Rushen, Part 1: Spontaneous Origins of Yoga, Tantra and Art

Rushen, Part 1:

Spontaneous Origins of Yoga,

Tantra and Art

First watch this fine presentation by Mr. Igor Kufayev, where he discusses Spontaneous Origins of Yoga.

This phenomena of spontaneous physical movement is known by names such as kundalini kriya, kriya or Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE). It is very common and happens to many people, whether they know what it is or not. In Open Heart, as well as in traditional dzogchen, it is called rushen. Rushen means to separate between confusion (samsara) and liberation (nirvana). This basically means to recognise one's true nature.

Traditionally, rushen is taught in the following way: Think of various kinds of beings of the six realms, as taught in buddhism, and then in a spontaneous and playful fashion, without planning it, start acting out these beings. You might begin to act like a scared animal or angry demon, for example, and by doing so shed a lot of psychological and physical tensions.

In Open Heart we basically do the same thing. I encourage students to let it all come out spontaneously, without any planning. When they are new to the exercise, they usually start with small and shy movements but when they get out of their heads, the natural stress release mechanism takes over and they start shaking, trembling and moving in dramatic ways, often combined with moaning, grunting, laughing or yelling sounds. Rushen movements expand to different areas of the body or encompass the whole body, several muscle groups, at once. In the beginning it is chaotic, just like samsara, but eventually it starts to sort itself out.

In the short video, Mr. Kufayev discusses how spontaneous movements can develop to yogic postures and breathing exercises, which are known as pranayama.

To add to this, rushen can develop into tai chi, chi gong, dances of different kinds, including temple dance, as practiced in buddhism, hinduism and shintoism. Also, if the student is a tantric practitioner, mudras (hand gestures) and mantras (sacred sounds and vocalisations) can come out. From there visions of oneself as a guru or as a specific deity, any of those one is familiar with or others, can take place. All of this can happen spontaneously, without no planning or conscious effort whatsoever.

This indicates how thorough this exercise is. One can sort out one's confusion through rushen, reveal the sacred aspects of one's own mind (deities), while expressing it externally through dance and song. This is what it rushen means, to go beyond the six realms and actualize one's wakeful nature. 

- Kim Katami, 15.1.2019

Open Heart Sangha

Posture of Meditation, Part 2: Standing

Posture of Meditation, Part 2:

Standing

Posture of Meditation Series:

Posture of Meditation, Part 1: Sitting

Posture of Meditation, Part 2: Standing

Posture of Meditation, Part 3: Eyes

Standing meditation

Considering that standing posture is one of the four main postures of buddhist meditation, it has not been widely practiced as main method of it's own in other buddhist countries than China. It comes as a bit of a surprise when you think of it. Why not? In China both taoists and buddhists have practiced it throughout the centuries, and still today, although often from purely secular point of view, separated from larger philosophical context which may or may not be a good thing. In China standing meditation, often in connection with inner martial arts and self-healing, is known by many different names. Here, I'll refer to it simply by ”standing meditation”.

Meditation is a multilayered practice. Considering all the things that happen in the mind space, it is comparable to juggling. A beginning juggler is able to juggle for a brief moment until due to limited skills, balls fall to the ground. To manage all the different elements of the mind, such as thoughts, ideas, emotions and energies together with sensory information of the physical body, including the possibility of becoming distracted or subconscious, is not that easy and simple.

When meditation is practiced in a standing position or positions, it is an art of it's own. It is different from sitting meditation for the obvious reason that the body is an active element of the meditation. In sitting meditation, body is also central but in this case body has a more passive role in the meditative process.

Personally I think that standing meditation can be a great help in one's meditation when one has 1. recognised open awareness and has become familiar with it, 2. when one wishes to put more emphasis on how open awareness is embodied and 3. how the abstract mind-awareness functions relate to the structure of the physical body.

Of course standing practices can be done to begin with, without nondualistic insights and without any physical preparation such as rushen, but pursuing standing meditation as a primary method from the beginning, is hindered by many problems. I don't recommend it.

Perhaps this is the reason why the yogic traditions of India or Tibet never dove deep in standing meditation, although their traditions of sitting meditation have been exemplary. Perhaps masters and yogis didn't see it that important after advancing in their sitting practice.

The view from the top of the mountain

What is essential in all forms of meditation, is to recognise knowing awareness (first gear). By knowing awareness I refer to open awareness. It is our mind without dualistic content, without the sense of separation. Please refer to many texts on awakening and purification of the mind found from this blog, if you are not familiar with what this means.

So, whatever type of meditation we are talking about, it is the recognition of knowing awareness what makes the practice a ”meditation”. Concentration practice where intention is cultivated to attend the body-space, or the movement of the breath or made to act according to a mental image, is not really meditation.

So, the principle of open awareness should be clearly understood.

Training of standing meditation

When the recognition of open awareness is effortless and common, it is possible for the practitioner to put more emphasis on the embodying aspect of meditation. This is the meeting point of the third and fourth gears of ”Four Gears of Open Awareness”.

In sitting posture, the third gear, where open awareness (related to the primary sense organ) is met with the heart-space and the whole body, can already be thoroughly studied. However, when this is applied in standing posture, it takes on a different, physically more concretical spin. The connection of awareness in relation to action (based on intention/focus) can be studied and realised in a ”fleshy” way. Mind and awareness becomes flesh and bones. It becomes concretic because our physical bodies made of physical elements, are more actively looked as a central theme of our meditation. Here the dualism between non-physical absolute, open awareness, and physical relative body evaporates. ”Form is emptiness, emptiness is form”, as the Heart sutra says.

I find that it is absolutely crucial to stick with the panorama that opens from ”the top of the mountain”, referring to the first gear, because it is that open mind space, also termed as attention, bare attention or naked awareness which puts the whole practice and the method in a context that it actually is.

Nearly all inner martial artists have deficiency regarding this essential requirement. Without the first gear, and nonduality, standing meditation cannot and does not result in thorough understanding, traditionally called as wisdom and compassion.

- Kim Katami, 26.6.2016

Open Heart,

www.openheart.fi

Monopoly of awakening

Monopoly of awakening

There is one thing about traditional Tibetan buddhism and dzogchen, that I have exceedingly hard time to appreciate. It is the monopolistic aspect of their tradition.

Oath of secrecy

Vajrayana, as Tibetan buddhism is known, is usually sealed with an oath of secrecy (samaya) which the student is required to take before receiving teachings. This means that the student who has received any sort of teachings from his teacher (lama) cannot tell or share with others what he has learned. If the student does this, it is seen as a violation towards the guru, guru's lineage and the teachings concerned. It is said that by breaking samaya, one goes to hell realms etc. It gets medieval pretty quickly.

Myself being an unorthodox, nonsectarian teacher of both tantra and ati yoga (dzogchen) I appreciate the aspect of secrecy to some extent. It is a fact that empowerments of tantric deities or mind-to-mind transmissions, also known as ”direct introduction” in dzogchen cannot be validly delivered by a person who has no thorough understanding, know-how and personal experience of the teachings concerned. One has to be an expert to be able to deliver these things.

However, to me it seems that the way how vajrayana-students, both eastern and western, are bound with an oath of secrecy regarding the teachings they have received, is an exaggeration. The way how it is applied sucks. Big time. Secrecy is clearly an element that prevents dharma-teachings from really taking fire and hence people of the society at large remain in dualistic ignorance.

Does buddhism deliver?

Sometime ago I heard Tenzin Palmo, a widely respected Western Tibetan buddhist nun and lama, say with a frustrated tone*,

”It would be nice if someone would come along and find a method by which people could awaken. Even the Buddha could't do that”.

*See the video here.

It is striking to hear this from a true yogini with lifelong practice who is a specialist of the buddhist tradition. Her tradition is the spiritual tradition of the world that is supposed to help people awaken. In my view buddhism, out of all religions has the greatest potential for waking people up... but it isn't happening.

There are many reasons for this, out of which oath of secrecy is one. It is a problem because it prevents from various enlightening techniques from being shared openly for the benefit of many. Only lamas and those who are initiated in specific traditions, have access to these teachings that are meant for every one, the whole humanity, not only to a priviledged few.

Tibetan buddhism being an old establishment, and largely a monastic one, it is clear that there is a motive of self-preservation, money and power there. No religion is above these human traits. What commonly happens when men in robes get together, and too comfortable without much responsibilities is that their dharma becomes diluted, watery. Nowadays, Tibetan buddhism, including the one which has been and is being imported to the Western world is like a pale ghost of dharma. There have lineages, temples, philosophies and the whole external show going on but rarely do lamas and rinpoches know first hand what emptiness etc. really means. There is no juice there. Largely, it isn't much different from what the Christian church has to offer. Many people buy into it, including westerners with high education but evidently endowed with only little of common sense.

