Mark Foote

I posted a reply on someone's personal practice thread--didn't realize that's what it was, at first. I thought it might be of interest to the wider community. Forthwith! You're right about the circumstances in which the teachings were finally committed to writing, and the language. I wouldn't have to rely on them so much, if anyone else taught the things that are in those texts. I think their uniqueness, especially with regard to states of concentration and mindfulness as a way of living, speaks to their authenticity. Something that might interest you. I spent part of yesterday reading an e-book by Kumari Bhikkyu, titled "What You Might Not Know About Jhana and Samadhi". In the book, he talks about modern Theravadin teachings that separate Samadhi/jhanas from Vipassana in the attainment of enlightenment, based largely on the Visuddhimagga commentary (composed a millennia after Gautama's death). He points out that the Pali sermon teachings do not make such a distinction. Would seem that present-day orthodox Theravadin teaching is not necessarily in accord with the early Buddhist texts. I did write to Kumari Bhikkyu, after I read what he had to say about "one-pointedness of mind": Ekaggacitta has three parts: eka (one) + agga + citta (mind). When a translator renders ekaggatā as “one-pointedness”, he would have to render ekaggacitta as “one-pointed mind”, which you may have seen. “One-pointed mind”—what does it mean? It is an odd expression, not understandable in normal English. Some of what I wrote: Here’s another way of looking at “one-pointedness”, from my experience: … “one-pointedness” occurs when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location in the body, and a person “lays hold of one-pointedness” when they remain awake as the singular location shifts. (Just to Sit) I find support from modern neurobiology, which speaks of “the experience that the self is localized at a specific position in space within one’s bodily borders”: A key aspect of the bodily self is self-location, the experience that the self is localized at a specific position in space within one’s bodily borders (embodied self-location). (Journal of Neuroscience 26 May 2010, 30 (21) 7202-7214) I would have to guess that an inability to discover the correlate of "one-pointedness" or "one-pointedness of mind" in personal experience is the cause of the divergence of Theravadin teachings from the the Pali sermon teachings. If a person hasn't had the experience, they can't begin to talk about the concentrations outlined in the Pali sermons, since Gautama made clear that "right concentration" WAS "one-pointedness of mind". Bhikkyu Kumari is not alone in his dismay. Bhikkyu Thannisaro dedicated a sermon to deriding "one-pointedness" (How Pointy is One-pointedness), concluding that it meant focusing one's attention on a single object. I prefer Zen teacher Koun Franz's approach: So (in seated meditation), have your hands… palms up, thumbs touching, and there’s this common instruction: place your mind here. Different people interpret this differently. Some people will say this means to place your attention here, meaning to keep your attention on your hands. It’s a way of turning the lens to where you are in space so that you’re not looking out here and out here and out here. It’s the positive version, perhaps, of ‘navel gazing’. The other way to understand this is to literally place your mind where your hands are–to relocate mind (let’s not say your mind) to your center of gravity, so that mind is operating from a place other than your brain. Some traditions take this very seriously, this idea of moving your consciousness around the body. I wouldn’t recommend dedicating your life to it, but as an experiment, I recommend trying it, sitting in this posture and trying to feel what it’s like to let your mind, to let the base of your consciousness, move away from your head. One thing you’ll find, or that I have found, at least, is that you can’t will it to happen, because you’re willing it from your head. To the extent that you can do it, it’s an act of letting go–and a fascinating one. (No Struggle [Zazen Yojinki, Part 6], by Koun Franz, from the “Nyoho Zen” site) In Gautama's teaching, the first concentration follows "an act of letting go": Making self-surrender the object of thought, one lays hold of concentration, one lays hold of one-pointedness. (SN 48.10, tr. PTS vol. V p 174)

I was taught we should be constantly aware of our eyes when we sit. Specifically, we should be aware of how we narrow and widen the aperture, how our field of vision gets narrower and narrower as our mind gets narrower and narrower. When you see that clearly, you also see how easily you can just open it up; the degree to which we open it up is the degree to which we’re here. (No Struggle [Zazen Yōjinki, Part 6], Koun Franz, on Nyoho Zen) From the piece I'm currently writing: The difficulty in the apprehension of “one-pointedness” and “one-pointedness of mind” is made clear in Gautama’s elaboration on the practice of the first concentration: … just as a handy bathman or attendant might strew bath-powder in some copper basin and, gradually sprinkling water, knead it together so that the bath-ball gathered up the moisture, became enveloped in moisture and saturated both in and out, but did not ooze moisture; even so, (a person) steeps, drenches, fills, and suffuses this body with zest and ease, born of solitude, so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease. (AN 5.28, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III pp 18-19) The juxtaposition of a singular “bath-ball” with the extension of “zest and ease” such that “there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded by this lone-born zest and ease” is sure to produce cognitive dissonance. How can a singular “bath-ball” be gathered together at the same time “zest and ease” is extended?

