Emotion / Meditation

On the surface, you may think Emotion and Meditation are rather antagonizing idea hence

they wouldn’t come together though, it is because you are trying to keep your pretense.

In reality, our Mind is always in the mess, otherwise we didn’t need to talk

about the Mind and its trouble 2500 years, and the Buddhism could have

become redundant long ago.

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Meditation is a funny practice. In principle, it supposed to sit while you vacate

your mind.    Yet, in reality, all sorts of your bothering ideas, thoughts, images

are coming up  = The more disturbing,  the more keep coming back. 

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Long time ago, in the mountain shelter, I talked with a man said to be a Japanese classics

teacher —– while talking about a poet, Saigyo, who became a monk in his later life, it

touched Buddhism idea, then the teacher reviled, in fact he is a trained, ordained Zen monk.

( Mind you, on that time my knowledge of the Buddhism was rather poor = a son of priest

didn’t mean know the Buddhism well.  😀 )

So, I’m not sure whether I made right question to him and how serious the answer he gave me.

He could have just kidding a young man. 😀 —– Any how, he said

“ It is a lie to Meditate in Mushin.   I sit while visualizing the image of a

woman taking her cloths off, one by one and become naked.    Ha ha ha  :-D”

“ Didn’t you get aroused ?”

“ Oh no. If you do everyday every time, it just became a simple routine and

the same old image.  Nothing exciting”

“ How about to change character to top film star and imagine her naked ?”

“ Yah, I did though, it’s all same”

—– Looking back this conversation half century later, I think he was telling me his truth

and the truth in what the function of Meditation is.

Meditation wear-out your thoughts = To see disturbing thought  straight,

and analyzing again and again,  soon or later you will fed-up, and the idea

will loose its fresh impact to induce an Emotion. 

Without having an involvement of the Emotion, it become just another

opinion and a remote episode in the life ==> Detachment (Emotion put a tug

to the signal / information “this is Mine / My concern” = Turf of the Self )

When you get used with this process, again and again, you will become

rather not to have any useless thought = this is Mushin !

And start to see the things Objective = in the Detached Mind !

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Emotion is developed in our old part of the brain / Hippocampus.  This old part is common

with any animal and it is directly dealing with one’s survival.

Hence, not only one’s survival instincts or sexual desire, but also one’s welfare = comfort

for oneself and for the species general, are all part of this Emotion.

Desire, Greed, Envy, Fear, Like-Dislike, Want or Avoid, even a judgement

of Right or Wrong —– are all related to the own survival (and better survival

condition) of oneself  = (hence,  it is the Ego / Greed)

Those feelings are the basis of the conscious of the Self (and its turf).

More importantly, Emotion is always causing a seclusion of particular hormone.

(Such as a fear to a danger needs whole body to prepare for prolonged battle by

seclusion of Adrenalin.  Or whole process of sexual activity needs continuing higher

level of Testosterone.)

—– In comparison, higher logical thinking is done by the later addition of the larger

brain and its process is not necessary induce a seclusion of hormone or Emotion.

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So that, when you hear the call of the Wolf = its signal rises your Adrenaline and become

Emotionally alert.   But if it is the same “Wolf-call” again, you just get used and

start to ignore = your perception would no longer trigger the Emotion.

—– Logically, Wolf is still somewhere in the woods yet its logical possibility wouldn’t

trigger your Emotion, because you are not in imminent danger, still, a kind of strong belief

or persistent thought / obsession would trigger an Emotion.

( But they are a subject of mental, neurological disorder)

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Seeing those function of the brain,

you might be realized that what the Meditation is doing.

= When your brain keep receiving the same signal, threshold of the reception

rise higher = the same signal loose impact.  You become immune to the signal.

Those external incoming signal or internal thought would work alike.

When the brain (or a Mind set) starts to ignore the signal or thought, it no

longer trigger an emotional reaction = therefore loose the tag  of ” Mine” =

and it become detached from the Ego = your mind would be in PEACE.

