Buddhism

^^^ that's the answer from Jundo, if that wasn't obvious

We could do a zen version of the "Who Would Win in a Fight" poll. But the winner would be Joshu's dog.

btw i have been trying to be more active w/some kind of practice lately. still need to make it over to the zen center one of these days :-/

We could do a zen version of the "Who Would Win in a Fight" poll. But the winner would be Joshu's dog.

― Aimless, Tuesday, January 27, 2009 3:58 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

dunno i'd probably vote for shit on a stick

surely it would be a wildman of the dharma

Worrying about your breathing defeats the purpose of meditation ^_^

a wildman of the dharma

looooooool

Breathing is one area that yoga has explored more deeply than Buddhism.

HOOS, thank you for asking your teacher for me and posting his response, especially so quickly! I think that pretty much answers my question and I thought that it was very inspiring. Thanks to Aimless and Autumn Almanac too for your advice.

Side question, but I'm really interested in studying the evil Buddhism that the top post on this thread makes mention of. Can anyone suggest a book for me to read?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_at_War

What Make You Not A Buddhist -- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

^^^^ just read this, really liked it!

My zafu finally saw some action today. Key question--will it tomorrow?

I was reading a section from Opening the Hand of Thought that really struck me this afternoon. I don't have it in front of me to quote it, but the gist was something like this:

We may have had many afternoons with friends or lovers in which time seems to pass without our noticing. We watch television or read a book or spend a morning in bed and before we know it many hours have passed, and we wonder "Where did the time go?" When we sit zazen we are sitting with the very passage of time. With nowhere to go and nowhere to be, we feel every moment like a cool breeze on our skin.

yo

http://blinkwax.com/pics1/dharmadan.jpg

like

yoooooo

Thanks HOOS, it's free for download at the author's website as well!

Yeah I've actually been reading the .pdf lol

ha i just downloaded it

The whole idea of like actual goal-oriented practice is really refreshing to me. Like ok, a moment of zazen is enlightenment itself--I get it, I've felt it, but there's more to learn and my mans Dogen seems supremely uninterested in what else there might be. To be completely honest I've always naively written off stuff about "higher forms of meditation" as dogma in saffron robes, but actually digging into this stuff in a practical way is really incredible and (forgive me) enlightening.

Like, I'd hear a dude start talking about jhanas and I'd just tune out. I feel pretty foolish about that now lol

rejected display name--the arHOOS steendriver

o noes u on that theravada shit now

Right I mean I'm kinda...I've been skeptical for a long time and I'm even re-reading what I wrote the other day about Dogen and kinda going O_O @ myself, but I've never really taken Insight practice seriously until now and suddenly it's like I've been looking at the Dharma with one eye closed all this time. I'm trying to do insight & zazen practice on alternate days and they seem to complement each other well. A lot of the people who follow Ingram really closely seem to say that plunging full on into Insight gets you the benefits of Concentration practices without the extra work, but I'm not sure I'm willing to give up the grounding practice of following the breath just yet.

Plus feeling all my awareness pulse in and out of existence kind of freaks me out.

What's there to be afraid of? Serious question.

"Plus feeling all my awareness pulse in and out of existence kind of freaks me out."

How is this feeling different from almost sleeping, or waking up before you want to wake up?

How is this feeling different

It's like the difference between jumping into a swimming pool and showering with the showerhead set to *pulse*. The latter is very distinct and a much stranger sensation. Frightening only because it's unfamiliar.

What's there to be afraid of? Serious question.

― Aimless, Monday, July 13, 2009 5:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

The unknown. A lot of Vipassana teachers warn about a dark period just after a major peak, and that worries me a little too. I need to find a local Insight teacher before I go too much further, but I'm plunging forward nonetheless.

