{"id":2130,"date":"2023-05-16T14:23:47","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T21:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2024-05-05T17:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T00:21:03","slug":"a-way-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/?p=2130","title":{"rendered":"A Way of Living"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Gautama\u2019s teaching revolved around action, around one specific kind of action:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026I say that determinate thought is action. When one determines, one acts by deed, word, or thought. <\/span><\/p>\n

(AN III 415, Pali Text Society Vol III p 294)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen one determines\u201d\u2014when a person exercises volition, or choice, action of \u201cdeed, word, or thought\u201d follows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama also spoke of \u201cthe activities\u201d.\u00a0 The activities are the actions that take place as a consequence of the exercise of volition:<\/span><\/p>\n

And what are the activities?\u00a0 These are the three activities:–those of deed, speech and mind.\u00a0 These are activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

(SN II 3, Pali Text Society vol II p 4)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama claimed that a ceasing of \u201caction\u201d is possible:<\/span><\/p>\n

And what\u2026 is the ceasing of action? That ceasing of action by body, speech, and mind, by which one contacts freedom,\u2013that is called \u2018the ceasing of action\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

(SN IV 145, Pali Text Society Vol IV p 85)<\/span><\/p>\n

He spoke in detail about how \u201cthe activities\u201d come to cease:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026I have seen that the ceasing of the activities is gradual. When one has attained the first trance, speech has ceased. When one has attained the second trance, thought initial and sustained has ceased. When one has attained the third trance, zest has ceased. When one has attained the fourth trance, inbreathing and outbreathing have ceased\u2026 Both perception and feeling have ceased when one has attained the cessation of perception and feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

(SN IV 217, Pali Text Society vol IV p 146)<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cactivity\u201d of speech ceases in the first trance\u2014that would imply that the \u201cword\u201d occasioned by \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d has ceased. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama spoke of the \u201cactivity\u201d of deed, but when he spoke of the ceasing of the activities, he spoke of the ceasing of \u201cinbreathing and outbreathing\u201d. \u00a0Even when \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d is not directly involved in the movement of the diaphragm, actions in the body that are occasioned by \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d affect the movement of breath, and can leave a residue of habit that further affects the movement of breath.\u00a0 If \u201cactivity\u201d in inbreathing and outbreathing has really ceased, then the \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d that gives rise to \u201cactivity\u201d in the body of any kind must likewise have ceased.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing\u201d is not an actual stoppage of breath. Gautama only spoke about the stoppage of breath once, in a description of the practices he undertook as an ascetic:<\/span><\/p>\n

So I, Aggivessana, stopped breathing in and breathing out through the mouth and through the nose and through the ears.\u00a0 When I, Aggivessana, had stopped breathing in and breathing out through the mouth and through the nose and through the ears, I came to have very bad headaches\u2026 very strong winds cut through my stomach\u2026 there came a fierce heat in my body.\u00a0 Although, Aggivessana, unsluggish energy came to be stirred up in me, unmuddled mindfulness set up, yet my body was turbulent, not calmed, because I was harassed in striving by striving against that very pain.\u00a0 But yet, Aggivesana, that painful feeling, arising in me, persisted without impinging on my mind\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

(MN I 244-245, Pali Text Society vol I p 298-299)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Stopping the breath in and the breath out did not satisfy Gautama\u2019s quest to \u201cbring to a close the (holy)-faring\u201d.\u00a0 Only after he had abandoned such ascetic practices did he enter the states of concentration, and attain the state that caused him to say, \u201cdone is what was to be done\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Just as he pointed to the \u201cactivity\u201d of inhalation and exhalation instead of the \u201cactivity\u201d of deed, Gautama pointed to the \u201cactivity\u201d of perception and feeling instead of the \u201cactivity\u201d of mind. \u00a0Apparently in Gautama\u2019s experience, when the \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d that gives rise to perception and feeling has ceased, the \u201cdeterminate thought\u201d that gives rise to \u201cactivity\u201d in the mind of any kind can also be said to have ceased.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama said that after he lectured, he returned to concentrating his mind:<\/span><\/p>\n

And I\u2026 at the close of (instructional discourse), steady, calm, make one-pointed and concentrate my mind subjectively in that first characteristic of concentration in which I ever constantly abide.<\/span><\/p>\n

(MN I 249, Pali Text Society vol I p 303)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat first characteristic of concentration\u201d is \u201cone-pointedness of mind\u201d, as here in Gautama\u2019s description of \u201cright concentration\u201d (\u201cright concentration\u201d, part of \u201cthe eight-fold path\u201d that leads to the end of suffering):<\/span><\/p>\n