And when you do the things without involving your Emotion =

“ Effectively you are in the SELFLESS state” as all of your Emotion which is

defining  “ This is mine / my interest” is no longer there.

—– Buddhism teachings are using those brain function and its tendency =

Mushin and the Selflessness to control our MIND.

( Without Emotion, Selfless, and in Mushin = Just get on the task / Life ! )

Hence we can have PEACE of MIND and the  SMOOTH  LIFE.

———

( Though, there was an interesting question ” How and why,  some people

who is seeing a lots of sexual images, the person become immune to a

sexual stimulant  (like a Gynecologist),  but in the other hand it would lead

some others become rapist ?”

—– Well, this is the matter of the Mind-set on the starting point,  which I’m

going to write about in later post.)

___/\___

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PS : Please do remember, there is yet another purpose in the Buddhism training, other

than [Eliminates Thinking = Mushin] and [Cut off the Emotion = Selfless] . Also

to sublimates the teaching = Imprint the Teachings into Subconscious by

repeated practice and repeated reading or reciting, is the crucial process. —– here

again invisible Mind.

When the Teachings were imprinted into subconscious (sublimated), it

controls the person unconsciously

= no need to consciously remember it = Mushin again !

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BRAIN WAVE

Some days ago,  I saw a bizarre demonstration which purported to be an electronic display of the

Buddhist Meditation,  consisting a video image said to be controlled by the Brain Wave.

Loads of scientific buzz words such as Quantum Mechanics, Sinusoidal Alpha Wave etc etc were spoken.

———- Yet strangely, a demonstrator  who got a shaven head said ” I’m not an electronics expert,

so,  I don’t know the details of the technology here “—— Oh, I’m, sure Brain Wave is not Sinusoidal at all.

——————–

How bizarre this one was —– to begin with,  Alpha Brain Wave is nothing to do with the Meditation.

EEG  Brain Wave was picked up on the surface of the head and showing the summed up electric signal

of the inside Cerebrum Cortex’s activity.   Therefore,  the Brain Wave is the reflection of the vigorous

activity of the brain —— sound opposite of the calm Meditation.   (Of cause, even under the deepest

meditative state, certain physiological function is fully active, hence creating so-called  Artefact ( back

ground noise ) is always there.

Any how, the activity of inner part of the brain such as Limbic System is not possible to observe by the EEG,

unless a hole was cut to the skull and put through a probe deep inside.  ( Very risky operation )

——————–

More than 40 years ago, when a meditating monk was wired up and the EEG / Brain Wave was recorded

first time, the relation between Alpha Wave and the Meditation was discovered.  So, a  Myth  was created.

Though, ironically, some years later, the true nature of the Alpha Wave became clear —— it was the

indication of the ” Eyes are Closed ” —— its mean, the visual cortex in the back of the head is in idle state.

Nothing to do with meditation.    (Well, see nothing was indicated.  At least   😀  )

(  In the Zen, Eyes wide open and seeing, but take NO NOTICE is the key technique —– Thus able to

either Detach or Concentrate to any subject,  any time,  by will )

Yet still, the Myth or idiosyncratic misunderstanding was kept and worshiped by the people who doesn’t

know the Buddhism neither Medical science or Electronics.

And this kind of bizarre gimmick industry is flourishing.

How amazing  !!!

When Mankind didn’t have the knowledge of electric activity,  lightning was believed

to be an act of angry God.

The Brain still remaining in the mystery is,  nothing to do with  the mystery of the Buddhism.

Mind is not just a matter of  Brain cell and  Electric pulse.

—

PS: Half year later, I bumped a man who demonstrated aforesaid  Electronical Meditation, at an art

gallery and found that the man is (despite his shaven head  🙂 ) just a novel art performer, not a monk

or to do anything with Buddhist’s meditation.  So, he must had a lots of fun for doing it. 😀

Selflessness demonstated

” This is the Demonstration you can discover the Selflessness On The Spot “

In this post I’m going to demonstrate what is the Selflessness and

what is the Meditation should be in the simplest and clearest term.

—— m m m ?      Interested ?

Until here, to read those lines, did you noticed, your eyes has been reading this ?

I don’t think so.

Unless you got poor eye sight and struggling to read the screen, your eyes is

out of your scope, out of your mind. ————-(So, the Mantra says, Its exist as not exist)

When we read, we just read without noticing the existence of the eyes, let alone

a knowledge how visual signal running and processed in the brain etc etc.

——————-

Until you have read and get the meaning of what I am talking about,

your eyes is just taking the pattern of letters.  You are not thinking.

Neither you are noticing who is reading this.

———-As I asked you and you were alerted, then you start

to think ” I AM reading this, who else ”

(so there was a Zen Mondo ” Who was reading this, minute ago ? “)

——————–

Then, try reading a line of words alphabet by alphabet.

In this input your brain has to work harder to make sense of the word, what was written here.

As you try to think and process the word, it takes much longer time.

Here, you must be convinced, the automatic process of the Reading Routine is much quicker.

——————–

Now you must be convinced, how most of our activity was carried

out without we are noticing it. We are doing it unconsciously,

and because of the teachings of Buddhism is based on this subconscious activities,

the argument of ” Who did this without my conscious ” is

persistent all through the history. (And some are doing even today  😀 )

——————–

When you read those first few lines, YOU were just reading, nothing else,

otherwise you couldn’t concentrate to read—— its mean you were in the

Mindfull state.

As you been doing this without even noticing that the eyes are reading NOR

having the conscious of  ” I AM reading “.  This is the Selfless state.

———-Do you think is this too simplified and lost the glory of Holy Grail ?

Don’t over glorify.   It is your arrogance and the delusions.  Truth is always simple.

——————–

To apply this condition to the sitting, as sitting is supposed to be just sitting nothing else,

(in Theory  :-)), it must be the best practice to practice not thinking

or selflessness——– so the ancient Guru thought.

But we are here in such noisy destruction full world, it is very hard

to vacate the brain.  Even worse, we are accustomed to sit to think.

——– So, if you are struggling to attain selfless meditation, don’t worry, relax, sit on

a sofa, forget the Notion of meditation and play a non-vocal  slow music to just fill the atmosphere.

Keep you eyes open and fix it on something, insignificant object on front of you.

(As the visual signal of insignificant object stays the same, the brain start to ignore the signal all together)

But as your eyes has been fixed to the object, brain couldn’t visualize anything else, and soon

it become empty. (but don’t fallen asleep  😀 ) ——But ! getting sleepy is not necessary bad, it is

the sign of your brain found nothing to do, its mean its empty ——though, if you fallen asleep,

you lose the opportunity to see the Dharma of which you may only able to see it in this state.

It is the Paradoxical state, almost sleep but fully awake, without even knowing you are awake.

This is the reason why many of the primitive religion (?) resorted with hallucinogenic drug.

Any how, have the emptied brain  is more important than the posture.

——–Don’t torture your legs. It’s no good to your body which was given by the Dharma.

If you happen to live near the sea or river, go there and absorbed by

the atmosphere and the sound of water which is persistent but not

in the exact pattern. (So, the Brain wouldn’t bother to decipher the meaning—–its just the noise)

Or the woods is also good to be there in the same effect.

The Nature is where we came from.  So, just relax.

——————–

Don’t struggle to attain something in the Buddhism. Intention itself is bad.

Don’t worry , there is nothing there.   So that you don’t need to even

boast that you are The Buddhist, just be it.  Never think you are anything special.

If you are born to go to the Hell, go to the Hell.

Once you accept this, you don’t need to worry anymore while you are still alive.

The matters in the Buddhism is to live now in peace and with confidence.

So that, struggle to find something in the Buddhism is the silliest thing.

Since, as long as you  want to do intentionally, its mean you are THINKING.

When you sit, without noticing even you are sitting, this is THE sitting without thought.

