Original Dream [Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Direct Pointers to Reality]; ISBN 978-9385902833) "The consciousness should give attention to itself"--that's "meditation on an object", but also "the experience (of consciousness) localized at a specific position in space within one's bodily borders". Gautama described the first concentration as like a bath-ball, gathered out of soap powder scattered in a copper basin and sprinkled with moisture. The bath-ball should be kneaded, he said, until it no longer oozes moisture. I would say that's returning a presence of mind to the location of consciousness until the presence is steady. Gautama continued his metaphor by saying, “even so, (a person) steeps, drenches, fills, and suffuses this body with zest and ease… so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease”. The zest and ease that Gautama referred to I believe are the zest and ease born of activity of the body by virtue of the location of consciousness. When the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation takes place by virtue of the location of consciousness, feelings of zest and ease arise. The suffusion of the body with zest and ease such that "there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded" by zest and ease is "the whole field of awareness as the object", at least as far as consciousness in the body. Ptahhotep east wall, 25th century B.C.E.

That's interesting about the two right and two left hands--didn't notice that!

I would say yes. The illustration, by the way, is from the "Papyrus of Ani” manuscript of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Material I have excised from my latest writing, so that I will not be accused of harboring aliens of the interstellar variety in my non-existent basement: I would guess that the scene is intended to depict forces inside the torso, with the central pillar representing the sacrum and the line at the top of the scene representing the diaphragm. Resting on top of the pillar is a symbol referred to as “the ankh”, which dates back in Egypt to about 30 centuries before the common era. From Wikipedia: There is little agreement on what physical object the sign originally represented [Gordon & Schwabe 2004, pp 102–103]. Many scholars believe the sign is a knot formed of a flexible material such as cloth or reeds [ibid], as early versions of the sign show the lower bar of the ankh as two separate lengths of flexible material that seem to correspond to the two ends of the knot [Wilkinson 1992, p 177]. (Wikipedia, “Ankh”) My guess is that the ankh in the “Papyrus of Ani” manuscript illustrates a placement of “the base of consciousness” that functions like the spring in Gautama’s pool-of-water metaphor*, a resilient placement that balances activity in front of the abdomen and behind the sacrum, except with special emphasis on the horizontal iliolumbar ligaments, the two paired ligaments being symbolized by the crossbar of the ankh. The material the goddesses kneel on would seem to represent the sacrotuberous ligaments. The sacrotuberous ligaments attach to the thoracolumbar fascial sheet: At the base of the lumbar spine all of the layers of the thoracolumbar fascial sheet fuse together into a thick composite that attaches firmly to the posterior superior iliac spine and the sacrotuberous ligament. (J Anat. 2012 May 27;221(6):507–536. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2012.01511.x) The two goddesses offer support, one hand to the top of a structure that resembles the sacrum, the other hand angled toward the disk of the sun. The hands at the top of the sacrum would represent the support of the horizontal iliolumbar ligaments to the base of the lumbar spine, while the hands toward the sun would represent the support of the vertical iliolumbar ligaments to the vertebrae upward along the spine. One knee of each goddess seems to offer support near the bottom of the sacrum. The disc of the sun held by the arms of the ankh I would guess represents a free and pure consciousness, pure in that automatic activity of the body is solely by virtue of the location of consciousness (and not by habit or volition), and free in that consciousness takes place anywhere within the body. The upturned hands, balance on the balls of the feet, and extended tails of the baboons moving up the inside of the walls I believe speak to the stretch of the thoracolumbar fascia through the relaxed weight of the arms, the legs, and the head. They may also indicate that the lever arm of the transverse abdominals is in use against the extensors of the lumbar spine to allow stretch in the ligaments of the spine and rearward displacement of the fascial sheet as appropriate. * "… imagine a pool with a spring, but no water-inlet on the east side or the west side or on the north or on the south, and suppose the (rain-) deva supply not proper rains from time to time–cool waters would still well up from that pool, and that pool would be steeped, drenched, filled and suffused with the cold water so that not a drop but would be pervaded by the cold water; in just the same way… (one) steeps (their) body with zest and ease… " (AN 5.28, © Pali Text Society Vol. III p 18-19)

Sloppy Joe!

Speaking of upper solar plexus: Goddess knows best!

