Mark Foote

Nungali, I'm wondering what you are quoting from? Along the same lines: "The internal develops the ch’i; the external develops the sinews, bones, and skin." (“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, translated by Douglas Wile, 1st ed p 39) One route to freedom: "With this method of circulating ch’i (Tai Chi), it overflows into the sinews, reaches the bone marrow, fills the diaphragm, and manifests in the skin and hair." (Ibid, p 17) My explanation of the above: "Here’s the way I understand the four stages: “sinews” are tendons that connect muscle to bone, as opposed to ligaments that connect bone to bone, but the words are used interchangeably in the classics–“overflows into the sinews” describes the effect of singularity in the location of consciousness on the stretch of ligaments; “reaches the bone marrow” captures the role of placement of the bones and gravity in reciprocal activity; “fills the diaphragm” refers to the tight connection between balanced stretch and activity around the abdominal cavity and the free movement of the diaphragm; “manifests in the skin and hair” concerns the arrival of a heightened ability to feel dermatomes, as a consequence of the relaxed nerve exits from the sacrum and spine provided by an even stretch of ligaments." That quote, and much more on activity of the body generated by the stretch of ligaments, here.

I've done a lot of short sesshins at Soto Zen Centers around Northern California. The practice at these centers is generally summarized as "just sitting". Mantra recitation would probably not be welcomed, even if you're not reciting out loud--it's just not their thing. There are a lot of Shambala centers in the U.S., but my brief experience there (attending a few Saturday sittings and lectures, basically) tells me they would likely prefer you follow their method of instruction and practice, which I don't think includes the mantra (even though it's a fundamental practice in Tibetan schools, according to Wikipedia). Goenka centers definitely do not allow anything but the practice they recommend. Ok, here you go--I just googled "vajrasattva mantra Tibetan monastery USA" to find this: https://www.drepung.org/

I would say the history of meditation manuals goes way back, in India, China, and Japan. By meditation manual, I mean the attempt to provide practical instructions in meditation, as opposed to metaphysical instructions. Here’s an excerpt from “Two Shores of Zen” by Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler, that illustrates the conflict between the two: “Shikantaza not here,” he insisted in elementary English, pointing to his head. “Not here,” he continued, pointing to his heart. “Only point here!” He drove his fist into his lower belly, the energy center that the Japanese call hara. I have spent the last several years in an American Zen temple that by our standards is strict and intense, but my training, I am finding, seems moot here. I have labored for years to open out my meditation—which is, after all “just sitting”—away from reliance on heavy-handed internal or external concentration objects, and toward a more subtle, broad, open awareness. Roshi-sama is said to be a master of this wide practice of shikantaza, the objectless meditation characteristic of the Soto school. But he insists, again and again, weeping at my deafness, shouting at my stubbornness, that hara focus is precisely shikantaza. That it makes no sense makes it no less inspiring; it is his presence, not his words, that I believe. “No grasping—only point here.” He rested his fist on his belly. I had nothing to say. … “Here,” he said, pointing to his chin and thrusting it out to show me that doing so made his back slump in bad Zen posture. He looked up at me with wide, soft brown eyes, and a kind smile that exposed his crooked teeth. In a warm, encouraging voice, like a boy addressing his puppy, he pointed to his back and said, “Like this no good. Keep try!” My posture is quite good; I’ve been told so by peers and teachers alike in the U.S…. In my own practice, I focus on the mind that moves (Waking Up and Falling Asleep), something like: Let the mind be present without an abode.” (Diamond Sutra, translation Venerable Master Hsing Yun, from “The Rabbit’s Horn: A Commentary on the Platform Sutra”, Buddha’s Light Publishing pg. 60) The location of that mind is often at the dan t’ien, but the aim is to allow for experience like that Gautama described for the fourth of the initial states of concentration: Again, a (person), putting away ease… enters and abides in the fourth musing; seated, (one) suffuses (one’s) body with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of (one’s) mind. … just as a (person) might sit with (their) head swathed in a clean cloth; even so (one) sits suffusing (their) body with purity… (AN III 25-28, Pali Text Society Vol. III pg 18-19) Gautama emphasized “one-pointedness of mind” as a characteristic of concentration, and what I experience is a complete freedom of the singular location of self-awareness to move in space, with the coordination of the body following autonomically from the location of “mind” (rather than vice-versa). Gautama identified the fourth concentration with the cessation of action of the body based on “determinate thought”, and I believe the experience was a regular part of the mindfulness he described as his way of life. Over the last fifty years, I have written a meditation manual for myself. The most frequent failing in the meditation manuals that are out there is a failure to address the cessation of action out of “determinate thought”, the cessation of willful or volitive action of speech, body, and mind (action of “perceiving and feeling”). Cessation is the goal of meditation, according to Gautama, and the correct way to proceed, again according to Gautama, is through “lack of desire”. That doesn’t say that it’s easy to experience a purity of mind such that “sometimes zazen gets up and walks around”, as Kobun Chino Otogawa described it. Maybe it helps to be around someone as accomplished as Kobun was, to pick up on that.

