at the lathe or the spinney work makes the unknown the half conscious, our own yet we know not we know only form and function within a soft humility or a nagging compunction yet beyond the urge truth may emerge shining, unspoken and blow the heart wide open there is winter through the window the sky is grey-blue over the silent snow and the dawn is as endless as the night together a little whimsy would lift the melancholy into a fuller heart but afraid of the cold and the dark the dragging dark they break into a positive stride and step straight over the sweetest of pathos “I can teach you to be real if you are willing to feel.” He said. So many people I meet associate spirituality with supernatural experiences or beliefs of some kind or another. Many are then either dismissive or afraid. On the other hand they can think they know nothing if they have not had such an experience, or try to manufacture such experiences in one way or another. Some people go to dangerous extremes to try to find something, others just try to make something special out of the ordinary experiences they have.
Spirituality is not about getting a special experience its about giving. When you give freely from the heart then the heart opens and you will be open to true spiritual experience. I have been lucky. My grandmother and great-aunt were both very devoted religious people and they were just impossibly kind and patient. So this is the image I have always had of what the spiritual life is all about and I began my spiritual life with the right attitude. Now I also understand that supernatural experiences can come around very naturally to someone who leads a very pure life, but because these experiences are so natural there is no fear or confusion. I offer this for your reflection Ajahn Kalyāno http://www.openthesky.co.uk To see spiritual life as something different to or apart from the mundane is to separate ourselves off from life – into our inner world. Developing our inner life can indeed be fruitful in many ways, it can be a source of great pleasure, and yet we will need to return to find the meeting point between this inner world and the outer in order to develop real wisdom and find true liberation. This meeting point is the body and we develop wisdom as we embody our spirituality.
First of all let us look for a more mundane sense for how embodiment might be. If we intellectually accept the view of an embodied mind we can wonder how the body is the centre of all our experience if often we are not aware of it – it would be counter-intuitive. We could describe this process intellectually like this: “the phenomenology of the lived body is able to overcome dualistic concepts of the mind as an inner realm of representations that mirror the outside world. Instead, by the mediation of the lived body the individual is in constant relationship to the world.” (Embodiment and psychopathology: a phenomenological perspective Thomas Fuchs and Jann E. Schlimme.) However we can overcome the dualistic concepts ultimately only by overcoming the dualistic experience. This is possible. Then to articulate the new experience is to give words to such a sanity. Body awareness keeps us within the world. In addition to so recognise our place in the world we need to recognise the nature of our minds. There is still a dualism in the sense that the mind is dependently originated. The concepts and experience of embodiment recognise the dependence of mental on physical and look for sanity by aligning our experience accordingly. What is missed, and what is an enduring source of dualism is that the mind does have a limited life of its own. This inner life can be functional or dysfunctional. If it remains in contact with reality it is functional. If it drifts away from reality it is dysfunctional. So instead of this inner life being like a mirror to the outside world it needs to be placed back outside where it belongs. This is actually the natural result of forming a coherent body image – it flushes the content of the mind out of the body in our subjective experience, to leave a blissful empty mind within the body, this emptiness extends beyond the body so now we experience the body in the larger, empty mind. If the body image then remains we have the full picture, the nature of this image is then seen to determine the nature of our field of awareness and hence the nature of all the objects within it. Through using the body to open up a field of awareness that connects us with the world, we discover a way of seeing not just the objects within our minds but the nature of the mind itself as the space in which all objects of mind arise and cease. Our first experiences of the mind itself will not be one of space. It will be to see the movements of our thoughts and feelings, their place in the field. We will clearly see when our minds are effected by greed or aversion, something that we will realise is not clear when we get drawn into the objects themselves. Then it is not just a matter of being aware of our greed but letting go of it by re-examining the object. This is through examination and a relaxing, calming and subsequent opening of the mind around an object. This is then difficult also because when the mind encounters space it is so pleasant the mind gets entranced by that. We begin to calm and open our attention only to get stuck on the calm and cease really paying attention. Then there is a need to ground ourselves at least. Yet, better than this, if there is wisdom we discover that our attention to an object becomes a source of space because it leads to letting go. This is where everything comes together, where the bliss of samādhi and the sense world come together. I offer this for your reflection. Ajahn Kalyāno http://www.openthesky.co.uk the harmlessness of the true beggar is bought at all cost his kingdom, never claimed, can never be lost just as the humble meet the ground with their humble feet they shall inherit and the true beggar will toil and ask for no return as the heart that freely gives truly lives the true beggar shall receive only alms and their heart shall shine through everything and everywhere as it calms and they shall be no stranger to the world ownership was never belonging and does not belong in the heart of the true beggar We think we can avoid suffering by being positive about everything but the reality is that everything we are being positive about is impermanent. We have to run around always looking for new things. This is what most of us take life to be all about.
We pre-occupy ourselves searching for pleasant feeling or avoiding unpleasant feeling. Most of our mind, our personal truth, becomes concerned with that. What we do not realise is that the most pleasant feelings we can find, the highest happiness, lies in the discovery of the deepest truths of life. If we realise this then our search for pleasure can become a search for truth, universal truth. And what is this search like? We are not the owners of truth nor the master of truth although we may wish to think so and the truths of our own creation will never match the universal truths. Part of the work of seeing the truth is to relinquish our ambition, our sense of ownership, our sense of self or ego. It is a humble person who realises such truth. And the deepest truth is not hidden but right in front of the eyes of anyone who can see it. While the mind searches for pleasure in the world it will never see the truth because that truth is the truth of suffering. Suffering is over-looked in the search for pleasure and has to come up from below as ‘all that stuff coming up’ all those bothersome feelings that meditators and therapists alike are trying to get rid of. When the mind, even momentarily, ceases looking for pleasure and simply, calmly observes without judgement of any kind then suffering will be seen. Then we will realise that if the mind is peaceful it can see suffering without feeling that suffering – experiencing only compassion. Furthermore, if we can see the suffering and let go then all suffering ceases – there is no less love, we experience an unimaginable bliss and we realise that, on a deeper level, all our suffering was caused by us holding on. After we have let go like this we see that it is craving that makes us grasp and suffer all over again and we will be committed to letting go of craving for good by dedicating ourselves to a spiritual path. I offer this for your reflection, Ajahn Kalyāno https://www.openthesky.co.uk/ the romantic joins the word and the world groping and hoping for the perfect match and love needs no words the mystic sees his chance he is happy to be hopeless and dance himself free gazing down at the empty playground... the poet that delights in the word and in the world binds the heart to delight merely in the word is to become lost inside and torn apart only what is simple and real is calm to the feel and opens the heart then peace is in the question and listening is the art and listening, glistening may gather the children of the heart to the empty playground --------------------------------------------- This is part one of a series of two articles on Ch'i Kung. 1. Buddhist Ch'i Kung - The practical side 2. Stillness in Movement - The meditative side --------------------------------------------- Introduction The Taoists believe that ch'i is the ultimate energy from which the entire universe and the essence of all life is derived – beyond the limits of time and space. The stronger the flow of ch'i, the stronger the life energy. This ch'i is something that is experienced in the body as warmth or inner light, the latter being the stronger. There is a clear relationship in such experience between ch'i and space. They seem to appear together in the mind, a sense of space has a certain energy about it. The Chinese believe that because there is ch'i so there is space, space is formed by and subsequently filled by ch'i. A Buddhist view of the same phenomena would be that because there is space (in the mind) there is ch'i. In Buddhist understanding this kind of energy is related to samādhi, emptiness of mind. It is a mental rather than a physical phenomena, or at least it is related to thought and feeling. (Although the Buddhist view of the mind is that it is far greater than just these.) Emptiness, as the absence of negative emotion, is already a healing force. This is important because we then realise that our state of mind is a crucial factor in the generation of or protection of ch'i and we see the value of keeping moral precepts to protect our minds. My understanding of an example from history of the result of the dialogue that ensued between these two views is that a 'mind only' school of Taoist philosophy was born that acknowledged the Buddhist view. (For my take on this 'mind only' view and its connection with the Buddha's teaching see my accompanying article 'The Creation'), but if you are intent on the practice, as you should be if you are starting out, please continue and come back to the metaphysics when your practice shows results that you need to integrate into your world view. Stances The static stances in Ch'i Kung are our chance to connect with the stillness of the space element. Holding a ball of awareness in front of us, contained within the arms is where we first become aware of an awareness outside of the body – a brightness to the space. Static stances are also a way of enhancing our awareness of movement. We hold a position until the strength muscles of the body fatigue out and the postural muscles take over. These deeper muscles have a much more refined control over or limbs than the strength muscles. In particular they control the fine rotational movements at the joints. These rotational patterns of movement furthermore work to enhance our three dimensional image of the body in space, aiding the