Zazen Posture and the Problem of Touch
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every morning
well recently there's been some discussion
that about a virgin pasture and
so i'm talk about that today
ah
and his arm about mostly it comes from
ah
adjusting people's pasture
we used to say correcting the correctly means that there's some
correct way to do something
ah which is very controversial but the media correct
i'm so we say adjusting
when i was a novice a young novice know i'm an old this
and that study with my teacher suzuki roshi he's to go around
quite often
and just everyone's pasture
hum
pasture you know there are three
aspects of virgin
one his pasture the other his breath
and the other his mind
breath
a pasture breath and mental activity
are actually mine doesn't always referred to middle activity in in buddhism and the time and minded there is an aspect of mind consciousness which is mental activity but mine covers an area covered
an area that's beyond that includes mental activity but it's beyond mental activity
so is a big mind and small mind
so
we in zazen we
limit
as much as possible
our attention to
small mind
and i love big mind to allow ourselves to
ah
enjoy big mind which is behind thinking but include think it
so ah
posture is the most fundamental
yeah it's it's important to follow a bread or breathing and we wherever a breathing and
to be were in loud
breathing
ha
virgin and suzuki roshi with
said
breathing is like is as and really like an a swinging door
it's just love to
bullish
very important
to just let the breath be that it's swing freely
hum and to allow or a mind to rest are thinking mind to take a break
you know rethinking on the time and you read you realize that when you can reduce over the mind is actually somewhat uncontrollable
ah
but the basic
think about ah
in his posture because pasture is the fundamental
everything hangs on the pasture
it's the body mind practice
hum
so
when we sit doesn't really pay attention to pasture
that's it's not what we say think i think dog is a think not thinking but actually ah
that's the koran of a virgin but thinking is mental
now let me think with the body as well as the mind
so
i am
we say body and mind as if there are two things
so particular she says
the body and mind if you think body and mind are two things
that's not right
if you think they're one thing that's also not right
we get caught up in our dualistic thinking doesn't is to go beyond our dualistic thinking are discriminated thinking
body and mind our own had two things and yet they're not one thing
ah
ah
so when we
sit in zazen
the body mind are one thing and they are two things at the same time
felicia vicious down dualistic thinking unfortunately it's time to think in a way that
it seems to defy our logic
but if you really think about it you see that is true so
am
suzuki roshi and cause all of the ancestors whoever didn't emphasize posture
so there's the ideal pasture
and the real posture
actual pasture ideal is
a goal
but actually we're always i'm falling short of the goal which is not a criticism
but it's ah
it's how things actually are
so we don't always know when we're doing something
perfectly perfect is an interesting word
we don't know if we're doing something perfectly
perfect
doesn't necessarily mean ideal
ah not everybody can sit up straight
some people have to sit in a wheelchair how'd you how'd you keep your back straight when you're sitting in a wheelchair
how do you keep your vaccinate when you have scoliosis
very interesting so
council decided
ah
when i give those in instruction
a
talk about the ideal posture
which i'm always working toward the ideal buster
but past is always changing you have ideal pasture for a moment and then it changes
but
how do you expressed ideal posture when you can't sit up straight
for everyone has a bag
i think
i know if you have scoliosis the baucus
kurt so
and you know he never took a no maintenance is that
those space in the house japanese house where you have a
some beautiful object for some period of time which you admire
but and for the
a token man is a just this time space this space and the post that holds the token noma a beautiful post always looks like this
a strain posters practical but if you're gonna make a token omit you want to get a piece of wood that that's like that has scoliosis
and so that's beautiful
so but how do you make a straight line with a curved
post
that's the trick so well when you put the poster it actually is supposed to be holding up something and added strength is part of it's beauty
and l
he hit the post have to have balance
and strength at the same time
balance strength and beauty at the same time
and then when you see that he sees a lot no three qualities
and the whole thing works
for everybody's not everybody can set up really straight
so you have to work with whatever it is that you whatever your ability or
ah
a kind of compensation it's called car i think compensation and figure work
because in the post you're compensating for all that wiggle enough
and finding the straight balance
i'm glad that it actually have
and that's perfection
for perfection doesn't necessarily mean a straight posts
it means how you work with what you have to create a straight
post
or a straight back
hum
so
in the past i've been doing this for over fifty years
adjusting people's pasture
and
and the past i did it all time
i've made me for twenty thirty years
and then after a while you can see who
a
who needs who seems to need
an adjustment to help them to find her balance of posture
but you don't always know what everyone needs
so it's very tricky and
lately