I picture Stirling sailing his hat down some San Francisco street, total abandon in a brisk breeze. I did read "Being Upright"--that's his apology for not copping to a problem with Baker Roshi sooner, if memory serves. I don't know. I think it's confusing to most people, who to trust as a teacher. It's not even straightforward when it comes to subjects like mathematics, because the field of study and the approach can make all the difference, regardless of the teacher's credentials. How much more confusing, when the subject is how best to make use of this life! If it was as simple as you sometimes make it out to be, Stirling, we'd all know the answer to that one already.

appreciation for the kind word, sharing thought, the life on the line

Wonder if Baker ever signed off on Reb. Not that Reb needed signing off on! The Denkoroku lists successors, but as I recall there is one point in the chain where the chain was actually broken. The author of Denkoroku gestured mystically, and all was well! Maybe that's the spot in the lineage chart on Wikipedia that's a Rinzai master. Washed up in a box! Will wonders never cease.

until nothing left, can't begin to fathom right bells and whistles, farts

That would be why Yuanwu gave Huqiu Shaolong an enlightenment certificate?

Interesting point of view. Here's another account of moving consciousness: … as an experiment, I recommend trying it, sitting in this posture (legs crossed in seated meditation) and trying to feel what it’s like to let your mind, to let the base of your consciousness, move away from your head. One thing you’ll find, or that I have found, at least, is that you can’t will it to happen, because you’re willing it from your head. To the extent that you can do it, it’s an act of letting go–and a fascinating one. (“No Struggle [Zazen Yojinki, Part 6]”, by Koun Franz, from the “Nyoho Zen” site, parenthetical added) I'm writing a piece I hope to post before too long, that continues in the same vein: Franz mentioned that “the base of consciousness” might relocate to the center of gravity. Most modern references to the lower dan-t’ian situate it somewhere below and behind the navel, at the approximate center of gravity of the body. Franz spoke about “letting go” to allow the “base of consciousness” to move away from the head. Gautama spoke about “making self-surrender the object of thought” in order to “lay hold of one-pointedness”, and enter the first concentration: Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein. (SN 48.10, Pali Text Society vol. V p 174) “Self-surrender” is the abandonment of any exercise of will. Gautama spoke of how the exercise of will could lead to “a station of consciousness”: That which we will…, and that which we intend to do and that wherewithal we are occupied:–this becomes an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being there, there comes to be a station of consciousness…. But if we neither will, nor intend to do, nor are occupied about something, there is no becoming of an object for the persistance of consciousness. The object being absent, there comes to be no station of consciousness. (SN 12.38; tr. Pali Text Society SN vol. II p 45) The exercise of will can station the location of consciousness, and an “act of letting go”, “making self-surrender the object of thought”, can free it. I would say that the “thought directed and sustained” of the first concentration comes out of necessity, as a presence of mind with “the base of consciousness” is maintained from inhalation to exhalation and from exhalation to inhalation. If a presence of mind is maintained, the natural tendency toward the free location of consciousness draws out “thought directed and sustained”. ... The zest and ease that Gautama referred to I believe are the zest and ease born of activity of the body by virtue of the free location of consciousness. A relaxed presence of mind with the “specific position in space” of “the base of consciousness” can bring such activity and such feelings to light, and the feelings can then be extended such that “there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded” by them. A different take, but an assumption similar to that of your second link, that the "seat" of consciousness can move away from the head.

I think the experience of the sixth patriarch of Zen was unusual, in that he was said to have turned a corner by virtue of hearing a line from the Diamond Sutra recited by an itinerant priest in the marketplace: Let the mind be present without an abode. (from the Diamond Sutra, translation by Venerable Master Hsing Yun from “The Rabbit’s Horn: A Commentary on the Platform Sutra”, Buddha’s Light Publishing pg 60) Lots of stories in the Zen tradition of people being enlightened by a shout or a blow, or by other actions of a master. Some stories of people being enlightened through the presence of a master, without any particular action. Not so many stories of people being enlightened by words as straightforward as those the sixth patriarch heard. If the transmission does not entail words, is not by means of scripture, is not by virtue of understanding, then how does transmission take place? That is what I am addressing in the post I link to in the OP: ... activity solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness, the hallmark of the fourth concentration, has been conveyed by demonstration in some branches of Buddhism for millennia. Activity solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness can be demonstrated as action, can be demonstrated as inaction, can be picked up without any words through a kind of a physical intuition. And teachers like Yuanwu's disciple Dahui Zonggao apparently believed that was the only way the teaching could actually be transmitted--he's the one who tried to burn the printing blocks of "The Blue Cliff Record". And yet the sixth patriarch seems to have picked it up through a fortuitous meeting of personal experience and the spoken word. Learn something every day, says here that "Yuanwu gave Huqiu Shaolong an enlightenment certificate that is the oldest surviving document written by a Chan master." (https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/detail?langId=en&webView=&content_base_id=100223&content_part_id=0&content_pict_id=0) "Available now, for a limited time only!"--"Big Mind" certification. What we've come to, I guess.