Practical Exercises for Zen Meditation

I am just back from a zazenkai retreat at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center.

Michael Elliston Roshi, abbot of the center and founder of the Silent Thunder (Mokurai) had invited me to teach at this event.

In my presentation of actual exercises to help the practice of Meditation I put emphasis on the 2 following aspects of Zazen:

• Focusing (Thinking of Non Thinking)
• Relaxing (to help focusing) 
  
  

I introduced to my audience a set of physical practices inspired from Traditional Oriental Martial Arts and Medicine. (Tai Chi, Chi Gong, Taoist exercises...) which I have been using  for several years in my own practice.

These exercises are designed to improve :

• Body awareness,
• Breathing,
• Balance,
• Physical Relaxation.

I addressed in particular :

1. How strength and mental energy follow Awareness and Mind. And how the Chinese concept of Chi explains this.
2. How to channel awareness and one's mind to parts or points of the body to tame one's monkey mind.
3. How to practice regular and reverse abdominal breathing to calm the mind.
4. How Tai Chi can actually remove muscular tensions and joint pains during long meditation sessions.

In the next weeks, I will get into the details of my presentation.  Stay in touch ! 

Posture, Tension, Breathing

The whole attitude of a human being appears in his posture, in the relationship of tension and relaxation, and in breathing. Posture, tension and relaxation and breath can never be exclusively physical factors. They are integral functions of the person manifesting himself anagolously on the psychological and spiritual levels. 

For this reason, IT IS POSSIBLE TO BEGIN THE WORK ON THE WHOLE MAN WITH THEM. 

Karlfried Graf von Durckheim in Hara, the vital centre of man.

The capital letters are mine.

There is basically no need to master complex philosophical or intellectual concepts to progress on a path.

Diligent training (exercitium) in maintaining proper

• Posture
• Tension/Relaxation
• Breathing

is fundamentally important and necessary. 

No amount of physical or intellectual technical expertise will ever compensate for a lack of mastery of these basics. 

Your zazen should be anchored in your lower abdomen, your breathing deep and calm, your spine kept gently but not stiffly erect.

In Sword Arts, you should cut from the same place, your grip should be firm without excessive tension (Right hand push, Left hand pulls), and your breathing should flow with your moves.

 

Practice

People gain self esteem through Tai chi

Tai Chi appears to be a great way to build self esteem and encourage volunteering according to a new survey being discussed today at the Regional Conference of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Melbourne.

Already known for the significant role it plays in preventing and treating physical and psychological illnesses, Tai Chi seems to hit the mark with older people when it comes to increasing happiness and feelings of self-achievement.

 

Ruth Wei, a postgraduate student at Murdoch University, has been investigating the effects of Tai Chi on building self-esteem; through the International Taoist Tai Chi society of Western Australia, she surveyed 382 Tai chi participants between January and July 2010.

According to Ms Wei, one in five reported that their confidence and attitudes towards life had improved and they had become more confident in daily life, more compassionate and tolerant towards people and less self-absorbed.

“What emerged from the survey was that the more often people practiced Tai Chi, the more often they became involved in voluntary functions, and the more likely they were to report positive changes associated with improved self-esteem,’ said Ms Wei.

Although the underlying mechanism of how Tai chi might improve self-esteem is not clear, other findings from the study such as increased social contacts, better physical and mental functioning, effective chronic illness management, and an improved ability to relax are all likely to be related. 

full article

What meditation is not

Sometimes practitioners of meditation are accused of being too focused on themselves, of wasting their time and energy in egocentric introspection and failing to be concerned with others. 

Can we regard as selfish a process which ultimate goal is to root out the obsession with self and to cultivate altruism ?

Would this not be like blaming an aspiring doctor for spending years studying medicine before beginning to practice ?

In the same way that Martial Arts ultimately are not about learning how to fight, meditation is not :

An attempt to create a blank mind by blocking out thoughts - which is impossible anyway. 

Engaging the mind in endless intellectual cogitation in an attempt to understand the past or foresee and anticipate the future. 

A simple process of relaxation in which inner conflicts are temporarily suspended in a vague, warm-fuzzy and amorphous state of consciousness. (Tequila does a better job at this.)

There are more practical and efficient ways achieve the above. Among them are senseless exercising, deep intellectual - scientific or philosophical speculation, and the use of recreational drugs.

Meditation of course induces some sort of relaxation but it is a side effect connected with the relief that comes from letting go of hopes and fears, of attachments and the incessant jumps of the ego and Monkey mind.

Most of us come to meditation longing for something we are not exactly sure about, most likely for one of the 3 reasons above. And this is perfectly alright, as long we don't get stuck on this for ever. We need to realize this is not what meditation is about.