formation of a picture of the body in the mind. We also find we can move in a much more relaxed way in which tension is not induced. There is a sense of effort when we move with the strength muscles, but there is no such sense when the postural muscles are working. Hence it is possible to keep the body upright with absolutely no sense of effort whatsoever, as though our limbs are floating. Balance and posture Normal movement is usually also controlled outside our conscious control. An intention is set to move and the body is directed at its goal. The goal is the conscious aspect and our sense for the body is merely background and feedback as to progress. So the conscious control of movement is unusual. Even people with refined bodily skills can lack body awareness. This is developed far more in movement where there is no goal in mind – slow, relaxed movement. Attention is directed towards the body using the hands. When the hand passes over certain parts of the body there can be a sense of recognition, a feeling that tells us that the hand is there, stronger when the hand is close, weaker when it is further away. Then, as we move we can keep that feeling of connection between the hand and that point. We can ask ourselves, 'how does my body know where my hand is'. The most important points are the point just below the navel and the point in the middle of the chest. These are the centre of gravity of the whole body – standing; and the upper part of the body – sitting, respectively. As we become more aware of these points as we move, then we become aware of gravity and have an enhanced sense of balance and posture – and an enhanced proprioceptive sense. It is hard to describe the sense of the body in space; we just know where our limbs are. Actually we do have little receptors in our joints that tell our minds the exact angle at each joint. So this proprioceptive sense is not through a conscious sensation but comes to us in another way which is independent of physical sensations. This makes it an integral part of our body image. There is a connection here also with awareness of the breathing process. Similar receptors tell us of the movements of our chest and therefore the size of the breath we take. In the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness of breathing, the word used to know whether we take a long or short breath (pajānāti) is a word usually reserved for the knowing of high realisation, not of such mundane affairs. I believe the use of this word is to indicate the importance of this knowing for realisation – that knowing the body in this way is knowing the Dhamma, the Dhamma is the body, or more precisely the body image formed through mindfulness. The body image arises in the mind when the effort is not too tight or too loose. Our awareness needs to be relaxed and open yet held to stay with its object. Then we find a part of the body to focus on in more detail. When one part reveals itself in detail then the rest will tend to come. So there is no need to try to imagine the whole body. In fact imagination is not necessary at all. An image will arise naturally in time. (Moreover, unless samādhi is highly developed, the body image will be just a mental image of the surface of the body. This is fine however.) Fully developed mindfulness of the body As we develop a sense of the weight of the body or its 'earth element' we discover the interesting fact that this sense of weight varies – as we become aware of the space element the weight lightens and can even disappear altogether. We feel extraordinarily light. Now we begin to see how subjective our experience of the body is, we are shifting the objective physical impression of it. Gradually this new impression becomes an image in the mind. Instead of sensing our mind in our body we have made a shift to experiencing the body in the open, calm mind. In the Buddha's teaching the theory is that mindfulness of the body, a full realistic body image comes around through the awareness of posture, movement and elements. Modern cognitive psychology shows us that such a body image is different, a more discrete image than that formed by sensations. So in the mind these two representations of the body are separate and can be experienced separately at different times. What is perhaps surprising is that experience of the neutral image is far more pleasant than the felt experience. The image effects our feelings radically, cooling them down. This is also surprisingly pleasant and we can begin to lose our taste for the more intense feelings of sensuality. Hence these exercises take us naturally in a spiritual direction. The breath and movement of ch'i The pattern of the movement of ch'i is the pattern in which the space element is revealed through mindfulness of breathing, the space being the stillness through which the air is moving. We will only see or sense this pattern going in a particular direction, not another. It is in the reverse direction to the pattern of the feeling of the breath itself. This is something we open up to – it is not a matter of creating this with the imagination. We can be deceived by the imagination. In the Chinese practice, initially the mind leads the energy but through repetition then the energy leads. But it is merely that the memory starts to lead and the mind in the