Recorded in London (does that count for "Around the World"?) "I liked playing the coffeehouses, where I could step off the stage and go sit in the audience and be comfortable, or where there wasn’t a barrier between me and my audience in the clubs. The big stage had no appeal for me; it was too great a distance between me and the audience, and I never really liked it. I didn’t have a lot of fame in the beginning, and that’s probably good because it made it more enjoyable. A lot of these songs, I just lost them. They fell away. They only exist in these recordings. For so long I rebelled against the term: “I was never a folk singer.” I would get pissed off if they put that label on me. I didn’t think it was a good description of what I was. And then I listened, and – it was beautiful. It made me forgive my beginnings. And I had this realisation… I was a folk singer!" The Guardian Interview

In the speeches recorded close to his death, Gautama said: Therefore… be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge unto yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the Truth. Look not for refuge to any one besides yourselves. And how… is (one) to be a lamp unto (oneself), a refuge unto (oneself), betaking (oneself) to no external refuge, holding fast to the Truth as a lamp, holding fast as a refuge to the Truth, looking not for refuge to any one besides (oneself)? Herein, … (one) continues, as to the body, so to look upon the body that (one) remains strenuous, self-possessed, and mindful, having overcome both the hankering and the dejection common in the world. As to feelings… moods… ideas, (one) continues so to look upon each that (one) remains strenuous, self-possessed, and mindful, having overcome both the hankering and the dejection common in the world." (Digha Nikaya ii 100, Pali Text Society DN Vol. II pg 108; Rhys Davids’ “body, feelings, moods, and ideas”, above, rendered by Horner in her translations of the Majjhima Nikaya as “body, feelings, mind, and mental states”) As it turns out, Gautama had a distinct version of the mindfulness he described above, that was his own way of living. After an incident in which a lot of monks "took the knife" because he had recommended meditation on "the unlovely (aspects of the body)", he taught the remaining monks his own practice of mindfulness in sixteen elements, and said: "… if cultivated and made much of, (the mindfulness in sixteen elements) 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 point I'm making is that Gautama, at least in his later years, emphasized the "setting up" of mindfulness, and that's what he put forward as being "a lamp unto (oneself)" before he died. The fifteenth element of the mindfulness that made up Gautama's way of living was: [One] trains [oneself], thinking: ‘I will breathe in… breathe out beholding stopping [cessation].’ (MN III 82-83, Pali Text Society III pg 124; parentheticals added) I hope I make the case in The Early Record that the cessation that was a part of Gautama's way of living was the cessation of "determinate thought" in the action of the body, that is to say, the cessation of habitual or volitive action of the body. That's not the "cessation of [determinate thought in] perception and feeling", the cessation that was synonymous with Gautama's enlightenment. I do believe that what passes for enlightenment these days is mostly the mindfulness that includes breathing in or breathing out beholding cessation (of habitual or volitive action of the body). That would have been Gautama's way of living, particularly in the rainy season (or so he said). The final element of the sixteen was: [One] trains [oneself], thinking: ‘I will breathe in… breathe out beholding casting away. (MN III 82-83, Pali Text Society III pg 124) "Casting away" would be the relinquishment of the notion of a self associated with the body, with feelings, with the mind, with habitual tendencies, or with mental states. I agree with Apech, when he said "It's like you've come across the Holy Grail in the woods and you cannot help but bow before it because it is so ... awesome." Here is a real and verifiable path, to lay down “latent conceits that ‘I am the doer, mine is the doer’ in regard to this consciousness-informed body” in the course of everyday living, and to reorient beliefs and assumptions to the mind that has no home: Let the mind be present without an abode. (Diamond Sutra, translation Venerable Master Hsing Yun, from “The Rabbit’s Horn: A Commentary on the Platform Sutra”, Buddha’s Light Publishing pg. 60) I'm ok with bowing, maybe I should also shake my head in disbelief that we could be so lucky.

