3 0 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 3 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 7 Men do the same. The stronger ones help themselves first. In this sense, man has not evolved very much. With animals, there exists a hierarchy based on the dominant force and the goal is to be respected by the weaker ones. With men, domination also exerts itself through force by sowing the seeds of fear. If these are well watered, fear increases. Therefore the question is: should one be strong or weak? Does the fact of not imposing oneself, of not fighting back, of knowing how to share, of being patient and refusing aggression really a weakness? What is the right state of mind for the responsible man? We all possess the answer inside ourselves. During Zazen, our posture plays a fundamental role, not only because it is awakening or because it procures equanimity of soul and peace. But because we must draw our real character. Not our characteristics, which might be to be bad-tempered or fly off the handle… Or which can take on many other aspects, but the Character of the sky and the earth. First of all, one should be deeply rooted on the ground whether sitting, standing, or walking. Well-anchored in the soil, feet deeply rooted. That also is to be firmly established in the Way. Next, elevate oneself firmly towards the sky by delicately pushing the top of the skull upwards. This way you can feel the great Presence and not let yourself be swept away into the spheres of conceptual or emotional thinking. When one maintains this attitude of dignity and real nobility, the spirit then takes on the noble frame. And if you think with the noble body, who is thinking? It is the Spirit who thinks. Ancient texts tell us we should breathe with our heels and move around from the hips while deriving our energy from the low-belly (hara), at the level of a point situated about two widths of the thumb bellow the navel. We must clearly understand that the body influences the mind and the mind, the body. When the spirit controls the body, then the spirit, becoming the body, will be under the control of the body. By experiencing this, one can discover a unity: vacuity-phenomena. Moreover, both being controlled, it becomes impossible to be submerged by negative passions or illusory feelings, impossible to become the victim of the errings of the dream in the dream. By remaining intimate with the body-spirit, one quite naturally becomes united in our fundamental Nature. Residing in it, one no longer commits wrongful acts and one destroys all the sins accumulated since times without beginning. The firmness of our posture strengthens the spirit, which, liberated from passions and perturbing emotions, becomes
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