Someone who I have been working with for a while, who has been having some changes come about in their zazen practice, wrote me this question today:
“So this morning I got to the point where now I’m feeling more outside than in, so my exhalations were inhalations. Is that a valuable perspective for sussokukan? So now I’m looking in instead of out”
First of all, please read my previous blog post about Tanden (also known as lower Dantien). This will give you a sense of what we mean when we say Tanden. Two our three centimeters below the belly button. In the center of the belly. It is the main focus of spiritual transformation for certain lineages of Zen, but one does not have to be Buddhist to benefit from the internal alchemy process of Tanden.
When the Tanden starts to develop, the breath begins to do weird things. Disappear, implode, go in strange directions, become very subtle, go on forever, stop completely… These can be confusing, odd, suffocating. But these are a very normal part of developing the Tanden and the sussokukan.
After people have been sitting a while, and their system begins to fill up, there is a very interesting switch that happens for them. Where they had been reaching out or exerting an outward focus, suddenly, in daily life, their process turns 180 degrees and it is as if their awareness implodes. Where they were reaching out, they then begin to receive. To receive life. To receive everything around them. Everything starts to come to them.
It is as if they are the center of the universe. Not in an egocentric way, but in an awareness orientation. They walk around and they are the center of all that is happening. Everything is coming to them. They are full and taut, but not by force or effort. In this internal alchemy process, what was outside of them, outside of their perceived perception of themselves, now is inside of their awareness. So they meet reality, and in meeting that, a change occurs. A cellular change occurs. They are suddenly deeply supported by everything around them. This is completely counterintuitive at first!
As this full and tautness happens in the system, it is as if they are not reaching out for energy anymore, but like a great mountain, they make their own weather. No longer a slave to situations, their awareness, their interaction with space is bigger, centered, unwavering. And in the middle of this experience is Tanden. So it is not just an awareness of being the center of all that is happening, it is also a location of awareness in the lower belly. It is possible to discover this awareness centering without Tanden training, but the Tanden is a wonderful tool to refine this experience physically for a lifetime. It is something to use as a physical constant returning, which ripens over time.
At first when we are doing Sussokukan, we are exhaling, extending our breath out as far as we can, without force. This process deepens over time, and it becomes our natural way of breathing. Over time, our awareness and our breath become the same thing. Looking at the flower, our focus aligns with the exhalation, they become a one-pointed awareness. Looking at something, moving the body, focus of any kind is an expression of this exhalation and of Tanden.
And as the Tanden develops, in deep zazen, it seals. The belly fills up and stops moving, and a much more subtle breathing and momentum takes over. Deeper states are samadhi are a matter of course as we get the energy flowing.
Seeing someone who is not reaching out as they move through the world, who is not diving out with their awareness all of the time, is so shocking. They are like a vacuum. Like the eye of a hurricane, with everyone and everything spiraling around them. Being in their presence is transformative. We might think that they would just be invisible, but instead their presence is electrifying! And it is just this not reaching out, just this allowing the Tanden to develop, which allows this process to develop, ripen, and mature.
When you talk to someone like this or are around someone like this, instead of them speaking from a place of calculation, by not reaching out, but staying connected in the tanden, keeps them in a constant place of interconnectedness. Their speech, actions, spring forth from the context of being connected to everything around them at all times. The very aspect of feeling everything around them as them, as their internal world, leads them to move and function from this unified place.
They seem to emanate light. As if they do not need to seek light elsewhere, but light emerges from this Tanden, this not reaching out, this receiving.
We are afraid to not reach out. To not control life. To let go and let the light emerge from within. We think we’ll be worthless in the world, or fools, or ignored. And honestly this process is a very strange transition. It takes a long time. But then we will function in a way that is so unique, so needed in this world. We’ll just be our silly selves, still. We won’t be perfect. But we’ll shine in a way that does not go away depending on circumstance.
There are so many theories out there about Enlightenment, Kensho, Satori, Zazen… There is so much talk about experiences, realizations… But mostly that is just ideas, just talk, nothing real or helpful in the long run. Maybe you have not gotten a glimpse of your true nature yet. Or maybe you had a huge transformation you can’t seem to integrate into life. What and who is it that is sitting or standing here, filling up the space, the center of the universe? Diving into this, over and over, continually being fascinated by this process. Refining it, and through that becoming a stable vessel in this world for peace, a useful person who won’t be moved around by circumstance or drama. A true person of no rank. A person with nothing to do.
