Mark Foote

“Then a reasoning arose in the mind of a certain monk thus: ‘It is said, sir, that material shape is not self, feeling is not self, perception is not self, the habitual tendencies are not self, consciousness is not self. Then what self do deeds affect that are done by not-self?’ Then [Gautama], knowing by mind the reasoning in the mind of this monk, addressed the monks, saying: This situation exists, monks, when some foolish man here, not knowing, ignorant, with his mind in the grip of craving, may deem to go beyond the Teacher’s instruction thus: ‘It is said, sir, that material shape is not self... consciousness is not self. Then what self do deeds affect that are done by not-self?’ You, monks, have been trained by me (to look for) conditions now here, now there, in these things and in those.” (MN III 19, Vol III pg 68-69) So Gautama saw the problem as being in the question, and conditioned causality apart from any notion of self as being fundamental, but I would say his answer lacks something--especially because he derides the questioner. Bad karma. Ha ha. Ok. So in the early 1930's, Kurt Godel gives us a substantive answer: if you have a set of assumptions which, through the application of standard rules of logic, can describe everything that is known in something like mathematics, then those assumptions will yield contradictions. If, on the other hand, your set of initial assumptions is consistent, then it cannot describe everything that is known (in something like mathematics, or, let us say, a description of the vagaries of human experience). I would say it's part of Gautama's genius that, as far as the descriptions of dharma in the first four volumes of the Pali Suttanta go, they are consistent. What he was saying to the poor monk above is, the assumptions which have given me this beautiful and consistent description of the vagaries of the human experience will not address the kind of thing you are asking about, and any assumptions that will can be used to derive contradictions. What's confusing with Gautama is the way he conflates teachings about morality and social order with teachings about mindfulness and meditative states. If you want to read a summary of what he taught about mindfulness and meditative states, you could try my notes, here. And you're right, he regularly ascribed the attainment of "nonreturner", "once-returner", and so forth to individuals, when asked about their fate by his attendant Ananda--he got so tired of Ananda asking that he told Ananda to just ascertain whether or not they behaved themselves and figure it out for himself. Gautama did say that we all started out as an energy that fell from a higher state to a lower one--presumably a self-less energy? Not the popular notion in Hindu India, that, I'm sure.

My fair Theresa May, nothing is delivered Get plenty of rest

don't we all know it the one who breathes in and out suffers not, but knows

"Happy mother's day" every day is mother's day don't we all know it!

phantom limbs, real, merge-- mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me what's not there

in your body, too relaxation allows ease phantom limbs, real, merge

from chronic dizzease a wasting of whirly depths seizing, releasing

the same air as we yearn to breathe, free, do others the world over seek (whew!)

worms have feelings too they breathe through their skin, and know the same air as we

When I wrote on this thread in 2011, I copied in my approach to the mudra I was taught to adopt in sitting zazen. The approach I copied in was not something I was taught, but something that came to me as I was writing, that turned out to be useful to me. Discovering things that are useful to me through open-ended writing has made it possible for me to stay alive to what the lotus has to teach me, over the years. Last December while reading the "Blue Cliff Record", I discovered that I missed the mark in my approach to the mudra when I described the awarenesses involved in keeping the little fingers against the lower abdomen. I included activity in the rectus among those awarenesses, but I should have known better, as I was already aware of Bartilink's research. I posted about the case in the "Blue Cliff Record" and made my correction--here's the full correction, and my note about why I made the correction: My writing titled The Mudra of Zen included a description of the correspondence between the placement of the arms and hands and a one-pointedness of self-location, a one-pointedness with an associated flow in the ability to feel. In light of D. L. Bartilink's research, I would perhaps modify that description now, as follows: "The placement of the fingers near the centerline of the abdomen provides a sense of the ligaments of the internal oblique muscles, the muscles that run diagonally from the pelvis upward to the rectus; if the little fingers leave the abdomen, awareness of the forward and backward motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the little fingers to the abdomen. Similarly, the placement of the little fingers provides a sense of the ligaments of the transverse muscles, the muscles that run horizontally from the abdomen around the sides to the fascia behind the lower spine; if the elbows lose their angle from the body, awareness of the side-to-side motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the angle. Likewise, the placement of the little fingers against the abdomen provides a sense of the ligaments of the external oblique muscles, the muscles that run from the rectus diagonally upward to the ribcage; if the shoulders lose their roundedness, awareness of the turn left, turn right wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can help restore the round to the shoulders." D. L. Bartilink measured activity in the abdominal muscles of weight-lifters, and determined that activity in the rectus muscles was not part of the activity that pressurized the "fluid ball" in support of the spine; that's the basis for the change in my instructions. That's from Turning to the Left, Turning to the Right, Following Up Behind. In the post, I describe two mechanisms for the support of the lower spine that I believe are coordinated in the autonomic movement of breath. I would guess that the hand mudras can play a part in one of those mechanisms.

