The Breath and the Brain

dkotschess@yahoo.com

The Breath and the Brain

Note: I believe this is a legitimate crosspost and will be interesting
to all involved.

I am interested in increasing my understanding of how the breath works
in different types of meditation practices.  I was hoping to have some
of this demystified and tied together.  The following is not an
authoritative article but mostly gibberish by me and a lot of
questions.  Please read through it and comment and clarify as you see
fit.  Thanks!

"DEEP" BREATH VS. SOFT BREATH

We are often told to "take a deep breath," to calm ourselves.  I have
always thought this was an odd command, because for me, deep breathing
tends to be more like exercise.  I have talked to lots of people with
panic disorders who tell me that deep breaths can bring on panic
attacks.

So what is meant by "deep?"  Does that mean simply that we are taking
in a lot of air?  Or does it  also describe the *location* to which the
air is going.  I find that the best way to stay calm, to reduce anxiety
has more to do with redirecting the breath than with making the breath
larger. Either the "deep calming breath" is either greatly
misunderstood, or there are major physiological differences that make
it work for some people and not others.  Which is it?

Now as for the soft breath, I am not sure what you would call this in
yoga.  In zazen we don't call it anything, but what occurs is that the
breathing slows to a barely imperceptible point. This is in some kind
of correlation to the steam of thoughts.  As the stream slows, so does
the breath.  This, I imagine is because less oxygen is required for the
brain to do it's thing.  Physically we are taking in very little air,
but what we take in is directed to the hara.

In yoga, this would be either the second or third Chakra.   Can
somebody clarify?  The hara is located a few inches below the naval. In
Yoga, the third Chakra is AT the navel.  The second chakra is the
genitals.  So the hara is between these two points.

>From a yoga perspective then it could be said that zazen is a practice
centered on this particular chakra.  Whatever benefits  are believed to
be observed from this practice would then (in theory) be cultivated by
the Zen practitioner.

Note that zazen itself is NOT a breathing exercise.  The breath is
observed and is in no way to be manipulated.  When the breath is merely
observed it lessens on it's own.  Manipulating the breath in any way is
a common pitfall of this type of meditation practice, and occurs often
by practitioners trying to artificially accelerate their progress.

FOCUS

Now I want to talk about the effects on the brain.  The "soft breath"
occurs as mentation lessens or ceases.  The two (generalized) vehicles
for this in Zen is Concentration vs. "Just sitting" (shikantaza).  The
theravadan Buddhist corollaries to this are Samatha (calm) vs.
Vipassana (insight) meditation.

It helps to have some degree of concentration (samatha) built up before
doing shikantaza (or vipassana)  For this post I'm going to focus on
concentration (no pun meant).

When you are developing concentration (joriki) you focus your attention
on the breath at a fixed point, which for most of us "zennies" is the
hara.  At times this can be extremely difficult.

I have tried to note the various conditions under which it is easy or
difficult to concentrate.  They can be psychological/karmic or
physical.  Loose ends, arguments, general anxiety make it difficult to
focus.  In the cycle of Buddhist practice the "remedy" could be said to
be the parts of the eightfold path concerning morality(Sila).  In
general terms, practicing morality, meeting one's obligations and
generally not being a jerk in one's day to day life will keep one from
stirring up the karmic pot and make it easier to focus.

On the physical side (the point of interest for this post) I have
noticed that hydration, nutrition, physical fitness, and fatigue play a
role.  Intoxicants are double edged.  On one hand they hurt
concentration, but on the other hand they can provide an artificial
means to calming the mentation process, thereby making it easier to
concentrate on the breath while "shutting out" everything else.  There
may be some benefits to this, depending on the intoxicant, but mainly
this serves as a form of recreation and isn't practice for developing a
meditative quality of mind that can be applied in all circumstances.

Other physical factors are fatigue, nutrition and physical fitness.
Being well rested helps.  Eating too much will hurt.  Exercise helps a
great deal. I have found one of the best times to practice zazen is
after running, I imagine because it oxygenates the brain among other
things.

So, observing this, I have found that deep breathing (Pranayama) , seem
to help focus.  Please note again that Zazen is NOT a breathing
exercise.  But by practicing exercises in conjunction with zazen,
(before) seem to help with concentration.

Samadhi in Yoga vs. Samadhi in Buddhism/Zen

I have heard the term Samadhi used in Yoga in terms of Kundalini
energy, chakras etc.  This is probably the same as "chi" which is also
termed "Joriki" in Zen.  Is it the same thing?  In Zen terms this would
have to do with the cessation of thought, at which point the breath
would be barely perceptible.

