prayogaH kaaya-vacasoH
shuddho bhavati te yathaa
uttaano vivRto gupto'
n-avacchidras tathaa kuru
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13.11
So that use of body and voice
Becomes simple for you,
See to it that your use is expansive,
open yet guarded,
And free from disconnectedness --
COMMENT:
This and the following verse, as I read them, address precisely what FM Alexander called a person's "manner of use of the self." From 13.13 to 13.18, the Buddha addresses a person's manner of making a living as a related but separate issue.
Use of body and voice is rendered simple, Alexander observed, through proper employment of the head-neck-back relation which he termed "the primary control of the use of the self."
Every morning I sit for an hour wearing the Buddha-robe with right foot on left thigh and left foot on right. At some time during this sitting, generally (unless I forget), I make a full exhalation and sway slowly left and right a few times. I am more or less observant of all of Dogen's rules of sitting-zen. At the end of the hour I generally recite in Japanese a verse to direct outwards any merit that there was in the practice.
This fist sitting of the day, in what Shikhs today still call amRta velaa, the hour of the nectar of deathlessness, before air and other traffic begins, is my most formal and usually my best sitting of the day. My best hours, as I experience them, are the ones in which my use of body and voice is most expansive, most open (without falling into unguarded wildness or sloppiness) and, above all, most free of disconnectedness.
These qualities of expansiveness, openness, and freedom from disconnectedness are not things that one can achieve directly -- for example, by making a big effort to "keep the spine straight vertically." Rather, through the preventive work of stopping off misuse where it begins -- with an end-gaining idea -- the right thing can be allowed to do itself.
FM Alexander spoke of inhibiting interference with the correct employment of the primary control of the use of the self. That means, in other words, not stiffening the neck and making the spine into a shortened concertina by pulling the head down towards the hips.
Thus the right thing can be allowed to do itself, indirectly, by an indirect or preventive method. And when the right thing does itself, the qualities begin to emerge of expansiveness, guarded openness and freedom from disconnectedness.
The principle of indirectness is expressed in the fourth line, as I read it, by the words tathaa kuru, "see to it that.." or "act in a manner such that..." This does not mean to try to bring about a change by doing something directly, like trying to adjust or correct one's own posture. It has more to do with becoming aware of the end-gaining idea which is invariably at the root of undue muscular contraction, fixed joints, loss of conscious control, and disconnections in the flow of one's energy.
The conclusion of this comment, then, is that seeing to it that one's use of body and voice is free from disconnectedness is primarily a matter of waking up to one's end-gaining ideas. "Non-Buddhism"? "Alexander theory"? Maybe.
But here is what Master Dogen wrote in characters you can see for yourself if you wish, here on my webpage.
To sit in full lotus first put the right foot on the left thigh and put the left foot on the right thigh. To sit in half lotus, just let the left foot press down on the right thigh. Let clothes hang loose and keep them neat. Then place the right hand over the left foot, and place the left hand over the right palm, with the thumbs meeting and propping each other up. Just sit upright, not leaning left, inclining to the right, slumping forward or arching backward. It is vital to bring about an opposition between the ears and the shoulders, and an opposition between the nose and the navel. Let the tongue rest against the roof of the mouth, with the lips touching and the teeth together. Keep the eyes open as normal. Having brought the physical form to stillness, let the breathing also be regulated. When an idea arises, just wake up. Just in the waking up to it, it ceases to exist. Taking plenty of time, forget all involvements and you will spontaneously become all of a piece.
EH Johnston:
So act that the employment of your body and speech, being purified, may be candid, open, guarded and without defect,
Linda Covill:
So that your physical and verbal acts become pure, they should be upright, open, regulated and without blemish
VOCABULARY:
prayogaH (nominative): use ; practice , experiment (opp. to , " theory ")
kaaya: body
vacasoH: genitive dual of vacas: speech , voice , word
shuddhaH (nominative): mfn. cleansed , cleared , clean , pure , clear , free from; pure i.e. simple , mere , genuine , true , unmixed
bhavati: is, becomes
te (genitive): of you
yathaa: so that, in order that
uttaanaH (nominative): mfn. stretched out , spread out , lying on the back , sleeping supinely or with the face upwards ; upright ; spreading out over the surface ; open
vivRtaH (nom.): mfn. uncovered , unconcealed , exposed , naked , bare ; unclosed , open
guptaH (nom.): mfn. protected , guarded , preserved ; hidden , concealed , kept secret , secret
n'avacchidraH = acchidraH (nom.): mfn. free from clefts or flaws , unbroken , uninterrupted , uninjured ; n. unbroken or uninjured condition , an action free from defect or flaw
tathaa (correlative of yathaa): in such a manner
kuru (imperative of kR): to do , make , perform , accomplish , cause , effect , prepare , undertake
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