"... Watch their mind", yes? 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”, Shunryu Suzuki; June 28, 1970, Tassajara [edited by Bill Redican]) The advice I plan to give my neighbor, if we ever sit together again (he's never sat, and our one attempt ended early): I don’t think I’ll advise my friend to “follow the breath”. ... I expect I will tell him to let the place where his attention goes do the sitting, and maybe even the breathing. (Just to Sit) Action, solely by virtue of the location of consciousness--look, Ma, no hands! Or in England:

To sum up, the “samādhi” of the Suttas (EBT’s) is about concentrating the mind itself, while the “samādhi” of the Visuddhimagga is about concentrating on an object. (Bhikkyu Kumara, What You Might Not Know About Jhana and Samadhi, p 35) Bhikkyu Kumara saw the different views of immersive concentration as rooted in two different interpretations of a particular Pali word: For a long time in Theravāda Buddhism, ekaggatā has been commonly translated as “one pointedness”. … “One-pointedness” has gained such wide acceptance as the translation for ekaggatā that most people don’t question it. So, people who assume it means “fixing of close, undivided attention on a spatially limited location”, and believe it’s necessary, will try to practice that. (ibid, p 42) The Pāli word has three parts: eka (one), agga, and tā (-ness). So clearly this common translation takes agga to mean “pointed”. … Actually, “agga” has another meaning, as a contracted form of “agāra”. … it’s literally “empty place”, with agāra being simply “place”. Could this other meaning of agga, i.e. “place”, be the actual meaning in “ekaggatā”? Let’s join the parts: ekaggatā = eka (one) + agga (place) + tā (ness) = “one-place-ness” or “oneplacedness” (modelling after “one-pointedness”). (ibid, pp 42, 45) From something I hope to post soon to my site: In my experience, “one-pointedness” or “oneplacedness” is a description of consciousness, when consciousness is retained with the location of self. The location of self has become a subject of study in neurobiology: A key aspect of the bodily self is self-location, the experience that the self is localized at a specific position in space within one’s bodily borders (embodied self-location). (Journal of Neuroscience 26 May 2010, 30 (21) 7202-7214) When consciousness is retained with the location of self, the “specific position in space” of consciousness has place, yet that place is apart from the contents of the body—that place is empty, or “agga”. Just so happens that when "self-surrender" is made the object of thought, as in the induction of the first concentration, the necessity of breath tends to place consciousness with the specific position in space of self-location--at least, that's my experience.

