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otter
USA
8 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 2:18:31 PM
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For those of us who lack sophistication, there are very simple instructions for sitting meditation practice. There are also simple practices that are useful in daily life outside of formal meditation time, based on a Buddhist worldview (suffering is always everywhere, the individual has no independent reality, all phenomena are transient). Most of both on-your-feet and on-your-seat practice has to do with unhooking the attention from the thinking mind and attending to raw phenomena without any goal in mind.
These practices are user-friendly and not exclusive to monastics or "really spiritual" people.
As zen master Dogen said:
"Thinking that practice and enlightenment are not one is no more than a view that is outside the Way. In buddha-dharma [i.e. Buddhism], practice and enlightenment are one and the same. Because it is the practice of enlightenment, a beginner's wholehearted practice of the Way is exactly the totality of original enlightenment. For this reason, in conveying the essential attitude for practice, it is taught not to wait for enlightenment outside practice." (p. 30)
[Okumura, Shohaku; Leighton, Taigen Daniel, et al.; tr. The Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa with Commentary. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-8048-3105-X.]
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 2:59:02 PM
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Namaste otter and welcome to the AYP forums!
Would you care to share the instructions for these simple practices you are talking about? I'm sure many here would love to read exactly which practices you are talking about, and I'm sure many would even like to try them out. Again, welcome to the forums!
Love,
Carson |
Edited by - CarsonZi on Aug 21 2009 2:59:39 PM |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 3:06:56 PM
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Welcome Otter and thank you for introducing the sublime Master Dogen.
chinna |
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otter
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 6:02:11 PM
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Thank you Carson and Chinna, for your kind welcome.
Because I deal with people who see daily sitting practice as another odious "should do" item, and they are already overwhelmed with many "should do's," I like to start with little things that can be done in the midst of the chaos of daily life. These are not my original ideas. Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues among others often list these and similar little exercises.
These are to be approached playfully, on an experimental basis, not just because someone told you to do them. If an exercise doesn't click with you after a few times, try another one until you are intrigued by one. It may draw you in and begin teaching you. It is best if you have no idea what kind of result is expected--just see what happens when you do it. And don't worry about doing it exactly right.
OK, first, Take a Mini-Vacation: when washing your hands, just wash your hands. Notice what the water feels like, notice how your hands know just what to do to get wet; notice how it feels to get soap and rub it in, how it feels to rinse off, how it feels to dry. Notice sights, sounds, smells, sensations in detail! You don't have to take any longer than your normal 20 seconds to do all this--just pay complete attention, as best you can. During these 20 seconds or so, leave all your concerns (thoughts) about work, arguments, economic troubles, illness, car trouble, politics, adequacy/inadequacy, emotional stress, etc.--leave these "on the shelf," just as you might take off a jacket and hang it up. The jacket doesn't go away, and the thoughts won't disappear. Don't worry that something important may be lost when thinking gets put aside this way--you can pick it all back up again as you go back to work.
That's enough for now.
It may be hard to see what this has to do with spirituality. There is lots of theoretical back-story to justify such an exercise. Justification is irrelevant 
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 8:51:33 PM
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Welcome to the forum Otter.
Yes this is a very good exercise. I forgot about it but i have done it a lot in the past.
I used to be into the books of Castaneda, and he often wrote "Stop your thoughts. That's all that is necessary." Or "Stop the world." Same thing.
After months of trying to just stop my thoughts, I discovered this exercise as a way of "cheating" that made it so much easier. I had been trying to put my awareness on "nothing", which is extremely difficult. with this exercise I could stop my thoughts quite easily. Eventually I decided it was not cheating at all, but quite productive.
And indeed, this exercise does "Stop the world."
Which can't be understood until you do it. I will take it up again. Thanks. |
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otter
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2009 : 12:07:32 AM
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Thanks for the validation, Etherfish!
It's usually not useful to try to "stop thoughts" directly, as you discovered. They are quite an automatic process--you might as well try to stop leaves from falling. Thoughts will thin out when the spotlight of attention is shifted away from them. They are rather like other living beings in this way: if we don't give a pesky dog, cat or person attention, they will eventually go do something else.
That isn't to say that there aren't places of profound silence
There is silence in the depths even though thoughts may still be swimming around in the upper layers.
Attention is the one part of us that we can work with quite effectively. A person doesn't have to be smart or educated to do it, either.
Appreciatively,
otter |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2009 : 06:33:39 AM
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A reflection sparked by mention of the sublime Master of the Soto tradition:
Grand Master Eihei Dogen leaves us nowhere to go with how simple is this simplicity of practice. He ceaselessly thwarts our attempts at conceptualising and control, our ego. When I first read this statement from his Shobogenzo (Koan version) the mind stopped in its tracks, and infinite non-existent unknown clarity opened up:
In the transmission of this Great Matter, absolutely no communication takes place.
For those drawn to the path of Jnana Yoga, I can recommend grappling with Master Dogen's words, as well as with the simple practices of meditation and mindfulness. He pushes simplicity beyond any attempt that we may make to practice it, always he leaves us with nothing, until we realise that is exactly where the truth is to be found.
chinna |
Edited by - chinna on Aug 22 2009 06:59:35 AM |
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otter
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2009 : 10:03:07 AM
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Right on! Beautifully put, Chinna.
