Mark Foote

That's interesting. To what end, do you direct the breath?

I know telling stories is pretty unpopular here on Dao Bums, so here goes... Back when I lived above Hamburger Mary's in San Francisco, I met the former drummer of the Avengers, one of the first San Francisco punk bands. Dan turned me on to a bootleg tape of Joy Division, or what he said was a bootleg tape, then he borrowed some money. Poor Dan, got hit by an MG he didn't see when he stepped out between two parked cars in the Panhandle, he was still walking with a cane years later. The lead singer of Joy Division hung himself, very dramatically. The rest of the band went on to form New Order, and unlike Joy Division, New Order was a success. Let's see if I can find a Joy Division video that will embed, for you. Here's one:

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. This is too complicated, IMHO. It's all really simple. No places, relationships, activities, or placement. This moment just is, and there is a simple awareness of that which belongs to no-one and no-thing - pervades the field of phenomena. Arriving at this simple understanding is hard for us humans, especially those of us with the burden of education. It took me years to realized what a handicap it was for me. Is Dogen saying something there, when he says "find your place where you are", when he says "practice occurs", and when he says "actualizing the fundamental point"? What's the difference between "just sitting" on the couch watching the Simpsons, and the "just sitting" that is shikantaza? The Theravada doesn't interest me. The first four Nikayas of the Pali Canon interest me, as do the writings of Yuanwu and Dogen.

If I said Joy Division was a great band, would that be an unpopular opinion? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8lgsVXiXZg&list=RDg8lgsVXiXZg&start_radio=1#t=20s The link could not be embedded because www.youtube.com does not allow embedding of that video. Ok, I know the lead singer of New Order was not a member of Joy Division. Still, if I said New Order was a great band, I fear that would not be an unpopular opinion.

dead men lie, don't sit have a cup of tea; living... have a cup of tea

reverse breating, golden living men sit, don't lie down dead men lie, don't sit (Dead Man's Zazen 生夾坐不臥 While living, one sits up and lies not, 死去臥不坐 When dead, one lies and sits not; 元是臭骨頭 A set of ill-smelling skeleton! 何爲立功課 What is the use of toiling and moiling so? A gâthâ by Hui-neng, T'an-ching)

“... as an emerald jewel, of all good qualities, might be strung on a thread, blue-green or yellow or red or white or orange coloured; and a [person] with vision, having put it in [their] hand, might reflect; ‘this emerald jewel... is strung on a thread, blue-green... or orange-coloured’–even so... a course has been pointed out by me for disciples, practising which disciples of mine know thus: This body of mine... is of a nature to be constantly rubbed away... and scattered, but this consciousness is fastened there, bound there....” (MN 77, tr. Pali Text Society Vol II p 217; see also AN Pali Text Society vol IV pp 202-203) From something on my site: On a forum site I frequent, someone wrote: Even if you have no identity, you still exist. As what? The spirituality that I follow would say “as existence”, or “as pure consciousness”. I was reminded of Nisargadatta, a famous teacher who lived in India in the last century: You are not your body, but you are the consciousness in the body, because of which you have the awareness of “I am”. It is without words, just pure beingness. Meditation means you have to hold consciousness by itself. The consciousness should give attention to itself. (Gaitonde, Mohan [2017]. Self – Love: The Original Dream [Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj’s Direct Pointers) “The consciousness should give attention to itself”—in thirteenth-century Japan, Eihei Dogen wrote: Therefore, …take the backward step of turning the light and shining it back. (“Fukan zazengi” Tenpuku version; tr. Carl Bielefeldt, “Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation”, p 176) That’s a poetic way to say “the consciousness should give attention to itself”. I used to talk about the location of consciousness, but a friend of mine would always respond that for him, consciousness has no specific location. As a result, I switched to writing about the placement of attention: There can… 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. (Response to “Not the Wind, Not the Flag”) 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. Kazuaki Tanahashi) 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. ("Take the Backward Step") "A friend of mine would always respond that for him, consciousness has no specific location"--that's another friend of mine, Stirling, not you!--your point of view on the nature of consciousness is widely shared, I know. As far as realizing the cessation of volition in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, and so "just sitting", I"m not sure how that point of view enters into practice.

Thanks, BigSkyDiamond! I'll hope that when you get to it, you like the rest of songs as well.

Returning to the OP:

I made a recording of myself and some friends back in 1969, doing some traditional songs, some originals, and some covers (the covers are me covering John Fahey tunes). Dug it out for a friend a couple months back, and this week decided to make a YouTube video out of it. Have to turn it down right away, maybe I could have done better on the volume...

