re shikantaza, i have had this experience and when new to sitting meditation i freaked out a bit and became afraid i would just stop breathing. After more practice the realization came that just as i do not control the blood that courses through my body or cause my own heart to beat i was safe from the mistaken belief that my breath would just stop and i would topple over and die.
i realize you are asking something different then what i posted about my own practice, and with my own practice, meditation became and becomes more fluid with less thinking about form or outcome. M On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 7:01 AM, <uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > > > Bill!, > > When you put shikantaza into practice, is there a conscious decision to > drop the following of the breath which leads into shikantaza, or does it > just naturally cease? When I enter the jhanas/samadhi, I find the breath > becomes so fine/subtle that it seems to have stopped. This creates a very > pleasurable sensation and switching focus onto this feeling is what takes > me into the first jhana. I'm wondering if your shikantaza is anything like > that? > > Mike > > > > Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad > > ------------------------------ > * From: * Bill! <billsm...@hhs1963.org>; > * To: * <Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com>; > * Subject: * Re: [Zen] Return to Emptiness: from nervous nellie > * Sent: * Mon, Jul 29, 2013 11:33:57 AM > > > > Mike, > > Counting the breaths is just the initial part of the teaching technique, > at least as it was taught to me. The full techniques is: > 1. Counting the breath: > 1.1 - 1 on 1xhale, 2 on inhale, etc..., to 10 and then repeat > 1.2 - 1 on exhale, 2 on next exhale, etc..., to 10 and then repeat > 2. Following the breath: > 2.1 - No counting, just following exhale and inhale > 2.2 - No counting, just following breath, exhale only > 3. Drop the following - shikantaza - Just THIS! > > ...Bill! > > --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > > > Hal, Bill!,<br/><br/>I guess counting the breath is 'bread and butter' > for most people starting out (and also for seasoned meditators). I have > found, however, that the meditation on the breath as taught in the sutras > says nothing whatsoever about counting our breaths. Instead, we just focus > on the breath entering and leaving the nostrils. This works for me much > better than counting because counting can soon become a mantra taking our > focus away from the body. Actual bodily sensations are our doorway into > reality rather than concepts (such as > numbers).<br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad > > > > > > >
