The Meditation Schtuff

[Longdog]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Oh wow, so cool, you can even wear it to meditate in the bath :lol:

If you really want to treat yourself to something very special, try this:
Fill up the bath tub with warm water and plenty of shampoo or bubble bath. Put on your meditation robe, usually unlined nylon rainwear or poncho, nothing else. You can wear two layers of rainwear if you like.

Get into the bath and make sure you duck under so that it all gets completely wet. Now sit up or stand up in the bath and pour in a good amount of shampoo or bubble bath into the collar of your rainwear. Rub it around well all over until it gets all foamy inside. If you wear rainpants, foam them up as well.

Then rub foam all over the outside of your clothes. If possible, get a friend to join in and help you with this.

The result is an extremely pleasant feeling of soft foam and wet nylon all over your body. It can be very relaxing after a while. May Peace and Love and Water always be with you.

Attached files

[Dojin]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

ordered myself a zabuton today next thing is to find a buckwheat zafu ( can only find thick cotton )

[Charles]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

ordered myself a zabuton today next thing is to find a buckwheat zafu ( can only find thick cotton )

I can't speak to the quality of these, since I didn't get my zafu from these folks, but they sell buckwheat zafus:

http://www.zafu.net/zafu.html

--Charles

[paivi]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

I'm a gipsy,

so I can't really be bothered with Schtuff, but sitting nude is out of the question too. (Yes, I'm bound by Culture, not yet seen the Light.)

I sit on an old hard sofa. I was in a car accident years ago, and both my knee and my back are useless.

I do have an altar with, well, stuff like a tiny Buddha statue, some flowers, a clay stupa that I made years ago, a mala... and some of my friends have taken photos in Tibet, Sri Lanka and India, and of yes I do have a singing bowl, and a vajra that I bought at an exhibition about ten years ago. Not that any of the stuff matters.

Should I give everything away and start collecting the appropriate Zen Schtuff instead? :roll: No, I already know that
things, although nice, are totally void of meaning.

[lindabeekeeper]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Anyhoo.. this gives me the opportunity to post something I've been mulling around in my brain pan for a bit:::
Xander's Dharma on a Dime (tm)
If you cannot find the budget to get an OFFICIAL Zafu, and blankets just aren't sturdy enough, I've found a cheap and easy solution.
I purchased some "fun Noodles" from Wal-mart. High density foam tubes for swimming.
Using a sharp knife, I cut the noodle into pieces just slightly wider than my posterior and duct taped them together. I used four pieces 2x2. Makes a cheap little seiza bench! Cost here in KC = about $10
If you want it to be prettier, then buy a nice pillow case! :twisted:

Xander, I love this!

Gassho,

Linda

[Dojin]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

thanks charles.
but i live in israel and sending things here cost almost as much as it costs to buy the zafu.

for now i use 2 pillows made of cotton ( they are quite hard, but i use to to get the hight just right )

but thank you very much for your concern, i really appreciate it.

[will]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Hey Zen. I made mine. I've had it for about 5 or 6 years now.

A few options:



1. You could buy a zafu, take out the stuffing and get some buckwheat from somewhere

2. Make one, and fill it with Buckwheat

3. Imagine that you have a buckwheat Zafu although it's a pillow (but that's not really practice necessarily)

4. Cry about it (might help)

5. Get a kapok Zafu

6. only 5 for now

Gassho

[Dojin]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

hey will. thanks for the many suggestions
for now i have the 2 cushions which are meant for sitting but they are not a zafu. but they are fine.
about making my own i will think about it... ( i dont know how to saw )as for feeling a zafu with buckwheat, i herd its not buckwheat but actually buckwheat hulls... and i cant find any in israel. the woman i order my zabuton from ( she makes them on special order ) said she couldnt find buckwheat hulls in israel so this is why she isnt making zafus from it.

but i think i found some place that sells buckwheat hulls and will call them as soon as the weekend is over

[chessie]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Today I sat! That is, as opposed to knelt! I still feel too new to talk much, but I'm listening as hard as I can! Following Xander's suggestion, I bought two 'noodles' at the grocery store, and cut each in 3, and taped together into a cushion 2 high and 3 deep. Then, laid a rubber yoga mat over the new cushion. I've also been practising stretching in the evening (thanks, Bill). so, finally, I sat in a sort-of cross-legged position this morning! And, next to my desk (at work) I can have my back to a filing cabinet, and guess what--I'm facing a white wall--perfect! I probably shouldn't get 'attached' to even this small success, but I still feel very celebratory! Ann

[Tb]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Hi.
For me just

May the force be with you
Tb

[Tb]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Incense is fun but not necessary (and now it appears that the particulate matter in the smoke is not particularly healthful .

Where do you get that from? that would be something to show the missus...

I cant see a thing..
wait! "I" can't see "a thing"

May the force be with you
Tb

[Jundo]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Incense is fun but not necessary (and now it appears that the particulate matter in the smoke is not particularly healthful .

Where do you get that from? that would be something to show the missus...

I cant see a thing..
wait! "I" can't see "a thing"

May the force be with you
Tb

Have a look here. More and more, I am switching to "non-incense" at Treeleaf ... incense which is not there, but there ...

http://www.clinicalmolecularallergy.com/content/6/1/3

I am doing this even though 'birth and death' are a state of mind, cause I am a former asthmatic with lousy lungs. No need to expose others to "Second Hand Buddhism" either! :wink:

Abstract

In Asian countries where the Buddhism and Taoism are mainstream religions, incense burning is a daily practice. A typical composition of stick incense consists of 21% (by weight) of herbal and wood powder, 35% of fragrance material, 11% of adhesive powder, and 33% of bamboo stick. Incense smoke (fumes) contains particulate matter (PM), gas products and many organic compounds. On average, incense burning produces particulates greater than 45 mg/g burned as compared to 10 mg/g burned for cigarettes. The gas products from burning incense include CO, CO2, NO2, SO2, and others. Incense burning also produces volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes, as well as aldehydes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The air pollution in and around various temples has been documented to have harmful effects on health. When incense smoke pollutants are inhaled, they cause respiratory system dysfunction. Incense smoke is a risk factor for elevated cord blood IgE levels and has been indicated to cause allergic contact dermatitis. Incense smoke also has been associated with neoplasm and extracts of particulate matter from incense smoke are found to be mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella test with TA98 and activation. In order to prevent airway disease and other health problem, it is advisable that people should reduce the exposure time when they worship at the temple with heavy incense smokes, and ventilate their house when they burn incense at home.

Gassho, Jundo

[Tb]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

ordered myself a zabuton today next thing is to find a buckwheat zafu ( can only find thick cotton )

All zafu's ive seen have a hole beneath them so that you can replace the cotton after a few sittings. so you can replace the cotton with buckwheat...
slapsko has another take on this subject, but i dont recall what he's got in his zafu...
you'll have to ask him...

May the force be with you
Tb

[Tb]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Incense is fun but not necessary (and now it appears that the particulate matter in the smoke is not particularly healthful .

Where do you get that from? that would be something to show the missus...

I cant see a thing..
wait! "I" can't see "a thing"

May the force be with you
Tb

Have a look here. More and more, I am switching to "non-incense" at Treeleaf ... incense which is not there, but there ...

http://www.clinicalmolecularallergy.com/content/6/1/3

I am doing this even though 'birth and death' are a state of mind, cause I am a former asthmatic with lousy lungs. No need to expose others to "Second Hand Buddhism" either! :wink:

Abstract

In Asian countries where the Buddhism and Taoism are mainstream religions, incense burning is a daily practice. A typical composition of stick incense consists of 21% (by weight) of herbal and wood powder, 35% of fragrance material, 11% of adhesive powder, and 33% of bamboo stick. Incense smoke (fumes) contains particulate matter (PM), gas products and many organic compounds. On average, incense burning produces particulates greater than 45 mg/g burned as compared to 10 mg/g burned for cigarettes. The gas products from burning incense include CO, CO2, NO2, SO2, and others. Incense burning also produces volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes, as well as aldehydes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The air pollution in and around various temples has been documented to have harmful effects on health. When incense smoke pollutants are inhaled, they cause respiratory system dysfunction. Incense smoke is a risk factor for elevated cord blood IgE levels and has been indicated to cause allergic contact dermatitis. Incense smoke also has been associated with neoplasm and extracts of particulate matter from incense smoke are found to be mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella test with TA98 and activation. In order to prevent airway disease and other health problem, it is advisable that people should reduce the exposure time when they worship at the temple with heavy incense smokes, and ventilate their house when they burn incense at home.

Gassho, Jundo

Hi.

Great one.
But too much of anything is never good...

May the force be with you
Tb

[Ryumon]

Re: The Meditation Schtuff

Yes, but:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 110415.htm

"Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses."

Personally, I sometimes burn a stick of incense for about one minute, just enough to get the smell spread through my room. I think that is not dangerous, and the smell is quite nice - relaxing, probably not, but it has context.

Kirk