Mark Foote

won't stay in one place won't budge an inch--whatever's a mother to do! a mother to do, so once again I turn to wu-wei (not doing)

reminds me to have a pickle...

Ok. ~nods~. I'll try it. Any bent-knee posture will suffice. Sometimes I don't have a clue for 25 minutes. I feel blessed that lately I mostly do have some feeling for "by virtue of the free location of consciousness", at some point. I know, I know, the Jewish guys just rock forward and back. That probably works too, but I'm not familiar with it.. The conscious is free? Do you expect to experience it consciously? ( Were you making a pun? ) Well it's a tricky thing. Activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation can be solely by virtue of the location of consciousness, even as the location shifts and moves. Nevertheless, it can be distinct, the switch from activity of the body that coordinates by virtue of the location of consciousness, to activity of the body solely by virtue of the location of consciousness. Gautama's stuff is odd. Is it useful? I describe his declension of the three states where activity coordinates by virtue of, and his description of the state where activity actually occurs by virtue of, here. I do write about the first of the further states, "the infinity of ether": When the free location of consciousness is accompanied by an extension of the mind of compassion, there can be a feeling that the necessity of breath is connected to things that lie outside the boundaries of the senses. That, to me, is an experience of “the infinity of ether”. (The Inconceivable Nature of the Wind) So how is it then, when the activity of feeling and perceiving takes place from an absolute freedom of consciousness that encompasses what lies beyond the boundaries of sense? Sure, it happens all the time... sort of... Makes good sense. Is there a name for this? The impulse? If that's a proper word for it? No, it's a peculiar thing. Being the place where I am as the place shifts and moves can get up and walk around, but mostly the place just returns to breathing.

There are these roots of trees, there are empty places. Meditate, ... do not delay, lest you later regret it. This is my message to you. (MN 8, tr Nyanaponika Thera) Now, who do we suppose said that!

... Now we understand what is meant by concentrating the ch'i, but what are the resulting benefits to the body? Our answer is that this has already been explained by Lao tzu when he says, "In concentrating your ch'i and becoming soft, can you be like an infant?" ... The infant's body is pure yang. Pure yang means that the ch'i is abundant. When the ch'i is abundant, then the blood is sufficient and the sinews are soft. Soft sinews are the special characteristic of the infant. If people who are not far from death are to have any hope of returning to infancy, it is only through concentrating the ch'i and becoming soft.... ( “Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, Cheng Man-Ch’ing trans. Douglas Wile, pp 11-12) And now something of the how, maybe for ages 13 and up: The classic literature of Tai Chi appears to identify the ligaments of the body as a source of activity. The literature describes three levels in the development of “ch’i”, a word that literally translates as “breath” but in practice is taken to refer to a fundamental energy of the body, and each of the three levels has three stages. The stages of the first level are: “… relaxing the ligaments from the shoulder to the wrist”; “from the hip joint to the heel”; “from the sacrum to the headtop”. (“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, tr. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, © 1985 Juliana T. Cheng, p 77-78) Unlike the contraction and relaxation of muscles, the stretch and resile of ligaments can’t be voluntarily controlled. The muscles across the joints can, however, be relaxed in such a way as to allow the natural stretch and resile of ligaments–that would seem to be the meaning of the advice to “relax the ligaments”. The stages of the second level are: “sinking ch’i to the tan t’ien” (a point below and behind the navel); “the ch’i reaches the arms and legs”; “the ch’i moves through the sacrum (wei lu) to the top of the head (ni wan)”. (ibid) Tai Ch’i master Cheng Man Ch’ing advised that the ch’i will collect at the tan-t’ien until it overflows into the tailbone and transits to the top of the head, but he warned against any attempt to force the flow. Omori Sogen cautioned similarly: … It may be the least trouble to say as a general precaution that strength should be allowed to come to fullness naturally as one becomes proficient in sitting. We should sit so that our energy increases of itself and brims over instead of putting physical pressure on the lower abdomen by force. (“An Introduction to Zen Training: A Translation of Sanzen Nyumon”, Omori Sogen, tr. Dogen Hosokawa and Roy Yoshimoto, Tuttle Publishing, © Daihonzen Chozen-ji; p 59) I would posit that the patterns in the development of ch’i reflect involuntary activity of the body generated in the stretch of ligaments. There is, in addition, a possible mechanism of support for the spine from the displacement of the fascia behind the spine, a displacement that can be effected by pressure generated in the abdominal cavity and that may quite possibly depend on a push on the fascia behind the sacrum by the bulk of the extensor muscles, as they contract (see my Kinesthesiology of Fascial Support). The final level in the development of ch’i concerns “chin”. According to the classics, “chin comes from the ligaments” (“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, tr. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, © 1985 Juliana T. Cheng, p 77-78). The three stages of the final level are: “t’ing chin, listening to or feeling strength”; “comprehension of chin”; “omnipotence”. (ibid) Another translator rendered the last stage above as “perfect clarity” (“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, © 1982 Douglas Wile, p 57). In my estimation, “perfect clarity” is “the pureness of (one’s) mind” that Gautama associated with “the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing” in the fourth concentration. The Tai Chi classics emphasize relaxation. For me, calm is also required with regard to the stretch of ligaments, if “automatic movement” is to be realized. The stretch of a ligament prior to strain is small (6%), and I would say that automatic movement is only initiated at the edge of the range. Cheng Man Ch’ing mentioned a Chinese description of seated meditation, “straighten the chest and sit precariously”–I think that also speaks to the necessity of calm (ibid, p 21). In my experience, “automatic” activity in the movement of breath can at times depend on the relaxation of particular muscle groups and the exercise of calm with regard to the stretch of particular ligaments. I believe that a pattern in the circulation of “automatic” activity can develop, especially when a bent-knee posture or carriage is maintained over a period of time. (Appendix--A Way of Living)

