Interesting article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 130054.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Somebody posted it on the sister site, Dhammawheel.
Not surprising. In my experience, sitting isn't necessary. Pain is overcome through not having a preference of having comfort and avoiding discomfort. For instance, it's winter. On a cold winter day, some people shiver, whine, and think about how cold it is. A Zen meditator thinks, "This body is cold, but this body is notself," therefore there is no discomfort. Not just in cold weather, though. But when they enter a warm area, like entering a warm environment after leaving a cold one, like a hot shower on a cold day, they don't think, "Ahhh! Relief!" because it is only the body that gets cold and warm, not the self; one's Buddha nature is not expressed due to temperature changes.
Zen meditation and pain
Re: Zen meditation and pain
These kinds of news are good only for advertising Zen a bit but nothing else. 13 unknown people compared to 13 other unknown people and it happens that some of one group manage pain better than others. Very informative. We don't even know which Zen they were practising and how.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Re: Zen meditation and pain
Well, it's not surprising because meditation can help people learn detachment. That doesn't mean that it's the only way to learn to detachment.