Quote:
Originally Posted by Jundo
...Josho Phelan writes ...
Quote:
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/posture.htm
It is common for one's legs to fall asleep during zazen, but they should wake up in five or six seconds after they are uncrossed. If they remain numb for more than a few seconds, you are probably putting too much pressure on a nerve in your leg, and sitting closer to the edge of the cushion may relieve the pressure.
I had this problem last night! It was funny trying to walk back and forth to the kitchen with numb legs... then they tingled terribly!
Quote:
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/posture.htm
Experiment and see how different heights affect the relationship of your lower back to your upper back.
Another thing that has distracted me is the sense that no matter how straight I sit, this relationship in my back seems to feel like it is strained. It's not painful, but it feels like I'm holding tension somewhere.
Quote:
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/posture.htm
For most of us, the back should be upright with a sense of lengthening and extending the spine through the back and neck up through the top of your head, and the top of the head should be parallel to the ceiling, or, if you like, parallel to the sky. Sometimes people find it helpful to imagine or visualize a string coming down from the ceiling that attaches to the top of the back of their head like a puppet, which allows their shoulders and back muscles to relax and hang down from their spine. The point isn't to get the back into a well-aligned position and then go on to forget about it.
I feel like I am doing this, and I wonder if the tension in my lower back is just my back getting used to more prolonged zazen?
Quote:
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/posture.htm
...Dogen Zenji, said, "if one's body is straight, one's mind is easily straightened too. If one sits keeping one's body upright, one's mind does not become dull....One must be aware when one's mind runs around in distraction, or when one's body leans or sways, and allow body and mind to return to sitting upright." We can practice mindfulness of our posture, or back, both in zazen and in daily activity.
This is the stuff I usually end up practicing most... I'm not, of course, in complete control... but it is something that I am remembering to come back to more often... In fact it kind of drives me crazy. I sometimes get annoyed at how often I have to adjust my posture--for example, right now-- and sometimes I just stop doing it out of some need for rebellion... but then, you know, I straighten up again...
Quote:
http://www.intrex.net/chzg/posture.htm
...hold your teeth together. You might notice both in zazen and in daily activity the connection between having your teeth apart and your inner dialogue or your chattering mind. When the teeth are held together, the mind tends to stop talking. Even when the lips are together, if the lower jaw is dropped, our mouth, that place of talking, can easily start to move and generate mind chatter. So try to notice throughout the day: are your teeth together or not and what is your mind doing?
Great advice, but I've read opposing views on this... dropping tension wherever one can vs. maintaining a "middle way" tension to keep a relaxed focus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jundo
...if "other worldly" states or unusual experiences come ... let them come, but we usually just sit with the fantastic, wondrous miracle which is this ordinary world.
I read about a priest who would always say something along the lines of "go sit" whenever one of his students talked avidly of visions or miracles. "Just see it and move on. It's all the same to me..." Something like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jundo
For that reason ... do not flee or seek for unusual or "3-D" or colorful ways of seeing, strange optical effects, psychodelic visions or the like. I would tend to keep the eyes open, and rather focused and clear ... even if just staring at the bare wall.
I don't often go for it. It only happens once every three or four times. When it happens I just kind of go with it if my posture does not need to be adjusted. After reading these articles, I might readjust my vision next time this happens.