when your number's up you breathe your last; like the first, in so many ways

This morning it occurs to me that I wasn't very clear, about reverse breathing. I believe it's based on this: In a bent-knee posture, the spine is supported by the horizontal ilio-lumbar ligaments in exhalation, and by the vertical ilio-lumbar ligaments in inhalation. When support is realized relative to the direction of breath, the abdomen moves slightly outward on exhalation, and slightly inward on inhalation, yet only relaxation of activity and feeling of the whole body with no part left out is involved. Lately I focus a lot on "turning to the left, turning to the right, following up behind"--stretch in the ilio-tibial band and action in the sartorius, gluteous, and tensor muscles carries into the abdominals to sustain pressure in the fluid ball of the abdomen, and stretch in the lumbodorsal fascia behind the sacrum. Here's a practice Gautama the Shakyan described for the cultivation of psychic powers: So (one) abides fully conscious of what is behind and what is in front. As (one 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, (one) cultivates (one's) mind to brilliancy. (Samyutta-Nikaya, Volume V, 263; Pali Text Society translation volume V, pg 235) No further explanation was offered for "before as behind, behind as before", yet I would say it's exactly "turning to the left, turning to the right, following up behind" (which is Yuanwu's description, from "The Blue Cliff Record" case 17). With regard to "above as below, below as above", Gautama described mindfulness of each part of the body and of the internal organs, from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head and from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, just as is (I tend toward "soles to crown" on inhalation, and "crown to soles" on exhalation--in the dentist's chair, I found myself holding my teeth with my feet, and my feet with my teeth, not exactly "as is"). "As by day, so by night: as by night, so by day" referred to observing the sign of the concentration. There's a happiness in the relinquishment of volition in inhalation and exhalation.

are basket cases full of Easter surprises? eggheads everywhere

My only success in these matters has come as a result of the study of Western science, yet I will be the first to confess that what matters most to me is the relinquishment of habitual activity, conscious or unconscious, in the movement of breath. With the accent on relaxation, freeing the direction of mind, and the experience of cessation, I do experience what Dogen's teacher Rujing described as breath entering and reaching the dan-t'ien, breath exiting the dan-tien. Sometimes. What keeps it alive for me is this notion that Olaf Blanke has put forward, that our sense of self, especially the self that is associated with our sense of location, is a result of the coordnation of the vestibular and proprioceptive senses, along with the senses of vision and of gravity. Distinguishing these senses contributes to their coordination, as far as I can tell, and the lower dan-tien is really an experience of that sense of location in the surrender of activity in the movement of breath, behind (and usually below) the navel. What's it about. The three sets of abdominal muscles have ligamentous attachments to the rectus muscle, and these attachments are of equal length at a point a couple of inches below the navel. Looking to be so relaxed, that the only activity in the body is activity generated by the ligaments themselves in response to stretch, and the movement of breath. Two means of support for the lower spine, one in the fascia immediately behind the sacrum, where the mass of the extensors (as they contract in alternation) presses rearward against the lumbodorsal facial sheet, and the other from pressure generated by the abdominals in the "fluid ball" of the abdomen, also pressing rearward against the lumbodorsal fascial sheet but now behind the lower spine: The two means of support are autonomically coordinated in the natural movement of breath. The sense of self-location can occur at the lower dan-tien, a function of the individual senses Blanke described, as part of the autonomic coordination of displacement of the fascia behind the sacrum and lower spine in support of the movement of breath. The ilio-lumbar, ilio-sacral and abdominal ligaments generate activity in response to the weight of the body, the activity serves to align the spine to provide ease at appropriate nerve exits, the nerve exits allow feeling below the skin and throughout the body to guide support in the movement of breath. I have particulars in the work in my signature.

