Chapter 27 back reaction

For the convenience of explanation, now I will first describe the various reactions during the meditation process in sections, and therefore decompose them into the order of one, two, three....This sequence of decomposition does not mean that the reaction phenomenon during the practice of meditation will occur gradually according to this procedure; for some people, this reaction will follow a certain law and occur step by step.For some people, it will happen out of sequence, it all depends on the physical health of the meditator.and the relationship between psychology and thought.Moreover, although we first decompose it paragraph by paragraph, we only give a rough outline of it, without commenting on its changes in detail.We will discuss further later when we talk about some achievements in sitting, which will inevitably produce changes in response to certain laws in the course of physiological changes.Now continue to explain after connecting the first and second stages of the previous stage.

Tertiary Response - A back and scapular response.During the process of sitting meditation, do you feel pain in the back or shoulder blades, or tightness of the nerves?Although there are many reasons for it, in general, two reasons can be used to include its main points: one is the inevitable phenomenon that the central nervous system of the "spinal cord" rises through the movement of qi along the governor vessel; the other is a physiological morbid reaction.Then explain them separately as follows: (1) Morbid reaction: This refers to the phenomenon of generally weak, sick or old people when they practice meditation.The so-called weak and sick include diseases of lung, stomach, liver, heart and other internal organs, or the root cause of the disease is hidden.If a person has these symptoms, when he practices meditation to a certain stage, he will feel pain in the back like a heavy pressure, weakness or pain in the waist.There are even phenomena such as back nerve convulsions and convulsions; or the feeling of congealing in the shoulders-the back of the shoulders and the back of the head, there is a strong and uncomfortable feeling;

If you have the above-mentioned situations, you must first understand that it is not a problem with meditation, because meditation is only one of the ways of rest, and a person or animal will never have a problem with rest.This is a response to prove that I already have a latent disease physiologically, which is something to be thankful for.Because without the test of meditation, you don't know that your body is already sick.And I can feel the pain, it is the self-healing effect of physical energy, not the terminal illness, reaching the point of no cure, for example, if a person is injured, but does not feel the pain of the injury, it is a serious injury Signal.If the injury is slightly better, it will feel pain.Another example is a person who has a cold, when the cold germs are still lurking in the body, there is no sign of a cold. If the symptoms of a cold come, it means that the cold has been alleviated.Therefore, in the process of meditation, if there are these phenomena, we must pay attention to medical treatment to cooperate with meditation. As long as we have firm beliefs and overcome these difficulties, we will naturally get better.

(2) Response of qi mechanism: If the body is normal and healthy, after the first and second reactions mentioned above, it will naturally reach the back and shoulder blades and feel swelling.It may even seem like something or a force is moving, it's just difficult to push upwards.Moreover, one's own consciousness will also produce potential attempts, as if feeling that one has to rush over to be relaxed and happy. In Dandao's concept, this phenomenon is called the "river cart" turning to "Jiaji". The process phenomenon of the governor vessel.In fact, this is the stage when Yang Qi begins to reach the "Huanyang Point". If you cannot relax your mind and achieve the artistic conception of "forget yourself", it will become more and more stressed. In other words, every time this happens , the more your attention will be concentrated on the back, you will naturally want to use the power of your consciousness to push it upwards, because the more concentrated your attention, the more tense the brain and stomach nerves will be.Even excessive force will cause the heart to contract and increase the feeling of back pain. Some people who learn some Taoist alchemy methods intentionally "guide" it to pass the test, or "use the mind to control the qi", and visualize the "river cart". The movement of "cooperates with deep, long and fine breathing, such as six, six, thirty-six deep breaths, or the number of ninety-nine breaths, as the concept of coordinating the big and small circles, or coordinating with internal exercises, or using yoga physical exercises and other methods Guiding it too far can also achieve a temporary effect, as if something passes through the "Jiaji" and rushes upwards to the "Jade Pillow", but after all, it is not the ultimate, but only a psychological force, which changes the role of physical sensation, not It is really the real state of Qi passing through the "Jiaji".

If you can completely "forget your body", or use your intellect to abandon the function of feeling, just keep quiet and do nothing, waiting for its fulfillment, it will be like touching a switch of an electric motor, with a click, you will suddenly relax and enter the state of mind. The state of being cheerful and energetic, even if you are usually a hunchbacked person (it’s another matter if you have been traumatized or born like this.) At that time, he will naturally straighten his waist, open his chest, breathe smoothly, and have a good appetite. Happy.However, often because of this, the energy is too strong, and it is difficult to sleep easily. However, ordinary people have a certain habit of sleeping, and now they regard it as a pathological state of insomnia, and the psychology becomes more and more panic.

The fourth reaction - the reaction of the head.When it comes to the reaction of the head to the meditation process, it is more complicated than other parts.From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, "the head is the head of all yang", so its role is also greater.From the perspective of Dan Taoism, it includes the "jade pillow" at the back of the head and the "mud flat" on the top of the head, which are very important parts. From the perspective of modern medicine, it is closely related to the cerebellum and brain. , and the "diencephalon" and "pituitary gland" and other organizations are quite complicated, and it is closely and directly related to the nerve cells of the five sense organs.Therefore, people who practice meditation often come here and have serious problems. The so-called "fire demons" in the world also have problems at this stage.Now, for the convenience of explanation, it is decomposed into three steps according to the parts, (1) hindbrain (jade pillow), (2) forebrain (3) diencephalon.

