Healing of Karma in the Body

[sentient]

Healing of Karmas and Traumas ...

Reggie was a student of Trungpa and I do find his talks quite good, because he makes the teachings more easily understandable :

https://www.dharmaocean.org/episode-...e-body-part-i/

https://www.dharmaocean.org/episode-...-body-part-ii/

Any opinions, tips or comments?

[jonesboy]

Lot's to listen to.

Do you mind bringing up some points in the discussion for comment?

[sentient]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

Lot's to listen to.

Do you mind bringing up some points in the discussion for comment?

You don’t have to listen to it.

It is just that – and I do not know if I understand this correctly…….
In Mahayana one discovers Shunyata. Shunya meaning empty or zero and ta meaning –ness.
So in Shunyata we explore the as-issness of things in space without the (interpretive) screen between subject and an object.

When we enter into Vajrayana, now the bodyness becomes the working base. No?

A long video, yous do not have to watch it, but I just leave the link here:

Buddhism, Trauma, and Healing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9AeQJjz9Q

*

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by sentient

You don’t have to listen to it.

It is just that – and I do not know if I understand this correctly…….
In Mahayana one discovers Shunyata. Shunya meaning empty or zero and ta meaning –ness.
So in Shunyata we explore the as-issness of things in space without the (interpretive) screen between subject and an object.

When we enter into Vajrayana, now the bodyness becomes the working base. No?

A long video, yous do not have to watch it, but I just leave the link here:

Buddhism, Trauma, and Healing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9AeQJjz9Q

*

Very cool,

I am a big believer in working with the body to deal with issues.

One way I suggest is that every emotion, every upset has a feeling to it within the body.

When one is really caught up it is often hard for someone to be mindful, to just observe the thoughts without being caught up in the emotional upset.

What I have found is if you can feel that energy within you, that feeling of the upset within your body and just reside in, be with it. It gives the mind a point of focus. It takes the mind away from the upset. Also being with the energy of the upset helps to release the obstruction.

It is not like fast food, a quick and easy process but it is one I have found very effective.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by jonesboy

I am a big believer in working with the body to deal with issues.

Not only that, but if I remember correctly, one teacher described it as a starting point of becoming a ‘spiritual warrior’.
To dare to live one’s life authentically, without masks.

One way I suggest is that every emotion, every upset has a feeling to it within the body.

Absolutely.

What I have found is if you can feel that energy within you, that feeling of the upset within your body and just reside in, be with it.

Exploring the as-is-ness quality of it in the moment, perhaps one could say?

I am just sketching here – but when you *hold space* for someone, you just stay there present with them without judgement, sharing their upset till they ‘right themselves’ again.
So why not also *hold space* for one’s own as-is-ness-energy, which means acknowledging it fully, allowing it the space to be just as it is, yet there is this compassionate attitude towards ourselves in it.

*

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by sentient

Not only that, but if I remember correctly, one teacher described it as a starting point of becoming a ‘spiritual warrior’.
To dare to live one’s life authentically, without masks.


Absolutely.


Exploring the as-is-ness quality of it in the moment, perhaps one could say?

I am just sketching here – but when you *hold space* for someone, you just stay there present with them without judgement, sharing their upset till they ‘right themselves’ again.
So why not also *hold space* for one’s own as-is-ness-energy, which means acknowledging it fully, allowing it the space to be just as it is, yet there is this compassionate attitude towards ourselves in it.

*

Yes, perfectly!

This same residing is no different than one does in meditation , Rigpa or anything else. It teaches one how to be.

What I love about the practice is it can be during every conversation, meeting, driving. This learning to reside and be aware, to let things flow through.

This is how I first experienced the witness and full body bliss. Being with the energy, present and feeling the emotions flow through. At Jake In the box no less :)

[Gem]

Originally Posted by sentient

Healing of Karmas and Traumas ...

Reggie was a student of Trungpa and I do find his talks quite good, because he makes the teachings more easily understandable :

https://www.dharmaocean.org/episode-...e-body-part-i/

https://www.dharmaocean.org/episode-...-body-part-ii/

Any opinions, tips or comments?

I listened to the talks, and they seemed reasonable enough to me, though seemingly a small part of a larger discourse, and it happens when undertake body awareness that it it is extremely simple in principle, but then it's nuanced and complex in all of its dimensions so teachers can talk for hours about it. I like this subject because body awareness is how I approach meditation.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by sentient

You don’t have to listen to it.

It is just that – and I do not know if I understand this correctly…….
In Mahayana one discovers Shunyata. Shunya meaning empty or zero and ta meaning –ness.
So in Shunyata we explore the as-issness of things in space without the (interpretive) screen between subject and an object.

When we enter into Vajrayana, now the bodyness becomes the working base. No?

A long video, yous do not have to watch it, but I just leave the link here:

Buddhism, Trauma, and Healing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9AeQJjz9Q

*

I can't say I was into this. It was very grandiose, and I ended up wondering how this can be called body awareness - I guess toward the end it was more like body awareness, but 'spacey'.

[sentient]

Originally Posted by Gem

I can't say I was into this. It was very grandiose, and I ended up wondering how this can be called body awareness - I guess toward the end it was more like body awareness, but 'spacey'.

