Mark Foote

I don't know! At the moment Gautama realized the asavas were not present, the disturbance of the six sense fields was still present. He did mention that. I'm guessing that "the cessation of ('determinate thought' in) feeling and perceiving" allows unshakeable insight into the lack of any abiding self, into the chain of causation that begins with ignorance and ends in grasping after self (which Gautama said was identically suffering). Your point about pain as suffering, I understand, but. I look at my cat, and I see that the cat has some pain because her kidneys are failing. The cat doesn't seem to suffer, even so. I have seen a cat die, with her paws tucked in under her on a desk, doing kitty zazen. The cat did not seem to suffer, in spite of two surgeries for mammarian cancer which had returned. Are humans so much different from other animals? Or have we just lost sight of something, lost accord with our nature? If we have lost accord, then perhaps our existence is a challenge to return ourselves to that nature, and to find a way to do so that can be communicated widely before we destroy the planet. Gautama turned his focus to teaching his own way of living, after the suicide of scores of monks a day, as they reflected on the unlovely aspects of the body. As far as I understand that way of living, Gautama practiced to "the cessation of ('determinate thought' in) inbreathing and outbreathing" regularly, and then used a recollection of the state of the body in that cessation to recall the concentration as needed in daily life. That was his way of living, "especially in the rainy season", so not all the time but a lot of it. That's not the concentration associated with his enlightenment. That's just allowing the natural placement of attention in the movement of breath, and experiencing the cessation of habitual or volitive activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, as necessary. Where's the bliss in that. I find relief in that, satisfaction in that, amazement in that. Is that a kind of happiness?--yes, but I wouldn't call it bliss. Is it nondual? Yeah, in the sense that the natural placement of attention in the movement of breath is singular, there's a sense of awareness at a singular location. Everything else enters into that location, things beyond the range of the senses can influence that location, and at some moment the activity of the entire body becomes automatic with that singularity. When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. ("Genjo Koan", Dogen, tr Tanahashi)

You find Gautama's teaching pure and simple? Something, something, something: Gautama said: And I… at the close of (instructional discourse), steady, calm, make one-pointed and concentrate my mind subjectively in that first characteristic of concentration in which I ever constantly abide. (MN I 249, Pali Text Society vol I p 303) Gautama’s statement implies that he did not experience “that first characteristic of concentration” when he spoke. “That first characteristic of concentration” is “one-pointedness of mind”, as here in Gautama’s description of “right concentration”: “And what… is the (noble) right concentration with the causal associations, with the accompaniments? It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right mode of livelihood, right endeavor, right mindfulness. Whatever one-pointedness of mind is accompanied by these seven components , this… is called the (noble) right concentration with the causal associations and the accompaniments.” (MN III 71, Pali Text Society vol III p 114; similar at SN V 17; “noble” substituted for Ariyan) Even though giving “instructional discourse” meant the loss of “that first characteristic of concentration”, Gautama went ahead and taught, and he expected the monks in his order to do the same. He severely chastised a group of monks who had taken a vow of silence for their rainy-season retreat, and made a rule against the practice: “Monks, an observance of members of other sects, the practice of silence, should not be observed. Whoever should observe it, there is an offence of wrong-doing.” (2nd book of the Theravadin Vinaya, Khandhaka 4.1.13) (Mindfulness of Death) Soto Zen is big on silence, at retreats. Here's the part where I see Soto Zen as in accord with Gautama's teachings: Although we accept Buddha’s teaching, our practice is not based on any teaching. Our practice is based on our original nature—buddha-nature. Even if Buddha did not appear in this world, we all have [laughs] nature. And we should start our practice because of our true nature which Buddha found. (Shunryu Suzuki, 68-07-21 lecture, http://www.shunryusuzuki.com/suzuki/transcripts-pdf/LE/68-07-21-LE.htm)