Thanks for reading! You can do it! Keep going! Stay fascinated!
Wow I’m speechless thank you so much for your uniqueness
Oh thanks so much!
Thanks for this helpful post Corey Something similar happened to me for a time, the feeling of everything being inside out, not necessarily outside of the body, but all the world contained within me. It coincided with a period of constant synchronicity, and then faded, I imagine it may have been partially or perhaps causally related to my practice at the time. It’s great to read these posts as a prompt to continue with the practice, even as all theorising recedes into the past. Many thanks.
Hi Hamish! You are so welcome. Yes, I say continue practicing. And find a teacher you relate with who feels like a similar species to explore this stuff with and keep deepening. Thanks!
tanden is
space-time continuum embodied
an essential go-to when changing a crying newborn’s diaper
the hardest button to button (with apologies to Jack White)
grounding chaos
feeling Life’s Origin emerge
home base
an arational symphony
simple & unfathomable
Hi Corey,
I have a question. Doing Zazen for long time, by being centered in lower belly and extending exhalation(naturally), the belly has become full and does not move. In that case, should I just remain centered in tanden and allow other sensations unfold?
Hey Tejanshu! Thanks for the message. I would be very curious about the tanden and not limit it in any way. And noticing other sensations, how is the tanden involved in those sensations? How does the room relate to the tanden…. Just keeping very curious about the process unfolding… It will be surprising, and many people limit the experience of the tanden by “pinning” it to just the lower
belly.
Thanks Corey. Will see how this unfolds. This Tanden and extending the outbreath has become my daily practise. Even while going to sleep, try to sink into this Tanden with extending the outbreath and go to sleep. It’s amazing…
Great!
Hi Corey,
As mentioned in my earlier post, the belly becomes hard and seals while practicing extending the outbreath. It feels that belly is like a hard ball. Normally outbreath extends upto lower belly (below navel) or tanden or I would say I can definitely feel the sensation of extended outbreath below navel. But, when the belly seals, during some of the sittings, the outbreath is felt more above the navel or say the sensations of outbreath are felt above the navel. I don’t interfere with this natural process. Is that fine?
Hi Corey,
As mentioned in my earlier post, the belly becomes hard and seals while practicing extending the outbreath. It feels that belly is like a hard ball. Normally outbreath extends upto lower belly (below navel) or tanden or I would say I can definitely feel the sensation of extended outbreath below navel. But, when the belly seals, during some of the sittings, the outbreath is felt more above the navel or say the sensations of outbreath are felt above the navel. I don’t interfere with this natural process. Is that fine? Or should I try something different?
Hi Tejanshu- Thanks for the question. I honestly recommend you find a teacher or someone knowledgable to work with consistently so as to check in with them often about all of this. It is a little tricky for me to say for this end. But yes, we have to allow the whole upper body to flourish. The tanden will begin to spread throughout the body and we need this to happen to allow the energy to penetrate us and do its work. It is all part of the process. And the sensation of the tanden will change all of the time. We may even spend several years on certain areas trying to open, like the middle or upper Dantien. Again, I think finding a teacher who you can work with consistently is a really good idea. I can offer some help finding someone maybe or you could come to some of my offerings. Thanks!
HI Corey,
I am located in India. I do not see any or may be not aware of any Hara/Tanden master around. Could you recommend someone? Btw, slowly I am feeling centered in tanden, while doing daily activities. Sometimes strange thing happens–>awareness/mind has sunk in the tanden, but breath is not( It happens mostly later in the zazen). Initially during the sitting , breath sinks into tanden, later it does not. IHowever, still, guidance would be the best.
Thanks,
Tejanshu
The tanden is mysterious and will show up in ways we cannot comprehend. Being curious about it all day long and not needing it to be a certain way, it will gradually reveal deeper principles. Actually the process is very personal and unique for each individual, and it can’t really be taught. So just being curious about it all day long, seeing how it begins to take over and have its own momentum. Not forcing, being patient, watching it and allowing to develop. Over time, we will have our own internal process which will feel connected and right, and then we will feel out of sync. And so the tanden feedback will be clear about how to proceed.