Anthony, and Bill, Anthony, Bill may be talking about illusions, while he was sitting, which his teacher was probably correct to label illusions, or makyo. I don't know. But that is what he says.
In my paragraphs, I was not speaking about illusions, but about the changed nature of perception, or rather the changed perception of Nature, in the state of constant samadhi that we find ourselves in during good practice, and after awakening, and in daily life following that. Teachers refer to it as "seeing the Nature", or seeing our nature. This is in the time after all illusions disappear suddenly when samadhi breaks up. It may last for weeks or months. Others who speak of the new mode of seeing often refer to the quality of light, and, yes, of shadow. Many poems have been written in Chan history about "the Moonlight of Wisdom", which, rest assured, is no illusion. But you may know this from your experience in your daily practice and in your intensive practice with your shifu. Bill, I hope you took the teacher's advice and encouragement and kept on sitting-through, to experience the mind free of any illusion, and could then afterwards see the difference(s) from the states we had been accustomed to previously. It would of course be momentous, and the teacher would congratulate you. But it is then therein and afterwards just ordinary life and basic human experience; however, without any illusions. I hope every zen practitioner can relax into a condition in order to experience this at least once. Then you'll know that Buddhas and ancestors and the scriptures have not been lying to you. It can last for weeks and months even without practice afterwards, but one is almost certain to continue practice because it seems to go with this condition naturally. You will find out just exactly why it is that Dogen claims that Zazen is the most basic expression of our nature (a claim that is puzzling to many, but which is clear and obvious when there is no mind). Strong practice, all! --Joe --- In [email protected], "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote: > > Anthony, > > I don't know, but I've had them too. Several times when I was sitting I > 'felt' like I was engulfed by a golden light and it extended to everyone > sitting around me. The best I could describe it was being engulfed by a > large blob of honey. It was very soothing and felt very good. I've had a > similar experience with a very warm feeling in my hara, and other strange > experiences like this. > > When I related experiences like this to my roshi he just told me they were > not important and to 'just sit'. [snip] ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
