Hello friends,
Has anyone practiced Dark Zen Meditation?
The general guidelines for DZM are:
1) Forget desires
2) Visualize sensory-perceptions to be posterior to Buddha-mind
3) Sit with legs crossed and the spine erect
4) Recollect that which is most imperceptible and antecedent to the in-breath and the out-breath during normal breathing rhythm
5) Do not follow the breath or try to visualize a point between the in-breath and the out-breath
Further explanation:
1) To forget desires means to stop grasping after conditioned reality since it is impermanent and subject to endless transformations.
2) What we perceive with our senses is a product of finite causes and conditions. Such perceptions are posterior to that which is their absolute source. We must come to see all things as coming after the original if we wish to commune with the source of all.
3) To sit with legs crossed and the spine erect prepares the body to be offered to the sheer primordial potentiality that is Buddha-nature.
4) To recollect that which is most antecedent to the in-breath and out-breath means that we must tune into that which is prior to the entire breathing cycle itself (or entire living cycle). Just as the hand which lifts a staff is not part of the staff, likewise the antecedent recollection is not a part of our breathing. As a practical illustration, we must recollect the antecedent as you breathe-in and breathe-out. If the breathing is long or short, labored or otherwise, we must focus on the antecedent so that breathing follows after it.
When we breathe, for example, our normal belief is, "I am breathing." It never dawns on us to retract your attention and look in the opposite direction so as to rise above breathing. Not surprisingly, this is not an easy task (owing to force of habit, all of us still attend to conditions which are always posterior).
5) Those who teach that one must follow the breath are making their very minds breath-dependent, thus falling into Samara. On the other hand, if one applies antecedent recollection, they will one day become free of all bodily functions.
This is the general rundown and it's nowhere near as formal as conventional Zen has become. There are a few related techniques that produce similar results. There's been progress in ways I never came close to with zazen and mindful breathing. Has anyone else had similar experiences or care to share some advice on the meditation technique illustrated?
Thank you.
Has anyone practiced Dark Zen Meditation?
The general guidelines for DZM are:
1) Forget desires
2) Visualize sensory-perceptions to be posterior to Buddha-mind
3) Sit with legs crossed and the spine erect
4) Recollect that which is most imperceptible and antecedent to the in-breath and the out-breath during normal breathing rhythm
5) Do not follow the breath or try to visualize a point between the in-breath and the out-breath
Further explanation:
1) To forget desires means to stop grasping after conditioned reality since it is impermanent and subject to endless transformations.
2) What we perceive with our senses is a product of finite causes and conditions. Such perceptions are posterior to that which is their absolute source. We must come to see all things as coming after the original if we wish to commune with the source of all.
3) To sit with legs crossed and the spine erect prepares the body to be offered to the sheer primordial potentiality that is Buddha-nature.
4) To recollect that which is most antecedent to the in-breath and out-breath means that we must tune into that which is prior to the entire breathing cycle itself (or entire living cycle). Just as the hand which lifts a staff is not part of the staff, likewise the antecedent recollection is not a part of our breathing. As a practical illustration, we must recollect the antecedent as you breathe-in and breathe-out. If the breathing is long or short, labored or otherwise, we must focus on the antecedent so that breathing follows after it.
When we breathe, for example, our normal belief is, "I am breathing." It never dawns on us to retract your attention and look in the opposite direction so as to rise above breathing. Not surprisingly, this is not an easy task (owing to force of habit, all of us still attend to conditions which are always posterior).
5) Those who teach that one must follow the breath are making their very minds breath-dependent, thus falling into Samara. On the other hand, if one applies antecedent recollection, they will one day become free of all bodily functions.
This is the general rundown and it's nowhere near as formal as conventional Zen has become. There are a few related techniques that produce similar results. There's been progress in ways I never came close to with zazen and mindful breathing. Has anyone else had similar experiences or care to share some advice on the meditation technique illustrated?
Thank you.
