--- In [email protected], "Joe" <desert_woodworker@...> wrote:
OK, so you're well aware already of levels of intensity of practice that are
possible, and of how teachers guide folks.
Jim::: I know a few kinds of meditation, but some of the Buddhist literature
teaches that there are 84,000 kinds of meditation, and one Tibetan teacher said
that means there are 84.000 classes of kinds of meditation. So my few kinds of
meditation doesn't compare very well.
Joe::: 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.
Jim::: Yes, becoming closer to the integrated Buddha nature is to become
simpler, but it seems to be a simplicity which is actually more complex. I
can't describe what I am trying to say very well, so I'll try giving three
examples. It is said that when a good teacher speaks a sentence, that sentence
can communicate something different to each person listening, and importantly,
says something that teaches each of the individual people what they need to
learn. So the simple sentence has complex results. Or again, in painting,
sometimes a simple line curves a little bit just so, and in that way
communicates a lot more than just being a simple line. Then let us look at the
nonverbal meaning of the word "flower". That is the understanding that
identifies a flower as a flower, even when the word isn't in one's awareness.
The nonverbal meaning of "flower" is simple. However, it is complex in that
this same simple meaning can identify roses, tulips, columbines, orchids,
daisies, bell flowers, etc. as all being flowers. The nonverbal meaning is
simple, but the application is complex. I don't fully understand what that
implies.
Joe::: Have your teachers been Zen teachers?
Jim::: Some have been Zen, some have been Tibetan, and one was Hindu, Swami
Muktananda. What I have done is fold what I have learned before into
meditations that are new. Folding is is rather subtle, but it feels like I
bring forward the feelings and ways of directing my mind in a previous
meditation, and merge that into the new meditation. It works quite well.
Joe:::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.
Jim::: Perhaps because I have been folding in, those different meditations
don't seem all that different to me. For example, all of them include the same
still mind.
Joe:::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.
Jim::: Yes, I can meditate when a thought is going on, but it is easier to
meditate without a thought. Interestingly, Master Deshimaru told me I didn't
have to stop thoughts entirely, as I was doing.
Joe:::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.
Jim:::Breathing meditation is very good, and a breathing meditation used to be
my usual entrance into meditation. Now I just fall into meditation many times
per day without any specific intention, though an overall intention is to
meditate as much as possible while doing other things.
Joe::: And there is the practice of watching the tan tien, or belly area with
one's attention, while sitting in your best posture.
Jim::: I tend to prefer forehead. However, I'm not all that keen on energy
meditations because I avoid power most of the time, and try to increase
understanding and wisdom instead. I can do energy meditations, but I spend more
time trying to understand.
Joe::: 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?
Jim::: Yes, I've done much of that. However, now I can meditate just as well in
any position. I couldn't have done that in the beginning, but after enough
practice, it became possible. I doubt that that can be taught. It is mainly a
matter of having had enough practice under ones belt.
Joe::: 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".
Jim::: In the literature, our recent Buddha said it is like tuning a string on
a musical instrument. The string needs to be stretched just right --- not too
tight and not too loose.
Jim
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