The Heart Sutra, which is one of the key sutras quoted and recited
(sometimes daily) in Zen Buddhism, describes Samadhi "no eye, no ear,
no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind.."  Is this the same experience
in Yoga? I have not "been there" so to speak but I have had some very
quiet moments.

Descriptions of Samadhi in Yoga and Zen seem to differ mainly in their
description of this state as being either a miraculous of
non-miraculous experience.  In Soto Zen, especially, the experience is
"nothing special" since it is quite plainly the ceasing of everything
from the perspective of the meditator.  In my opinion this language is
mainly used to keep one from attaching to their samadhi, since by all
accounts it is something pretty extraordinary and unusual.

Some final questions:

If you are a yoga person, what poses do you think best facilitate
concentration?

Does anybody do both yoga and zazen as complimentary practices?

Any recommended books that might help me understand the breath/brain
relationship?


LINKS OF INTEREST

"The Yoga of Breath":
http://yoga.about.com/od/breathing/

Heart Sutra:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/hrt.htm

Joriki:
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic..rma/joriki.html

Mindfulness in Plain English:
http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassan..MindfulnessIPE/
Note the chapter on Mindfulness Vs. Concentration


-DaveK

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On 12 Nov 2005 08:14:44 -0800, dkotschess@yahoo.com wrote: >Note: I believe this is a legitimate crosspost and will be interesting >to all involved. > >I am interested in increasing my understanding of how the breath works >in different types of meditation practices. I was hoping to have some >of this demystified and tied together. The following is not an >authoritative article but mostly gibberish by me and a lot of >questions. Please read through it and comment and clarify as you see >fit. Thanks! > >"DEEP" BREATH VS. SOFT BREATH > >We are often told to "take a deep breath," to calm ourselves. I have >always thought this was an odd command, because for me, deep breathing >tends to be more like exercise. I have talked to lots of people with >panic disorders who tell me that deep breaths can bring on panic >attacks. > >So what is meant by "deep?" Does that mean simply that we are taking >in a lot of air? Or does it also describe the *location* to which the >air is going. I find that the best way to stay calm, to reduce anxiety >has more to do with redirecting the breath than with making the breath >larger. Either the "deep calming breath" is either greatly >misunderstood, or there are major physiological differences that make >it work for some people and not others. Which is it? I think it depends on how you breath. If in through your throath it can cause panic, or even hyperventilation. Best thing seems to be to breath deep by expanding your belly. If you want to calm down, make a big belly and try to get your breath there. At least you have you're attention somewhere else. Never mind if that seems artificial, it's the result that counts :-) >Now as for the soft breath, I am not sure what you would call this in >yoga. In zazen we don't call it anything, but what occurs is that the >breathing slows to a barely imperceptible point. This is in some kind >of correlation to the steam of thoughts. As the stream slows, so does >the breath. This, I imagine is because less oxygen is required for the >brain to do it's thing. Physically we are taking in very little air, >but what we take in is directed to the hara. To me it's the breathing out that counts. Did you ever notice we make such a fuzz about taking breath in, and do not give much attention to letting breath out? When starting zazen I try to focus on out, out, out, by letting my belly sort of drop in. >Note that zazen itself is NOT a breathing exercise. The breath is >observed and is in no way to be manipulated. When the breath is merely >observed it lessens on it's own. Manipulating the breath in any way is >a common pitfall of this type of meditation practice, and occurs often >by practitioners trying to artificially accelerate their progress. But it is something we do, like it or not. It's not good or bad, it's just what we do. >FOCUS > >On the physical side (the point of interest for this post) I have >noticed that hydration, nutrition, physical fitness, and fatigue play a >role. Intoxicants are double edged. On one hand they hurt >concentration, but on the other hand they can provide an artificial >means to calming the mentation process, thereby making it easier to >concentrate on the breath while "shutting out" everything else. There >may be some benefits to this, depending on the intoxicant, but mainly >this serves as a form of recreation and isn't practice for developing a >meditative quality of mind that can be applied in all circumstances. Pain. Last sesshin I had to do zazen laying down. I was plagued by terrible pain in shoulders and arms. Most likely the pain was triggered by the anger that was in me at that time. When sesshin finished, the pain stopped also. As did the anger. So I sort of zazened through the anger :-) >Samadhi in Yoga vs. Samadhi in Buddhism/Zen > >I have heard the term Samadhi used in Yoga in terms of Kundalini >energy, chakras etc. This is probably the same as "chi" which is also >termed "Joriki" in Zen. Is it the same thing? In Zen terms this would >have to do with the cessation of thought, at which point the breath >would be barely perceptible. I don't think joriki and chi are the same. Chi is energy and joriki is (among other things) the result of concentration. >Some final questions: >Does anybody do both yoga and zazen as complimentary practices? No, but I do combine zazen and t'ai chi. There's a serie of excersises in t'ai chi known as the bodhidharma's, developed by, indeed, Bodhidharma. I like to do them when I don't feel like doing zazen and the help me to get some rest and calm in my mind. Thanks for your ideas, Dave. -- Yvonne http://home.casema.nl/yver/