Thought so. Can completely relate. I wanted to major in CS back in the day, walked into the second year CS curriculum at UCSC my freshman year and enjoyed it (compiler writing). When I asked if I could go on to the third year, the answer was that I would have to go back and take the first year theory. Turns out the chair of the department taught that, and he refused to give me permission to skip it. Idiot that I was, I gave up CS as a result and majored in math. The chair of the department was David Huffman, his Huffman encoding is the basis of compacting files (at the time NASA used his encoding a lot, owing to the small memory size in the day), and I bit my nose off to spite my face. Washed a lot of dishes, flipped burgers. Went to a private school teaching operations, learned to operate an IBM 360 (they were already obsolete at the time), got a job in a data processing department. Left town and that job after ten years, then had to resign from a secondary teaching credential program because they didn't like my classroom discipline (thank heaven!). Worked as a travel agent and in travel for twenty years. Great people. The 2008 recession was the end of the travel company, retrained at the local JC for web development (HTML/CSS)/programming (PHP), never could get more than a part-time job doing that. In 2010-11, though, I finally did work as a programmer, part of a team that developed the basic math computer tutorial for the local JC. Here's the copy I kept: https://getthatwebsite.com/mathskills/ That was exactly the programming that I thought I would do, when I aspired to become a programmer in high school/college. But my life has been about reconciling a particular experience with my everyday, since 1975. Here's how Kobun Chino Otogawa described it in the '80's, at S. F. Zen Center: You know, sometimes zazen gets up and walks around. I already knew the experience, but reconciling it with my day-to-day life was another matter. You might like my book (pdf), maybe save you fifty years on that part: https://zenmudra.com/A-Natural-Mindfulness.pdf I would suggest back to school if possible to sharpen skills a bit, then see what you can find. If you have a map of the internal, I think the external becomes more straightforward (if not easier--likely not easier). All the best.

`Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she remarked. `There isn't any,' said the March Hare. @Daniel--in my life, nondual is action without volition or habit. Action of speech, action of body, and maybe action of mind! I can say how I arrive at action of body without volition or habit, so nondual action of body: In his “Genjo Koan”, Dogen wrote: When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. (“Genjo Koan [Actualizing the Fundamental Point]”, tr. Robert Aitken and Kazuaki Tanahashi, from “Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen”, p 69, © San Francisco Zen Center) Given a presence of mind that can “hold consciousness by itself”, activity in the body begins to coordinate by virtue of the sense of place associated with consciousness. A relationship between the free location of consciousness and activity in the body comes forward, and as that relationship comes forward, “practice occurs”. Through such practice, the placement of consciousness is manifested in the activity of the body. Dogen continued: When you find your way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point… (ibid) “When you find your way at this moment”, activity takes place solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness. A relationship between the freedom of consciousness and the automatic activity of the body comes forward, and as that relationship comes forward, practice occurs. Through such practice, the placement of consciousness is manifested as the activity of the body. I sit down first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and I look to experience the activity of the body solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness. As a matter of daily life, just to touch on such experience as occasion demands—for me, that’s enough. (https://zenmudra.com/take-the-backward-step-anm/) Nondual action of mind is the cessation of volition and habit in feeling and perceiving--can't say I have experienced that, consciously. Looking to define "nondual" in words ignores the fact that it's really a kind of action.