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 117, tr. Pali Text Society vol III p 114; “noble” substituted for Ariyan; emphasis added) Bhikkyu Thanissaro references the above passage in his introduction to How Pointy is One-Pointedness?: A Pali sutta, MN 44, defines concentration as cittass’ek’aggatā, which is often translated as “one-pointedness of mind”: cittassa = “of the mind” or “of the heart,” eka = one, agga = point, -tā = -ness. MN 117 defines noble right concentration as any one-pointedness of mind supported by the first seven factors of the noble path, from right view through right mindfulness. MN 43 states further that one-pointedness is a factor of the first jhāna, the beginning level of right concentration. Thanissaro concludes the "one-pointedness of mind" means focus on a single object, and he recommends doubling-down on that. Here's Gautama's definition of "wrong view": There is no (result of) gift … no (result of) offering … no (result of) sacrifice; there is no fruit or ripening of deeds well done or ill done; there is not this world, there is not a world beyond; there is no (benefit from serving) mother and father; there are no beings of spontaneous uprising; there are not in the world recluses and brahmans… who are faring rightly, proceeding rightly, and who proclaim this world and the world beyond having realized them by their own super-knowledge. (MN 117, tr. Pali Text Society vol III pp 113-121) "Beings of spontaneous uprising" appears to be a reference to fairy-like beings that spring into existence without parents. According to the notes on the Pali Text Society translation of SN (vol III p 197), such beings were common in Vedic folklore. His definition of mundane right view was the view that is the opposite of wrong view, but he qualified that by saying that such "right view" is the right view that "has cankers, that is on the side of merit, that ripens unto cleaving (to new birth)". The right view which is “[noble], supermundane, cankerless and a component of the way” was: Whatever … is wisdom, the cardinal faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the component of enlightenment which is investigation into things, the right view that is a component of the Way in one who, by developing the [noble] Way, is of [noble] thought, conversant with the [noble] Way–this… is a right view that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way. (Ibid) Here's "right effort": As to this… right view comes first. And how… does right view come first? If one comprehends that wrong purpose is wrong purpose and comprehends that right purpose is right purpose, that is… right view. And what… is wrong purpose? Purpose for sense-pleasures, purpose for ill-will, purpose for harming. This… is wrong purpose. And what… is right purpose? Now I… say that right purpose is twofold. There is… the right purpose that has cankers, is on the side of merit, and ripens unto cleaving (to new birth). There is… the right purpose which is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a factor of the Way. And what… is the purpose which is on the side of merit, and ripens unto cleaving? Purpose for renunciation, purpose for non-ill-will, purpose for non-harming. This… is right purpose that… ripens unto cleaving. And what… is the right purpose that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way? Whatever… is reasoning, initial thought, purpose, an activity of speech through the complete focussing and application of the mind in one who, by developing the [noble] Way, is of [noble] thought, of cankerless thought, and is conversant with the [noble] Way–this… is right purpose that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way. (ibid; "noble" substituted for "Ariyan") The fundamental method for attaining the jhanas, according to Gautama, is "lack of desire". Here's his description of the induction of the first concentration: Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought initial and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein. (SN 48.10, © Pali Text Society vol V p 174; parentheticals para­phrase original; Horner’s “initial” (MN 119) substituted for Woodward’s “di­rected”; emphasis added) Did I mention my take? In my experience, “one-pointedness” occurs when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location in the body, and a person “lays hold of one-pointedness” when they remain awake as the singular location shifts. (Just to Sit) Cowboy Buddhist...

Sometimes I get a message from Cloudflare, that they're unable to connect. Sometimes it just takes 30 seconds or longer to pull up a thread or change between topics. Anybody else experiencing this?

踵蒂吸呼--Google translates this as "heel-to-toe breathing". Looks like the passage I quoted was authored by one Fabrizio Pregadio. A website titled "International Consortium for the Humanities" offers his credentials: Fabrizio Pregadio has taught at the University of Venice (1996-97), the Technical University of Berlin (1998-2001), Stanford University (2001-08), and McGill University in Montreal (2009-10). His work deals with the self-cultivation traditions of Taoism, their doctrinal foundations in early Taoist works, and their relation to Chinese traditional sciences, including cosmology and medicine. He is the author of Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China (Stanford University Press, 2006) and the editor of The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008). His translations of Taoist texts include the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality, 2009) and the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three, 2011), both published by Golden Elixir Press. I'm guessing he's a good man to go to for an explanation based on the historical literature of the Daoist tradition. Can you place "heel-to-toe breathing" in the historical literature of the Daoist tradition regarding Neidan ("internal cultivation", literally "internal elixir")--I've heard of breathing to the heels or to the "bubbling spring" in Tai Chi, but not heel-to-toe breathing in Neidan.

at the bar last night, fire horse on a sign: The bartend-ress brooked no sh*t, and the band played on!

"Inner alchemy", sort of like? That's from “The Secret of the Golden Flower”, of course. Found this: fire phases; fire times A name of the main practice performed in the first stage of the Nanzong (Southern Lineage) codification of Neidan and in other varieties of Neidan. Fire—whose function in Neidan is performed by Spirit (shen)—is progressively increased when the Essence (jing) first rises through the Three Barriers (sanguan) in the back of the body to the upper Cinnabar Field (niwan), and then progressively decreased when the Essence descends through the three Cinnabar Fields (dantian) in the front of the body to the lower Cinnabar Field. (https://www.goldenelixir.com/terms/huohou.html) On the "Three Barriers": The Taoists refer to these areas as the Three Gates---the sacrum (wei lu), the occipital area (yu chen ku), and the headtop (ni wan). (“Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, tr. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 96) Is that something like what you meant when you said, "internal alchemy"? Yes, I practice something like that, more in sitting practice than in the portion of a Tai Chi form that I know. The notion that the Spirit (shen) is applied increasingly upward and decreasingly downward I find especially interesting--that's in the writeup from the "Golden Flower" website. I hadn't thought of it that way, but there is certainly a parallel in my practice. The benefit is really in the freedom of consciousness to take place anywhere in the body, yet there is definitely a process in opening the sacrum and spine to allow the nerve exits between vertebrae to conduct sensation from the surface of the skin: 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. (“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, Cheng Man-Ching trans. Douglas Wile, pg. 17)