Where is your point of awareness when you make no effort to place it, that's the question: 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”, lecture by Shunryu Suzuki at Tassajara, June 28, 1970 [edited by Bill Redican]) "I'm not afraid that my point of awarensess is going to sit or stand or recline or walk." You know, sometimes zazen gets up and walks around. (Kobun Chino Otogawa, my recollection of a lecture at S. F. Zen Center in the 1980’s) 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) Where is the embodied point of consciousness, at this moment? The point of consciousness that is tied to the body, that takes place in the body, that can be now here and now there (or not), that moves (or not). A lot of my practice is to relax, stay calm, let thought play appropriately, and look to the embodied point of consciousness for automatic activity in the body. From the piece I'm working on now (subject to change!): When habit and volition fall away, the feeling of ease ceases, and the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation becomes solely by virtue of the location of consciousness. At such time, Gautama declared that one should: … (suffuse 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. (AN 5.28, Pali Text Society Vol. III p 19.) Thus, the body is kept open to a point-wise “embodied self-location” of consciousness. The penultimate element of the mindfulness that made up Gautama’s way of living was: I will breathe in… breathe out… beholding stopping. (MN 118, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III p 126) “Beholding stopping” is beholding the cessation of habit and volition in activity. To “breathe in… breathe out… beholding stopping” implies a cessation of habit and volition in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation. As Yuanwu wrote: “… this will be the place of peace and bliss where you stop and rest… ” That’s not to say that arriving at rest from volition necessarily comes easily: Suppose that you have climbed to the top of a hundred-foot pole, and are told to let go and advance one step further without holding bodily life dear. In such a situation, if you say that you can practice the Buddha-Way only when you are alive, you are not really following your teacher. Consider this carefully. (“Shobogenzo-zuimonki: Sayings of Eihei Dogen Zenji, recorded by Koun Ejo”, 1-13, tr Shohaku Okumura, Soto-Shu Shumucho p 45-46) You must strive with all your might to bite through here and cut off conditioned habits of mind. Be like a person who has died the great death: after your breath is cut off, then you come back to life. Only then do you realize that it is as open as empty space. Only then do you reach the point where your feet are walking on the ground of reality. (Zen Letters, translated by J.C. and Thomas Cleary, p 84) I personally find Gautama instructions helpful--I discuss 'em in Applying the Pali Instructions. You may find my description of kinesiology in The Diamond Trap, the Thicket of Thorns useful. Without that, I could not get to the top of the pole, much less advance one step further. About sitting: Gautama began his instructions on mindfulness with advice on the appropriate setting, and on the posture to adopt: Herein… (one) who is forest-gone or gone to the root of a tree or gone to an empty place, sits down cross-legged, holding (their) back erect, arousing mindfulness… (MN 119, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III pp 130-132) That Gautama’s mindfulness was his way of living implies that once he had aroused his mindfulness, he could continue that mindfulness in other settings and in other postures. At the start of his descriptions of the fourth concentration, Gautama noted that: (A person)… comes to be sitting down… (MN 119, tr. Pali Text Society p 134) Nevertheless, I believe that once Gautama had attained the fourth concentration, he could surrender activity of the body to the free location of consciousness in any posture. (The Diamond Trap, the Thicket of Thorns) Taken from a conversation I had in the comment section of Brad Warner's "Hardcore Zen" blog, back when he allowed comments: Of late, I spend a few minutes when I first sit down doing what you suggest, letting attention go to the area of my sacrum and its movement vis-a-vis the ilia. I also rock back and forward, sideways, and observe the rotation that naturally occurs. Then I think of the basic Alexander Technique instruction, “Let my neck be free.” etc. Once I’ve adjusted and settled in this way, I put my hands in the mudra, and start my zazen. I also use double mats below the cushion at home, or even bed pillows. Since I started limbering up in this way, I can sit comfortably in half-lotus for two rounds of 40 minutes, with kinhin between. Not just bearably, actually in comfort. I didn’t even know that was a possibility. (“Shinchan Ohara”, Brad Warner’s “Hardcore Zen” blog comment section, March 4th 2015) However long you can sit, is fine, for starters. I sit 25's, I sit 30's, I sit 35's, I sit 40's. I sit short sittings, if something comes up, or I decide I've had enough.

Ah, Joy Division, RIP!

