Mark Foote

knows no fix-ed rules has no wind-ed watch- for time, the smell of the sea

I find it's more like this: "With this method of circulating the ch'i, it overflows into the sinews, reaches the bone marrow, fills the diaphragm, and manifests in the skin and hair." ("Thirteen Chapters", Chen Man-Ch'ing trans. Douglas Wile, page 17) Wished I knew then that I know now; I wrote this the other day: "...I do try to relax the thing that enters into where I am." (from here)

stark clear and lucid mountain lake in the moonlight dark granite shadows

None other than yours truly, last Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWNZptY9ds&index=1

what?! It's the ganges! Mom! Ganges is here! (where's mom?) Hold on, I'll get her... (not only painful for others!)

such is the true way somebody's old tree blooming in the half-moon's light

I don't remember when I felt so alive- here in my heart, there's room

Let's see if I can offer something on topic, here. "When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point." ("Genjo Koan" by Eihei Dogen, trans. by Aitken and Tanahashi)

back to shoots and leaves oh, why did we forsake them said happy panda

torsions itself up on four paws, back arching sits, and licks a spot

concretely exist mixed up, permanently set waving in the breeze

So you say! Marblehead, check Milton Erickson out-- a little different picture of what trance is about.

Something good!-- Fuxi's Poem.

ya could do worse than to emulate Fuxi: The empty hand grasps the hoe handle Walking along, I ride the ox The ox crosses the wooden bridge The bridge is flowing, the water is still

Rara, are you a coder? Read an article the other day about coders having panic attacks and suffering from the impostor syndrome. I felt less alone for reading it. I'm fortunate that coding is only part-time for me. "I tend to relax until the movement of breath necessitates a return to the senses. There is always a moment of falling, and of not knowing, and I have to relax." Wrote that the other day, but it's more like the lack of breath necessitates a return to the senses, when I'm relaxing. I'm fortunate to pretty much have the opportunity to sit down and let the place and things unfold, daily. However, I also sometimes have to do something more, because my whole life seems to be constricting my breath. I don't usually shadow-box. Maybe I should try it. Good luck with your decision,

Check his wallet too then he knows, just what he knows which way the wind blows

I didn't read your whole post, nasir676, since you gave me permission to read the last 3 paragraphs alone. I tend to relax until the movement of breath necessitates a return to the senses. There is always a moment of falling, and of not knowing, and I have to relax. You will make your own choices.

change from silk to jeans get a towel on the lap that old slobberpuss

greet yourself, first thing- wherever you find yourself, just feel right at home (I plead poetic license, Taomeow, on ev-e-ry~ but I like "damn")

recipe for slaves two parts rum, one part courage works every time

what is there to fear -complacency? dharma bums? get yo' dharma here!

"...making self-surrender (one's) object of thought, (one) lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness of mind." (SN V 200, Pali Text Society V 176) From a section on the power of concentration, among the five powers. This is my experience, one-pointedness of mind, as opposed to concentration on a single point. What's been most helpful to me is to exercise and include the sense of location and balance (in three planes), the sense of kinesthesia or proprioception, and the sense of gravity, along with the six senses that Gautama spoke of, in my self-awareness. The surrender of volition in the experience of the senses is the thing that can't be done, and why Gautama spoke only of making self-surrender the object of thought; nevertheless, when the relinquishment of volition takes place (literally), one-pointedness of mind is present. I don't even trust the statements attributed to Gautama's disciples in the Pali Canon to correctly reflect the teaching of the man himself, not because I'm such an expert, but just because they seem to go beyond what he said and to be of a different flavor- ? And don't even start me on Visuddhimagga. This is the practice Gautama described as his own before enlightenment, and as the Tathagatha's way of life: “Mindful [one] breathes in. Mindful [one] breathes out. Whether [one] is breathing in a long (breath), breathing out a long (breath), breathing in a short (breath), breathing out a short (breath), one comprehends ‘I am breathing in a long (breath), I am breathing out a long (breath), I am breathing in a short (breath), I am breathing out a short (breath).’ Thus [one] trains [oneself] thinking, ‘I will breathe in experiencing the whole body; I will breathe out experiencing the whole body. [One] trains [oneself], thinking ‘ I will breathe in tranquillizing the activity of body; I will breathe out tranquillizing the activity of body.’ [One] trains [oneself], thinking: ‘I will breathe in… breathe out experiencing rapture… experiencing joy… experiencing the activity of thought… tranquillising the activity of thought.’ [One] trains [oneself], thinking: ‘I will breathe in… breathe out experiencing thought… rejoicing in thought… concentrating thought… freeing thought.’ [One] trains [oneself], thinking: ‘I will breathe in… breathe out beholding impermanence… beholding detachment… beholding stopping… beholding casting away.” (MN III 82-83, Pali Text Society vol. III pg 124) This, he said, was a special instance of the setting up of mindfulness of the body, the feelings, the mind, and the state of mind. That hasn't exactly been my practice, for better or for worse, for reasons perhaps outlined by Dogen's teacher Rujing: “Breath enters and reaches the tanden, and yet there is no place from which it comes. Therefore it is neither long nor short. Breath emerges from the tanden, and yet there is nowhere it goes. Therefore it is neither short nor long.” (Dogen’s “Eihei Koroku”, vol. 5, #390) Gautama's practice rings true, yet the practice described by both men I believe depends on the induction of trance, on the cessation of the exercise of volition, and cannot be made to happen. Coming to one's senses becomes necessary to the movement of breath at some level of relaxation; that's about all I can say.

stillness and pleasure leap from moment to moment in between, nothing

(yes, I'm having fun!) in the dark, falling leaves piled high in the first light waiting for the snow

interrelated like never before, stumbling in the dark, falling