`No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw S:C coming...

My favorite dead thread. If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,You'd sail on the water as blue as air.And you'd see me here in the fields and say:"Doesn't the sky look green today?" ... If you were a bird, and lived on high,You'd lean on the wind when the windcame by,You'd say to the wind when it took you away:"That's where I wanted to go today!" ("When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne) Now the unpopular part, I suspect:

Love the rambling... May I ask, what career path that was?

LA Times has the state of California scrambling now: Contraband Chinese pesticides present a new challenge for California cannabis regulators as they struggle to keep harmful chemicals out of licensed products. Some of the poisons are so unfamiliar that few chemical analysis labs in the state would be equipped to test for them if California required it. A Los Angeles Times investigation based on confidential state records, public files, online sales and social networks found that in the last three years, the use of contraband Chinese pesticides on cannabis farms has spread across California. Yet officials have not issued warnings to alert those working on cannabis farms about the dangers of these chemicals, or mandated that cannabis products sold to the public be tested for them. But their presence has prompted multiple warnings to law enforcement personnel, including by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, the California National Guard and the state Environmental Protection Agency. Advertisement (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-14/a-new-threat-to-cannabis-safety-smuggled-pesticides)

"Mark Foote has a unique way-seeking mind story and very interesting thoughts about practice. Delve into it at zenmudra.com and at Zazen Notes"--David Chadwick, author of "Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki". Mount Konocti and Clear Lake, Lake County, California

after lunch, some tea down on the lake, pairs of grebes appear, disappear

That study is one of the few that addresses the regulation of muscular activity by ligaments. There's a reciprocity in the activity of paired muscle groups that I believe the stretch of ligaments controls. Here's John Upledger, describing his experience of reciprocal innervation in an isolation tank: At some point my body began to make fish-like movements, as though my pelvis and legs were the lower part of a fish moving its tail from side to side. This movement was nice and easy. The neurophysiologist in me related these movements to an expression of what we call ‘reciprocal innervation’. The principle here is that, when your trunk is bent to the side in one direction past a certain threshold, the muscles on the other side of the trunk contract. In doing so, the nerve impulses are diverted from the side to which you are bent, and those muscles relax. Your trunk now bends in the opposite direction until that side-bending threshold is passed. The nerve impulses are then diverted again to the opposite side, causing muscle contraction and side bending in that direction. (“Your Inner Physician and You: Craniosacral Therapy and Somatoemotional Release”, John E. Upledger, p 165) In his commentary on Case 17 of "The Blue Cliff Record", Yuanwu makes a comment: Answering the monk who asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?”, Hsiang Lin said, “Sitting for a long time becomes toilsome.” If you understand this way, you are “turning to the left, turning to the right, following up behind.” (tr. Cleary and Cleary, Shambala Publications, p 114; emphasis added) When I sit, I often look to experience "turning to the left, turning to the right, following up behind" as a function of the stretch of ligaments in the lower body, as automatic activity that follows from relaxation with a sense of gravity (and calm).

dwai, that's the beauty of Gautama the Shakyan's lectures--he goes into great detail, and yet for the most part there is an explanation somewhere in his teaching for all of the details. The beauty, and also the difficulty, because in some cases there isn't a clear explanation. A Rosetta Stone. "The Deliverances" are outlined in one of the long sermons of the Pali Nikaya D. ii. 70-71--they consist of: 1) "having one's self external form, one sees forms"; 2) "Unaware of one's own external form, one sees forms external to one's self"; 3) "'Lovely!'--with this thought one becomes intent"; 4-8) the standard arupa jhanas, infinity of ether/space through the cessation of ("determinate thought" in) feeling and perceiving. The formulation of three initial ("material") states of concentration followed by four further ("immaterial") states occurs elsewhere in the sermons, though I can't give you the reference at the moment--I do recall that in that reference, the third of the initial states is referred to as "the beautiful". The more common formulation of the states of concentration is four initial jhanas, followed by the same four further states. The four initial states are marked by "equanimity with respect to multiplicity (of the senses)", and the four further states by "equanimity with respect to uniformity (of the senses)". By "the Deliverances", I believe Gautama is referring to the states of concentration. My guess is that early in his teaching, he taught the three states including "the beautiful", and that later he came to the very detailed teaching of the four initial jhanas. Here's the whole section of the lecture about the seven types of persons--I typed it out for another site yesterday, and I think it's a fascinating piece of Gautama's teaching: Monks, there are the seven (types of) persons existing in the world. What seven? The one who is freed both ways, the one freed by means of intuitive wisdom, the mental realiser, the one won to view, the one freed by faith, the striver after dhamma, the striver after faith. And which, monks, is the person who is freed both ways? As to this, monks, some person is abiding, having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are incorporeal having transcended material shapes; and having seen by means of wisdom his cankers are utterly destroyed. I, monks, do not say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence. What is the reason for this? It has been done by him through diligence, he could not become negligent. And which, monks, is the person who is freed by means of intuitive wisdom? As to this, monks, some person is abiding without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are incorporeal having transcended material shapes; yet, having seen by means of wisdom his cankers are utterly destroyed. This, monks, is called the person who is freed by means of intuitive wisdom. I, monks, do not say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence. What is the reason for this? It has been done by him through diligence, he could not become negligent. And which, monks, is the person who is a mental-realiser? As to this, monks, some person is abiding, having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are incorporeal having transcended material shapes; and having seen by means of wisdom some (only) of his cankers are utterly destroyed.... This, monks, is called the person who is a mental realiser. I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence.... And which, monks, is the person that has won to view? As to this, monks, some person is abiding without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are having transcended material shapes; yet having seen by means of wisdom some of his cankers are utterly destroyed, and those things that are proclaimed by the Tathagatha are fully seen by him through intuitive wisdom and fully practiced.... This, monks, is called the person who has won to view. I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence.... And which, monks, is the person who is freed by faith? As to this, monks, some person is abiding without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are having transcended material shapes; and having seen by means of wisdom some of his cankers are utterly destroyed, and his faith in the Tathagatha is settled, genuine, established. This, monks, is called the person who is freed by faith. I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence.... And which, monks, is the person who is striving for dhamma? As to this, monks, some person is abiding without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are having transcended material shapes; but although he has seen by means of wisdom his cankers are not (yet) utterly destroyed; and those things proclaimed by the Tathagatha are (only) moderately approved of by him by means of intuitive wisdom, although he has these states, namely the faculty of faith, the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of wisdom. This, monks, is called the person who is striving for dhamma. I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence.... And which, monks, is the person who is striving for faith? As to this, monks, some person is abiding without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are having transcended material shapes; yet, having seen by means of wisdom his cankers are not utterly destroyed; but if he has enough faith in the Tathagatha, enough regard, then he will have these things, that is to say, the faculty of faith, the faculty of energy, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of wisdom. This, monks, is called the person who is striving after faith. I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence.... MN 70 (Kitagirisutta, PTS 478-480 pp 151-154)

