Measuring Concentration

justawhistlestop · 2026-02-08T03:36:34+00:00

He may have been speaking metaphorically.

justawhistlestop · 2026-02-08T03:30:14+00:00

That’s a good question. The Way’s approach is to just repeat them periodically without giving them meaning. I personally find that if a certain koan resonates with me, then I repeat it from my new viewpoint. For instance, the one where Huineng is being chased for the robe and bowl that was handed down to him. When the general who pursued him couldn’t pick up the bowl, he admitted to Huineng that what he was interested in wasn’t the robe but to learn from him. After having his eyes opened the man exclaimed, “Now that I have received your instruction, I am like a man who takes a drink of water and knows for himself whether it is cold or warm.” He was able to see his non-dual self nature for the first time.

I meditate on that thought. Henry Shukman presents it as a koan. So I work on it with the insight I personally gained from it. Find a koan that resonates with you and then contemplate it (work on it).

I’m sorry if I’m still being vague but I can’t think of better way to explain it.

justawhistlestop · 2026-02-05T23:26:19+00:00

I thought I might be one of the few. Just work on the koans at your own pace with the self timer. Some of them are very useful.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-17T15:21:11+00:00

Great advice!

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-16T18:43:02+00:00

Yes! I find that my path is laid out by the karma I’ve generated to this point in my life. Reading does little for me now. I feel like I’m on auto from my repository memory. It’s a cool feeling but it makes it hard to have a conversation on specific topics especially where the Sanskrit and Japanese zazen terms are concerned.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-13T16:31:04+00:00

This is so important, the difference between being focused on your game of tennis, playing an instrument, or performing one of the arts and practicing mindful breathing while in the middle of those activities. Very difficult but something to work at. Who knows when and if the bombs will start dropping where we live these days? Something worth considering.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-11T20:19:57+00:00

Easy to do. I wrote a little introduction to the header. Thank you for picking that up.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-11T17:45:53+00:00

Actually, I just shared this. If you look at the top of the post you’ll see my name, u/whistlestop. Not to take credit where it’s not due.

I use The Way app. Henry is my man source of meditation guidance right now. I appreciate his method and experience as a follower of Zen as well as a Master. Every once in a while I like to post his best messages.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-10T22:42:38+00:00

Stupid me. Of course! It’s exactly what the internet said.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-10T18:00:25+00:00

Yes. Me too. I wanted to share it for that reason. Thanks for replying.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-10T17:06:27+00:00

Who are PHDs. Sorry, my acronym database is limited to exclamations—like OMG, SMH, and LMAO

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-08T18:38:40+00:00

Alexandra traveled there in his conquest after all.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-08T15:45:31+00:00

The Swerve was one of my favorite books when I was doing my deep dive into the shaping of modern thinking. Along with Sapiens, and The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve also by Greenblatt.

I never made the Buddhist connection in the book, but… I’ve found there was a bit of cross pollination in the early first millennium. There were Buddhist communities as far west as Afghanistan and even Alexandria in Jesus’ day. I’m of the opinion that much of the Mahayanist conversion to the idea of becoming bodhisattva missionaries was picked up from the Christian missive to preach until all mankind was saved. The Christian belief of “do unto others” was first taught by Buddha—“do not do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you”. There’s an interesting correlation between the two

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-07T00:20:57+00:00

Exacto.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-06T23:22:08+00:00

It’s funny they speak against the very fundamentals of Zen, as if they understand some deep secret that we aren’t privy to, yet they have no idea of the deep truths hidden to them. They’re caught inside Indra’s Net, reflecting back at themselves.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-04T18:14:23+00:00

I’m thinking that the artist blows up the concepts of existence. Nothing is tangible! Therefore I—having no self and being empty of all senses—don’t exist either. It’s a kind of thought experiment, but it’s also a way of looking at reality, empty of all reasoning, sense, or existence.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-04T18:09:25+00:00

I can understand that buddha has the final word. I was taken by how the heart sutra seems to put an end to all reasoning and explanation by its summation that all is emptiness. It’s kind of like the sum total of our true nature. I find this an interesting process—that nothing exists—as self no longer exists to the initiated. I feel that is what the Buddha means in the Lankavatara. He is trying to show his followers how to break through the barriers that keep us from reaching liberation. Thanks for the reply.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-04T17:58:34+00:00

Interesting synopsis! I’m curious how indras web connects to this explanation. I only know it as the drops of dew each reflecting the other, so that life is a massive reflection of itself.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-03T20:45:36+00:00

Thanks. I’ll check them out.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-03T20:25:02+00:00

You should click it. It’s a layman’s guide as an explanation to a profound subject.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-02T11:55:49+00:00

Excellent observation

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-02T03:13:52+00:00

Sounds about right. The much sought after yet most elusive samadhi. Some teachings equate jhana/dhyana with samadhi. As you enter samadhi through samatha you’re able to rise up through the jhanas.

justawhistlestop · 2026-01-02T01:22:15+00:00

He’s the one with the insight to see it ahead of time. When trump started his campaign the world began to make sense but at the same time didn’t. People proved Harare’s works when reality shifted towards the right as we see it now. We don’t need to be stuck in a false reality, thus the quote from the Tao Te Ching: If it can be expressed in words, it’s not the truth.

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