On 12 Nov 2005 08:14:44 -0800, dkotschess@yahoo.com wrote: <inelegant snippage> > >"DEEP" BREATH VS. SOFT BREATH > >We are often told to "take a deep breath," to calm ourselves. I have >always thought this was an odd command, because for me, deep breathing >tends to be more like exercise. I have talked to lots of people with >panic disorders who tell me that deep breaths can bring on panic >attacks. > Mindfully taking a deep breath pauses the stream of thought and focuses the mind on Right Now. >So what is meant by "deep?" Does that mean simply that we are taking >in a lot of air? Or does it also describe the *location* to which the >air is going. I find that the best way to stay calm, to reduce anxiety >has more to do with redirecting the breath than with making the breath >larger. Either the "deep calming breath" is either greatly >misunderstood, or there are major physiological differences that make >it work for some people and not others. Which is it? > >Now as for the soft breath, I am not sure what you would call this in >yoga. In zazen we don't call it anything, but what occurs is that the >breathing slows to a barely imperceptible point. This is in some kind >of correlation to the steam of thoughts. As the stream slows, so does >the breath. This, I imagine is because less oxygen is required for the >brain to do it's thing. Physically we are taking in very little air, >but what we take in is directed to the hara. > Visualizing air is unnecessary. Possibly counter-productive. Rather than increasing imagination, the aim is to reduce it. >It helps to have some degree of concentration (samatha) built up before >doing shikantaza (or vipassana) For this post I'm going to focus on >concentration (no pun meant). > >When you are developing concentration (joriki) you focus your attention >on the breath at a fixed point, which for most of us "zennies" is the >hara. At times this can be extremely difficult. > One point concentration. Focus on the nose or the belly. Then where is the air? >I have tried to note the various conditions under which it is easy or >difficult to concentrate. They can be psychological/karmic or >physical. Loose ends, arguments, general anxiety make it difficult to >focus. In the cycle of Buddhist practice the "remedy" could be said to >be the parts of the eightfold path concerning morality(Sila). In >general terms, practicing morality, meeting one's obligations and >generally not being a jerk in one's day to day life will keep one from >stirring up the karmic pot and make it easier to focus. > Concentration is hard. Any lack of it can be ascribed to various distractions. But all of them are just distractions. The belly, nothing else. Everything else is the mind wandering into conceptions and dreams, all unreal and not of this moment. Just the belly. That alone is real this moment. Don't let this moment be wasted by blindly escaping into dreamland. >On the physical side (the point of interest for this post) I have >noticed that hydration, nutrition, physical fitness, and fatigue play a >role. Intoxicants are double edged. On one hand they hurt >concentration, but on the other hand they can provide an artificial >means to calming the mentation process, thereby making it easier to >concentrate on the breath while "shutting out" everything else. There >may be some benefits to this, depending on the intoxicant, but mainly >this serves as a form of recreation and isn't practice for developing a >meditative quality of mind that can be applied in all circumstances. > Mind and body are not different. Care for the body. But the mind is always ready. Meditation is not a physical exercise. If it were, then to rise from the seat would be damnation. Sitting is an expedient to cultivate attention on this moment, the only 'time' there is.

