Prekinesis

Prekinesis (Ancient Greek: “before movement”).
Thought does not move the body.
The thought “I” does not move the body.
What moves the body ?

The previous post KINETICS left off with an invitation to examine movement.

Exercises such as these weakened the “I” thought’s grip on life.

Here are more movement experiments to try.

1) Getting out of bed

Tomorrow morning as you lie in bed, notice what is going on.
Notice pressure, temperature, sound, light.
Notice thoughts, if any.
Continue to notice as getting up happens.
What did you find ?

Was any thought required or even involved in getting up ?
Look again the next day – we have to get up from bed anyway.
Carefully focus on the instant that the body starts to move,
as well as the instant just before movement.
What do you see ? What happens, right there, right then ?

2) Go for a walk around your neighborhood.

Leave thoughts at home.
This could be fun!
Do you still evade cars, stop at lights, avoid colliding with anyone, etc ?
With no thought, how does this happen ?
Recognition happens.
Noticing happens.
Discursive thought is not relevant.
No “I” is required.

The autobiographical story consists of memories,
woven together, with the imaginary narrator “I”.

This story runs after the experience, after the memory,
after the walk through the neighborhood or even after getting out of bed.

“Somebody got up.
It must have been ‘me’.”

The “me” does not act; it just claims to act.

Where was “me” when stopping at the red light with a silent mind ?
Where was “me” when speeding up to get across the street
before the route 52 bus roared by ?
Experience happened.
Walking quickly mattered.
The “I” did not matter.

What was found in the the neighborhood ? Light, sound, vibrations, body sensations.
A whole symphony of sensation, a rock band of traffic, a painter’s canvas of colors.

Without sound, it’s quiet.
Without color, it’s dark.
Without body sensations, it’s dreamlike.

Without the “me”, what’s the difference ?

By this point, the mirage of “me” may be starting to shimmer and fade, falling back from areas of life where it once held imagined dominance.

Or maybe not just yet, hanging on a little longer.
In this life story, that’s what dissolution looked like.
Each day, less and less was left for the me-mirage to claim.

Until the last day, when the mirage evaporated.

Look into movement.

Again and again, focus with intense curiosity on what happens in movement.

What a delight!

The simple beauty
of movement
with
no one
moving
at
all.

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For another take, short and sweet: http://echoesfromemptiness.com/2012/07/14/whodunnit/

Thanks for the photos to these sites:

For the bed painting – http://innerminx.blogspot.com/

For the neighborhood pic –   http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/a-busy-corner-in-greenpoint/

For the tai chi pic – http://www.akaamericanopen.com/chinese.shtml