Sorry to butt into the conversation guys, but I am very interested in what Steve is saying. Steve, can you give examples of types of "open witnessing of phenomena as they arise and pass away," and then examples of single point concentration." Why I ask is because my favorite type of meditation is candle gazing. I really can watch phenomena build before my eyes and then dissipate, like clouds. Is this what you are talking about. I have never heard it talked about before, but I can tell you that you are right in the fact that it does help develop insight. Thanks........Deborah [email protected]
________________________________ From: Anthony Wu <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, April 9, 2011 11:03 PM Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: Buddhist meditation practices Steve, I agree. Every approach has its own merits. Even the way JMJM keeps lecturing about: sitting cultivating 'chi' in order to be in union with the universe, is useful in its own right. But I don't believe any of them are zen. To be aware and calm is zen. I don't have enough insight to advocate that. But before I am convinced it is wrong, I will continue that way. Anthony --- On Sun, 10/4/11, SteveW <[email protected]> wrote: >From: SteveW <[email protected]> >Subject: [Zen] Re: Buddhist meditation practices >To: [email protected] >Date: Sunday, 10 April, 2011, 9:58 AM > > > > > >--- In [email protected], Anthony Wu <wuasg@...> wrote: >> >> STeve, >> Â >> If you say 'insight awareness', vipassana may fall into that category, >> doesn't it? >> Â >> Anthony >> >> Hi Anthony. Yes. But I have noticed that vipassana can take widely divergent >> forms. What I am referring to is any type of open witnessing of phenomena as >> they arise and pass away. Single-point concentration, of course, can involve >> any number of objects of concentration. IMO, open witnessing forms of >> meditation lead to insight, whereas single-point concentration leads to >> mental stability. Both are useful in their own right. I don't have much >> practical experience with visualization, but I can see where that could be >> quite useful. Neurological research has shown that the brain's neurological wiring will react to a vivid and intense visualization in the same way as it reacts to an actual experience. IMO. >Steve > >