I started teaching Breath Walking this year. Here is a description of the course: Breathwalk Your Way to Optimum Functioning By ingeniously combining breathing, walking and the sub-vocalization of a mantra, Breathwalk helps you optimize and manage your physical and mental functioning: increasing vitality, improving mood, lowering blood pressure, even breaking addictions. In this course we'll learn how to Breathwalk, practice it, and receive feedback on our Breathwalk experience. And here is the first page of the notes I wrote for the class: A Simple Breath Walk Breath walking synchronizes our steps, our breath, and our attention while we're walking or taking a stroll. To help aim and sustain our attention when we're breath walking, we mentally recite a mantra. We'll start with the simplest mantra: IN, 2, 3, 4; OUT, 2, 3, 4 In the simplest breath walk, we inhale for four steps and exhale for four steps, in synchronism with our mantra. Here's the pattern of the simplest breath walk: Mantra: IN 2 3 4 | OUT 2 3 4 Steps: right left right left | right left right left Breaths: inhale <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<| exhale >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> We repeat this pattern for the duration of our walk. Note that: inhalations begin with a right step and end with a left step; exhalations begin with a right step and end with a left step. This very regular pattern makes it easier to synchronize our steps and our breaths with our mantra. Think of reciting the mantra as conducting the music of our movement, with our breathing and our stepping as our two main musicians. Try to take deep, full breaths. To breathe fully and deeply, you must work the sheet of muscle (your "diaphragm") which separates your chest cavity from your abdomen. When your diaphragm drops, your chest cavity enlarges and your lungs fill with air. The downward movement of your diaphragm automatically pushes out your abdomen and rounds your belly. This means that in order to take a deep and full breath, you may have to loosen your belt! When your diaphragm rises, your chest cavity reduces in volume and air is squeezed out of your lungs. Think of your diaphragm as a bellows, rising and falling, rising and falling. You can walk fast or slow. (We'll talk more about proper breathing later. If you find anything about the above confusing, just breathe naturally during your first breath walks.) For an aerobic effect, walk fast and swing your arms in high arcs. The faster you pump your arms, the greater your aerobic benefit. Dr. Candace Royer,Director of Physical education at MIThas this to say about Breath Walking,"Breathwalk is a simple but elegant methodfor altering moods and state of mind. I use it in my general walking class at MITand have found students to be veryreceptive to the techniques. Personally,I use the principles almost every time Iwalk anywhere, for an exercise orrelaxation effect. Quite sincerely, it works!"-- George W. Cherry

Yvonne wrote: > On 12 Nov 2005 08:14:44 -0800, dkotschess@yahoo.com wrote: > > > I think it depends on how you breath. If in through your throath it > can cause panic, or even hyperventilation. Best thing seems to be to > breath deep by expanding your belly. If you want to calm down, make a > big belly and try to get your breath there. At least you have you're > attention somewhere else. > Never mind if that seems artificial, it's the result that counts :-) Yes. I think that people should be careful when prescribing "a deep breath" to people with anxiety. Becuase they rarely tell them how to breath. I think the breathing should be directed toward the belly before any attempt is made to take in more air. From the yoga perspective I like this 3 part breath described here: http://yoga.about.com/od/breathing/..epartbreath.htm > > To me it's the breathing out that counts. > Did you ever notice we make such a fuzz about taking breath in, and do > not give much attention to letting breath out? > When starting zazen I try to focus on out, out, out, by letting my > belly sort of drop in. That's a good point. We do tend to forget about the out breath, which is important so that we don't have the extra tension that is required to hold it in. All that is required is to "let go" thus breathing out is effortlless. > > But it is something we do, like it or not. It's not good or bad, it's > just what we do. Well, this is the whole of zen practice isn't it? Developing equanimity (being with the breath as it is) vs. trying to control it. And yet when we focus on the breath in this way it is impossible to tell whether we are controlling it or whether it is happening to us. This to me is the koan of the breath and life itself. > > > Pain. > Last sesshin I had to do zazen laying down. I was plagued by terrible > pain in shoulders and arms. Most likely the pain was triggered by the > anger that was in me at that time. > When sesshin finished, the pain stopped also. > As did the anger. > So I sort of zazened through the anger :-) Did you try to take the pain and/or anger as the object of your meditation? That is the way I was taught, if the pain/anger is continually pulling you away from your breath, you focus on that, merge with it, thus it is dropped becuase there is no separation from you and "it." Some of my "best" periods of zazen were, oddly enough, the ones where I was in the most pain and discomfort. Of course that only occured in sesshin, becuase at home I would just wimp out and give up. In sesshin you have to sit there and figure out how to deal with it. It was a really good lesson for me. I remember sitting there, dripping with sweat, knees hurting, wanting to jump up and fly out of the room. I merged with the pain, the heat, and had some really intense moments of concentration. I later remarked that it had "knocked the A.D.D. right out of me." > > I don't think joriki and chi are the same. Chi is energy and joriki is > (among other things) the result of concentration. I do believe they are closely related. Per the article below about Joriki: "The Japanese word Joriki incorporates the root 'ki', (Chinese - Chi) which roughly translates as a sort of spirit energy. Ki, this flow of energy, was found a long time ago. Lao Tzu talked about it long before Buddhism went to China. In Taoism they talk about ki. Mo Tzu, one of the earliest Taoists said, "The 'ki', or energy, is the thing to fill up the body. Your body should be filled with this ki." See Chakras." The concentration itself does seem to be a concentration of energy, though in zen we try to avoid sounding too superstitous, I suppose. Sometimes people get a little wierd talking about "energy." > > > > No, but I do combine zazen and t'ai chi. > There's a serie of excersises in t'ai chi known as the bodhidharma's, > developed by, indeed, Bodhidharma. > I like to do them when I don't feel like doing zazen and the help me > to get some rest and calm in my mind. Yes, I should not have excluded anybody doing any other body practice. I need to look into T'ai Chi. Actually I'd be officially taking some yoga classes now if I weren't broke. > > Thanks for your ideas, Dave. Thank you for yours. > -- > > Yvonne > > http://home.casema.nl/yver/

