Adding to the Bali Usada retreat report made earlier this month.
fixed this link
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The Vipassana meditation he suggests is traditional, following the breath going in and out of the nostrils without any attempt to change it - just watch.
Am adding:
I'm used to following the breath with concentration on the abdomen both in zazen, Zen meditation, and in the Theravada Mahasi method. And Merta did talk about focusing harmonious mind below the navel, an area which he called the tantien, the Chinese name like the Japanese tanden or hara. I'm used to thinking of it as the center of gravity of the body. But I found it didn't make any difference - like the nose, abdomen, and breath were all in the same place.
Expanding the final paragraph to:
During the first evening in the meditation hall, two fireflies danced in the air up front. They or friends of theirs returned a few times during the week to lighten the atmosphere. On the last day, while I returned from my morning post breakfast walk down to the bridge and back, a butterfly alighted on my rakusu. As I walked on it remained there. That seemed unusual. I looked more closely and noticed it was two butterflies united. Didn't want to disturb them from mating on Buddha's robe and didn't want to walk back inside to my room with them still there, so I removed the rakusu and hung it on the branch of a tree outside. When the two bells rang for meditation I found the rakusu bare and donned it again to go sit. Charming events and I could have hailed them as propitious signs. But there was no need for that. There was no need for anything extra. Noble silence says it best. It was a good week.