the beholder's eye diamond cage, forest of thorns exit, coming up

Thanks, ralis, for that Dylan quote. I grew up with the threat of mushroom clouds thirty minutes from the sirens (so what we were doing under the desks?), it's an interesting connection Dylan made with the urgency of rock. Thanks to friends Clayton & Otis (and to Miriam)--some homegrown:

of a good toothpaste one can say, that feels better! don't miss your water...

life is short, they say yet to really live, we die the wind plays a tune

all equal no-things living and dying, the same have a piece of cake

Bicycles have the same right to use the road as cars do. Bicyclists are required to obey traffic rules, signs and signals; and like motorists, should not operate a bike while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Riders under age 18 must wear helmets. ?

to die a little is my ambition, each breath all things in good time

I sit for 40 minutes in the full lotus in the morning, and after many years I'm happy to report that it's mostly without pain or significant numbness. Hoping to find myself with zero numbness all the time soon. In one of his books, Red Pine visits a monastery where they sat 30 minutes, then 45, then 60, then 90, in alternation. I've read that in many Rinzai monasteries, they sit 25, whereas in Soto it's usually 40. I'm not sure how accurate that is. At Antaiji, they apparently do a 5-day sesshin once a month, sitting 50 minutes and walking 10 for 14 periods a day (at least, Shohaku Okumura reports that was the routine of his teacher Uchiyama). I think there was a student of Chunyi Lin on this forum who reported that he advised anyone with the thought of becoming a healer to sit 2 hours in the full lotus every day. All of this is to say that you might want to experiment with how long you are sitting. In my experience, the lotus is about the pivots of the sacrum, and the way that the weight of the body induces involuntary activity in response to the stretch of ligaments and fascia. You probably know what Gautama the Buddha was talking about, when he spoke of the cessation of ease apart from equanimity--that would be the moment when the ligaments and fascia alternate in stretch through involuntary activity, continuously. That kind of stretch/activity aligns the vertebrae to allow feeling to the surface of the skin, allows the "nondirection of mind" and the cessation of happiness apart from equanimity. Fundamentally, the movement of breath acts, and the sense of self-location rests with equalibrioception, proprioception, graviception, and oculoception.

its founding member has passed on?-I am saddened the night sky is bright

and the Australians don't utter the name of a departed one, to continue the straw dog/sand mandala metaphor. At least, at the moment that strikes me as a similar instance, although more direct to the human circumstance.

I'll confess what I do is sit the lotus for 40 minutes in the morning, whenever possible, and all I know is the first part of Cheng Man-Ching's form from free lessons in the park (thanks, Steve Rose!). What I see is that there are two mechanisms of support for the lower spine, one in the displacement of the fascia immediately behind the sacrum (by the mass of the extensors pressing rearward as they contract, usually in a natural alternation), and another in the displacement of the fascia behind the lower spine by pressure from the "fluid ball" of the abdomen (the term is from D. L. Bartilink). The fascia is the lumbodorsal fascia in both cases, but the coordination of these two means of support is effected by the autonomic nervous system as part of the movement of breath. Looks like this: The bent-leg posture brings forward these relationships, yet the relinquishment of habitual activity in the movement of breath remains central to the experience of overall coordination. The rotation of the mind at the dan tien is an experience of the coordination of the sense of equalibrium (vestibular organs) with the sense of proprioception (proprioceptors in the joints, muscles, and ligaments), the sense of gravity (otoliths), and the sense of vision (due to the tight connection between the sense of vision and the sense of equalibrium). "To unfurl the red flag of victory over your head, whirl the twin swords behind your ears—if not for a discriminating eye and a familiar hand, how could anyone be able to succeed?" ("The Blue Cliff Record", trans. T. and J.C. Cleary, case 37 pg 274) The experience of self-location through equalibrioception, informed by the "familiar hand" of proprioception and the "discriminating eye" that recognizes its role in self-location, can move. To the extent that equalibrioception is a part of the experience of self-location, there is pitch, yaw, and roll connected with the experience, and the coordination of these senses in the experience of self-location can amount to a turning of "mind" (a turning of the experience of self-location) at the lower dan tien, on occasion. I rely on the bent-leg postures and a natural inhalation and exhalation as my teacher.