And what\u2026 is the (noble) right concentration with the causal associations, with the accompaniments?\u00a0 It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right mode of livelihood, right endeavor, right mindfulness.\u00a0 Whatever one-pointedness of mind is accompanied by these seven components , this\u2026 is called the (noble) right concentration with the causal associations and the accompaniments.<\/span><\/p>\n

(MN III 71, Pali Text Society vol III p 114; similar at SN V 17; \u201cnoble\u201d substituted for Ariyan)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama spoke of laying hold of \u201cone-pointedness\u201d in the induction of the first \u201ctrance\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

Herein\u2026 the (noble) disciple, making self-surrender the object of (their) thought, lays hold of concentration, lays hold of one-pointedness.\u00a0 (The disciple), aloof from sensuality, aloof from evil conditions, enters on the first trance, which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained, which is born of solitude, easeful and zestful, and abides therein.<\/span><\/p>\n

(SN v 198, Pali Text Society vol V p 174; \u201cnoble\u201d substituted for Ariyan)<\/span><\/p>\n

I have described the experience of \u201cone-pointedness of mind\u201d as something that can occur in the movement of breath:<\/span><\/p>\n

The presence of mind can utilize the location of attention to maintain the balance of the body and coordinate activity in the movement of breath, without a particularly conscious effort to do so. There can also come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Common Ground<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

In my experience, the \u201cplacement of attention\u201d by the movement of breath only occurs freely in what Gautama described as \u201cthe fourth musing\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, a (person), putting away ease\u2026 enters and abides in the fourth musing; seated, (one) suffuses (one\u2019s) body with purity by the pureness of (one\u2019s) mind so that there is not one particle of the body that is not pervaded with purity by the pureness of (one\u2019s) mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

(AN III 25-28, Pali Text Society Vol. III p 18-19, see also MN III 92-93)<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cpureness of mind\u201d refers to the absence of any intention to act. Suffusing the body with \u201cpurity by the pureness of (one\u2019s) mind\u201d is widening awareness so that there is \u201cnot one particle of the body\u201d that cannot become the location where attention is placed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I would say that the placement of attention by the movement of breath is actually a common experience for everyone, if at no other time, then in falling asleep.\u00a0 That begs the question:\u00a0 why teach something that is already a common experience?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fundamentally speaking, the basis of the way is perfectly pervasive; how could it be contingent on practice and verification?\u00a0 The vehicle of the ancestors is naturally unrestricted; why should we expend sustained effort? Surely the whole being is far beyond defilement; who could believe in a method to polish it? Never is it apart from this very place; what is the use of a pilgrimage to practice it?<\/span><\/p>\n

(Eihei Dogen, \u201cKoroku Kukan zazen gi\u201d, tr Carl Bielefeldt, \u201cDogen\u2019s Manuals of Zen Meditation\u201d UC Press 1988 p 175)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dogen\u2019s questions are rhetorical, but I nevertheless believe they have an answer:\u00a0 there\u2019s a particular frailty of the human body that can require practice to overcome, at least for some people. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moshe Feldenkrais described the reason that many people hold their breath for an instant when getting up out of a chair:<\/span><\/p>\n

The tendency to hold one\u2019s breath is instinctive, part of an attempt to prevent the establishment of shearing stresses or forces likely to shift the vertebrae horizontally, out of the vertical alignment of the spinal column that they constitute.<\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cAwareness Through Movement\u201d, Moshe Feldenkrais, p 83)<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding one\u2019s breath retains pressure in the abdomen.\u00a0 Medical researcher D. L. Bartilink remarked on the utility of a \u201ctensed somatic cavity\u201d in support of the spine:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Animals undoubtedly make an extensive use of the protection of their spines by the tensed somatic cavity, and probably also use it as a support upon which muscles of posture find a hold\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cThe Role of Abdominal Pressure in Relieving the Pressure on the Lumbar Intervertebral Discs\u201d, J Bone Joint Surg Br 1957 Nov;39-B(4):718-25. doi: 10.1302\/0301-620X.39B4.718. 1957)<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Bartilink noted that pressure in the abdominal cavity need not restrict the diaphragm:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 Breathing can go on even when the abdomen is used as a support and cannot be relaxed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(ibid)<\/span><\/p>\n

Feldenkrais suggested a practice to overcome the tendency to hold the breath, a series of preparatory movements to be done on a chair before standing.\u00a0 First, he said, move the upper body forward and backward, then from side to side, and finally \u201cin such a way that the top of the head marks a circle, the head being supported on the spine as on a rod.\u201d\u00a0 According to Feldenkrais, the relaxed awareness initiated by these exercises can allow a change in the center of gravity to initiate \u201cautomatic movement\u201d in the legs:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026When the center of gravity has really moved forward over the feet a reflex movement will originate in the old nervous system and straighten the legs; this automatic movement will not be felt as an effort at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cAwareness Through Movement\u201d, Moshe Feldenkrais, p 76, 78)<\/span><\/p>\n