You're talking about: Dona the brahmin is asking what he will become. Apparently Gautama felt that in answering "take it that I am a Buddha", he answered that question. That's why I said "of what he would become (and what he was)". The question was about what he will become, but his answer was present tense, that's why I put "and what he was" in parenthesis--he is saying what he is, but in answer to what he will become. Sorry if that was confusing (it is confusing). galen_burnett, I thought I answered your question in the last sentence, above. What am I missing. A thing I like about the sermons of Gautama in the Pali Canon, he's careful not to say too much. I give you the words of Didymous Judas Thomas, about another individual who was careful not to say too much, at least in Thomas's recounting: Jesus said to His disciples: Make a comparison to Me and tell Me who I am like. ... Thomas said to Him: Master, my mouth will not at all be capable of saying whom Thou are like. Jesus said: I am not thy Master, because thou hast drunk, thou hast from the bubbling spring which I have measured out. (The Gospel According to Thomas, coptic text established and translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-CH. Puech, G. Quispel, W. Till and Yassah ‘Abd Al Masih, p 9 log. 13, ©1959 E. J. Brill) For me, Gautama's use of the word "buddha" in his reply to Dona is the equivalent of "not capable of saying".

"Asavas, how I love ya, how I love ya, my dear... asavas." Where there have been deeds, Ananda, personal weal and woe arise in consequence of the will there was in the deeds. Where there has been speech–where there has been thought, personal weal and woe arise in consequence of the will there was in the speech–in the thought. Either we of ourselves, Ananda, plan those planned deeds conditioned by ignorance, whence so caused arises personal weal and woe, or others plan those planned deeds that we do conditioned on ignorance, whence so conditioned arises personal weal and woe. Either they are done deliberately, or we do them unwittingly. Thence both ways arises personal weal and woe. So also is it where there has been speech, where there has been thought. Either we plan, speaking, thinking deliberately, or others plan, so that we speak, think unwittingly. Thence arises personal weal and woe. In these six cases ignorance is followed after. But from the utter fading away and cessation of ignorance, Ananda, those deeds are not, whence so conditioned arises personal weal and woe. Neither is that speech, nor that thought. As field they are not; as base they are not; as wherewithal they are not; as occasion they are not, that so conditioned there might arise personal weal and woe. (SN II text ii, 36, Pali Text Society SN Vol II p. 31-32) Seven come eleven, weal or woe!

See my reply to your question about page 13. More like, "does nothing yet everything is done", the infernal ol' wu-wei.

Think the quote and response you're referring to are: Emphasis added. "Shikantaza is the place, and things" (Kobun, from the Jijkoji website). The place and no-thing, things and no-thing. It can't be done, of course. The Kobun quote in full: Sitting shikantaza is the place itself, and things. The dynamics of all Buddhas are in it. When you sit, the cushion sits with you. If you wear glasses, the glasses sit with you. Clothing sits with you. House sits with you. People who are moving around outside all sit with you. They don't take the sitting posture! (Jikoji website, Aspects of Sitting Medition) Something from a piece I'm working on now: But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know-- you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation-- preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. (Shunryu Suzuki, lecture 70-02-22: The Background of Shikantaza, “question and answer) Suzuki says that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of doing something, and that “doing something” makes the practice only preparatory. Sometimes when you think that you are doing zazen with an imperturbable mind, you ignore the body, but it is also necessary to have the opposite understanding at the same time. Your body is practicing zazen in imperturbability while your mind is moving. (“Whole-Body Zazen”, lecture by Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara, June 28, 1970 [edited by Bill Redican], from cuke.com) Suzuki was thinking here of the last line of a famous poem by the 6th century Chinese Buddhist Fuxi, and he quotes the line: Water does not flow, but the bridge flows. (ibid) The flow of “doing something” in the body, of activity initiated by habit or volition, ceases in the fourth concentration. The location of awareness, or “mind”, generates the activity of the body in the movement of breath, and the location of awareness can flow. Nevertheless, Suzuki cautioned his students: Let the water flow, as that is the water's' practice. Let the bridge stay and sit there, because that is the actual practice of the bridge. That caution was echoed by the twelfth-century Chinese teacher Foyan, when he spoke of two sicknesses in Zen: In my school, there are only two kinds of sickness. One is to go looking for a donkey riding on the donkey. The other is to be unwilling to dismount once having mounted the donkey. … Once you have recognized the donkey, to mount it and be unwilling to dismount is the sickness that is most difficult to treat. I tell you that you need not mount the donkey; you are the donkey! (“Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present”, tr T. Cleary, Shambala p 4) There’s a tendency to want to continue the experience of the mind that moves, to want to continue to experience activity of the body that takes place purely by virtue of the location of attention. That can reintroduce “doing something” into the practice, in a new way. Rather than issuing a caution about “meditation sickness”, Gautama simply endorsed his own way of living, “the intent concentration on inbreathing and outbreathing” (SN V 316 & 326): … if cultivated and made much of, (the concentration) is something peaceful and choice, something perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living too. (SN V 320-322, Pali Text Society SN V pg 285) “The intent concentration” consisted of sixteen particular thoughts applied and sustained, each thought applied or sustained in the course of an inhalation or an exhalation. Gautama did not, however, ignore the role of “mind is moving” in everyday life--the fifteenth of the sixteen thoughts was: I will breathe in… breathe out beholding stopping… (MN III 82, Pali Text Society MN III p 124) “Beholding stopping” is witnessing “the cessation (of ‘determinate thought’)” in activity, witnessing activity that takes place without “doing something”. Gautama witnessed “stopping” in the course of inhalation and exhalation as part of the mindfulness that made up his way of living. Gautama let the water flow and the bridge just sit there, but as necessary to his mindfulness, the bridge could flow. When I wrote: "Shikantaza is the place, and things" (Kobun, from the Jijkoji website). The place and no-thing, things and no-thing. It can't be done, of course. what I meant was "the place and cessation, things and cessation", and "doing something" is not "just sitting". I expect I'll have the piece I quoted from up on my site soon, that may fill in some gaps for you.