I confess, I only got through the first page of responses to your post, and now I am composing my own. Tut, tut. My study of yoga and pranayama consists of a few postures and some rudimentary breathing exercises that I learned from books and practiced briefly, long ago. And one yoga class, now decades ago. Nevertheless, I think the yoga postures and breathing exercises are mostly stationary practices, are they not? I have done the first part of Cheng Man-Ch'ing's Tai Chi set for years now, the first part was all that was offered in the local park for free, but I've been quite satisfied with that. Where does the movement in Tai Chi come from? The Tai Chi classics would say it is the ch'i that moves the body--the ch'i that sinks to the dan-t'ien, circulates throughout the body, and accumulates in the dan-t'ien. I find the ch'i by keeping in mind that Tai Chi is a single-weighted practice, meaning the weight in each pose is entirely in one foot and the opposite hand, and precipitating the transition of weight between poses by circling the weighted hand/arm in the direction opposite the direction of the expected shift of weight. Of course, you could say that in true seated meditation, the accumulated ch'i sits the posture. While the literal meaning of ch'i is "breath", the accumulated ch'i can also conduct the activity of inhalation and exhalation. The final stage in the development of ch'i, according to the classics, is "perfect clarity". That follows listening to the strength of ligaments, and comprehending the strength of ligaments (in the classics). What I do is just the part of the form to 2:16.

I'm glad you had it checked out by the Western medicos. I guess it's good and bad news, that they didn't find anything. Not having had the experience you have had, I can't say directly what might benefit you. I can say that I have made a study of the relationships between consciousness and kinesiology, I've written a book and that might in general be helpful to you. It's available for free online, here, or if you would rather hold it in your hand as a paperback, from Amazon here. The basic premise is that consciousness can effect automatic activity in the body solely by virtue of the location where consciousness takes place, without the exercise of will. Stick with that, and the natural tendency of consciousness toward free occurrence at any location in the body will coordinate the necessary activity. The blurb on the back cover of the book, authored by Anthropic's Claude, I feel is a good description: Mark Foote bridges ancient wisdom and modern science in this remarkable exploration of seated meditation. Drawing on Gautama Buddha's original teachings, Zen masters from Dogen to Shunryu Suzuki, and contemporary research in biomechanics and neuroscience, Foote reveals how natural, automatic movement in the body emerges when we surrender volition and allow consciousness to find its own place. For practitioners seeking to understand the relationship between body and mind in meditation, A Natural Mindfulness is an invaluable guide. Not what I do, but where I am that heals, with a little understanding.

Photo by Seaward Creations: Clear Lake at Nice, CA

‘Deeds should be known. And their source, diversity, result, cessation, and the practice that leads to their cessation should be known.’ That’s what I said, but why did I say it? It is intention that I call deeds. For after making a choice one acts by way of body, speech, and mind. (AN 6.63, tr. Sujato Bhikkyu; emphasis added) And what is the cessation of deeds? When you experience freedom due to the cessation of deeds by body, speech, and mind. This is called the cessation of deeds. (SN 35.146, tr. Sujato Bhikkyu) A better translation, of that last: 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’. (SN 35.146, tr. Pali Text Society vol IV p 85) Shunryu Suzuki's summation: What will be the difference? You have freedom, you know, from everything. That is, you know, the main point. (Sesshin Lecture, Shunryu Suzuki; Day 5 Wednesday, June 9, 1971 San Francisco) How volition comes to cease, in speech, body, and mind--here, "the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing" is the cessation of volition in the consciousness-informed activity of the body, in deeds, and "the cessation of perception and feeling" is the cessation of volition in the activity of mind: …I have seen that the ceasing of the activities is gradual. When one has attained the first trance, speech has ceased. When one has attained the second trance, thought initial and sustained has ceased. When one has attained the third trance, zest has ceased. When one has attained the fourth trance, inbreathing and outbreathing have ceased… Both perception and feeling have ceased when one has attained the cessation of perception and feeling. (SN 36.11, tr. Pali Text Society vol IV p 146) This is the contact of freedom through concentration. However, not everyone who had completely destroyed the three cankers (Gautama's criteria for enlightenment, MN 70) did so by means of concentration, or at least the concentrations that generally followed "the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing" and that lead to "the cessation of feeling and perceiving". Those final concentrations are referred to here as "the Deliverances": 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 (leading to "the cessation of feeling and perceiving"); yet, having seen by means of wisdom (their) 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 (person) that there is something to be done through diligence. What is the reason for this? It has been done by (them) through diligence, (they) could not become negligent… (MN 70; tr. Pali Text Society [PTS] vol. 2 pp 151-154; “the Deliverances” defined as the concentrations, at DN 15, PTS vol. ii pp 68-69; pronouns gender neutralized; parenthetical beginning "leading to" and emphasis added)