Thank you,
otter |
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otter
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2009 : 12:37:04 AM
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A simple sitting practice
There are many easy, on-your-feet practices like "Take a Mini-Vacation" (see earlier post). You can make up your own, once you get the hang of checking into the sensory present.
PRACTICE: For now, though, let's consider a simple formal meditation. OK, not so formal, to be honest--just sitting quietly on purpose for no reason, once a day for 10 minutes. It works best if you have a certain habitual time--like just after brushing your teeth in the morning or evening. Set up a habit and it will carry you forward.
POSTURE: Find a quiet spot where you can sit with your spine upright. If you slant your tailbone back a little (stick out your butt), it brings the rest of the spine into alignment. People do this by sitting with a firm wedge-shaped cushion under their sitting bones--whether on a chair or on the floor. The chin will naturally pull back toward the neck and the upper chest will open up as the shoulders relax into an open, 'hanging' position. Place the hands together in the lap. Let your jaw relax, the teeth a little open, lips closed, tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. Eyes can be open (broad, unfocused gaze, looking downward at about 45 degrees) or closed.
Does the posture issue seem too complicated? Then start in any posture you can tolerate without moving for 10 minutes--it's best if you can breathe comfortably in this position.
ATTENTION: Bring attention to the breath. No need to regulate it in any way: just watch the body breathe all by itself. Pretend it's your job to follow the breath like a detective following a suspect: notice in detail the sensations of breathing. (You don't have to record or remember everything like a detective, though--just watch, be ready for anything, not knowing what's going to happen.)
Each breath is brand new! It has never been before and will never be again. What exactly is THIS one like? Maybe it's only coming in one nostril; maybe it's shallow, maybe it's deep. You may become fascinated by the rising and sinking of the belly or by the sensations of air entering and leaving the lungs, or by the feeling of air coming into the nostrils and going out, or by feelings in the sinuses, or a little of each of these.
Notice the sensations as they appear to you without judging them and without judging your performance. Don't worry about which sensations you notice or whether you are noticing all of them or the right ones: that's a sidetrack. Just notice whatever you notice, as it is, and then let it go and notice--throw your whole attention into--the next sensation.
Let everything else go past--let sounds come "in one ear and out the other." Let thoughts come and go by like the shadows of passing birds. Your job is only to follow "breathing." That's in quotes to throw doubt on it: they say it's "breathing," but it may not be what it seems. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to notice… And at the end of your 10 minutes, turn to your next activity calmly and deliberately. You may find yourself noticing breathing here and there throughout the day.
Does this seem like a boring warm-up exercise? Does your mind ask, "When do we get to the enlightenment part, the really spiritual stuff…"? Look back at the quote from Zen Master Dogen in the first post, and remember what Shih-T'ou Hsi-ch'ien says in "Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage":
"The vast inconceivable source can't be faced or turned away from."
Respectfully,
otter |
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chinna
United Kingdom
241 Posts |
Posted - Sep 03 2009 : 06:53:40 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by otter
A simple sitting practice
"The vast inconceivable source can't be faced or turned away from."
Respectfully,
otter
Yes. As Ramana Maharshi says of his death "Where would I go?".
Thank you Otter. |
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otter
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Oct 04 2009 : 1:58:02 PM
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It's October! Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it's clear and cool, breezy and bright. sunlight slanting in from its southerly position lending everything a poignant attractiveness.
Supposing I've done my daily sitting, following the breath and remembering to return to the present moment when washing hands--what else might I need to further my practice?
Sometimes thinking and physical energy is so activated that a person can't find quiet even when sitting quietly. The temptation is to jump up and do something else, since no calmness going to happen anyway.
This is an important practice opportunity--don't jump up! Stay for your scheduled time no matter what, not to be mean to yourself but because it is an opportunity to see a rare phenomenon, to Notice what this antsy-ness is like. Usually we automatically go with the urge to act--this time, just notice the urges, notice what they feel like in detail.
Bring the attention back to breathing each time that it is lured away by the urge to do something else, or by the entanglements of thinking. Sometimes it helps to say "Noticing" to yourself to keep the attention on the breath, or to notice what it's like to have a thousand thoughts jangling for attention, or to notice what it's like to sit when every fiber of your muscles cry out for action.
Notice the experience of thinking, not the content of the thoughts. Sometimes it helps to say, "Oh, that's thinking" to keep from following the content of thoughts.
Notice the experience of antsy-ness, not the content (which is telling you to jump up and act). This will probably not feel like the serene calm we expect of a meditation practice--notice that! The judging mind will want to tell you what a failure you are today. That's when you say, "Oh, that's thinking!" because such judgments are just an aspect of the thinking process, built into the organism and nobody's fault.
This active practice of noticing the experience of antsy-ness is very important, not to "achieve calmness" but because it is a practice of openness to experience. When we notice the experience of agitation like this, we begin to be able to notice noticing.
Respectfully,
otter |
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very simple zen practice
