I received this question: "How does one lean one half-second into the NOW? (I know it is figurative, but I still don't get the picture)."
quote originally posted by rabar
"By then I can feel my pulse in my chest, and just use it as the 'wave' for
the samyama surfboard to ride. There's a sort of 'right position' on the wave, and surfing is a good metaphor for me because the position seems to be just ahead of the
crest of the relaxed breath, sort of leaning one-half second into the NOW."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ramon replied:
Sorry that I didn't make myself clearer, although it's hard to describe a pre-verbal state verbally (smile)... I think you know where it is, that place of immaculate perception, but maybe just haven't thought about it in those terms. Tilopa's "Song of the Mahamudra" is a supreme attempt. Two translations:
http://www.allspirit.co.uk/mahamudra.html
and
http://www.keithdowman.net/mahamudra/tilopa.htm
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I include two translation links because each has something to offer. The second includes a better description of the Tibetan exercise of blue-sky-watching, which triggers the so-called Ganzfeld 'white-out' effect.
Quote:
Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;
Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,
The train of discursive and conceptual thought ends
And supreme enlightenment is gained.
For more about the Ganzfeld Effect and how to experience it with the aid of
two ping-pong balls cut in half (I say two in order to avoid the trademark stamped on
them), see:
http:brain.web-us.com/ganzfeld.htm
The "leaning" image comes from the surfboard metaphor, and I retard the relaxed breath one-half second (or perhaps less?) because the moment the breath is slowed, the mind observes it with interest, as if saying to itself, "Oh, something is happening to the breath. I should watch it," thus gluing the mind to the breath, so to speak. It does seem paradoxical that a half-second 'retard' of the breath should lean one forward more into the Now, but isn't that what Vipassana claims to do? I'm also wondering if it increases carbon dioxide levels in the same manner that breath retention does, and whether these increased levels also play a role. Someone wrote me
just yesterday about a certain hypoventilation technique invented by a
Russian Dr. Buteyko who claims to have cured thousands of ill people by
teaching 'shallow breathing.' See:
http://www.buteyko.co.nz/buteyko/media/story11.cfm
Also
http://www.normalbreathing.com/Book1Ch1.html (which I have yet to read(
All this hypoventilation material is brand-new to me, so I really cannot
comment further.
I've experimented with hypoventilation as a method to stay warm in cold weather, and was able to drip with sweat standing naked outdoors in 45-degree weather - not much compared to the Tibetan 'tumo' practitioners, but at least I could see where they might be heading.
Hope this clarifies! Thanks for asking.
quote originally posted by rabar
"By then I can feel my pulse in my chest, and just use it as the 'wave' for
the samyama surfboard to ride. There's a sort of 'right position' on the wave, and surfing is a good metaphor for me because the position seems to be just ahead of the
crest of the relaxed breath, sort of leaning one-half second into the NOW."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ramon replied:
Sorry that I didn't make myself clearer, although it's hard to describe a pre-verbal state verbally (smile)... I think you know where it is, that place of immaculate perception, but maybe just haven't thought about it in those terms. Tilopa's "Song of the Mahamudra" is a supreme attempt. Two translations:
http://www.allspirit.co.uk/mahamudra.html
and
http://www.keithdowman.net/mahamudra/tilopa.htm
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I include two translation links because each has something to offer. The second includes a better description of the Tibetan exercise of blue-sky-watching, which triggers the so-called Ganzfeld 'white-out' effect.
Quote:
Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;
Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,
The train of discursive and conceptual thought ends
And supreme enlightenment is gained.
For more about the Ganzfeld Effect and how to experience it with the aid of
two ping-pong balls cut in half (I say two in order to avoid the trademark stamped on
them), see:
http:brain.web-us.com/ganzfeld.htm
The "leaning" image comes from the surfboard metaphor, and I retard the relaxed breath one-half second (or perhaps less?) because the moment the breath is slowed, the mind observes it with interest, as if saying to itself, "Oh, something is happening to the breath. I should watch it," thus gluing the mind to the breath, so to speak. It does seem paradoxical that a half-second 'retard' of the breath should lean one forward more into the Now, but isn't that what Vipassana claims to do? I'm also wondering if it increases carbon dioxide levels in the same manner that breath retention does, and whether these increased levels also play a role. Someone wrote me
just yesterday about a certain hypoventilation technique invented by a
Russian Dr. Buteyko who claims to have cured thousands of ill people by
teaching 'shallow breathing.' See:
http://www.buteyko.co.nz/buteyko/media/story11.cfm
Also
http://www.normalbreathing.com/Book1Ch1.html (which I have yet to read(
All this hypoventilation material is brand-new to me, so I really cannot
comment further.
I've experimented with hypoventilation as a method to stay warm in cold weather, and was able to drip with sweat standing naked outdoors in 45-degree weather - not much compared to the Tibetan 'tumo' practitioners, but at least I could see where they might be heading.
Hope this clarifies! Thanks for asking.