Why the cross-legged posture?- because place in the occurrence of consciousness is utilized by the pulmonary and cranial-sacral respirations to impact stretch and open feeling, and the ligaments that guide place into pitch, roll, and yaw and an ability to feel are most intimately those that attach the sacrum to the pelvis. The lotus on the cushion (or a tree root, back in the day) dictates that the cranial-sacral rhythm place consciousness so as to open feeling throughout the senses, all six. The opening of feeling allows the free occurrence of consciousness with respect to placement, waking up or falling asleep. The free occurrence of consciousness is the cessation (of volitive action) of perception and sensation. One thing after another.
Comment on Brad Warner’s blog entry, “Sitting In Chairs Is Not Zazen”
I can say that for me, I feel lucky to have inadvertently allowed the place of mind to develop enough feeling to accept the activity of the lotus; it’s more about the free movement of mind than the lotus, but I could never have found the relationship between the witness of aversion and attraction and the free occurrence of mind without the lotus, and in particular without feeling for activity out of pitch, yaw, and roll at the sacrum.
The feeling of mind
I’ve read that animals think in pictures. Also read that the followers of Gautama, the monks, were admired for being just like wild animals.
Lately I am cognizant of the feeling of mind, of thought. I sit and I sometimes relax into the activity of the posture, and toward the end of the sitting especially there’s a definite feel to the edge of the stretch I find myself in. Sometimes I notice there’s a feel to the edge of the thoughts I find myself in, I’m not too good at calming myself down but maybe the visual thinking is like that (and the wild kingdom)?