Hello,
In the last two weeks I've been trying to keep in touch with the sweet spot below the navel. One way I try to do this is by using a physical trigger to locate it, i.e. by breathing in with the diaphragm, feeling the contraction in the stomach and then jumping to the intuitive sweet spot just below it (intuitive in the sense for example of when you have a sense of being it is an intuitive feeling produced by a constellation of sensations rather than merely the physical sensations themselves).
Here's a quote I found useful:
Tarin, http://groups.google.com/group/actualism/browse_thread/thread/b9a96998a4d8e2b8#:
the sub-navel centre is frequently referred to in eastern religious/
philosophical/medical writings by various terms, where one such
(chinese) term for it is the dantien. if you are sitting upright and
balanced well on your seat, it will probably be where your weight
naturally falls, and where it is probably most natural, as richard put
it, to 'intuitively feel you elementarily have existence as a feeling
being'. if you belly-breathe (expanding and contracting your belly
from the force of the diaphragm) and pay attention to your lower
abdomen, you will notice a pressure when you inhale, either like
you're breathing against something (pushing against it) that is
between the breath coming from within and the surface, or like you're
breathing into something (expanding it) that is situated, stably,
somewhere between 2 and 4 finger widths below the navel and a few
(harder to tell) finger widths in from the surface.
The other way I try to get in touch with it is by tracing down the intuitive elements from the superficial feelings in the chest. This can be a bit like jhana in that I can get absorbed in the intuitive parts and completely ignore the physical...
[quote=Tarin (quoting and editing Richard)]Reach down inside of yourself intuitively (aka feeling it out) and go
past the rather superficial emotions/feelings (generally in the chest
area) into the deeper, more profound passions/feelings (generally in
the solar plexus area) until you come to a place (generally about four-
finger widths below the navel) where you intuitively feel you
elementarily have existence as a feeling being (as in 'me' at the core
of 'my' being ... which is 'being' itself). Now, having located
'being' itself, gently and tenderly sense out ***the area immediately
below that*** (just above/just before and almost touching on the sex
centre). ***Here you will find yourself both likeable and liking (for
here lies sincerity/naiveté). Here is where you can, finally, like
yourself (very important) no matter what. Here is the nearest a 'self'
can get to innocence whilst remaining a 'self'. Here lies tenderness/
sweetness and togetherness/closeness. Here is where it is possible to
be the key.*** [emphasis added to indicate firstly, the 'tender, sweet
spot', and secondly, the purpose of feeling it out]
and in my words (also from above, in this discussion):
'you'll pass, along the way, a really tender, sweet spot. it can feel
paper thin, kind of like a membrane between the [the core of 'being'
and the sexual centre], and is easy to miss, but you know when you're
there because ***it takes all the affective energy that naturally
hangs out down [there in that area] and channels it into pure
intent.'*** [emphasis added to indicate the purpose of feeling it out]"
Tarin, http://groups.google.com/group/actualism/browse_thread/thread/b9a96998a4d8e2b8?pli=1:
that sweet spot (just below/beyond the core of being) can also feel
like a gap, and indeed it is.. it is an open space somewhat free from
the pull of either the core or the sexual centre, both of which have a
charge and kind of gravity that this sweet spot doesn't. that absence
of gravity and charge, and in its place, tenderness and willingness
(sweetness and sincerity), can indicate when you're there. then a
realisation that you are that sweetness and sincerity dawns.
then let that attitude enliven you (literally) completely and follow
it (literally) where it goes.
Sometimes when tracing down the elements I find that I can just stop at the chest and there is a spot there where there is enjoyment, and attention becomes panoramic. It feels more easeful as attention naturally perceives from that area, while with the sweet spot i find i have to push it down to perceive from the stomach (and then it's difficult not to get pulled into the gravity of the sex centre at the top of the pubic area and the gravity of the centre of being if your focus slips even a tiny bit, say when you're walking along).
I've been playing around with both, and sometimes it's hard to know exactly what i'm feeling, and exactly where i'm feeling it from. It seems like there is a lot of potential for different modes of perceptions and feelings.
Anyway, any thoughts? Any experiences with success with the sweet spot or what works for you to get in tune with it consistently? Any other interesting spots to perceive from in the body?
Thanks
- Martin