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Thread: Sat without pain, stretches for hips

  1. #1

    Sat without pain, stretches for hips

    Hi,

    I sat without pain today, except for when it was over and I had to get up

    There's a thread here with good stretches https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?11499


    ... and another one on YouTube focusing extensively on hips (my biggest problem):



    ,
    Kevin
    #sat #today

  2. #2
    Hi

    I have opinion!

    Sometimes I sit with pain,sometimes I sit without pain.



    Please show this video Master Miyazaki who was Head monk at our 1st temple Eiheiji.
    He was 104 years old at that time.

    I sat 10days Sesshin ,from2AM to 9PM.

    I feel pain and without pain.

    Everything is good! Smile!

    Peace! We can feel peace when we sit.

    Anyway I start sitting from here.

    Nine bows
    Kakunen

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Kakunen View Post
    Hi

    I have opinion!

    Sometimes I sit with pain,sometimes I sit without pain.



    Please show this video Master Miyazaki who was Head monk at our 1st temple Eiheiji.
    He was 104 years old at that time.

    I sat 10days Sesshin ,from2AM to 9PM.

    I feel pain and without pain.

    Everything is good! Smile!

    Peace! We can feel peace when we sit.

    Anyway I start sitting from here.

    Nine bows
    Kakunen
    I will try to do a little translation of some of this in the coming days.

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  4. #4
    These are all very basic, beginner-friendly hip stretches that I would add to any of my introductory yoga classes, and they focus primarily on external rotation of the hips, which is the most helpful type of stretch for allowing your knees to get to the floor when sitting Zazen. As a yoga teacher, the only thing I would add to this thread is cautionary. If you are sitting with tight hips, DO NOT try to force yourself to sit in either full lotus of half lotus posture. If you have tight hips and your body is not ready for a lotus position, you may be able to force yourself into the position, but eventually the tightness in your hips will result in a serious knee injury. So, sit Burmese until your hips open, which could take a long, long time given our sedentary culture. Also know that there are anatomical differences in the pelvic structure of men and women, which allows for a great deal more natural hip flexibility in women. So, women wit tight hips will become flexible more quickly than men with tight hips.

    Gassho, Juki
    (sat today)
    "First you have to give up." Tyler Durden

  5. #5
    Thank you for the helpful information Jundo and Juki.

    Gassho
    satToday

    Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Thanks Juki, thanks Kakunen
    Curious about the translation Jundo

    Kevin
    #sattoday


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    This is what I hope to be in 25years

    104.png

    Jundo; very interested in your translation of this video interview. I can catch bits and pieces; probably missing the nuances. It appears to contain some great wisdom. Hope to see your efforts soon.

    gassho, Shokai
    Last edited by Shokai; 01-09-2019 at 11:47 PM.
    合掌,生開
    gassho, Shokai

    仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

    "Open to life in a benevolent way"

    https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

  8. #8
    By the way, Kakunen is in the hospital today with bad vertigo.

    Let us sit and dedicate our activities to him and his feeling better.

    Gassho, Jundo

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  9. #9
    Thank you for letting us know, Jundo. Sitting with him and chanting metta.

    Gassho, sat today, lah
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  10. #10
    An imperfect translation, subject to revision ...

    Showing his daily activity from 3:30am. He has been sitting Zazen since he was 11 years old, for 93 years, not missing a day. He is always sitting before the younger monks.

    Q-What is being thought inside the head and heart during Zazen?

    A- Don’t think about anything. Wild thoughts and judgements of “before and after” are left aside, and just in that moment there is only this one breath and then this one breath. Thinking any more beyond that is just excess.

    Q – When I sit, a bunch of thoughts pop into my head like wildly sprouting weeds …

    A – Human beings are filled with thoughts of fame and social position, striking poses, selfishness. We should not be conquered by desires. That is Zazen.

    Q – By continuing to sit Zazen, we can conquer such things?

    A – We become one with the breath. There is no gap within which desires can arise.

    Zazen is to be going straight. Make the back straight, make the head and muscles straight. Do not lean to left or right. To be straight is to be true, honest, Body and mind are one. If the body is made straight, the heart becomes straight.

    Q – So, that is the posture of Zazen, yes?

    A – Yes. Human beings are always thinking that selfishness is freedom and the like. Proper bearing should become a daily thing.

    NARRATOR – All daily activities are spiritual practice. Cleaning etc. And that includes going back to take care of anything missed.

    A – Dogen Zenji said that everything is Zazen. To become one with that one thing or activity is Zazen. Nothing is left out. Walking is walking Zen, talking is talking Zen. It is sitting but not just sitting. How you take off the slippers is Zazen. Don’t just throw the slippers around. If you treat the slippers badly, you treat yourself badly. You should fix it so it is right. So, with life and with the slippers, put it straight. All shows your heart. If your heart is straight, all things must become straight. It is not really spiritual practice, but really just common sense and the natural thing. There is nothing above it.