George Cherry wrote: > I started teaching Breath Walking this year. Here > is a description of the course: > > Breathwalk Your Way to Optimum Functioning > > By ingeniously combining breathing, walking > and the sub-vocalization of a mantra, Breathwalk > helps you optimize and manage your physical > and mental functioning: increasing vitality, improving > mood, lowering blood pressure, even breaking > addictions. In this course we'll learn how to > Breathwalk, practice it, and receive > feedback on our Breathwalk experience. > > And here is the first page of the notes > I wrote for the class: > A Simple Breath Walk > > > > Breath walking synchronizes our steps, our breath, and our attention while > we're walking or taking a stroll. To help aim and sustain our attention wh en > we're breath walking, we mentally recite a mantra. We'll start with the > simplest mantra: > > > > IN, 2, 3, 4; OUT, 2, 3, 4 > > > > In the simplest breath walk, we inhale for four steps and exhale for four > steps, in synchronism with our mantra. Here's the pattern of the simplest > breath walk: > > > > Mantra: IN 2 3 4 | OUT 2 3 4 > > Steps: right left right left | right left right left > > Breaths: inhale <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<| exhale >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > > > > We repeat this pattern for the duration of our walk. Note that: inhalation s > begin with a right step and end with a left step; exhalations begin with a > right step and end with a left step. This very regular pattern makes it > easier to synchronize our steps and our breaths with our mantra. Think of > reciting the mantra as conducting the music of our movement, with our > breathing and our stepping as our two main musicians. > > Try to take deep, full breaths. To breathe fully and deeply, you must work > the sheet of muscle (your "diaphragm") which separates your chest cavity > from your abdomen. When your diaphragm drops, your chest cavity enlarges a nd > your lungs fill with air. The downward movement of your diaphragm > automatically pushes out your abdomen and rounds your belly. This means th at > in order to take a deep and full breath, you may have to loosen your belt! > When your diaphragm rises, your chest cavity reduces in volume and air is > squeezed out of your lungs. Think of your diaphragm as a bellows, rising a nd > falling, rising and falling. You can walk fast or slow. (We'll talk more > about proper breathing later. If you find anything about the above > confusing, just breathe naturally during your first breath walks.) For an > aerobic effect, walk fast and swing your arms in high arcs. The faster you > pump your arms, the greater your aerobic benefit. > > Dr. Candace Royer,Director of Physical education at MIThas this to say > about Breath Walking,"Breathwalk is a simple but elegant methodfor alterin g > moods and state of mind. I use it in my general walking class at MITand ha ve > found students to be veryreceptive to the techniques. Personally,I use th e > principles almost every time Iwalk anywhere, for an exercise orrelaxation > effect. Quite sincerely, it works!"-- George W. Cherry This is cool George. How might you apply this to running? It's something I've been working on for some time. I ascribe my ability to run long distances to the fact that I learned to breathe in a very unstrained manner. (Philly marathon coming up in 8 days!) -DaveK

On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:14:44 -0500, dkotschess@yahoo.com wrote (in message <1131812084.523448.214170@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ): > > Does anybody do both yoga and zazen as complimentary practices? > > Any recommended books that might help me understand the breath/brain > relationship? A person I sat with years ago in Marin County, Ed Espe Brown, has teamed up with a yogi, Patricia Sullivan. They used to have a site at yogazen.com, but that seems defunct. Anyway, you can find email addresses for them and ask your questions directly. ---Messer Xin -- Luke Clossey: I take comfort in the principle that anyone who is offended by speech spoken without intent to offend deserves to be offended. Daryl Kinsman: Heh, that should be the golden rule of political incorrectness.