present follows to reinforce that memory. This creates the illusion of something real that we follow. This is a fake. At best we can be looking for something that others have seen in their body through deep meditation and if we don't find it we are creating what we do not find. This is akin to superstition and imagination replacing genuine psychic ability. We can also see in our experience that the emptiness of the mind can be extended beyond the body. We can see the brightness of mind move out from the body as we direct it there. We can leave this as a mystery for now and come back to explain this later. This emptiness can therefore potentially resolve problems in others. So, if we are looking for magic it lies in this emptiness. This magic is a separate reality from that of the things of nature, just as space is separate from form, so it does not confuse things – and magic and science can go together, they do not contradict each other. The practice of samādhi empties the mind and fully accesses this magic. I offer this for your reflection, Ajahn Kalyāno http://www.openthesky.co.uk/ --------------------------------------------- This is part one of a series of two articles on Ch'i Kung. 1. Buddhist Ch'i Kung - The practical side 2. Stillness in Movement - The meditative side --------------------------------------------- ![]() --------------------------------------------- This is part two of a series of two articles on Ch'i Kung. 1. Buddhist Ch'i Kung - The practical side 2. Stillness in Movement - The meditative side --------------------------------------------- What you are currently reading is a simplified adaption of the introduction to Ajahn Kalyāno’s forthcoming book Realistic Virtue. The essence of it is the influence mindfulness established on the body exercises on our relationship with our thoughts and feelings. *** It is possible through meditation to unify our experience of life, of our mind and body and the world we live in completely within an open awareness, a sense of space. Within this space it is then possible for the different elements of our experience, the body, thoughts and feelings to find their natural place and dynamic: The essence of the mind can step back and find its centre in the body, thus we find a safe refuge. The content of our minds, thoughts and emotions appear in front of the body becoming a clear medium through which we experience the world. Physical feeling and mental or emotional feeling thus separate. We see movement within the stillness of space and we can stay with the space. Our inner world, which we realise was a product of our relation to the outer world, goes back to its source leaving the inner mind empty and bright. We do not identify with any particular part of the experience. Our experience becomes simply one of open ‘awareness’ in which all phenomena, real objects and also mind-made objects, thought and feelings, come together and yet are not confused with each other. We see the movements of our minds within this space, as well as the content. Let us represent this space, this field of information, like this, mapping it onto our subjective experience. As we centre the mind within the body we look out at the world through the window of our thoughts and their formative perceptions that are the central axis of the mind. We thus also see clearly and separately what we are projecting on to the world and what information comes back to us – the cause and effect of our mental activity. This can become a conscious process as we place our states of mind back into or onto the world of their origin. Then, very simply, we can be honestly asking: “What is it I am averse to here?” “What is it I am attracted to?” From a place of spiritual refuge our minds can take a fresh look. We can end up reviewing the priorities of our lives and at the same time see how and where to follow these priorities – a clear experience of body and mind taking us to a clear present-moment view of the world we live in and our relationship to it. We have a clear, broad, open and unified awareness of life. Finally to put all this in its ultimate perspective the highest spirituality lies in relinquishing ourselves rather than in self development. It is the happiness of the altruist. It is also the happiness of the wise who, seeing clearly, are freed from their attachment to the impermanent, conditioned world including this illusion we call ourselves. Ultimately this path goes beyond all kinds of being to the realisation of a state of pure truth or knowing. So the true path lies not in a refinement of being (not even in being energy rather than matter) but in a refinement of knowing and seeing which covers all aspects of our experience. The refinement of our minds through meditation is aimed at this. I offer this for your reflection, Ajahn Kalyāno https://www.openthesky.co.uk ------------------------------
For an example of my personal experience of the practice of stillness in movement as Chi Kung, please see pages 14-15 of the book Virtue and Reality. --------------------------------------------- This is part two of a series of two articles on Ch'i Kung. 1. Buddhist Ch'i Kung - The practical side 2. Stillness in Movement - The meditative side --------------------------------------------- |
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