Stillness… quiet… the body

Jeroen

So I came across a meditation practice in Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now that I wanted to try out:

The practice is to feel the body from within, slowly noticing all the places where you feel the body, and then to feel the inside, and the outside, the skin. The idea is to maintain an awareness of the inside energy of the body at all times.

The conclusion I came to is that the inside of the body is very quiet. It is a place of silence, where you can bring your awareness only if you are not easily distracted. Because the outside, the skin is very noisy with all kinds of phantom touches, tingles and taps. I found my feet are noisy, my hands are still.

The meditation is supposed to strengthen our feeling of presence within the body, as well as boosting the immune system and helping the body regenerate itself, making it look more youthful. It seems a large claim, but Eckhart himself looks pretty youthful for a 76 year old. Perhaps it’s worth a try.

lobster

perhaps

Vastmind

Making it look more youthful? Possibly regeneration?

Reminds me of the Contemplations…1&2

"'I am subject to aging, have not gone beyond aging.' This is the first fact that one should reflect on often, whether one is a woman or a man, lay or ordained.

"'I am subject to illness, have not gone beyond illness.' ....

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.057.than.html#:~:text="'I am subject to aging,have not gone beyond illness.

I think how you look at a certain age has a lot to do with genes and lifestyle

That being said…I can appreciate this kind of meditation…it’s giving body scan/mindfullness.

how

@Jeroen
Some might call what you are describing as a form of Gedo Zen.
It is usually considered an ego-centric form of meditation that is more about the affirmation of one's sense of self than its deconstruction.

pegembara

@Jeroen said:
So I came across a meditation practice in Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now that I wanted to try out:

The practice is to feel the body from within, slowly noticing all the places where you feel the body, and then to feel the inside, and the outside, the skin. The idea is to maintain an awareness of the inside energy of the body at all times.

The conclusion I came to is that the inside of the body is very quiet. It is a place of silence, where you can bring your awareness only if you are not easily distracted. Because the outside, the skin is very noisy with all kinds of phantom touches, tingles and taps. I found my feet are noisy, my hands are still.

The meditation is supposed to strengthen our feeling of presence within the body, as well as boosting the immune system and helping the body regenerate itself, making it look more youthful. It seems a large claim, but Eckhart himself looks pretty youthful for a 76 year old. Perhaps it’s worth a try.

I find that when you go deeper, there is no body and therefore no inside or outside. Just a bunch of sensations which the ancients describe as -
earth, water, fire, and wind elements.

But 'you' are not a sensation.

"Furthermore, a sage at peace is not born, does not age, does not die, is unagitated, and is free from longing. He has nothing whereby he would be born. Not being born, will he age? Not aging, will he die? Not dying, will he be agitated? Not being agitated, for what will he long? It was in reference to this that it was said, 'He has been stilled where the currents of construing do not flow. And when the currents of construing do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.' Now, monk, you should remember this, my brief analysis of the six properties."
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.140.than.html

lobster

But 'you' are not a sensation.

Awww!
That is me and memes and GNU-gurus down the drain then...
...or perhaps not?

Tee hee. Just when we thought we were something! Nothing. Nada. Rein. Mu. Tsk, tsk.

I'll be in the nowhere corner, with nowhere to go and not even me for company...

Jeroen

@how said:
@Jeroen
Some might call what you are describing as a form of Gedo Zen.
It is usually considered an ego-centric form of meditation that is more about the affirmation of one's sense of self than its deconstruction.

Yes, I can understand how it might come across. It places the focus on the body and seeks to explore it and strengthen our presence inside it from within, which is not according to the doctrine of not-self.

But one of the things that has bothered me about not-self is that the body is our natural portal into the world, it is a kind of self. To say we are not the body may be technically true, but to all intents and purposes within the world we are very much the body.

In order to not be destructive of the self or the body, and follow natures principles of growth, it seems that this might be a good way to go.

how

@Jeroen

Yes, the Buddha's Dharma of no-self, which is what distinguishes itself from most other religions, is pretty untenable to the average ego.
But....
The Buddha did not promote any destructiveness to either body or mind, just our attachments to both. Where our attachments to body & mind are no longer fed, the illusionary constructs of the self can dissipate along with suffering's cause.

If a view of naturalism of the human condition is what you seek, why continue flirting with Buddhism when Taoist babes could be standing by waiting for your call?

Jeroen

@how said:
If a view of naturalism of the human condition is what you seek, why continue flirting with Buddhism when Taoist babes could be standing by waiting for your call?

Buddhism has many good sides, though I decided a while ago not to follow any formal religion. It has been worthwhile to study it, and I came across interesting, kind and knowledgeable fellow travellers.

My understanding of no-self has reached an impasse, with on the one hand the mystery of the body’s local nature, and on the other hand the non-specific nature of the senses, which all seem to end in a kind of inner space.

Shoshin1

Thus have I heard (and to some extent experienced) ...
There is no "permanently" abiding self ...and not no-self whatsoever...

The sense of self comes and goes, chops and changes, like all things it is a state of flux

Transient alas are all component things
Subject are they to birth and then decay
Having gained birth, to death the life flux swings
Bliss truely dawns when unrest dies away

lobster

...which all seem to end in a kind of inner space

Ah ha! And it is attachable to? Practically anything arising?
Usual long list not provided or required? Except by the pro-Guru circus circuit... maybe...

pegembara

@lobster said:

But 'you' are not a sensation.

Awww!
That is me and memes and GNU-gurus down the drain then...
...or perhaps not?

Tee hee. Just when we thought we were something! Nothing. Nada. Rein. Mu. Tsk, tsk.

I'll be in the nowhere corner, with nowhere to go and not even me for company...

You have nowhere to go, and you cannot run away from yourself... even when there is nothing.

Impermanent are all compounded things.
When one perceives this with true insight,
one becomes detached from suffering; this is the path
of purification.