Mark Foote

A Bastet case, I have become reading sonnets, having fun The port is good, so they declare in Portugal, some cat is there who sweeps a tail across the rug and makes a toy of some poor bug photo Jon Bodsworth

Gautama taught four initial concentrations, and I would say the fourth has a freedom of movement of consciousness in the body. From Just to Sit on my website: The suffusion of the body with “purity by the pureness of mind” in the fourth concentration can allow the thoracolumbar fascial sheet to sustain an openness of nerve exits along the sacrum and spine. Such an openness is accompanied by an ability to feel throughout the body to the surface of the skin. That’s reflected in Gautama’s metaphor for the fourth concentration: … it is as if (a person) might be sitting down who had clothed (themselves) including (their) head with a white cloth; there would be no part of (their) whole body that was not covered by the white cloth. (MN 119, © Pali Text Society vol. III p 134 ) There is a relationship between the ease of nerve exits from the sacrum and spine and feeling on the surface of the skin. Here is a chart from the early 1900’s of the specifics of that relationship on the front of the body: The free placement of attention in the movement of breath depends on an ability to feel throughout the body to the surface of the skin. As I wrote previously: When a presence of mind is retained as the placement of attention shifts, then the natural tendency toward the free placement of attention draws out thoughts initial and sustained, and brings on the stages of concentration. (Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages) The first four concentrations were said to be marked by equanimity with respect to the multiplicity of the senses. The four further concentrations were marked by equanimity with respect to the uniformity of the senses, and the first three were induced by the minds of compassion, of sympathetic joy, and of equanimity "without limit". From my The Inconceivable Nature of the Wind: [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. (MN 7, tr. Pali Text Society vol I p 48 ) Gautama said that “the excellence of the heart’s release” through the extension of the mind of compassion was the first of the further concentrations, a concentration he called “the plane of infinite ether” (MN 7, tr. Pali Text Society vol I p 48 ). The Oxford English Dictionary offers some quotes about “ether” (Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “ether (n.),” March 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1514129048 ): They [sc. the Brahmins] thought the stars moved, and the planets they called fishes, because they moved in the ether, as fishes do in water. (Vince, Complete System. Astronomy vol. II. 253 [1799]) Plato considered that the stars, chiefly formed of fire, move through the ether, a particularly pure form of air. (Popular Astronomy vol. 24 364 [1916]) 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”. I'm thinking this is all connected with the freedom of the akh in Egyptian mythology.

Sorry to hear of your father's illness and passing, Steve. Take care of yourself!

I am late to the dance, too, at 75. In Gautama’s teaching, the extension of “purity by the pureness of mind” belonged to the last of four concentrations. The initial concentration is induced, said Gautama, by “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. (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, tr. PTS vol V p 174; parentheticals paraphrase original; "initial" for "directed") 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. Gautama described the “first trance” as having feelings of zest and ease, and he prescribed the extension of those feelings: … (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. PTS vol. III pp 18-19, parentheticals paraphrase original) Words like “steeps” and “drenches” convey that the weight of the body accompanies the feelings of zest and ease. The weight of the body sensed at a particular point in the body can shift the body’s center of gravity, and a shift in the body’s center of gravity can result in what Moshe Feldenkrais termed “reflex movement”. Feldenkrais described how “reflex movement” can be engaged in standing up from a chair: …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) “Drenching” the body “so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded” with zest and ease allows the weight of the body to effect “reflex movement” in the activity of the body, wherever “one-pointedness” takes place. In falling asleep, the mind can sometimes react to hypnagogic sleep paralysis with an attempt to reassert control over the muscles of the body, causing a “hypnic jerk”. The extension of a weighted zest and ease can pre-empt the tendency to reassert voluntary control in the induction of concentration, and make possible a conscious experience of “reflex movement” in inhalation and exhalation. Gautama offered a metaphor for the first concentration that emphasized the cultivation of one-pointedness. Here’s the full description: … 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. PTS vol. III pp 18-19, parentheticals paraphrase original) 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” might seem dissonant, yet in my experience the two can be realized together, and at least initially neither can be sustained alone. (Just to Sit) Shunryu Suzuki said, "in shikantaza, our mind should pervade every parts of our physical being." Gautama said, "… 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." The difference between "every parts of our physical being" and "not one particle of the body that is not pervaded" is the difference between "all over the body" and "throughout the body": Yun Yen asked Tao Wu, “What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?” Wu said, “It’s like somebody reaching back groping for a pillow in the middle of the night.” Yen said, “I understand.” Wu said, “How do you understand it?” Yen said, “All over the body are hands and eyes.” Wu said, “You have said quite a bit there, but you’ve only said eighty percent of it.” Yen said, “What do you say, Elder Brother?” Wu said, “Throughout the body are hands and eyes.” (“The Blue Cliff Record”, Yuanwu, tr. Cleary & Cleary, Shambala p. 489)

