The Inner Body isn’t Solid and Fixed

In Week 2 of his Tricycle Retreat, “Touching Enlightenment,” Reginald A. Ray continued with his teachings on body meditation, taking the participants further into the practice of lower belly meditative visualizations.  After the completing the session, one participant states:

I usually meditate by following the breath process through nostrils to throat, chest to belly and back again. Doing the mediation focusing on the lower belly has been an interesting experiment. I am struck by how easily my mind settles down with this point of focus. Talk about being able to rest and look. Enjoying your teachings and looking forward to next week.

Reggie responds,

That’s great and shows very good evolution in your practice. The inner body isn’t a solid and fixed thing; it is interesting and informative how quickly you were able to let go of our normal idea of breathing, beginning at the nostrils, and just breath directly into the lower belly. There is not much to say about resting and looking, shamatha and vipashyana. You are doing it and that is the point of the practice. The lower belly is in fact the gate to the infinity of space (shamatha) and leads to the experience of eternity (vipashyana), if that makes any sense.

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