Meditation Time Part II

After an unfortunate hiatus while the instructor looked after his sick daughter we're off again. This week was "Fire". I got on with this a lot better than the previous week(s) focus of water which to be honest didn't do much for me at all, no doubt my chakras are out of balance or something. This time we did a new breathing exercise which made me feel very hot and sweaty. Fortunately this is what's supposed to happen, I suppose the fire theme should have given me a clue.

Again though, my sceptical brain kicked in. While there's no denying the meditation had a definite physical effect I found it pretty hard to swallow the explanation about purifying Chi or whatever it was that was supposed to be happening. The breathing involved slowly taking a breath, compressing the lungful of air using your stomach muscles and holding it then breathing out slowly while maintaining the compression. It's a fairly hard isometric stomach exercise. Could the apparent heat generation be simply due to the effort involved in intensely contracting my muscles? In addition I have a vague recollection that breathing is one of the major ways heat is expelled from your body. Clearly if I'm right about that then taking around two breaths per minute rather than the more usual 10-12(ish) would have a significant impact on body temperature too.

Again, I'm not being overly critical about the course itself, you unfortunately have to expect that sort of thing on a meditation course. I'm also not trying to second guess and sneer at the instructor all the time. I'd just be more even more interested in it than I already am if there was an explanation of the genuine physical processes underlying what you can clearly feel going on in your body rather than some vaguely mystical almost certain nonsense.

Hmmm, there could be a book in that, "The Sceptical Meditator." Although the audience comprising the intersection of people who are both sceptical of new agey explanations and still interested in what, let's face it, are new agey practices is probably fairly small! I should probably point out I do draw the line there, meditation is pretty much my limit, it's relaxing, it makes you feel good and you can definitely feel "something". I put something in quotes because what you can actually feel isn't certain. You won't find me taking any courses in crystal healing or dowsing or any other blatant nonsense.

It's certainly interesting to me that I can make myself hot when I want to, it'll come in handy at the office since my desk is under an air conditioning vent. I suppose I'm just puzzled that firstly these clearly flimsy explanations get created and secondly that they get absorbed uncritically and then passed on as truths when even a modicum of thought would indicate there may be a more rational explanation. Presumably this is how religions start.

Now that I think about it it's not too different from some of the martial arts experiences I've had. In particular the Go (5th) Dan test I took in Japan. The test is very simple and has a digital pass/fail result. It comprises of you kneeling on the floor with your eyes closed while someone stands behind you with a shinai (bamboo training sword) at the ready. After a time (it seems like forever) and without warning the person attempts to smack you on the head with it. The test is that you have to move out of the way of the unseen strike. If you do, you pass, if you don't you fail and presumably you get a sore head into the bargain. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. I think about it fairly regularly to this day. The official explanation is you are sensing and reacting to "the killer intention." The person administering the test is supposed to emit the feeling that they are really trying to kill you and apparently it won't work if this doesn't happen.

So, fair enough I moved at the appropriate time and passed the test, hooray for me. I certainly felt something - I heard a loud roaring sound and it felt as if someone had hosed me out of the way with a high pressure jet of hot water. I felt decidedly peculiar for the rest of the day. But what really happened? I have no idea sadly. As a senior (and presumably also slightly sceptical) student remarked at the time, "It's certainly a test, but a test of what?" I don't have a better explanation unfortunately but that doesn't mean I don't think there is one. I suppose I can vaguely consider that I heard it coming at a subconscious level or something similar. Who knows, perhaps I really did sense the killer intention. I'd love to do some proper testing but it's not something I'm in a position to do. Shame. So until then the best explanation I have is the one I was given. It doesn't mean I have to believe it unconditionally though.