Forget Buddhism, forget Enlightenment, forget the notion of Meditation. Just sit.

——– Use the words from Michael  ” Let it go ”

When you let it go, you will get whole of your life.(strangely ! )

This is the Paradox in the Buddhism.

Mindfullness

” Understanding the Buddhism by the translated word carries the burden “

The most fundamental difficulty in the approach or to seek

Buddhism is lie in its English translated word.

From the word such as Fully minded or Mindfullness the people start to

think  ” What is the Mind ? ” and end up in the endless puzzles.

The trouble is, the mind has hundreds of layers like an onion. We only see

its outer skin.

Especially if the one thinks  ” The mind is where the thought is being processed ”

it would end up against the wall.

The mind in the Buddhism is  not exist or not noticeable.

It is deep inside of the onion. (To see it you have to shed a tear or two.  🙂 )

Or in human term, it is in the subconsciousness.

——————–

So that, the word  ” Mindfullness ” is, in fact, has to be exercised  subconsciously.

This is the fundamental trouble to think about the Buddhism and this is why the

study or aproach to the Buddhism by way of thinking or try to understand it,

is utterly wrong.

And this is the reason why all the Buddhism sects employ the practice.

The practice is there to teach or lead the people to learn to do it

without thinking or empty the mind.

——————–

The another trouble or misunderstanding lie in the word  ” Meditation “.

The word Meditation is almost a synonym of the Buddhism though,

the popular understanding of its meaning  ” Think deep ” mislead the people too.

As one of the practice in the Buddhism, the Meditation is also the way to lean

to do it without thinking.  This is why even the Master Dogen said ” Just sit “.

And this is why the Buddhist has to get rid of even the notion of the Enlightenment.

When you forget to reach to the Enlightenment and get on your life, You are Enlightened.

This is the biggest Paradox in the Buddhism.

Subconscious Data Bank

Are we the conscious owner of our-self ?

I remember the stir and the annoyances among the scientists and philosophers

when they faced with the first ever report of the live brain scan.

It was the discovery of the fact, we are not consciously thinking.

The thinking process was being done unconsciously.

Naturally it lead to the most fundamental question, If not consciously thinking

who made this decision ?

If am not I, who is the one consciously aware I am ?

——Thinking process does not needs to be conscious.

Make an analogy in the computer.

Even though we program it in a kind of English (only after the computer became

able to be programed in higher language —– before it, all had to be done in

Hex or binary number ) computer is not operating in English. And even in

the out put sage, unless the signal was not decoded in ASCII it wouldn’t become

readable in A B C.

Exactly same as this, our thought, especially such as deep feeling, vague idea etc

has to be first categorized in the pattern and converted into own language,

otherwise we can not consciously process it in English.

In every-days life we are reading numerous signs and even a hint without converting

them to the words.

——————

In a latest development of the Honda Asimo Humanoid Robot, Honda created

” Thought controlling System ” using a geographical pattern of the activity in

the brain , picked up by the sensors in a helmet, and enabled to move the

Asimo’s right hand left hand and so on.

This experiment demonstrating the fact, to think something, we don’t nee to

have linguistic conversion.

And without conscious, the process in the brain is still taking place.

I also recall a funny quote ” The bathroom is where most of the important

invention was conceived”. I know lots of people would agree with this.

Why bathroom ? The answer is very simple. All of us do the business as

a routine and we have done the same, hundreds of thousands of times.

We don’t need to think about and do it unconsciously.

And the bathroom is where our brain has a moment of brake in the busy life.

Once our brain was vacated empty (some may describe it, completely open

minded) it is easier to sense and locate a faint image or vague idea, when it came

up from the depth of unconscious darkness. Then you might shout ” Eureka”

The original concept, conceived in the unconscious process having much grater

freedom of the creativity than the ordinary rational thinking.

Zen meditation is the way to create this condition of the brain, in a bit more

comfortable, less smelly environment.

( If possible, under a Bodhi tree. Ha Ha Ha 🙂 )