I appreciate folks that are talented, that can carry on traditions, and that are engaged. I agree that there's no substitute for speaking in the moment, and we all take our lumps, in that regard. I'm familiar with offering from my own experience, and failing to connect with someone else's experience entirely. My old judo teacher used to say, "it's easy to hurt a person--it's hard to be gentle", meaning that it's easy to demonstrate somebody's imbalance in a way that causes pain, and hard to execute a technique that demonstrates another's imbalance gently, and with support for the other person. "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow...", blah blah blah blah blah.

"crazed knife-wielding", glad kote-gaeshi worked for you! "Turn the hips, fingers down to the floor" says the video reminding me of what kote-gaeshi is. The video had some amazing moments--I had no idea that anyone was trying to free-spar Aikido. Not all that impressed by what was on the video there--like a judo match but without the dramatic moment when somebody gets a grip and goes for it. Except for one kote-gaeshi. He's advocating for sweeps in Aikido sparring. That was the throw of the dojo, in my high school years--our teacher's throw. We all learned it. His was particularly wonderful to be thrown with. Have we said enough, about why study martial arts if you'd never fight back? Ha ha! (it's the teachers, find a good one!).

On behalf of stirling:

Here's Shunryu Suzuki, founding teacher of the S. F. Zen Center, on practice: But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know-- you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation-- preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. (“The Background of Shikantaza”; Shunryu Suzuki Transcript, Sunday, February 22, 1970; San Francisco; shunryusuzuki2 dot com/detail1?ID=335) Something from what I'm currently writing, about that: Suzuki says that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of doing something, and that “doing something” makes the practice only preparatory. Although attention can be directed to the movement of breath, necessity in the movement of breath can also direct attention: There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence. (Common Ground) There’s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the movement 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. The cessation of "determinate thought" in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, that's the last of those stages. There's a cessation of "doing something", that requires an openness to the placement of attention anywhere in the body, with "not one particle of the body" left out. The difficulty is that with "the cessation of ("determinate thought" in) inhalation and exhalation" comes automatic activity in the body in inhalation and exhalation, and sometimes in other things. Where to put that "other things" experience, in daily living! Not a matter of bliss for me. There's a happiness when determinate thought in the activity of the body ceases, but it's as Gautama said, happiness has ceased apart from equanimity. Stay on the tight rope, there's a happiness. The state prior to cessation, that's the one I'm working on--there's an ease, that's the state the sages are said to abide in Unfortunately, buy one ticket ride one ride is not the case, as far as I can tell--ride all four rides, four balls in the air or none. Gautama taught a way of living that included that "other things" experience. I'm in it for that. I've seen activity of the body without determinate thought in more than inhalation and exhalation, and I get it that things beyond the range of the senses can be involved in walking me around. The notion that "I am the doer, mine is the doer with regard to this consciousness-informed body" has taken a hit, for me. The cessation of ("determinate thought" in) feeling and perceiving, not likely for me. You're right, doesn't sound blissful, the disturbances associated with the six sense-fields. He said there was a happiness, but I'm guessing it's like the happiness of the cessation of determinate thought in inbreathing and outbreathing--thin! Not easy, to allow the placement of attention by necessity in the movement of breath. Not hard. More from the write I'm working on: If you are going to