<dkotschess@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1131821866.938274.77870@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com.. > > George Cherry wrote: > > > > This is cool George. > > How might you apply this to running? It's something I've been working > on for some time. I ascribe my ability to run long distances to the > fact that I learned to breathe in a very unstrained manner. > > (Philly marathon coming up in 8 days!) You run in marathons, Dave? Congratulations! To "breath run", you need to find the right number of syllables for your "mantra". When I'm walking fast up a steep hill, I have to breathe faster, so I use either of the following IN, 2, 3, 4; OUT, 2, 3, 4 or IN, 2, 3; OUT, 2, 3 When I'm walking downhill I breathe slower and use IN, 2, 3, 4, 5; OUT, 2, 3, 4, 5 or IN, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; OUT, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 There's no more basic process than breathing and walking or running. Just find the right number of counts (which will vary with your exertion) and synchronize your breath and steps and subvocal counting. I play around with the rhythms. I love it. I never walk more than half a dozen steps anywhere without making it a breath walk. When I do "breath sitting", I slow my breath waaaaay down, taking only about two breaths per minute. I believe that I cured my atrial fibrillation with breath walking. The doctors are mystified but dismiss my claim that it was the breath walking. George

"Dave K" <dkotschess@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1131821306.713622.46100@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com.. > > Yvonne wrote: > > Yes. I think that people should be careful when prescribing "a deep > breath" to people with anxiety. Becuase they rarely tell them how to > breath. I think the breathing should be directed toward the belly > before any attempt is made to take in more air. From the yoga > perspective I like this 3 part breath described here: > > http://yoga.about.com/od/breathing/..epartbreath.htm The above is a very good description. I would add, though, that the diaphragmatic (belly) breathing moves about 9-10 times more air than the chest breathing. The collarbone movement moves a very small almost negligible amount of air. > > That's a good point. We do tend to forget about the out breath, which > is important so that we don't have the extra tension that is required > to hold it in. All that is required is to "let go" thus breathing out > is effortlless. Not quite. How about (from your referenced link) 5. On each exhale, expel all the air out from the belly ... DRAW THE NAVEL back towards your spine to make sure that the belly is empty of air. > > Well, this is the whole of zen practice isn't it? Developing > equanimity (being with the breath as it is) vs. trying to control it. > And yet when we focus on the breath in this way it is impossible to > tell whether we are controlling it or whether it is happening to us. > This to me is the koan of the breath and life itself. Yes, good point. How about deliberately trying to deepen and expand the breath during meditation, whilst observing how your mind applies its effort? Can you make a relaxed, accepting-the-results effort? Or do you become very self-critical and unhappy about your results? "This to me is the koan of the breath and life itself." > > Did you try to take the pain and/or anger as the object of your > meditation? That is the way I was taught, if the pain/anger is > continually pulling you away from your breath, you focus on that, merge > with it, thus it is dropped becuase there is no separation from you and > "it." Some of my "best" periods of zazen were, oddly enough, the ones > where I was in the most pain and discomfort. Of course that only > occured in sesshin, becuase at home I would just wimp out and give up. LOL! Yes, I'm my own teacher and I "just wimp out and give up" a LOT. > In sesshin you have to sit there and figure out how to deal with it. > It was a really good lesson for me. I remember sitting there, dripping > with sweat, knees hurting, wanting to jump up and fly out of the room. > I merged with the pain, the heat, and had some really intense moments > of concentration. I later remarked that it had "knocked the A.D.D. > right out of me." Sounds like an epiphany. Did you A.D.D. come back? > > I do believe they are closely related. Per the article below about > Joriki: > > "The Japanese word Joriki incorporates the root 'ki', (Chinese - Chi) > which roughly translates as a sort of spirit energy. Ki, this flow of > energy, was found a long time ago. Lao Tzu talked about it long before > Buddhism went to China. In Taoism they talk about ki. Mo Tzu, one of > the earliest Taoists said, "The 'ki', or energy, is the thing to fill > up the body. Your body should be filled with this ki." See Chakras." > > The concentration itself does seem to be a concentration of energy, > though in zen we try to avoid sounding too superstitous, I suppose. > Sometimes people get a little wierd talking about "energy." > > > Yes, I should not have excluded anybody doing any other body practice. > I need to look into T'ai Chi. Actually I'd be officially taking some > yoga classes now if I weren't broke. > > > Thank you for yours. Thanks to both of you. : o ) George

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