Feldenkrais emphasized that in a good posture, \u201cthere must be no muscular effort deriving from voluntary control\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026good upright posture is that from which a minimum muscular effort will move the body with equal ease in any desired direction. This means that in the upright position there must be no muscular effort deriving from voluntary control, regardless of whether this effort is known and deliberate or concealed from the consciousness by habit.<\/span><\/p>\n

(ibid)<\/span><\/p>\n

Feldenkrais spoke about shifting \u201cthe center of gravity\u201d.\u00a0 In his \u201cIntroduction to Zen Training\u201d, Rinzai master Omori Sogen offered a quote from Hida Haramitsu, who spoke of shifting \u2018the center of the body\u2019s weight\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

We should balance the power of the hara (area below the navel) and the koshi (area at the rear of the pelvis) and maintain equilibrium of the seated body by bringing the center of the body\u2019s weight in line with the center of the triangular base of the seated body.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Hida Haramitsu, \u201cNikon no Shimei\u201d [\u201cMission of Japan\u201d], parentheticals added)<\/span><\/p>\n

Feldenkrais described how shifting the center of gravity over the feet can generate an \u201cautomatic movement\u201d in the legs.\u00a0 Haramitsu spoke of shifting \u201cthe center of the body\u2019s weight in line with the center of the triangular base of the seated body\u201d, and I believe that such a shift can set up \u201cautomatic\u201d activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feldenkrais described the origin of the automatic movement in the legs as \u201cthe old nervous system\u201d.\u00a0 While the movement may indeed be coordinated by the autonomic nervous system, I suspect the activity is initiated through the stretch of ligaments.\u00a0 Feldenkrais\u2019s exercises allow for the relaxation of the muscles of the lower body, so that the weight of the upper body can rest on particular ligaments.\u00a0 I believe that when the stretch in those ligaments is sufficient, they can initiate the activity of standing.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I would say that the relaxed awareness of the balance of the body that Haramitsu described similarly allows the weight of the body to come to bear on particular ligaments, and the shift in the weight of the body that he prescribed initiates activity to relieve shearing stress on the spine in inhalation and exhalation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The classic literature of Tai Chi appears to identify the ligaments of the body as a source of activity. \u00a0The literature describes three levels in the development of \u201cch\u2019i\u201d, a word that literally translates as \u201cbreath\u201d but in practice is taken to refer to a fundamental energy of the body, and each of the three levels has three stages. <\/span><\/p>\n

The stages of the first level are:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 relaxing the ligaments from the shoulder to the wrist\u201d; \u201cfrom the hip joint to the heel\u201d; \u201cfrom the sacrum to the headtop\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cThree Levels\u201d from \u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on Ta\u2019i Chi Chuan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78)<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike the contraction and relaxation of muscles, the stretch and resile of ligaments can\u2019t be voluntarily controlled.\u00a0 The muscles across the joints can, however, be relaxed in such a way as to allow the natural stretch and resile of ligaments–that would seem to be the meaning of the advice to \u201crelax the ligaments\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The stages of the second level are:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201csinking ch\u2019i to the tan t\u2019ien\u201d (a point below and behind the navel); \u201cthe ch\u2019i reaches the arms and legs\u201d; \u201cthe ch\u2019i moves through the sacrum (wei lu) to the top of the head (ni wan)\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

(ibid)<\/span><\/p>\n

Tai Ch\u2019i master Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing advised that the ch\u2019i will collect at the tan-t\u2019ien until it overflows into the tailbone and transits to the top of the head, but he warned against any attempt to force the flow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Omori Sogen cautioned similarly:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 It may be the least trouble to say as a general precaution that strength should be allowed to come to fullness naturally as one becomes proficient in sitting.\u00a0 We should sit so that our energy increases of itself and brims over instead of putting physical pressure on the lower abdomen by force.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cAn Introduction to Zen Training:\u00a0 A Translation of Sanzen Nyumon\u201d, Omori Sogen, tr. Dogen Hosokawa and Roy Yoshimoto, Tuttle Publishing, p 59)<\/span><\/p>\n

I would posit that the patterns in the development of ch\u2019i reflect involuntary activity of the body generated in the stretch of ligaments. There is, in addition, a possible mechanism of support for the spine from the displacement of the fascia behind the spine, a displacement that can be effected by pressure generated in the abdominal cavity and that may quite possibly depend on a push on the fascia behind the sacrum by the bulk of the extensor muscles, as they contract (see my Kinesthesiology of Fascial Support<\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The final level in the development of ch\u2019i concerns \u201cchin\u201d.\u00a0 According to the classics, \u201cchin comes from the ligaments\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The three stages of the final level are:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201ct\u2019ing chin, listening to or feeling strength\u201d; \u201ccomprehension of chin\u201d; \u201comnipotence\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