The reaction of the back of the brain: In the process of practicing meditation, unless you are empty-handed or silently meditating, you only regard the relatively peaceful state of mental consciousness as the effect of meditation.Then there is no further discussion.Otherwise, the longer you sit in meditation, it will inevitably cause a physiological reaction. After the physiological qi reaction passes through the kidneys, waist, and back, it will naturally rise to the back of the brain.When this invisible air mechanism reaches the back of the head (jade pillow), the most common reaction is to feel that the mind is not clear, a little drowsy, and enters a state of sleep but not sleep.In Buddhism, the standpoint of practicing "shamatha-visualization" or "meditation" calls this phenomenon "drowsy".It is one of the obstacles to spiritual practice.From the standpoint of some alchemy methods of Taoism, there is also a misconception that this is the state of "hundred chaos" or "sitting and forgetting" (in fact, it is similar to the situation of "hundred chaos" and "sitting and forgetting", which is not true.) Because Taoism is Starting from self-cultivation, the first thing to do is to focus on the physical life energy as the starting method, so it cannot be said that it is a completely wrong concept to think that this phenomenon is a wonderful state of "health preservation".Buddhism starts from the heart and mind, and immediately wants to put aside the "body view" and directly enter the realm of the spirit. Therefore, all "drowsy" or "disordered" phenomena that hinder the clarity and freedom of the spirit must be discarded.Therefore, it is considered to be the cause and condition of the obstacle.If you recognize the principles and principles clearly, the similarities and differences between Buddhism and Taoism on the process of meditation are not the focus of "right and wrong", but the starting methods adopted, each with different initial goals.In fact, no matter how different the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism are, a person cannot be separated from the relationship between body and mind and the mutual influence of body and mind.Even if you don't pay attention to the body, when you enter the state of tranquility, you still cannot do without the function of this body, and you still have to rely on this body before you can break the shackles of the cage of the body.Therefore, Taoism after the Song and Yuan Dynasties had a saying of "cultivating the truth through falsehood" for the theory of self-cultivation.

When the qi moves to the back of the head and appears in a dazed state, if the person is physically weak or physically and mentally exhausted, he will gradually feel sleepy, and even his physical strength cannot support the posture of meditation.This kind of situation should be due to the lack of "oxygen" in the brain, which is equivalent to the situation where people naturally yawn when they are tired and want to sleep.If it is not for the lack of physical strength, it is because the Qi mechanism rises to the back of the head.When he is in the state of sleep but not sleep, the phenomenon that is most likely to be caused is first of all the dimness in front of his eyes, ignorance, and gradually he will enter a dream-like state, just like a hazy state.This is the reaction relationship from the hindbrain nerve to the eye nerve.Many people in this state, like seeing things in a dream, see many things and images in a stupor, lovable and lovely, terrifying and sad, and various situations vary from person to person.It cooperates with the function of the subconscious mind (the so-called solitary shadow consciousness in Buddhism), which will cause many psychological changes and various changes in thoughts and concepts after waking up. The so-called "besotted magic" by ordinary people, or if there is a real problem, it will cause many changes. is out at this stage.The changes are very complicated, and they are closely related to a person's ordinary wisdom, thoughts, personality, psychology, and physiology.Without the guidance of a real Master, or lack of self-confidence, sound reason and correct thinking, it is easy to go astray.

If you understand these principles, then ignore these phenomena at that time, because after the dark night, the dawn will surely dawn.Then, as long as you go through this stage, you will feel a little sober.Or there is a little spark of light in front of you.Or like a firefly, or like a hook and chain.Or have a variety of different light colors.It is all related to the health of one's internal physiology, so it appears in the realm of "inner vision". (As for why these phenomena appear, the reason is not very simple, and I will talk about it later.) However, most people who meditate will naturally want to sit down after this point, or their legs are numb and stiff and unable to support.

If the inside of the body is not really healthy, or the brain and five sense organs have potential root causes of disease, or if there is fire (fire) in the "upper burner" as mentioned in Chinese medicine.Or stomach dyspepsia, and the relationship between other gastrointestinal diseases and various diseases, may also cause corneal redness, or tinnitus, earplugs, etc. that seem to be sick.If the tooth is sick, it is likely that there will be toothache or tooth shaking.If there is a cold latent, or other reasons, similar inflammation of the lymph glands, or brain nerve pain, or front and rear cranial nerve pain may also occur.But you must remember that this is not an ominous disease caused by meditation. It is actually because the root of the disease has already existed, and it was discovered through meditation.In other words, it is because of the relationship between meditation that promotes the self-healing effect of one's inner physical ability. If you persevere and cooperate with medical treatment, you will definitely be able to restore your absolute health. Therefore, people who have learned Tao since ancient times often Must have knowledge of medicine.