Wishing everyone two happy new years, and the perv friend of Nungali a new dick!

I wrote this to a friend last month: My life has been 50 years trying to figure out how the zazen that gets up and walks around fits into a normal life, and likewise trying to figure out how zazen sits zazen so I can sit as long as I feel I need to sit without wrecking my knees. That became the biography inside the back cover of my book, along with: Many people in the Buddhist community take enlightenment to be the goal of Buddhist practice. I would say that when a person consciously experiences automatic movement in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, finding a way of life that allows for such experience in the natural course of things becomes the more pressing concern. Gautama taught such a way of living, although I don’t believe that such a way of living is unique to Buddhism. (Appendix--A Way of Living) Maybe the book would be useful to you, as a context for practice. Links to read the book online, download the book for free, or purchase a paperback copy from Amazon are here: https://zenmudra.com/a-natural-mindfulness/ Photo of the lake I live next to, Clear Lake in Northern California, for the tranquility of a winter's afternoon:

I like your approach. Here is the full piece, entitled Drawing Water and Chopping Wood, that I wrote in response to your earlier question on another thread--maybe it's a little clearer. I don't know about you, but a lot of anatomy passes through my mind as "one-pointedness" shifts. I finished a book, that has enough of that to be worth a look, IMHO. Free to download here, or you can get a paperback to hold in the hand here.

"What are their names, and on what streets do they live, I'd like to ride, ride over..."--David Crosby A thing that is unique in all the religious literature of the world is Gautama's characterization of mindfulness as a function of the four arisings of mindfulness: mindfulness of the body in the body, mindfulness of the feelings in the feelings, mindfulness of the mind in the mind, and mindfulness of the states of mind in the states of mind. How is Zen that?--such a fundamental aspect of Gautama's teaching! Don't mistake me, I believe Zen is that, just wondering if anyone else does.

Miraculous power and marvelous activity Drawing water and chopping wood. (“The Recorded Sayings of Layman P’ang: A Ninth-Century Zen Classic”, Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Yoshitaka Iriya, Dana R. Fraser, p 46) There’s a similar saying in “The Gospel According to Thomas”, a gnostic gospel: Cleave a (piece of) wood, I am there; lift up the stone and you will find Me there. (“The Gospel According to Thomas”, log 77; coptic text established and translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-CH. Puech, G. Quispel, W. Till and Yassah ‘Abd Al Masih, p 43) Sometimes people hold their breath in cleaving wood, or in lifting a heavy bucket or stone. Moshe Feldenkrais observed that some people hold their breath when getting up out of a chair, and he put forward a way to avoid that: …When the center of gravity has really moved forward over the feet a reflex movement will originate in the old nervous system and straighten the legs; this automatic movement will not be felt as an effort at all. (“Awareness Through Movement”, Moshe Feldenkrais, p 78) Feldenkrais stipulated that: … there must be no muscular effort deriving from voluntary control, regardless of whether this effort is known and deliberate or concealed from the consciousness by habit. (ibid, p 76) The paired sayings highlight moments when the weight of the body combines with a singular location of consciousness to cause “reflex movement” in the action of the body. “Reflex movement” can also be engaged to sit upright, as the weight of the body combines with a singular location of consciousness. In Gautama’s teaching, a singularity in the location of consciousness follows “making self-surrender the object of thought”: … the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. (SN 48.10, tr. Pali Text Society vol V p 174; “noble” substituted for Ariyan) In my experience: …“one-pointedness” occurs when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location in the body, and a person “lays hold of one-pointedness” when they remain awake as the singular location shifts. (Just to Sit) (Drawing Water and Chopping Wood) There's more, in Drawing Water and Chopping Wood--Paul Jung can stop holding his breath.

