For the meditators

If you like Zen and haven't read any Huang Po/Huangbo, these 4 pointers can be good to meditate on :

First, learn how to be entirely unreceptive to sensations arising from external forms, thereby purging your bodies of receptivity to externals.

Second, learn not to pay attention to any distinctions between this and that arising from your sensations, thereby purging your bodies of useless discernments between one phenomenon and another.

Third, take great care to avoid discriminating in terms of pleasant and unpleasant sensations, thereby purging your bodies of vain discriminations.

Fourth, avoid pondering things in your mind, thereby purging your bodies of discriminatory cognition.

From The Zen Teaching of Huang-Po: On the Transmission of Mind. Link to the book on Amazon : www.amazon.com...

I couldn't recommend it enough for those into Zen, as it's possibly my favourite book. The way Huang Po speaks to his students (and obviously readers of the book.) and breaks down their illusions of reality and duality is brilliant. I could probably quote about 20 parts of it. To save attempting any of that though will just add this from his wiki page :

“If you would only rid yourselves of the concepts of ordinary and Enlightened, you would find that there is no other Buddha than the Buddha in your own Mind. …The arising and the elimination of illusion are both illusory. Illusion is not something rooted in Reality; it exists because of your dualistic thinking. If you will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as ‘ordinary’ and ‘Enlightened’, illusion will cease of itself.”

From the Teachings section, which also has a few other quotes : en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Hitoshura


thanks for the post...

I am aware of these teaching and have been for some time...

I have a question though..

I have been into meditation for about 15years or so. it was a way for me to find my power so to speak like martial arts teaches disipline so does meditation... anyway it was always a source of strength for me...


however in the passed 5 years I have hit a wall. I was in a very bad car accident and there are very few times maybe once a month were I can really shut my conscious mind and feelings of pain off.

I am no stranger to pain or fear and have overcome them before but this is truely ruining my life... and I need some advice....

thanks again...

reply to post by -W1LL


Really sorry to read that, and I can't imagine what that must be like, so won't pretend I have any advice that I think will definitely work. Maybe if you found the best way of meditating, whether it's sitting, lying down, etc and not try to push the pain away but just try your best to focus on what you normally would do, breath, not attaching to thoughts, feelings, etc, you could eventually find a state of mind that helps you not be as affected by the pain. That's the only thing I can think of really. Either way I hope at some point the pain you're having becomes easier to manage or actually passes for you.

thank you.

meditation is a twice daily habit in my reality, & although i admit i know very little of zen, those four rules are among the most important steps towards a meditative state in my personal opinion. if i were to sum up the observation of sensations in one word, Equanimity would be it. Only when we learn that pain & ecstasy are mere sensations & can be observed, not craved or aversed - then we are becoming unattached to this physical world.

"We are not humans having a spiritual experience, We are spirits having a human experience."

-for the meditators

reply to post by -W1LL


Hey W1LL, sorry to hear of your condition.I have a simple pain relief technique that works well for me, maybe it will give you some relief as well.

After getting comfortable while preparing yourself for a meditative session, Visualize a box of your choosing before you. Place in this box all pain, negative energy, or worries.Once you feel confident this has been accomplished seal the box, so that nothing can escape it.Then remove the box from your focus and continue on, into your meditation. If any pain surfaces at any point during the session immediately discard the thought back into the box.

Wishing you well

Hitoshura & gatewaywithin thank you for your replies and advice!

I didn't mean to derail the thread it just got me wanting that Zen meditation back. I will try the box technique that is a great idea...

I am going to have my library order the book that way maybe it will get to more people, I might just leave it on a desk for passers by to read after i am done..

reply to post by Hitoshura


Thanks for the book recommendation. This looks like one, I would enjoy.

I am constantly on the lookout for fresh philosophies and new methods to learn from.

Peace

reply to post by gatewaywithin


Many thanks!

last night I tried your method while laying in bed I did not get to meditate for long BUT I did get to sleep.

i started by creating the box, with each breath inhale and exhale I created a side to the box leaving one side open I focused on my pain and whatever was worrying me anything that popped into my head that was not positive went in the box.

this helped greatly I was able to relax enough to fall asleep and what is even better I dont remember falling asleep, I wasn't laying in ed for hours...

I hope to keep this up, it seems like good progress to me I still hurt when i woke up but I got rest mush needed rest... and I even remember a bit of a dream something very rare for me in the past few years.

reply to post by -W1LL


Fantastic, that's great news. It will only get better from here. Like a muscle, the more you use the technique the stronger it will become. Keep me posted on your progress.

Wish you well