fall, you know, from, for instance, from the tree to the ground, the moment you, you know, leave the branch you lose your function of the body. But if you don’t, you know, there is a pretty long time before you reach to the ground. And there may be some branch, you know. So you can catch the branch or you can do something. But because you lose function of your body, you know [laughs], before you reach to the ground, you may lose your conscious[ness]. (“To Actually Practice Selflessness”, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco, http://shunryusuzuki2.com/detail1?ID=281) In my “Waking Up and Falling Asleep”, I wrote: … Just before I fall asleep, my awareness can move very readily, and my sense of where I am tends to move with it. This is also true when I am waking up, although it can be harder to recognize (I tend to live through my eyes in the daytime, and associate my sense of place with them). … when I realize my physical sense of location in space, and realize it as it occurs from one moment to the next, then I wake up or fall asleep as appropriate. (Waking Up and Falling Asleep) Falling asleep is easier on the body than falling out of a tree, but the ability to grasp a branch before hitting the ground or to witness the placement of attention in the movement of breath before falling asleep, that’s the same.

But the uncountable infinity is of a different size, says Cantor and most mathematicians (with the exclusion of the Satanic so-called Intuitionists).

Ok, actually I had another name in mind, but--ha ha! I did find a sermon in the Pali Canon the other day where Gautama said that his followers were enlightened two ways, one being the way Gautama was enlightened, the other "through mind", or words to that effect. I found that remarkable, but I don't doubt that he said it, somehow, and maybe it's true. For me, the point is that the way of living in which Gautama spent most of his time was apparently the first concentration, where thought is applied and sustained. The catch-22 being that one of the thoughts was of the cessation of "determinate thought" in the activity of the body applied or sustained while an inbreath or an outbreath was taking place, but the cessation of of "determinate thought" in inbreathing and outbreathing doesn't take place until the the fourth concentration. Gautama explained how he practiced through the first four concentrations to the "fifth limb" of concentration, the "survey-sign" or overview of the body that followed the fourth concentration--implied is that he employed the survey sign to recall "the cessation of inhalation and exhalation" as necessary in the rhythm of thought in the first concentration. Oh, and the fundamental characteristic of concentration is "one-pointedness". Shunryu Suzuki had a metaphor for what's involved in "laying hold of one-pointedness of mind", as Gautama described it: If you are going to fall, you know, from, for instance, from the tree to the ground, the moment you, you know, leave the branch you lose your function of the body. But if you don’t, you know, there is a pretty long time before you reach to the ground. And there may be some branch, you know. So you can catch the branch or you can do something. But because you lose function of your body, you know [laughs], before you reach to the ground, you may lose your conscious[ness]. (“To Actually Practice Selflessness”, August Sesshin Lecture Wednesday, August 6, 1969, San Francisco, http://shunryusuzuki2.com/detail1?ID=281) That's about: There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence. So regardless of whether someone claims that they have permanently transcended dualism due to an experience they had or not, I am only looking for the presence of mind that allows me to return to cessation of activity in the movement of breath, as needed. I feel drawn to that, and if someone else's words or presence is helpful in that regard, I'm grateful. I'm the bigger fool if I don't hear the universe when the universe is talking, and the universe speaks through us all, blah blah blah...

That assumes that what is infinite must fill the entire universe. The rational numbers would seem to fill the number line, and there are an infinite number of them, but between any two rationals is a real number. Just for an example. Devil's advocate.