Is the feeling more distinct because you are not groggy while it's happening? I have this theory that there are a lot of protective sleep mechanisms (remaining immobile, forgetting dreams) that are for our own good, and maybe blunting this awareness pulsing is one of them.

http://img2.mtime.com/mg/2008/28/84712e35-35a9-4ff4-a2c5-4bb70a0b4c40.jpg

开棺

恶臭陈秽，
何云美味，
掩鼻伤心，
为之堕泪，
智者善思，
能勿悲愧。

http://img2.mtime.com/mg/2008/28/adeb74fd-0c9e-4ebd-a08f-2443478a53fe.jpg

乞命

吾不忍其觳觫，
无罪而就死地，
普劝诸仁者，
同发慈悲意。

http://img2.mtime.com/mg/2008/28/b566c9f2-73cf-4c3b-b2ac-7a2a3031bfc3.jpg

"我的腿！"

挟弩隐衣袂，入林群鸟号，
狗屠一鸣鞭，众吠从之嚣，
因果苟无徵，视斯亦已昭，
与其啖群生，宁我吞千刀。

http://www.aimwell.org/

btw

i lol @ "download this website" every time i pull up the page

Is the feeling more distinct because you are not groggy while it's happening?

That's certainly plausible, but I'm sure that most of the clarity comes from direct application of attention vs. the gauzy unfocused haze coming out of sleep.

Like the difference between background dinner music & listening in the dark with headphones?

I'm struggling to analogize here. Maybe the difference between shading with the side of a pencil and tracing on a tracing desk.

Am I getting you any closer here?

Sorry, that last question came off poorly-toned.

Feeling your it-ness melting away is vertiginous. Reflex wants to yank you back from the edge.

Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!

<3

I like that my bookmark means that every once in a while, I get a reminder that says "Buddhism has new answers". Makes me think.

lol

I've joined Dharma Overground, the message board Ingram founded for people to discuss and assist others in this kind of practice. I've asked a couple questions and received helpful answers and I think anyone else who's looking at the book and attempting these practices may find the board helpful as well.

http://dharmaoverground.wetpaint.com/

When I clicked on this, the sidebar ad was "Obama asks moms to return to school Finish your degree Using Gov't Grants" and the ad represented moms with video of a lady doing crunches.

lol

they need hosting like anybody

Hoo boy. Things happenin.

I was just on my lunch break and, with 3 minutes to go on my break & having just read a really terrific and attitude-free set of instructions on jhana access, I wanted to see if I could dive right in. And I did. I got from reading instructions to the 2nd jhana (for the first time) in under 180 seconds! I'm just sort of shocked that--after having struggled to get to the 1st jhana earlier today for a full half hour--I was able to blow past it and into 2 so quickly thanks to some clearer instructions.

Also, as is the standard effect of the 2nd jhana, I'm feeling really really terrific right now.

I so want to learn single-point meditation but for some reason I never sit down and say "Ok, now i will do this"

Is breath-awareness really the best foundation you can have? I want to know where to start cos I feel like there is something in me that can get pretty far out there with this stuff but I'm kind of at a loss for a proper 'proven' place to start from...

Breath awareness works best for me, but something else may work best for you. Some of Ingram's suggestions in the book if you do want to focus on the breath:

If you are using the breath as an object, you might try purposefully visualizing it as sweet, smooth waves or circles that are peaceful and welcome. Try breathing as if you were in a garden of fragrant roses and you wish to experience the fullness of their fragrance. Perhaps these tips
will help illustrate the kind of non-resistant and peaceful presence that can help one attain these states. Tune into sensations in and around the primary object that feel good. Harbor no guilt, anxiety or fear related to the depths of pleasure, ease and well-being. The spiritual life need not The Concentration States (Samatha Jhanas) be some sort of relentless, austere grind, particularly when doing concentration practices.

Also, here's one of the articles I was mentioning earlier. Hope you find one of these helpful.

http://www.leighb.com/jhana3.htm

Also, in the way of further breath concentration suggestion--as a dude who's spent the better part of a couple years trying to follow the breath with lots of frustrating difficulties getting settled--can I just say that noting the rising and falling of the abdomen as I breathed (giving the mind a little twig to play with while maintaining concentration) was like suddenly finding the key to start the ignition of concentration practice.

In The Jhanas Gunaratana goes in pretty good on the variety of ways to access samatha. Take a peek at the chapter--

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch2.2

I guess one doesn't "access" samatha, but I'm still working on getting all the new terminology straight. Transmission outside the scriptures left me with a lot of catching up to do.