I found I could really relate to that video talk (a lot of it anyway) – because of its simpleness, so what did you find grandiose about it?

Say, you have suffered a trauma in a big way, or too many times, and now with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) your system is flooded with cortisol – so you end up in a chronic stress fight, flight or freeze response, in an angry ‘road rage’ reactionary pattern where your buttons are pushed left, right and centre at mere: “Hello” from someone.

Instead of hitting the bottle to numb yourself, what do you do?

First Aid:
Understand that when you are in a chronic stress, you stop digesting, your stomach stops producing hydrochloric acid:
http://www.drtoniawinchester.com/sto...id-and-stress/

Without stomach acid your body cannot produce Choline, a precursor to the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine and without neurotransmitters it doesn’t matter how many years you have done ‘mindfulness’ or ‘equanimity’ practices - when you try to tell your body to take a deep breath and relax – nothing works.

So start with Apple Cider vinegar or other digestive aids to boost your HCI.
And boost your Acetylcholine levels with Choline Bitartrate and Alcar for example - and see it that works.

Now, if you notice that your brain has started to work again, that you are not in that traumatized –‘checked out’ state anymore, but still have those automatic reactionary patterns …..
This might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN1ngkASEbY

Also if you do have energy blockages, say in your heart chakra, no matter how ‘positive’ your thoughts, the negativity will gather there - or if the blockage is in the solar plexus – the ‘rapid dog’ defensiveness will manifests, so some chakra work can be of help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogU4H6LlEk

But since this is a Buddhist forum, maybe Gem or others have some good tips how to deal with ‘trauma space’ using Buddhist methods?

[Gem]

Originally Posted by sentient

I found I could really relate to that video talk (a lot of it anyway) – because of its simpleness, so what did you find grandiose about it?

My approach is to be aware of the body as it feels, so when it's all space and there's no reference to discomfort and pain I think the narrative becomes more about the way people want to be rather that the way it really is.

Say, you have suffered a trauma in a big way, or too many times, and now with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) your system is flooded with cortisol – so you end up in a chronic stress fight, flight or freeze response, in an angry ‘road rage’ reactionary pattern where your buttons are pushed left, right and centre at mere: “Hello” from someone.

Instead of hitting the bottle to numb yourself, what do you do?




First Aid:
Understand that when you are in a chronic stress, you stop digesting, your stomach stops producing hydrochloric acid:
http://www.drtoniawinchester.com/sto...id-and-stress/

Without stomach acid your body cannot produce Choline, a precursor to the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine and without neurotransmitters it doesn’t matter how many years you have done ‘mindfulness’ or ‘equanimity’ practices - when you try to tell your body to take a deep breath and relax – nothing works.

So start with Apple Cider vinegar or other digestive aids to boost your HCI.
And boost your Acetylcholine levels with Choline Bitartrate and Alcar for example - and see it that works.

Now, if you notice that your brain has started to work again, that you are not in that traumatized –‘checked out’ state anymore, but still have those automatic reactionary patterns …..
This might help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN1ngkASEbY

Without going too far into the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and it's balancing parasympathetic nervous system, the orator in the video started by referencing reaction patterns, which he describes aptly as 'being at war with thoughts and things, which as he says, calming all this is the foundational aspect of healing. In my terminology, such cessation of that reactivity is equanimity, and that is the practice.



He proceeds to some exercises tensing and relaxing, which is where I depart from his method, as I would become aware of body tension 'as it is' and ... so be it. He instructs rubbing the palms, massaging the face, and melting into energy body, and so on, is all arbitrary meditation exercise I wouldn't suggest.



Then he says stop doing and start feeling, which is more my style. Take all experience unconditionally, silent awareness, alert and awake, allow experience without preference, witness of all happenings but not making anything happen - all that is my thang.


Then he starts on intention, and incorporates this as affirmations, and I again depart from this, but he also gives the option of not doing that. Then it seems to change from a healing meditation to a metta meditation of sorts, and he merges these in a sort of light visualisation in the body, which in principle is a good thing, though I wouldn't make it into an intentional exercise.


In summary, there's parts of this I think are full of merit and other parts I could be more critical of, and I have reasons for that, but really, one could do worse and I'd rate this pretty highly as a meditation exercise.

Also if you do have energy blockages, say in your heart chakra, no matter how ‘positive’ your thoughts, the negativity will gather there - or if the blockage is in the solar plexus – the ‘rapid dog’ defensiveness will manifests, so some chakra work can be of help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogU4H6LlEk

This one is basically a mantra-come-visualation meditation, which is volitional work - not the same as just being there and letting things be as they are, and the basic flaw in these meditations as I see it is the contradiction between non-volitional 'just being' and intended purposes and outcomes.


The last comment I make is these seem to be instructed for the sake of following the instructions, without the explanations, without reasons, and I think this sets up the typical teacher/student thing. The teachers also suggest experiences such a 'whole spacious awareness', 'feel the sensation chakra pulse', 'see the energy' and so forth... I don't see how this can reveal the 'experience as it is'.


To me, it just comes down to a question of do you want know the truth of it 'as it is' or do you want it be 'as you want it to be'?