Jim,
OK, so you're well aware already of levels of intensity of practice that are
possible, and of how teachers guide folks.
That may be more than some people on this forum can claim, and that's OK, too,
unless they seek some progress.
Progress is really "becoming simpler", and more fundamentally human, or the
most fundamentally human. Less sophisticated by far. But still able to invoke
and use things freely if needed, such as advanced mathematics, other mental
skills like memorization.
Have your teachers been Zen teachers?
Giving advice could be confusing if you are used to very "busy" forms of
meditation. Those busy forms are PERFECT in their OWN tradition and context,
though. And, likewise, Zen practice has its own way and ways of meditation. I
think none of these are to be mixed.
Some forms of zen meditation involve practice with attention on some part of
the body. I find these ways to be excellent. What's good is that there's no
thinking about progress or about results, there's only attention to the part of
the body, or its function.
The less "mental", the better.
Ours is a Spiritual tradition of Practice, but it has NOTHING to do with what
we understand as "mind", and least especially as "Mind".
For example, there are practices involving attention to the Breathing.
And there is the practice of watching the tan tien, or belly area with one's
attention, while sitting in your best posture.
Do you find that you sit in one of the traditional Hindu or Buddhist poses?
Do you use a cushion to allow the spine to remain erect without using any
muscles?
Do you sit in a chair?, and not rest the spine against the back of the chair?
Resting the spine creates sensation which is distracting and disruptive. Of
course, if you must rest the spine, then the presence of that sensation is a
hurdle to overcome, and I suppose one can drop the awareness of it by putting
even more stringent attention on the METHOD of meditation. But, relaxation
must reign, and we are better not to allow attention to become "fierce".
You may know that there are mechanical principles which help insure comfort in
sitting. Do you incorporate all these?
Practices which involve the body can actually help our health by improving it
and by building it. This kind of physical improvement of our health is
prerequisite to the kind of development(s) in practice which result in an
awakening.
Awakenings are not final states. There is no final state. An awakening shows
our original human endowments, and lets us note with clear eyes "what all this
is". We lapse back, keeping with us all the intelligence about this that we
can, and continue to allow compassion and wisdom to arise. And we keep
failing, so we keep practicing. And we awaken again. Maybe the times between
awakenings gets longer, or shorter, and, eventually, like a flat stone skipping
on water, we disappear below the surface for good, for better or worse. Never
for worse! And even the fact and feeling of disappearing disappears, and this
continues endlessly 24 hours a day.
But the key point is to practice, and practice for NOW, not for later.
I sit and let my breathing get IMPOSSIBLY smooth. It is very enjoyable. But I
settle for no less than IMPOSSIBLY smooth. I make sure that each breath takes
me closer. I sense when it is not good enough, and I know what is necessary.
This is called "practice". It is an exquisite process of sensing, and sinking.
Nothing can be simpler. Usually I sit 40 minutes. And then, after stretching
and exercise, repeat. Sometimes it's easy to sit for several hours, and as you
know, we often do on retreats and intense practice periods.
Meditation is one of the things I know about that cannot be taught by anyone or
by anything.
The late Aitken Roshi used to say:
"ZAZEN teaches zazen".
Wishes!,
--Joe / s. Arizona
> "jfnewell7" <jfnewell7@...> wrote:
>
> That of course is excellent advice. Some of my teachers are no longer alive,
> but I have seen evidence of teachers being aware of students from a distance.
>
> It is impractical now.
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