Month: February 2012

The article Is Arithmetic Consistent? points out that indeed arithmetic is consistent locally, that the difficulties of completeness that Godel demonstrated come in primarily with the axiom of induction and the extension of a proof to all members of an infinite set. At least, that’s the way I understand what he’s saying!

I think anytime we hear something like “the ground of being”, we have made a leap from known finite instances of experience to some kind of proof on an infinite set. That doesn’t mean it’s not true in the localized cases, but with the extension to the infinite the logic will allow contradictions.

In the lecture Sacred Body, Todd Murphy notes that the brain and the heart have no nerves for pain or pleasure, so that brain tumors can become enormous with no pain and heart attacks are recognized by pain referred to the left arm and shoulder. Murphy speaks of the chakras as sites of referred brain activity- I hope I’m not misstating his position too badly!

Can I assume that the regulars on this thread all have a practice that involves the use of referred sensation, from the spinal nerve exits to the limbs, the jaw, and the surface of the skin, and from the brain to centers in the body connected with a personal relationship to the six senses?

This morning I was reflecting on this:

That’s the Egyptian god Hapi on both sides, one foot on each side of what appears to be a representation of the sacrum, four reeds running from the feet through the center of the column and upward, two gripped like ropes by the gods, two supporting the platform on which are symbols that I believe belong to the king, or alternatively:

This is why all their procedures and even the passages of the Pyramid texts themselves are called se-akhs- or akhifiers- they were designed to allow a person to achieve a new form of spiritualized existence called the akh. The word ‘akh’ as a verb means ‘to be effective’ and the ‘akh’ as an entity was seen as a shining being who could come and go as it pleased. This means that the akh was not impelled by the forces of the universe to follow a set path but had achieved a state of freedom and ability to act in any situation. The goal of becoming an akh may not seem very spiritual when compared to more modern traditions but the Egyptians (certainly in the Old Kingdom) did not concern themselves with sentiment or niceness, their goal was freedom and that was that.

(from the Pyramid Text of Unas commentary of Apech)

My study concerns the ilio-lumbar ligaments, which are in two sets, the first from either side of the pelvis to the fourth lumbar vertebrae running vertically, and the second from either side of the pelvis to the fifth lumbar vertebrae running horizontally. I find the ligaments to the fourth vertebrae tend to engage in inhalation, and the ligaments to the fifth lumbar vertebrae tend to engage in exhalation.

Now, when the movement of breath engages the ilio-lumbar ligaments, there’s a feeling like the action on a swing in a playground connecting the leverage of the spine with the feeling for the legs and the seat of the pants. In sitting, the feeling in the legs is returned through the ilio-lumbar ligaments to the lower spine, and activity generated by stretches in the legs is balanced by activity generated by the stretches of the ligaments that connect the pelvis to the rib cage, through the abdomen. In particular, there’s a point where the fascia and ligaments associated with the internal, external, and transversus abdominals meet in equal measure at the rectus, and that’s just below the belly-button. The stretch in the fascia and ligaments of the abdominals can be felt in the shoulders and arms, and on exhalation I believe the weight and leverage of the arms helps the stretch of the ilio-lumbar ligaments to the fifth lumbar vertebrae- hence the gods holding the reed on either side of the Djed.

This morning I was feeling the role of the fascia and ligaments that connect the neck muscles to the skull, looking for a counter-rotation of the sacrum to the rotation of the pelvis, and I had a sense of height at the tan-tien over the sit-bones and of activity in the piriformis muscles under the pelvis. I looked for my sense of place like waking and sleeping, and was struck by a connection between the freedom of mind and the entire fascial envelope supporting the movement of breath.

With this method of circulating the ch’i, it overflows into the sinews, reaches the bone marrow, fills the diaphragm, and manifests in the skin and hair.

(“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, by Cheng Man-ching, translated by Douglas Wile, pg 17)

When you arrive at last at towering up like a mile-high wall, you will finally know that there aren’t so many things.

(“Zen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu”, translated by J.C. Cleary and Thomas Cleary, pg 83)

I don’t seem to sit more than 50 minutes. I’m right-handed, and the left knee is definitely a whole different ball of wax than the right, even just when I stretch my legs (which I do one at a time, sitting on the floor, grabbing my toes and bringing my head to my knee). I believe this has to do with pivots and stretches at the sacrum. Here’s my guide, lately:

The pose of the goddess on the right interests me. I find a similar posture but with the left foot over the right thigh helpful when I am between sitting intervals in the lotus; it uncorks something, and after I watched a Tibetan lama deliver a lecture for an hour in the same pose, I have to believe it’s also good for meditation. My assumption is that the djed pillar represents the relationship between the mechanisms of the cranial-sacral respiration and the hypnogogic occurrence of consciousness, and in particular the base of the djed represents the sacrum and the ligamentous attachments of the sacrum to the pelvis. The goddesses are the embodiment of the first line of Fuxi’s poem, from 5th century China:

An empty hand grasps the hoe handle
Walking along, I ride the ox
The ox crosses the wooden bridge
The bridge is flowing, the water is still.

(“Zen’s Chinese Heritage”, Andy Ferguson, pg 2, ©2000 Andrew Ferguson)

And here’s the practice I describe in The Mudra of Zen:

“Given the rotation of the pelvis and the stretch of the paired (ilio-lumbar) ligaments in inhalation and exhalation, the placement of the little fingers against the lower abdomen in the posture of Zen provides a direct sense of the geometry of support for the lower spine initiated through reciprocal innervation.

In particular, the placement of the fingers on the centerline of the abdomen provides a sense of the ligaments of the vertical muscles from the pubic bones upward; if the little fingers leave the abdomen, awareness of the forward and backward motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the little fingers to the abdomen.

Similarly, the placement of the little fingers provides a sense of the ligaments of horizontal muscles from the lower back around the sides of the abdomen; if the elbows lose their angle from the body, awareness of the side-to-side motion wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can restore the angle.

Likewise, the placement of the little fingers against the abdomen provides a sense of the ligaments of diagonal muscles up from the wings of the pelvis; if the shoulders lose their roundedness, awareness of the turn left and right wherever consciousness takes place and relaxation of the activity of the body in awareness can help restore the round to the shoulders.”

When I wrote Translations of Motion in the Lotus, I noted that the reciprocal innervation between the extensors and the psoas muscles is engaged as the translations of motion culminate in the movement of the skull bones, affecting the cranial-sacral rhythm. I now conclude that the movement of the skull bones also affects the pineal gland and the production of melatonin, perhaps making the hypnogogic state more fluidly accessible with the attendant freedom of movement of the sense of location.

That sense of location opens feeling, and somebody with a lot of feeling drew those baboons ascending the hills with their palms in the air!