Took me until the 2000's I think to recognize that Mick Jagger had perfect enunciation in all those early Stones songs. I could actually make out the lyric he was singing, and that was not true for many other rock singers in those days. Or, as you point out, since. TV shows and movies these days, I pretty much need the captions on. The art of projection has fallen out of favor. John Lennon's were the songs that inspired me, on the Beatles albums. From "I'll Get You" right through "Revolution", his were the chords, the rhythms, and the lyrics that really moved me (I'll give Paul credit for "Here, There, and Everywhere", though).

The splits, I'm envious. Aging body, heart tattooed inside and out to restore normal rhythm. Nevertheless, doc says get more exercise, so I expect to step out to the local band in about an hour. Lucky to have a number of local establishments willing to pay local bands to perform for the public on their premises, and not charge admission. Photos below. I did enjoy reading about the adventures you've had on your journey, thanks for that. Walking the circle, so Bagua? My big takeaway has been the importance of a center that takes in things beyond the range of the senses, an extension that I find only possible with good will toward all. As a teacher I greatly admired and respected once said, "people who are moving around outside all sit with you. They don't take the sitting posture!" (Kobun Chino Otogawa) I've always found it easier to apply that advice on the dance floor than sitting.

I had a significant other, who hung with a Sufi tribe. They were all heirs of Sufi Sam, who lived in San Francisco and invented the "Universal Dances of Peace". Wonderful dances, slow like the start of a Greek dance with lots of movement and changing of partners, everyone singing. The idea was originally to convey the essence of Sufism through music. But I digress. The sheik of the group and a close friend could play Beatles songs on acoustic guitars like the Beatles. Everyone would sing along. Forty years after the Beatles, such a good time had by all. Something authentic, that carries on. Saving grace!

I did a lot of judo, in high school and college. What a pleasure, to be thrown by my teacher Moon Watanabe, and later by "Tomo", the sixth-dan high school champion of Japan who came to help the Watsonville dojo. I didn't make the black belt, just brown. Things that happened to me: I was rinsing out a mop bucket behind a McDonald's at 5am, when a short gentleman jumped the rear fence. He had a brown paper bag with his left hand in it. I saw metal through a hole, and grabbed the barrel. In a split second, I recognized that he didn't intend to do anyone harm, and let go. He was pissed, marched me and the rest of the early morning crew into the office and had us face down on the floor while he made off with the weekend receipts. I'm not sure what I would have done, had I sensed otherwise, but I had closed. A week later, he held up some German tourists in the downtown--they thought it was a joke, and he shot one in the knee and the other in the shoulder (same physical description, same long-barrel gun). I was standing outside a bar, with a band playing inside, when someone took a disliking to my face, and threatened me. I stood my ground, and told him I'd never done him any harm (in a non-threatening way), and he backed off. I was on my way to a company reunion a couple of years back, walking up the sidewalk with a pressure cooker full of pasta salad in one hand and a six-bottle carrier of beer in the other. One of the other employees walked by in the other direction, and as I shifted to make room my foot stepped off the curb. I was going down, so I set the beer down as I rolled forward, rolled and came up (I'm not sure what I did with the pressure cooker, but I bruised a rib somehow). On to the party, and I thanked my old judo teacher. I was leaving the laundromat with my laundry, three weeks ago? One of the washing machines had leaked onto the concrete floor, and I slipped. I was falling face first--I managed to tilt right, and I slapped the pavement with my right forearm like I was taught to do (although that was always falling on the side). The timing was perfect, I could feel it exactly break my fall, I got up no harm done. Yeah, only the real contact sports are useful in the MMA ring, so I've heard: boxing, judo, brazilian ju-jitsu (not sure how that qualifies), wrestling. I did a very little bit of Aikido, but I'm not good sitting seiza--I hurt my ankle just sitting, and gave up on it (seiza is the correct posture to take on the sidelines in judo, but cross-legged was acceptable). I learned to dance where people were doing the "soft-slam". People would crowd the dance floor in front of the band, and somehow there were some members of the audience who knew what to do about that. One of a pair would shove the other into the crowd, no ill intention, just for fun. Sooner or later, people would shove back (usually sooner), and pretty soon bodies were flying around. Staying upright and continuing to dance involved taking it all in and continuing to fall without ever hitting the floor, so to speak. That was real training. I guess the Aikido folks do something similar with a blindfold and a group attack, but I'm not sure it has the same feeling. One of the bands that would set the crowd off, at the place where I really learned to dance:

That's amazing. I'm still listening to the track, 5 minutes in! I prefer it, over some Schoenberg somebody recommended the other day. Probably my favorite Beatles tune:

Snow White cracks the whip "how high", shout the dwarves, jumping she just slays those dwarves she just slays those dwarves it's her secret recipe kept down in her sock kept down in her sock was a small, mighty blackjack when sweet-talk won't do

This thread should go on forever. Almost every opinion is unpopular to somebody...

red-faced noiselessness whispering amongst the dwarves Snow White cracks the whip

Peter Pan's cousin knocks out another lantern endless more to go

Me and the gang, at the house of friends which we all dubbed, "Murphy's Make Your Own GD Bed and Breakfast".

@old3bob Kinda corny, but OK!

Thanks for listening, Michael! Favorite Swiss monk & dharma teacher Vanja Palmers! I did a dokusan with him at Jikoji in the Santa Cruz mountains, long time ago now, more to get to know him since I was not a student. He said he just felt like a fellow traveler, even though most if not all in Kobun's lineage regard him as Kobun's dharma heir. That he felt that way, so true to my impression of Kobun, also a fellow traveler in spite of his mastery. I think the business about straightening out the "S"-curve is a nod to the special mechanism of support that I described in the podcast, but it's not an actual possibility in sitting or standing, unless you're bent over from the waist for something. Details of that mechanism of support are here: Appendix–Kinesthesiology of Fascial Support The idea is that the oblique and transverse abdominals can add pressure to the fluid ball of the abdomen while simultaneously working against the fine muscles of the spine to control the alignment of vertebrae, and with the right alignment, the pressure can shift the thoracolumbar fascia very slightly rearward, and the stretched fascia provides support to the spine. All without impinging on the diaphragm. There's a feeling of straightness, perhaps, because of the displacement of the fascia, but no actual straightness. In A Way of Living, I lay out the particulars of setting up automatic activity of the body in the movement of breath. I also quote some material about why there's even a necessity to be concerned about such a thing: Fundamentally speaking, the basis of the way is perfectly pervasive; how could it be contingent on practice and verification? The vehicle of the ancestors is naturally unrestricted; why should we expend sustained effort? Surely the whole being is far beyond defilement; who could believe in a method to polish it? Never is it apart from this very place; what is the use of a pilgrimage to practice it? (Eihei Dogen, “Koroku Kukan zazen gi”, tr Carl Bielefeldt, “Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation” UC Press 1988 p 175) Dogen’s questions are rhetorical, but I nevertheless believe they have an answer: there’s a particular frailty of the human body that can require practice to overcome, at least for some people. Moshe Feldenkrais described the reason that many people hold their breath for an instant when getting up out of a chair: The tendency to hold one’s breath is instinctive, part of an attempt to prevent the establishment of shearing stresses or forces likely to shift the vertebrae horizontally, out of the vertical alignment of the spinal column that they constitute. (“Awareness Through Movement”, Moshe Feldenkrais, p 83) I go through Feldenkrais's "automatic movement" in getting up out of a chair, and Haramitsu's "center of the body’s weight in line with the center of the triangular base of the seated body" for automatic activity in zazen, in "A Way of Living". Relaxation allows the weight to rest on the ligaments, and the calm stretch of ligaments allows the generation of reciprocal activity in agonist/antagonist muscle groups. I look to detach from thought, and recognize the placement of attention by the movement of breath. That's the leap to automatic activity in the movement of breath, the placement of attention by the movement of breath. Here's my description in "A Way of Living": “One-pointedness” can shift, as every particle of the body (with no part left out) comes into the placement of attention. At the moment when “one-pointedness” can shift as though in open space, volition and habit in the activity of inhalation and exhalation ceases. "One-pointedness" being the characteristic of the placement of attention by the movement of breath. So, yeah, third-eye. That placement of attention can shift and move, or remain stationary.