In MN 70 (Kitagirisutta, PTS 478 p 151), Gautama speaks of "the one who is freed both ways" and "the person who is free by means of intuitive wisdom"--Gautama says "I, monks, do not say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence." He goes on to speak of "the person who is a mental-realiser", "the person who has won to view", and "the person who is freed by faith", and "the person striving after faith". For these last four, Gautama declares "I, monks, say of this monk that there is something to be done through diligence." The person freed both ways has "apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are incorporeal having transcended material shapes; and having seen by means of wisdom his cankers are utterly destroyed." The person freed by means of intuitive wisdom is abiding "without having apprehended with the person those peaceful Deliverances which are incorporeal having transcended material shapes; yet having seen by means of wisdom his cankers are utterly destroyed." Shunryu Suzuki's analysis: So, when you practice zazen, your mind should be concentrated in your breathing and this kind of activity is the fundamental activity of the universal being. If so, how you should use your mind is quite clear. Without this experience, or this practice, it is impossible to attain the absolute freedom. (“Thursday Morning Lectures”, November 4th 1965, Los Altos; emphasis added) My understanding of "your mind should be concentrated in your breathing": The presence of mind can utilize the location of attention to maintain the balance of the body and coordinate activity in the movement of breath, without a particularly conscious effort to do so. There can also 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) In my experience, when necessity in the movement of breath places attention, "how you should use your mind" is mostly to retain a presence of mind with the location of consciousness. Gautama cited a rhythm of thoughts as his way of living, both before and after enlightenment--my summary: 1) Relax the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation; 2) Find a feeling of ease and calm the senses connected with balance, in inhalation and exhalation; 3) Appreciate and detach from thought, in inhalation and exhalation; 4) Look to the free location of consciousness for the automatic activity of inhalation and exhalation. Gautama was a person "freed both ways", meaning he came to intuitive wisdom through the concentrations, through the deliverances. Do the concentrations automatically lead to insight?--no, he studied under two teachers who had achieved deliverances but did not arrive at the concentration Gautama associated with his enlightenment, in spite of their attainment. Gautama's description of the final concentrations, and the experience that likely was the source of his insight into dependent causation: …And again, Ananda, [an individual], not attending to the perception of the plane of no-thing, not attending to the perception of the plane of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, attends to the solitude of mind that is signless. [Their] mind is satisfied with, pleased with, set on and freed in the concentration of mind that is signless. [They] comprehends thus, ‘This concentration of mind that is signless is effected and thought out. But whatever is effected and thought out, that is impermanent, it is liable to stopping.’ When [the individual] knows this thus, sees this thus, [their] mind is freed from the canker of sense-pleasures and [their] mind is freed from the canker of becoming and [their] mind is freed from the canker of ignorance. In freedom is the knowledge that [one] is freed and [one] comprehends: “Destroyed is birth, brought to a close the (holy)-faring, done is what was to be done, there is no more of being such or so’. [They] comprehend thus: “The disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of sense-pleasures do not exist here; the disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of becoming do not exist here; the disturbances there might be resulting from the canker of ignorance do not exist here. And there is only this degree of disturbance, that is to say the six sensory fields that, conditioned by life, are grounded on this body itself. [One] regards that which is not there as empty of it. But in regard to what remains [one] comprehends: 'That being, this is.' Thus, Ananda, this comes to be for [such a one] s true, not mistaken, utterly purified and incomparably highest realisation of emptiness. ("Lesser Discourse on Emptiness", Culasunnatasutta, Pali Text Society MN III 121 vol III p 151-2) "That being, this is." Dependent causation, in a nutshell. According to the Platform Sutra: Hung-jen, the Fifth Patriarch, the Enlightened Master Shen-hsiu, the Learned Senior Monk, experienced in gradual meditation Hui-neng, the illiterate woodcutter from the barbarian south, suddenly enlightened 1) Shen-hsiu presents the following verse which Hung-jen characterizes as incomplete in understanding. The body is the bodhi tree, The mind is like a clear mirror. At all times we must strive to polish it, And must not let the dust collect. (Yampolsky 130) This can be understood as advocating a gradual process of achieving and maintaining the purity and clarity of the mirror-like mind, the mind of emptiness or empty awareness, of the oneness of reality. The emphasis is on the form of practice required of the body and the mind to cultivate and sustain this awareness. 2) Hui-neng offers the following alternative verse: Bodhi originally has no tree, The mirror(-like mind) has no stand. Buddha-nature (emptiness/oneness) is always clean and pure; Where is there room for dust (to alight)? (Yampolsky 132) This can be understood as advocating the sudden awakening to emptiness/oneness. The emphasis is on realizing emptiness beyond form all-at-once, instantaneously, in the here-and-now (in the moment of reading the verse). 3) Another edition of the Platform Sutra attributes the following verse to Hui-neng: The mind is the Bodhi tree, The body is the mirror stand. The mirror is originally clean and pure; Where can it be stained by dust? (Yampolsky 132) This appears to be a kind of combination (although not exact) of the first two lines of Shen-hsiu's verse and the last two lines of first version of Hui-neng's verse. The first half is form and the last half expresses emptiness. One must realize emptiness in the world of form, and the true nature of form is emptiness. However, one must realize emptiness in this very moment, not see it as something that one strives to achieve or keep in the future. Hui-neng, the illiterate woodcutter who comes from outside of the rigid hierarchical structure of gradual meditation practices, achieves the instantaneous awareness of the oneness of all reality in the here-and-now. Nevertheless, he inherits the religious authority of the Fifth Patriarch Hung-jen and eventually becomes the Sixth Patriarch, the head of the Chan/Zen Buddhist order in China. (Mark Ty Unno, Professor of East Asian Buddhism, University of Oregon;https://pages.uoregon.edu/munno/OregonCourses/REL444S05/HuinengVerse.htm)