(\u201cThree Levels\u201d from \u201cCheng Tzu\u2019s Thirteen Treatises on Ta\u2019i Chi Chuan\u201d, Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Another translator rendered the last stage above as \u201cperfect clarity\u201d (\u201cMaster Cheng\u2019s Thirteen Chapters on T\u2019ai-Chi Ch\u2019uan\u201d, Douglas Wile, p 57). In my estimation, \u201cperfect clarity\u201d is \u201cthe pureness of (one\u2019s) mind\u201d that Gautama associated with \u201cthe cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing\u201d in the fourth concentration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tai Chi classics emphasize relaxation. For me, calm is also required with regard to the stretch of ligaments, if \u201cautomatic movement\u201d is to be realized.\u00a0 The stretch of a ligament prior to strain is small (6%), and I would say that automatic movement is only initiated at the edge of the range.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cheng Man Ch\u2019ing mentioned a Chinese description of seated meditation, \u201cstraighten the chest and sit precariously\u201d (ibid p 21)–I think that also speaks to the necessity of calm.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my experience, \u201cautomatic\u201d activity in the movement of breath can at times depend on the relaxation of particular muscle groups and the exercise of calm with regard to the stretch of particular ligaments. \u00a0I believe that a pattern in the circulation of \u201cautomatic\u201d activity can develop, especially when a bent-knee posture or carriage is maintained over a period of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAutomatic\u201d activity in the movement of breath also follows as one \u201clays hold of one-pointedness\u201d, but in order to \u201clay hold\u201d, carriage of the weight of the body must fall to the ligaments and volitive activity in the body must be relinquished.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Body and mind dropped off is the beginning of our effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Eihei Dogen, \u201cDogen\u2019s Extensive Record, Eihei Koroku, #501, tr Leighton and Okumura p 448)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne-pointedness\u201d can shift, as every particle of the body (with no part left out) comes into the placement of attention.\u00a0 At the moment when \u201cone-pointedness\u201d can shift as though in open space, volition and habit in the activity of inhalation and exhalation ceases.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama taught the practice of a common experience, perhaps because the ability to return to such experience, although seemingly necessary for optimal health for many, is not common.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a way of living, Gautama recommended thought applied and sustained to the relaxation of the body, to the calming of \u201cthe mental factors\u201d, to the detachment of the mind, and to the contemplation of \u201ccessation\u201d, with each particular of thought to be applied or sustained in the course of an inhalation or exhalation.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about my approach:<\/span><\/p>\n

I begin with making the surrender of volition in activity related to the movement of breath the object of thought.\u00a0 For me, that necessitates thought applied and sustained with regard to relaxation of the activity of the body, with regard to the exercise of calm in the stretch of ligaments, with regard to the detachment of mind, and with regard to the presence of mind.\u00a0 I find that a presence of mind from one breath to the next can precipitate \u201cone-pointedness of mind\u201d, but laying hold of \u201cone-pointedness of mind\u201d requires a surrender of willful activity in the body much like falling asleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Response to \u201cNot the Wind, Not the Flag\u201d<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gautama said that the mindfulness he recommended was his way of living, when he was \u201cas yet the bodhisattva\u201d (before his enlightenment).\u00a0 He identified the same mindfulness as \u201cthe Tathagatha\u2019s way of living\u201d (his way of living after enlightenment).\u00a0 Such a mindfulness was, he said, something \u201cpeaceful and choice, something perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living too\u201d (Sanyutta Nikaya V Pali Text Society p 285)*.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people in the Buddhist community take enlightenment to be the goal of Buddhist practice.\u00a0 I would say that when a person consciously experiences automatic movement in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, finding a way of life that allows for such experience in the natural course of things becomes the more pressing concern.\u00a0 Gautama taught such a way of living, although I don\u2019t believe that such a way of living is unique to Buddhism.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* (see From the Early Record<\/a> for the elements of Gautama\u2019s mindfulness)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gautama\u2019s teaching revolved around action, around one specific kind of action: \u2026I say that determinate thought is action. When one determines, one acts by deed, word, or thought. (AN III 415, Pali Text Society Vol III p 294) \u201cWhen one determines\u201d\u2014when a person exercises volition, or choice, action of \u201cdeed, word, or thought\u201d follows. Gautama … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Way of Living”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2288,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions\/2288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenmudra.com\/zazen-notes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}