"Bill Oddie was a rebel... he roamed, through the West..." (apologies to Johnny Yuma)

The first part of Gautama's enlightenment, in many sermons, was: “... as an emerald jewel, of all good qualities, might be strung on a thread, blue-green or yellow or red or white or orange coloured; and a [person] with vision, having put it in [their] hand, might reflect; ‘this emerald jewel... is strung on a thread, blue-green... or orange-coloured’–even so... a course has been pointed out by me for disciples, practising which disciples of mine know thus: This body of mine... is of a nature to be constantly rubbed away... and scattered, but this consciousness is fastened there, bound there....” (MN 77, tr. Pali Text Society Vol II p 217; see also AN Pali Text Society vol IV pp 202-203) Gautama's metaphor for the first concentration was that of a bath-ball--here's his metaphor, and my comments, from "Applying the Pali Instructions": … 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, see also MN 119, tr. Pali Text Society vol. III pp 132-134.) I’ve written about the “bath-ball”: If I were kneading soap powder into a ball in a copper vessel, I would have one hand kneading soap and one hand on the vessel. The press of the hand kneading soap would find something of an opposite pressure from the hand holding the vessel, even if the bottom of the vessel were resting on the ground. More particularly: … the exercise becomes in part the distinction of the direction of turn that I’m feeling at the location of awareness… that distinction allows the appropriate counter from everything that surrounds the place of awareness. I would say that gravity and handedness (I’m right-handed) are the source of my feeling of outward force at the location of awareness, and the activity of the muscles of posture in response to the stretch of ligaments is the source of the counter. Omori Sogen, a Rinzai Zen teacher, spoke about centrifugal and centripetal forces connected with seated meditation: Thus, by means of the equilibrium of the centrifugal and the centripetal force, the whole body is brought to a state of zero and spiritual power will pervade the whole body intensely. (“An Introduction to Zen Training: A Translation of Sanzen Nyumon”, Omori Sogen, tr. Dogen Hosokawa and Roy Yoshimoto, Tuttle Publishing, p 61). Gautama also said: … a good (person] reflects thus: “Lack of desire even for the attainment of the first meditation has been spoken of by [me]; for whatever (one) imagines it to be, it is otherwise” [Similarly for the second, third, and fourth initial meditative states, and for the attainments of the first four further meditative states]. (MN 113, tr. Pali Text Society vol III pp 92-94.) Gautama has a metaphor for each of the first four concentrations, the concentrations leading to the cessation of habit and volition in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation. There was another set of concentrations that he always described after his description of the first four, when he described them: The first of the further states was “the infinity of ether”. Gautama identified the state with “the excellence of the heart’s release” through the extension of “the mind of compassion”. He described a particular method for the extension of the mind of compassion, a method that began with the extension of “the mind of friendliness”: [One] dwells, having suffused the first quarter [of the world] with friendliness, likewise the second, likewise the third, likewise the fourth; just so above, below, across; [one] dwells having suffused the whole world everywhere, in every way, with a mind of friendliness that is far-reaching, wide-spread, immeasurable, without enmity, without malevolence. [One] dwells having suffused the first quarter with a mind of compassion… with a mind of sympathetic joy… with a mind of equanimity that is far-reaching, wide-spread, immeasurable, without enmity, without malevolence. (4) The second of the further states (“the infinity of consciousness”) Gautama identified with “the excellence of the heart’s release” through the extension of “the mind of sympathetic joy”, and the third (“the infinity of nothingness”) he identified with “the excellence of the heart’s release” through the extension of “the mind of equanimity”. (Appendix-From the Early Record) My take on the first of the further states: 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 plane of infinite ether”. (The Inconceivable Nature of the Wind) Kobun Chino Otogawa, from Aspects of Sitting Meditation on the jikoji site: Sitting shikantaza is the place itself, and things. The dynamics of all Buddhas are in it. When you sit, the cushion sits with you. If you wear glasses, the glasses sit with you. Clothing sits with you. House sits with you. People who are moving around outside all sit with you. They don't take the sitting posture! The question is, when you feel your mind is up in the corner of that two-story space, does that mind sit? In particular, is the activity of breath effortless, as effortless as getting up out of chair correctly? …good upright posture is that from which a minimum muscular effort will move the body with equal ease in any desired direction. This means that in the upright position 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. …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”, © 1972, 1977 Moshe Feldenkrais, p 76, 78.)

The old man, and "she who must be obeyed" (apologies to John Mortimer):