The King of Samadhis & The Second Law
Master Dogen instructed us:
(1) Bodily sit in the full lotus posture.
(2) Mentally sit in the full lotus posture.
(3) Sit in the full lotus posture as dropping off body and mind.
Bodily sitting in the full lotus posture means making a physical effort to put one’s sitting bones on a zafu, to put the right foot on the left thigh, the left foot on the right thigh, and to sit upright.
Mentally sitting in the full lotus posture means making a mental effort to direct one’s energy/attention, not to let it leak/wander in directions which are superfluous to the simple act of sitting UPright. (And in this context of directing one’s energy/attention, the operative word is UP.)
Sitting in the full lotus posture as dropping off body and mind is sitting as the negation of dualistic concepts like good and bad, right and wrong, body and mind; it is to lose oneself in the act of sitting; it is the act of sitting as effortless entry into a spontaneous process. It is, in Master Dogen’s words, the King of Samadhis.
Therefore, if we want to connect our experience of “sitting in lotus as dropping off body and mind” with modern scientific knowledge, which we do, the most relevant theory might be second law of thermodynamics. Because, according to Dr. Frank Lambert, “All spontaneous happenings in the material world are examples of the second law.” (See http://www.entropysimple.com)
(1) and (2) involve physical and mental effort, to overcome barriers (called “activation energies”) to the fulfillment of the second law. (3) describes the fulfillment of the second law itself -- a spontaneous happening in the material world.
(1) Bodily sit in the full lotus posture.
(2) Mentally sit in the full lotus posture.
(3) Sit in the full lotus posture as dropping off body and mind.
Bodily sitting in the full lotus posture means making a physical effort to put one’s sitting bones on a zafu, to put the right foot on the left thigh, the left foot on the right thigh, and to sit upright.
Mentally sitting in the full lotus posture means making a mental effort to direct one’s energy/attention, not to let it leak/wander in directions which are superfluous to the simple act of sitting UPright. (And in this context of directing one’s energy/attention, the operative word is UP.)
Sitting in the full lotus posture as dropping off body and mind is sitting as the negation of dualistic concepts like good and bad, right and wrong, body and mind; it is to lose oneself in the act of sitting; it is the act of sitting as effortless entry into a spontaneous process. It is, in Master Dogen’s words, the King of Samadhis.
Therefore, if we want to connect our experience of “sitting in lotus as dropping off body and mind” with modern scientific knowledge, which we do, the most relevant theory might be second law of thermodynamics. Because, according to Dr. Frank Lambert, “All spontaneous happenings in the material world are examples of the second law.” (See http://www.entropysimple.com)
(1) and (2) involve physical and mental effort, to overcome barriers (called “activation energies”) to the fulfillment of the second law. (3) describes the fulfillment of the second law itself -- a spontaneous happening in the material world.
posted by Mike Cross at 8:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home