lately the past fifteen years or something
ten years i haven't been doing much for pasture adjustment some but not for much because people seem to sit and kind of know when but he's had and ah
i give suggestions
and i go around and a just past years some people
are easy to adjust especially women women are things you to set
look better posture than men that's it's no reflection on member
it's just natural for women to sit more easily
and if i just somebody a woman's pastures they respond right away mostly but men are very different and or more
muscular
and more resistant
the more egotistical
let on
so sometimes people don't want it to be adjusted
and
a solution this has brought up a kind of controversy about
how to deal with this kind of problem and i think that problem has come up because of the yoga community ticket yet the yoga community is having a problem with teaches students
and touch
you can tell people how to said but
to teach people
you have to do at hands on
when i adjust someone's pasture
if they're slumping
i put one hand on the lower back when when finger actually are on the lower back and when trigger on the chin
and then like this and just perfect enlightenment is very simple perfect enlightenment is when the chin and your lower back or don't think
if you lift up your sternum the which is right here element putting out your chest but lifting up here you can feel that in your lower back
and when you feel that you really in it automatically pulls your genuine
justice so simple
not a bunch of that you know we're doing things around
that fundamental and an initiative straight but some people don't like that they don't want to be touched
so
ah
this is the kind of problem
i think it's been a lot of in any elder can get around too much about it but this has been a problem in the yoga community for some time but it's just starting to come out now as
interfering people just don't like to be touched or know
i wish liked it when my foster was adjusted suzuki roshi but i wouldn't just to my pasture
never let me some never let me be a unaware of passion so when i said i just put all my energy have to foster all the time and then i fall asleep
but then i wake myself up
so well to wake up i sit up straight
so that
i was thinking about this morning that occurred to me somebody asked me that i was teaching somebody about how to arrange the the
buddhism bodhisattvas and then ended and essence balls on a author
and when i go up to the altar i always see asymmetry
so i
a range out of there
edwin com objects but i will objects on they are hotter and in a symmetrical pattern because the author i realised somebody said whoa
the boot is it idol
but a good is not an idle computers and is a and to put a figure is express a virgin
that's right that's why it's there to express thousand and to make the polish settings as and and the altar is part of it's body is extended body
so this is an example of that in
that's why there the whole the whole after the expression of them
like the buddhist lined up this way and and
ah of luck
price to pay meter who was sitting in front of the buddha
the nose of the buddha is in line with the of
president by a meta
and then the says ball is in line with those two
and then the our pamela kitties were and samantha burger as manjushri are symmetrical expressions and thousand the all expression for thousand and there are harmoniously expressly thousand
so when you look at the offered was you know it or not you get that feeling of since a virgin and symmetry
but symmetry sometimes doesn't look like cemetery sometimes it looks like chaos chaos actually is just another kind of symmetry
but
on
a when will settings or then
we make a big effort to be symmetrical and the asymmetrical parts of our body how do we and include the asymmetrical parts of my body in that cemetery
so
the problem is can help and my i'm talking about this is the problem of don't touch me
it doesn't apply to so many people where it is it's come up as a problem for an eye
it's come up as a problem that with people feel we should air out
oh
so if you have any question about that
i if you're a person who doesn't like to be touched you might wanna expose yourself and say why
you will be have a helper or could be helpful
and if you don't want to i'll just go on talking about virgin
no
a tough
hey somebody's for
want
two reasons why
attached
one was a sexually
no
roxanne
yeah
yeah
well john harris first
yeah
their adjustment
i don't feel criticized at all but once in awhile he came up
right
yeah
one the one pay for practicing together
well i'm a feel
kind of work with my body
i'm not going to be seen
busy busy serving jersey
yeah
and more the information
how
hi
i think if answer
no
sometimes
rising
right experience there
think about it
what we don't really see ourselves after
yes well that's it helpful to the whole picture is that we don't know i'll be shit somebody boys will be sitting like this and for our most of this way and i think or say
that's wrong you know because they feel that this is right and then when you move the person visiting know i'm now i'm sitting cooker
doesn't that very common cancer since you can't see what you're doing someone else someone else can effect and elsa
but it's how you do it makes a difference and i know i days when i we didn't use to ever say anything we just get up and life
it just passed her but now i say i will knowledge as posture
and ah so i'm going to come around and just pasture so people will not be surprised
where the are
touch and as one
asking for
you can configure reaction
little drama going on the back in with their direct
