Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Martin Potter, modified 12 Years ago at 9/21/11 12:07 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/21/11 12:07 PM

Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 86 Join Date: 8/22/09 Recent Posts
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...

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
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Tommy M, modified 12 Years ago at 9/21/11 3:16 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/21/11 3:16 PM

RE: Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
The "sweet spot" discussed on here is located just above the base chakra/sex centre/whatever you want to call it, what you're getting in the chest area is not the same thing. You're making a few errors in where you think certain points are located so hopefully getting some better info will clear this up a bit.

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.

This is where you'll find feelings which are not conducive to refining the sense of being, although they are very pleasant they provide more support for this sense of being and should be investigated.

while with the sweet spot i find i have to push it down to perceive from the stomach

You're aiming for the wrong place, and using force in this practice will be of little benefit to you.

and then it's difficult not to get pulled into the gravity of the sex centre at the top of the pubic area

The sex centre is situated at the base of the spine, not in the area you describe here. The point at the top of the pubic area is what Tarin is calling the dantien and you're calling the centre of being.

Any experiences with success with the sweet spot or what works for you to get in tune with it consistently?

I use this constantly and find it to be a simple, effective technique for tuning into naivetè and sincerity. I go about it by just placing my attention on that spot, however you may find it useful to place your hand or finger on the physical location of it so as to have a more concrete anchor on which to focus.

What happens for me when I 'hit' that spot is that "I" become very light and subtle feeling, everything becomes clearer and more simple and things take on more of a sense of wonder. There is innocence and a wonderful sense of not knowing anything, it's all still quite subtle but obvious as it happens and it cultivates affective feelings which are conducive to refining the sense of being.

Hope that helps, and thanks for posting those quotes from the yahoo group, I hadn't seen them but they've got some great instructions in them.
Martin Potter, modified 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 11:55 AM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 11:55 AM

RE: Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 86 Join Date: 8/22/09 Recent Posts
Tommy M:
The sex centre is situated at the base of the spine, not in the area you describe here. The point at the top of the pubic area is what Tarin is calling the dantien and you're calling the centre of being.


Hmm this is a bit confusing, richard describes it differently here:

Richard, http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/selectedcorrespondence/sc-naivete.htm:
Physically, it is locatable just below that feeling of ‘being’ (typically four-fingers width below the navel) and just above your sexuality (at the top of the pubic area).


So it seems centre of being / dantien is 4 finger widths below the navel, the sex centre is at the top of the pubic area, and the sweet spot is somewhere between the two? Where did you read at the base of the spine?


Tommy M:
you may find it useful to place your hand or finger on the physical location of it so as to have a more concrete anchor on which to focus.


Yes, I was doing this last night and it made it a lot easier.

Tommy:
What happens for me when I 'hit' that spot is that "I" become very light and subtle feeling, everything becomes clearer and more simple and things take on more of a sense of wonder. There is innocence and a wonderful sense of not knowing anything, it's all still quite subtle but obvious as it happens and it cultivates affective feelings which are conducive to refining the sense of being.


Sounds great! I'll keep practising

Tommy M:
Hope that helps, and thanks for posting those quotes from the yahoo group, I hadn't seen them but they've got some great instructions in them.


They're actually from the google group which is private. I unexpectedly got membership last week about 3 months(!) after i applied. There's something repulsive about keeping useful information exclusive so I wanted to post the most useful quotes here, even if they're interspersed with my ramblings emoticon


Thanks
- Martin
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Tommy M, modified 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 3:12 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 3:12 PM

RE: Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
So it seems centre of being / dantien is 4 finger widths below the navel, the sex centre is at the top of the pubic area, and the sweet spot is somewhere between the two?

If I physically locate the dantien in my own body then I find it situated just below my stomach before what I would consider to be the pubic area, i.e. the point where the pubic hair naturally begins, while the sex centre, in my case, is clearly located just above the top of the penis and about 2-3 finger widths within the body.

Where did you read at the base of the spine?

I thought about this after I posted it and really should have been more specific, I didn't mean at the base of the coccyx, the description given regarding it being located in the pubic area is more accurate and makes it easier to locate. I've worked with the chakra maps for a long time so I tend to describe the location in these terms, apologies for any confusion caused.

It's roughly in the same area although my mention of the spine just confuses the issue when it's more readily located slightly higher. I still think that what you're getting in the chest area is not related to the "sweet spot" but other than that it sounds like you've got the rest of it sorted anyway. Thanks for questioning my take on it, I'll be sure to make it clearer in future.
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Steph S, modified 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 6:30 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/22/11 6:26 PM

RE: Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 672 Join Date: 3/24/10 Recent Posts
i'll try to remember to take one of those gray's anatomy style drawings and photoshop or illustrator or whatever it, to show the area. i do better with pictures much of the time anyways... so for others that learn that way too... could be helpful.
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Tommy M, modified 12 Years ago at 9/23/11 12:04 PM
Created 12 Years ago at 9/23/11 12:04 PM

RE: Sweet spot: below the navel or in the chest?

Posts: 1199 Join Date: 11/12/10 Recent Posts
I'll shoop-da-whoop something up tonight and post it.

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