nervous nellie...says: what a good idea..merle
Bill!, When you put shikantaza into practice, is there a conscious decision to drop the following of the breath which leads into shikantaza, or does it just naturally cease? When I enter the jhanas/samadhi, I find the breath becomes so fine/subtle that it seems to have stopped. This creates a very pleasurable sensation and switching focus onto this feeling is what takes me into the first jhana. I'm wondering if your shikantaza is anything like that? Mike Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad ________________________________ From: Bill! <billsm...@hhs1963.org>; To: <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com>; Subject: Re: [Zen] Return to Emptiness: from nervous nellie Sent: Mon, Jul 29, 2013 11:33:57 AM Mike, Counting the breaths is just the initial part of the teaching technique, at least as it was taught to me. The full techniques is: 1. Counting the breath: 1.1 - 1 on 1xhale, 2 on inhale, etc..., to 10 and then repeat 1.2 - 1 on exhale, 2 on next exhale, etc..., to 10 and then repeat 2. Following the breath: 2.1 - No counting, just following exhale and inhale 2.2 - No counting, just following breath, exhale only 3. Drop the following - shikantaza - Just THIS! ...Bill! --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > Hal, Bill!,<br/><br/>I guess counting the breath is 'bread and butter' for > most people starting out (and also for seasoned meditators). I have found, > however, that the meditation on the breath as taught in the sutras says > nothing whatsoever about counting our breaths. Instead, we just focus on the > breath entering and leaving the nostrils. This works for me much better than > counting because counting can soon become a mantra taking our focus away from > the body. Actual bodily sensations are our doorway into reality rather than > concepts (such as numbers).<br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail > for iPad >