AC has a tendency to kick a person away. DC freezes a person to the contact. Mostly the current that does the damage. If I understand correctly.

Do you do seated meditation? From my own writing: 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. (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages) The emphasis for me is always on the location of consciousness. Here's my summary of the mindfulness that made up Gautama's way of living: 1) Relax the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation; 2) Find a feeling of ease and calm the senses connected with balance, in inhalation and exhalation; 3) Appreciate and detach from thought, in inhalation and exhalation; 4) Look to the free location of consciousness for the automatic activity of inhalation and exhalation. The ease I experience arrives through the sense of gravity: If I can find a way to experience gravity in the placement of attention as the source of activity in my posture, and particular ligaments as the source of the reciprocity in that activity, then I have an ease. (“To Enjoy Our Life”’) If the automatic activity of the body takes place solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness, then: ... ease in the nerve exits between vertebrae along the sacrum and spine provides an ability to feel right to the surface of the skin all over the body, such that “there is not one particle of the body” that cannot receive the placement of consciousness. (Applying the Pali Instructions) Things I find helpful to recall: This study (research by Indahl, A., et al.) established that the ligamento-muscular reflex existed between the sacroiliac joint and muscles that attach to the bones that make up the sacroiliac joint. (The study’s authors) suggested that the sacroiliac joint was a regulator of pelvic and paraspinal muscles and, thereby, influences posture and lumbar segmental stability. (Serola Biomechanics website summary of 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; https://europepmc.org/article/med/10451049 https://www.serola.net/research-category/the-nutation-lesion-2/ligamento-muscular-reflex/) That says that the stretch of ligaments between the pelvis and the sacrum can regulate the reciprocal activity between the front and rear of the pelvis in the lower body--just have to stay calm! There is another peculiarity of the erector muscles of the spine. Below the level of the fifth lumbar vertebra, the muscle contracts in a compartment enclosed by bone anteriorly, laterally, and medially. Posteriorly, the compartment is closed by the lumbodorsal fascia. When contracted, the diameter of the muscle mass tends to increase. This change in shape of the muscle may exert a wedging effect between the sacrum and the lumbodorsal fascia, thereby increasing the tension in the fascia. This may be one of the few instances where a muscle can exert force by pushing. (“Mechanical Disorders of the Low Back”, H. F. Farfan; © 1973 Lea & Febiger; p 183) Turns out there is a mechanism proposed whereby a displacement of the fascia behind the lower spine by a millimeter or so, perhaps by pressure generated in the "fluid ball" of the abdomen, can provide support to the structure of the lower spine (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).

I don't know that I ever saw that one, thanks! That's more or less the revolution I envision... |

Interesting article. More supremely unpopular work by Crumb, "A Short History of America":

The opinions of people living in certain parts of the world (e.g., Portugal) are actually popular, amongst a certain subset of locals (read: tribe of 120, give or take 114)--supremely so. I'm offering that as a supremely unpopular opinion.

There's a lot of debate as to what Gautama meant by "one-pointedness". My take is that necessity in the movement of breath can place attention, can place consciousness, and the feeling of location associated with consciousness as consciousness is placed is one-pointed. A presence of mind with the location of consciousness as that location shifts and moves allows the automatic activity of the body to begin to coordinate based on the location of consciousness. That can become the automatic activity of the body solely by virtue of the location of consciousness, provided there is not one particle of the body that cannot receive the free placement of consciousness. The automatic activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, by virtue of the free location of consciousness. A thing to touch on.

Where's the ? emoji...