repeat offender sets himself down and breathes deep the earth stirs below

heedless of manners equal opportunity repeat offender

with his head submerged the pope blessed himself, a drunk and an umbrella

desalination give to Peter, take from Paul end up in the drink

will turn into salt all oceans near Israel desalination

nearly civilized but a hair's breadth like a mile walk and don't look back

this is rated G like the rabbit in the moon calm before the storm

Sink into rubble for lack of human nature stars above, speak now

meet Little Smokey poster child of the decade indigenous burns indigenous burns restore forest and wildlife sounds of the deep woods

Where's Smokey the Bear?! he's gone but not forgotten meet Little Smokey https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/On-Smokey-Bear-s-birthday-a-burned-bear-cub-is-16384030.php

Cyber-family wrapped around a cyber tree sound of the forest

special occasion the stars are all motionless the pyramids align

Start when small, then wait meanwhile, make you some brandy special occasion

Lots of paprika on deviled eggs--anchovies, Portuguese sherry

Dreambliss, About Buddhism and God. There's a tale Gautama the Buddha tells in one of the sermons about a man seeking an answer to the question, "where is the end of suffering?". He goes to the realm of the gods, they tell him they can't answer that question and direct him to Brahma, the supreme god. Brahma replies to the question three times by declaring he's Brahma, the supreme god, and causing lightning bolts with thunder. When the question is repeated again, Brahma takes the man aside, and confesses he can't answer the question, the man will need to find Gautama the Shakyan (the Buddha) and ask him. That's about it for the Buddhist belief system, regarding gods and God. If you are interested in the original teaching, as an answer to the question of what is the Buddhist belief system (although it's not really the same thing), I recently completed a sketch of that. My sources are all in the first four collections of the Pali sermon volumes (I provide chapter and verse). These collections are considered the most historically accurate, and I only quote the man himself, not his disciples (their teachings I find have a slightly different flavor). Here's the first part of my sketch, and a link if you're interested: In that early record, Gautama is concerned with action, a certain kind of action: …I say that determinate thought is action. When one determines, one acts by deed, word, or thought. “When one determines”–when one makes up one’s mind, action takes place. Gautama taught the ceasing of action: And what… is the ceasing of action? That ceasing of action by body, speech, and mind, by which one contacts freedom,–that is called ‘the ceasing of action’.” Gautama taught that action ceases first with regard to speech, then with regard to the body, and finally with regard to the mind. He described the culmination of the process as follows... https://zenmudra.com/post-the-early-record-anm/ Mark

Jesus, this is hard! Learning to fly, ain't got wings summer, winter, fall

indigo at dawn penstemon on the hillside late spring on the lake Wild Penstemon; Clear Lake, California (photo by Kim Riley)

Go flippity flip It's just like thumpity thump In the deep blue sea

I trust the first four collections of the Pali Canon, to be the closest we can come to the historical teachings. The author of the article above also cites Kevaddha Sutta, and says: "... the Buddha raises doubts about the efficacy of displaying superhuman powers to impress skeptical people. He then goes on to laud teaching of the dharma, apparently suggesting that it is the true miracle." The author goes on: "... the Kevaṭṭa sutta suggests that “magical powers” are ubiquitous, and thus their display does not necessarily prove the superiority or uniqueness of the Buddha and his message, as teaching the dharma seems to do." I'm aware that Gautama listed out 6 miracles, things like diving through solid earth and walking on water, but he never displayed any of that (to my knowledge) in the first four collections of the sermons. He does mention a practice for the development of psychic powers, to wit: So he abides fully conscious of what is behind and what is in front. As (he is conscious of what is) in front, so behind: as behind, so in front; as below, so above: as above, so below: as by day, so by night: as by night, so by day. Thus with wits alert, with wits unhampered, he cultivates his mind to brilliancy. (Sanyutta-Nikaya, text V 263, Pali Text Society volume 5 pg 235, ©Pali Text Society) I offer what he had to say about that practice, along with my best guess filling in the blanks, here: https://zenmudra.com/an-unauthorized-and-incomplete-guide-to-zazen-ten/

tonsils in a knot? the rain in spain falls mainly on the plains, slowly