I say this because I keep getting regular emails from people all around the world who for some time bought what their lamas, (who are often young men with buddhist academic degrees, without much or none experience of meditation, living very comfortable lives supported and served by their parishioners), kept telling them by reading books aloud.

This has been warned by gurus and masters through the whole human history. Never be fooled by titles, reputations, robes, fancy speeches or other externals. Judge a teacher by how his teachings actually work. Don't buy a pig in a poke.

Awakening and the two part formula

About two years ago when I was asked by a friend to help him awaken, I spontaneously came up with what now is called as the ”two part formula”. Over 95% of people who committed to use it as the basis of their existential analysis, got irreversibly awakened.

I have written about this extensively at the Open Heart-blog. There is also the free Awake!-ebook available at the Open Heart-website and YouTube-videos, if you are not familiar with the topic. Please look into it, if you haven't yet.

So, 65 people (out of 67 in total) got awakened with this formula, most in one-on-one guidance given by a teacher. Personally having spent years and doing literally tens of thousands of hours of various practices to get awakened, while not managing to do that, I think that this is very significant. The formula works. In some cases even without a dialoque with a teacher.

It works like a Swiss watch with anyone who has recognised his existential dilemma and has enough commitment to see thought it. As it works so well, I'd presume that it will, within some time frame, become a sort of a worldwide standard as a technique facilitating the awakening of people.

I wish to make clear is that this two part formula is not my property, my invention or trademarked by the Open Heart-method. I simply remembered it from my previous life.

It is free for everyone to use, to both seekers and teachers. Feel free to make it your own! Use it well.

Awakening and Tibetan dzogchen

After I had used the two part formula with about 15 people, I read from a dzogchen-book that these two principles, 1. I-less awareness and 2. I-based mode are used in a dzogchen tradition as a preliminary practice to generate awakening. As I forgot which book it was, I've tried to find a traditional dzogchen-reference about it. I just wanted to know if there is a real connection there, other than my past life memories.

An acquaintant, practitioner of Tibetan dzogchen and a student of Namkhai Norbu, wrote me:

”There are practices that are nearly identical to... "self-inquiry", in the practice of khordas rushan (korde rushen). But I'm a fairly hard-line traditionalist when it comes to practices and transmission and cannot discuss the specifics of rushan here.”

He admits that in their tradition, they have practices for separating (rushen) illusion (samsara) from reality (nirvana), that is concerned with the sense of self or me-ness, as is done also in vedanta-style self-inquiry. However, he stops from saying more by his oath of secrecy. With all respect, considering the topic and it's universal importance to all men, the otah of secrecy does not seem rational to me.

A better and more to the point reference about awakening as it is taught in Tibetan mahamudra and dzogchen, popped up when I was listening to a recording* by Daniel P. Brown, the author of the book ”Pointing out the Great Way”:

”Now bring to mind your usual sense of self, your personal identity. You can evoke this and use it as an object of reflection. For example I would evoke Dan, Danness, and look squarely at Danness. The thing about self-presentation is that you can evoke it and you can observe it... So evoke your sense of self and observe it. Notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self. Familiarise yourself with the target of your search... And now take your awareness... And let your awareness roam thought the regions of your body. See if you can find any thing in itself, any independently existing thing that is that personal identity, anywhere in the field of bodily experience. You have to actively search... And the more you search anything independently existing, any thing in itself, the more what you search for will be seen from your awareness as unfindable. Emptiness practice... is in the unfindability of the target... If you think you find the independent basis for that sense of self, if you find any thing that's substantial, roam around in that area and break it down to smaller units of analysis... OK, now evoke your sense of self, your personal identity once again... Familiarize yourself with the target of the search. Evoke your personal identity and notice any personal characteristics you associate with that sense of self... Now, take your awareness and let it roam through mental content. Do you find any independently existing thing that is that self?... As you continue to search at some point there is a shift in your basis of operation. What remains right here is the awareness itself, no longer obscured by the empty construction of the personal identity. You open up to the level of awareness that is cleaned up of the cloud of self. And you start operating from that instead of operating out of self-mode.”

*The recording can be found from this page, under: ”Meditation on Insight Training or ”Emptiness”.

This is the only recording that I've come across (in addition to those offered by Open Heart) which quickly but in reasonable clear way says what one should do to get awakened. It is better than most instructions out there. It is essentially the same as the two part formula.

Because of the way it is guided (pedagogy), a beginner without any exposure to what is being instructed will probably have difficulty understanding what Brown is talking about, and may not be able to apply the practice. In order to get the instruction properly, you'd have to join a retreat with him and they cost quite a bit of money. Anyway, for Brown's guided meditation to be public like that, him being a traditionalist bound by oath of secrecy regarding the practices, I think it's good they made it available.

To clarify what Brown is instructing people to do to gain insight of emptiness, is precisely what is being instructed with the two part formula, which is availabel in clear and understandable instructions.

Compassion

What I say are not the words of a buddha, fully awakened one. I am well aware of my immaturity as a yogi and as a teacher. But with all love and respect, neither are correct the words of many gurus out there. There is a need to burst some widely believed and practiced bubbles.

My motive for writing another critical text about the problems in the world of dharma today, is because I think that proper spiritual instructions should be available to all people. I hope from my heart that the humanity as large will someday be significantly more aware than it is now, even though various teachings have been around, kept in vaults, for hundreds and hundreds of years. It simply is not correct or fair to speak of ”compassion towards all beings” while holding to the medieval attitude of dharma monopoly.

May all beings be free!

With love,

- Kim Katami, 20.6.2016.

Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!

Cutting through Samsara

and entering Nirvana, Part 3:

Twist and Shout!

Check also:

• Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 1: Cutting through-text and video
• Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 2: Cessation/Nirodha-text and video
• Cutting through Samsara and entering Nirvana, Part 3: Twist and Shout!-text

Jigme Lingpa, talks about distinguishing between samsara and nirvana in his famous book, Yeshe Lama. Rushen or korde rushen has the meaning of separating or distinguishing samsara and nirvana. This is the basic training of natural perfection, also known as dzogchen. Jigme Lingpa quoted in italics.

Rushen of body

How to do the rushen of body is explained in the root tantra:

With the body, in motion or reclining,

Or twisting and turning, perform yoga postures,

Stretch and bend the limbs

And put the body through its paces.

Just as you conceive it, physically enact

The behaviour of the six kinds of mythic beings.

Accordingly, in order to revert the physical, vocal and mental activity initiated by karma and natural propensity, and in the future to halt it entirely, go to a place where it is certain that no one will intrude and where you cannot be seen or heard... Then say to yourself, ”I am here for the sake of all sentient beings to separate, distinguish and define samsara and nirvana physically, energetically and mentally, so that in the future I need not return to samsara.”

After generating bodhi-mind in that way, strip naked and... Then, run and jump, twist and turn, stretch and bend and, in brief, move your body in whatever way comes to mind – but without purpose or design.

Rushen of Speech

Then, similarly, in order to pull apart and define samsara and nirvana in speech... Chatter, nonsensically to yourself and speak various languages randomly.

Twist and Shout!

First a reminder: Please remember that yours truly is not an adept of the orthodox dzogchen-tradition.

What we have in the previous quotes is something very interesting when done in action. My interpretation of distinguishing samsara and nirvana by bodily and verbal means is as follows.

Basically, what the great master Jigme Lingpa is saying here is for one to allow the samsaric tensions be released, shaked, vibrated, shouted or voiced by physical means. When this is done, samsara is automatically released and nirvana, open natural awareness reveals itself.

What the master suggests here, in effect is no different than what ancient tribes have done when singing and dancing around the fire. The effect is the same when people of today sing and dance to different rhythmical music at concerts. Recently I witnessed a growd dancing to a wonderful Korean electronic dance group. The thoughtless and clear minds of both these, dancers and musicians were noticeable. The drummer spent long times in the thoughtless state, fervently beating his drums! All these people surely experienced the effect of this, whether they knew to call it with the proper technical term known in dzogchen or other schools.

Kriya

Several years ago I came to spontaneously think that shaking the body briskly is a wonderful way to release tensions, both physical and mental. When one begins to shake the body, soon the shaking takes on it's own and there is no need to continue it anymore as it does itself. This is a natural mechanism of the human nervous system, animals have it and use it too.

In yoga, spontaneous physical shaking, trembling, jumping, moving, shouting and voicing in a non-rhythmical non-composed manner, is called by the term ”spontaneous kundalini kriya” or just ”physical kriya”. To some people this begins by itself, often to their surprise, while to others this doesn't start spontaneously at all. However, the nervous systems of all men have this ability to shake off what doesn't belong there. It's just spontaneous shaking and voicing which naturally covers areas of physical and psychic blocks in the bodymind that seek for a release.

This mechanism may be consciously stopped at anytime. This has nothing to do with going into a hypnosis or a trance. One is perfectly aware and conscious of this happening.

TRE

Dr. David Berceli, founder of the TRE-system has done wonderful scientific research and fieldwork with this principle. TRE refers to ”trauma releasing exercises”. In TRE some simple exercises and stretches are used to get the natural trauma releasing mechanism working which then takes on on it's own. His organisation has educated hundreds of TRE-instructors worldwide. What they do is no different to what Jigme Lingpa is suggesting or what is done by those with physical kriyas. However, the theoretical explanation and the meaning of it varies.

Rushen-practice in the Open Heart-style

In the beginning of a Rushen-session, sit quietly for a moment, let your breath calm down and relax. After a moment, chant Machig Labdron's guru mantra 4 or 8 times aloud. After this initial contact with the master, stand up, lie on your back or take a position that you feel like taking. Allow physical shaking and/or spontaneous voicing to begin. Let it happen naturally on it's own. Don't manipulate the natural chaotic pattern of the shaking or shouting. Don't try to release tensions, the inbuilt mechanism takes care of this on its own. Allow it to happen. When the body wishes to take a new position, allow it to happen. You will see that the natural stress releasing mechanism goes through all the tensions in logical manner. Just observe this, as you would observe thoughts or emotions come up and go by in open awareness meditation (ati yoga).

Continue for 20-30-40 minutes in one session. After a shaking session, lie down and rest for 5-10 minutes. You might feel very tired after the first couple of sessions but this tiredness goes away eventually. Then sit up and practice Ati-meditation. This Rushen-practice may also be done as a preparation for Tibetan Heart Yoga-session.

The way how the body shakes goes in periods. It may be very slow and calm while on the other hand it might be very fast, aggressive and uptempo. Allow it to be as it comes, don't change it. Yet know that it can be stopped at any time.

What is very important is to be able to observe objectively. This is a basic skill of meditators. However, if you are a beginner, know that sometimes strong emotions can come up. If this happens your body might shake aggressively, you might shout in fear, you might start crying and so on. Something like this that you didn't expect to happen, might happen. It's totally OK. It's subconscious tensions, stresses and traumas, samsaric bodymind content releasing itself. However, if you feel it's too much, you can stop the session at any time. If you feel uncomfortable to return to Rushen-practice, do it in a group or with a friend. You can also do this eyes open which will help you to stay ”here”, instead of getting lost in emotions or memories. In general, one can have eyes open or closed whichever is preferred.

The main reason why this is done is to shake off samsaric mindstuff from our bodymind in order to recognise our natural knowing awareness. It's that simple. Doing this has other benefits as well. Your physical fitness can become better, your sleep becomes deeper and more restful, your overall vitality becomes enhanced and of course you'll just feel fresh and clear after doing these sessions, both physically and mentally. This is because the knots of your dualistic mind are loosened or untied. Rushen (outer) combined with tantric practice, such as Tibetan Heart Yoga, which is called ”inner rushen” by Jigme Lingpa, does the same thing, emphasizing more the inner aspects of our dualistic conditioning. The general purpose of all of this is to cut through samsara and enter nirvana. Use it and enjoy it!

Sources

TRE-introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPFbXdSGSkc

TRE-beginner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyMxQH_39FQ

Kim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1e1zVwX78g

Jerry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfBLJxl9QJQ

Pau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6gZfKGVsw8

Pau doing yoga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq0IE0ntbks

Spontaneous movements may develop to ”deity embodiment” as demonstrated in several videos by Pauliina:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrY43Y5iGeI

Thank you for reading,

- Kim Katami, 29.5.2016

Open Heart

www.openheart.fi