So one of these nights and about twelve o'clock This old world's gonna reel and rock Saints will tremble and cry for pain For the Lord's gonna come, in his heavenly airplane Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah If God had a name, what would it be? And would you call it to His face If you were faced with Him in all His glory? What would you ask if you had just one question? And yeah, yeah, God is great Yeah, yeah, God is good Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah What if God was one of us Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Tryin' to make His way home? If God had a face, what would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant that you would have to believe In things like Heaven and in Jesus and the saints And all the prophets? And yeah, yeah, God is great Yeah, yeah, God is good Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah What if God was one of us Just a slob like one of us Just a stranger on the bus Tryin' to make His way home? Tryin' to make His way home Back up to Heaven all alone Nobody callin' on the phone 'Cept for the Pope, maybe in Rome Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Eric Bazilian

Let me just confuse you more: As to this… right view comes first. And how… does right view come first? If one comprehends that wrong purpose is wrong purpose and comprehends that right purpose is right purpose, that is… right view. And what… is wrong purpose? Purpose for sense-pleasures, purpose for ill-will, purpose for harming. This… is wrong purpose. And what… is right purpose? Now I… say that right purpose is twofold. There is… the right purpose that has cankers, is on the side of merit, and ripens unto cleaving (to new birth). There is… the right purpose which is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a factor of the Way. And what… is the purpose which is on the side of merit, and ripens unto cleaving? Purpose for renunciation, purpose for non-ill-will, purpose for non-harming. This… is right purpose that… ripens unto cleaving. And what… is the right purpose that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way? Whatever… is reasoning, initial thought, purpose, an activity of speech through the complete focussing and application of the mind in one who, by developing the [noble] Way, is of [noble] thought, of cankerless thought, and is conversant with the [noble] Way–this… is right purpose that is [noble], cankerless, supermundane, a component of the Way. (MN 117, tr. Pali Text Society vol III pp 113-121) In other words, you can't get there from here. "Why?" is difficult to explain. I think of it as engaging my whole being, instead of pushing myself around from the left hemisphere. And how does one engage one's whole being? Herein… the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness. In layman's terms: …“one-pointedness” occurs when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location in the body, and a person “lays hold of one-pointedness” when they remain awake as the singular location shifts. (Just to Sit) Holding any bent-knee posture for a period of time will yield a movement of breath that necessitates the placement of attention at a singular location. Hello, Jesus! Find the seat and put on the robe, and afterward see for yourself. ("Zen Letters, Teachings of Yuanwu", tr. Cleary and Cleary, p 65) Alternative method for finding Jesus: Cleave a (piece of) wood, I am there; lift up the stone and you will find Me there. (“The Gospel According to Thomas”, log 77; coptic text established and translated by A. Guillaumont, H.-CH. Puech, G. Quispel, W. Till and Yassah ‘Abd Al Masih, p 43) More on that in Drawing Water and Chopping Wood. Lots of nice quotes about freedom, too! What if God was one of usJust a slob like one of usJust a stranger on the busTryin' to make His way home? (One of Us, Joan Osbourne) The gift IMHO is the animal ability to return reason to the fire, but humans have a hard time acknowledging that they are animals. Nevertheless, I have hope: As a master of Zen archery, Kobun was asked to teach a course at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. The target was set up on a beautiful grassy area on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Kobun took his bow, notched the arrow, took careful aim, and shot. The arrow sailed high over the target, went past the railing, beyond the cliff, only to plunge into the ocean far below. Kobun looked happily at the shocked students and shouted, "Bull's eye!!" (Anecdotes by Joan Halifax Roshi, https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/otokawa.html)

Christmas dinner's near all good wishes, a grand day and now, gentle tunes

someone else's shoes are on my feet; they look good, I think I'll keep them

Happy longest night!

The question inspired me, and I wrote a post in response--I can post the whole thing here, but it's a bit long for that (not that my posts aren't long anyway): Drawing Water and Chopping Wood Hopefully a better answer. I didn't address the fact that the Zen saying emphasizes enlightenment, but the enlightenment referred to is not enlightenment as Gautama described it--I take that up in One Way or Another.

I recognize these dance steps! I see these people, and I dance with them every weekend, at the local native American casino.