three say that again please
rare that that some people who've experienced trauma related
yes
that post-traumatic stress reaction
two thousand and are
don't want
i don't think they weren't here the asking
may i touch you
re re decay somehow or like you or
the director know that they don't want
yeah well that basically that's when it works out
i'm sure enough i think in yoga's some yoga still a studios there
no chips or something you put a chip when you're going out and put will ship by your side until they know it don't touch you but
you know it's rare that
oh i thought it
don't even work here i think used to spend the say no thanks in some way
yeah well the thing is you don't know whether you will
some people they will
just say don't to be adjusted that you don't know that you need to be adjusted that otherwise she would just yourself right
but
i agree with what you're saying
ptsd that's how this came up actually because of turmeric
i'll just order
mean i've had people say well it was this means to carry a stick it a circle lot of people haven't no
experienced that but we can do them right there and
so though she goes around him and wake people up with the stick but you have to ask for it and we don't just kill people
so but we don't do that anymore because people with some people say well my reminds me of my father in a spanking me and and stuff like that you know so
i think it in zen center of origins and i will stop using the stakes except i still use it sometimes how loans were
people like it except for the few people that don't like it so fishes kind of like to the tail wag the dog and does the track
anyway i don't want to get into that back there i can't see very well because know like behavior that you live
way back the last person in the back
yeah
ah
oh
willing to try
yeah so
ah
mostly i do the adjustment of ellen
and as the judgment but we need a we're going to start having women are women to adjustment
well i think that will help a lot
when do you mind having a woman i just
yeah i think so
i'm
this topic of conversation
when someone said with that in practice silence
so much
right
as and the conversation
and students
each other
each other
yeah
oh
well
ah right yes
no
right
yeah
yeah yeah
i say that sometimes it doesn't
during that a l don't talk about pasture but nothing changes but anyway
hands i really really makes a difference it really does
and you know if is still evolving
the arm based exam practice has come from
japanese culture and mail
so we didn't have to worry about these things
you know in the beginning and the feminization and ten which is what's happening now and bet it's an ongoing process is not finished it's not like it does work
yeah but we've been through an awful lot of at an
our changes
and an hour
integrations
that are still going on so
yeah why you brought up as his actual interesting because
women feel this but men are not always aware
the well whether touch actually transfers to her how it's received you think it's just a casual touch but for someone and the other end is significant
yeah
yeah
like this
what i would like to see the talk about a specific instance of after adjustment
for the conversation about
is not closed subject is only have a new window
can be open to sharing
megan
yes furniture
you
check
yes
i'm
isn't it
why
you're not going
saturday
does it
come monday and five
rk those face quiet space advisory committee creeping up behind you
i see i get it through tokyo and go out whatever duties and answering your wedding the
it's like it tries to an advice a that's me
that said he seems to me that his great opportunity for us to increases in
how do it in a place where we're talking about how does this feel how does that the where it is talking enable direct fucking enabled me neither
i don't care about with pastor of silence by your face it does
whenever need
but i find it more mostly effective
hands on while you're sitting dungeon
but to make it was too
create a trust that people trust
whoever is doing the adjustments have that's important
so i'll get it gets
good that both men and women during the adjustment that will help
but you know i'm currently just pasture when i do that and
we decided to do that more people like it can tell me how much as to how helpful is most most people
philip
we try to do a company to everyone
through this
how dozen destruction
we do
roster instruction
yes
our
god
so that me the homeless
well you know jonathan instruction on saturday it's just i'm just a fundamental preliminary mode and then most people don't come back some people do
and this is this is an a a practice that although it's open to everyone is not for everyone
but i just just another yeah but am
ha
for that when you when you continue after your initial introduction that's when you you need to have yes that's right
while
i hear what you're saying yes
as
fantastic
practice sitting idle i'm not aware
air fresheners well that's when i try to do
and the afternoon when the newer people are here
but i bet because we you know i can do it all the time so
yeah i agree with you and i think said
to say for people who really want to work on there buster come to this meeting that good idea
i appreciate everyone
the people who have mentioned talking more austere
it seems like this fall
i
after afternoon
here at essentially just
hey how for
in a good way spirit sentient life care and there's something about that
demonstration
that is a powerful i think you can have something
financial just shows you with a high
thank you mary
yeah we'll take care that in their practice committee
because i see that our time is up
but yes
are you ready
i'm in