    NARRATOR – His mother was living separately, and his father died, so he was placed in a temple at age 11 and began trainng. The temple is in Hyogo Prefecture … They rose each day at 3am for Zazen, He wanted to play, and did not understand his teacher’s always doing Zazen, so the strict life was hard.

    A – I did Zazen from age 11 even though I did not like it. At first, I thought that there should be more than that.

    NARRATOR – Wanting to study, and against his teacher’s wishes, he went to university. He was filled with doubts about the meaning of Zazen. But he was age 29 when his master died, and he returned and he sat through the night with the corpse of his dead teacher, and felt the reverberations of his teacher’s training

    A – When I saw his still warm body I thought he had been a great person. Working with and eating the same food each day as the young monks in training. After all, his daily life was a model. It was not just words, but how he lived. I wanted to become like that. I wanted to copy his example each and every day, for my whole life.

    NARRATOR – He became head of his teacher’s temple. He stopped thinking about the meaning of Zazen, and just sat Zazen.

    Q – Hearing the bird call, I feel that we are always wrapped in nature.

    A – Nature is fantastic. I kept a journal, “On a certain day of a certain month, the flowers bloomed, on a certain date the bugs began to sing.“ Almost nothing varies [year by year], the rules and discipline are proper. That is the Dharma. It is Great Nature that manifests the Dharma. Human beings should live copying the laws of nature. The world of human beings gets all confused by people following their human desires. Great Nature just acts, while being silent in words about truth and principles. It does not think to be praised by someone, it does not think of financial rewards. When the time comes, the flowers just bloom. All just goes on silently, whether there is praise or not. That is just doing, it is a teaching. It is Truth.
    Ekiho Miyazaki was the 79th Abbot of Eiheiji, He died at age 106 in 2008.

    I was fortunate to meet him once.
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-11-2019 at 08:54 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  11. #11
    "When the time comes, the flowers just bloom. All just goes on silently, whether there is praise or not. That is just doing, it is a teaching. It is Truth."

    What a lovely thread,thanks everyone. Thank you Juki for your continued good advice about yoga.
    I'll sit and chant Metta for Kakunen today.
    Gassho
    Meitou
    Satwithyoualltoday lah
    命 Mei - life
    島 Tou - island

  12. #12
    Thank you so much for sharing this translation Jundo.

    I second Meitou regarding these lines
    "When the time comes, the flowers just bloom. All just goes on silently, whether there is praise or not. That is just doing, it is a teaching. It is Truth."
    I think it encapsulates the meaning of Zazen in 4 simple lines.

    Gassho,
    sattoday
    Van



    Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    Thanks Kevin and Juki. And thanks to Jundo for the translation. As a gardener I type this looking out my window at my dormant garden. Frozen ground, brown stalks and snow flurries. Knowing that when the time comes the flowers will bloom. But now just this.

    Gassho,
    Today/LAH
    James

  14. #14
    Kakunen sends some word to everyone ...

    Thank you Treeleafer.

    To Jundo



    Kakunen
    Gassho
    Sat today
    I think he is feeling a little better and has headed home.

    He is chanting the Four Bodhisattva Vows (Shi Gu Sei Gan) ...

    Shu jo muhen seigan do
    Bonno mujin seigandan
    Homon muryo seigangaku
    Butsu do mujo seiganjo
    Our version in English ...

    To save all sentient beings, though beings numberless

    To transform all delusions, though delusions inexhaustible

    To perceive Reality, though Reality is boundless

    To attain the Enlightened Way, a Way non-attainable
    Gassho, J

    STLah
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-11-2019 at 02:39 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  15. #15
    Thank you Kakunen;

    Nice chanting

    gassho, Shokai
    stlah
    合掌,生開
    gassho, Shokai

    仁道 生開 / Jindo Shokai

    "Open to life in a benevolent way"

    https://sarushinzendo.wordpress.com/

  16. #16
    When you can see Japan on your magic triangle in the dark with a sleeping mask on.

    Gassho,

    Sean

    Sat Today
    LIT


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "May I be a flashlight to all beings living in life's dreary and despicable basement" - Sean C.T.

  17. #17
    Lovely video and chanting, thank you Kakunen, glad you're feeling better.
    Gassho
    Meitou
    Satwithyoualltoday lah
    命 Mei - life
    島 Tou - island

  18. #18
    Kakunen thanks everyone for their good wishes, and sends this additional message. This time, he is reciting the "Verse of the Kesa" in Japanese ...

    I wake up because of medicine.

    Before I sleep ,I sat near temple.



    Gassho
    Sat again

    Good night

    Kakunen
    • Robe of Liberation boundless
    • Field beyond both form and formless
    • Wearing the Tathagatas Teachings
    • Vowing to (free) save all sentient beings

    Or Japanese (3x)

    • Dai sai geda puku
    • Muso fukuden e
    • Hi bu nyorai kyo
    • Kodo sho shu jo
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  19. #19
    These are great! Thank you Kakunen. And thank you Jundo for sharing.

    Gassho, Shinshi

    SaT-LaH
    空道 心志 Kudo Shinshi
    I am just a priest-in-training, any resemblance between what I post and actual teachings is purely coincidental.
    E84I - JAJ

  20. #20
    I’m glad you’re out of the hospital Kakunen. Thanks for the videos. I like the scenery and chanting and how the first one ended with a virtual-reality gassho with the camera tilting down and then up.


    Kevin
    #sattoday



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  21. #21
    Thank you for translating, Jundo. It was nice to be reminded of nature's calm abdiding. My journal is often filled with similar notes.

    Gassho, sat today, lah
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Geika View Post
    Thank you for translating, Jundo. It was nice to be reminded of nature's calm abdiding. My journal is often filled with similar notes.

    Gassho, sat today, lah
    I started a journal this year, Geika.

    That's a good idea to make observations about nature in your journal.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "May I be a flashlight to all beings living in life's dreary and despicable basement" - Sean C.T.

  23. #23
    Journals are nice to go back to, and the small notes on the weather and holidays always bring back a full picture.

    Sat today, lah
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Geika View Post
    Journals are nice to go back to, and the small notes on the weather and holidays always bring back a full picture.

    Sat today, lah
    Okay, that's right. When I went to purchase a samosa last week, the samosa man told me there is a prediction of heavy snowfall. I woke up at 5 a.m the next morning for yoga. To my surprise, there was a lot of heavy snowfall in the back lanes on the way to the bus stop. I need to write that down!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "May I be a flashlight to all beings living in life's dreary and despicable basement" - Sean C.T.

  25. #25
    Thank you every Treeleafer.

    I feel that my English communication get better.

    When I was at Antaiji,international zen monastery,I suffered,if I didn’t accept to communicate neighbors,I couldn’t live.

    So I am here.
    I am here.

    Now I am with lots of people,practiceing Buddhism,making rise,keeping bamboo forest.

    Every being want to be their happiness.

    So I just accept,I just accept.

    Thank you for your support.

    Gassho
    Nine bows

    Today for me difficult to sit,so I do Kinhin.I accept this fact.

    Kakunen


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  26. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Kakunen View Post
    Thank you every Treeleafer.

    So I am here.
    I am here.

    Now I am with lots of people,practiceing Buddhism,making rise,keeping bamboo forest.

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Nature is very healing, I find it useful for settling down restlessness. Keep up the practice, Kakunen. You are doing well.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    "May I be a flashlight to all beings living in life's dreary and despicable basement" - Sean C.T.

  27. #27
    Be well, Kakunen

    Gassho
    Souchi

    SatToday/lah

  28. #28
    I almost cure.
    I went to forest and charging energy.



    Thank you very much.

    Gassho
    Sat today
    Kakunen


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  29. #29
    Kakunen's Chant ...

    Kaikyō ge 開経偈
    (Sutra-Opening Verse)

    Mu jo jin jin mi myo ho
    hyaku sen man go nan so gu
    ga kon ken mon toku ju ji
    gan ge nyo rai shin jitsu gi.

    he Dharma, incomparably profound and infinitely subtle,
    Is rarely encountered, even in millions of ages.
    Now we see it, hear it, receive and maintain it.
    May we completely realize the Tathagata’s true meaning.
    It is the verse traditionally read before reading or teaching from a Sutra. In this case, perhaps we can say Dogen said that the woods and mountains are also "preaching Sutras" if your ear is atuned to hear.

    Gassho, J

    STLah
    Last edited by Jundo; 01-15-2019 at 01:28 PM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  30. #30
    Treeleaf Unsui Nengei's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Minnesota's Driftless Area
    Thank you for the translation, Jundo. I liked reading that.

    Kakunen, may you be healthy. I noticed you wrote of going to the forest for energy. Is this 森林浴 Shinrin-yoku? I am studying Shinrin-yoku and related practices in my graduate research. I am investigating how spending time in nature affects health. There is evidence that such practices have a positive influence on physical, mental, social, and spiritual health and wellness.

    A regular (most days) yoga practice has made a tremendous difference in my ability to sit on my zafu for extended periods (in Burmese style; I have no hope for ever reaching more than quarter-lotus).

    Gassho,
    然芸 Nengei
    Sat/LAH

    You deserve to be happy.
    You deserve to be loved.

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