The advice most zendos give beginners is to “follow the breath”, though as Shunryu Suzuki said, following the breath is only a preparatory practice: … usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. (“The Background of Shikantaza”, Shunryu Suzuki; San Francisco, February 22, 1970) Suzuki described shikantaza in more detail: So most teacher may say shikantaza is not so easy, you know. It is not possible to continue more than one hour, because it is intense practice to take hold of all our mind and body by the practice which include everything. So in shikantaza, our mind should pervade every parts of our physical being. That is not so easy. ( “I have nothing in my mind”, Shunryu Suzuki, July 15, 1969) Gautama spoke similarly about the mind pervading the body: … 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. (AN 5.28, tr. PTS vol. III pp 18-19, parentheticals paraphrase original) “The pureness of mind” Gautama referred to is the pureness of the mind without any will or intent with regard to the activity of the body. (Just to Sit) Pretty much the same, there!

Tommy, you might like my penultimate post (on my own site)--starts like this: In one of his letters, twelfth-century Ch’an teacher Yuanwu wrote: Actually practice at this level for twenty or thirty years and cut off all the verbal demonstrations and creeping vines and useless devices and states, until you are free from conditioned mind. Then this will be the place of peace and bliss where you stop and rest. Thus it is said: “If you are stopping now, then stop. If you seek a time when you finish, there will never be a time when you finish.” (“Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu”, tr. Cleary & Cleary, Shambala p 99) In my teenage years, I became keenly aware of the “creeping vines” of my mind. I read a lot of Alan Watts books on Zen, thinking that might help, but I soon found out that what he had to say did nothing to cut off the “creeping vines”. I was looking for something Shunryu Suzuki described in one of his lectures, though I didn’t know it at the time: So, when you practice zazen, your mind should be concentrated in your breathing and this kind of activity is the fundamental activity of the universal being. If so, how you should use your mind is quite clear. Without this experience, or this practice, it is impossible to attain the absolute freedom. (“Breathing”, Shunryu Suzuki; November 4th 1965, Los Altos; emphasis added) Here's the conclusion of my post--the references to "your way at this moment" and "your place where you are" are from Dogen's "Genjo Koan": The freedom of “your way at this moment” is touched on in daily living through “your place where you are”. That’s Yuanwu’s “place of peace and bliss where you stop and rest”. When the body rests from volition, so does the mind, even in the midst of activity. In my experience, that is how the “creeping vines” of the mind come to be cut off. If you're interested: “The Place Where You Stop and Rest”

Ahem... how about a modern resource? 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.

batten the hatches haiku thread in for a ride geese visit, fly south

Photo by the West Marin Feed, I believe of Bolinas Bay, north of San Francisco.

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])

Reading the "Welcome" remarks of @Steve Clougher today introduced me to the Neiye, a Chinese text that may be the ancestor of other Chinese texts on inner cultivation. AmberOwl was so kind as to post a translation he put together, that's here. I wrote a post (on my own site) recently about advice I might give to a first-time meditator. That's here. My conclusion was: ... I expect I will tell him to let the place where his attention goes do the sitting, and maybe even the breathing. I am talking there about what Feldenkrais described as "reflex movement", automatic movement triggered initially by a weighted "one-pointedness" of mind, and then simply by "one-pointedness". As I wrote in an earlier piece: 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) I sit first thing in the morning, and last thing at night, and generally by at least the end of the sitting the place where my attention goes can do the breathing. Generally I can return to that during the day, should the necessity arise. Yuanwu wrote: Actually practice at this level for twenty or thirty years and cut off all the verbal demonstrations and creeping vines and useless devices and states, until you are free from conditioned mind. Then this will be the place of peace and bliss where you stop and rest. Thus it is said: “If you are stopping now, then stop. If you seek a time when you finish, there will never be a time when you finish.” (“Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu”, tr. Cleary & Cleary, Shambala p 99) The emphasis there is on a regular practice, and "this level" I believe refers to practice where "the place where attention goes does the breathing". Yuanwu emphasized that the key is regular practice, and that some time may pass before the necessity of a return during the day becomes fully apparent.

I'd never heard of the Neiye (Wikipedia's spelling)--really wonderful, for the history and what little substance from the work Wikipedia saw fit to offer. Thanks for that!

I finished that post, if you're interested: Just to Sit.

Instant karma!