Will Johnson – författare

Mahamudra literally the great gesture is often looked upon as the highest manifestation of consciousness known within the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition. In YOGA OF THE MAHAMUDRA Will Johnson explains how it is possible to bring forth the condition of Mahamudra naturally by utilizing the mystical yoga of balance to create what he calls the embodied cross. He presents three simple yogic principles from Tilopa's Song of Mahamudra. The first principle - do nothing with the body but relax - forms the vertical axis of the embodied cross. It is an internal process that focuses on the upright structure of the body which opens up our relationship to the divine source. The second principle - Let the mind cling to nothing - allows the horizontal flow of energy to our mind. This horizontal axis represents our relationship to the world: what we see and hear and what our mind does with the objects we perceive. The establishment of these vertical and horizontal flows of energy allows us to embody the third principle - to become like a hollow bamboo. In this way the body and mind become extraordinarily fluid surrendering to the currents of the life forces that constantly flow through them like air through a flute. The author concludes with a number of somatic koans exercises that allow the direct experience of balance and lead to the creation of the embodied cross.

Explores the Buddha’s own words on breathing meditation for healing, wholeness, and a deeper understanding of his teachings• Explains the complete series of steps in the Buddha’s Satipatthana Sutta for refining awareness of the breath, from posture and center of gravity to extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body• Shows that stillness in meditation refers only to the mind, not to the body• Reveals breath to be a direct agent of healing for chronic tensions and an agitated mindExplaining how stillness in meditation refers not to a rigid and frozen body but to a quality of mind, Will Johnson examines the Buddha’s own words at the core of the Satipatthana Sutta: “As you breathe in, breathe in through the whole body; as you breathe out, breathe out through the whole body”--an instruction often overlooked in the majority of Buddhist schools. Exploring the Buddha’s complete series of steps for deepening awareness of the breath, he shows how to invite natural, responsive movement back into the posture of meditation by extending breath awareness beyond the nostrils, lungs, and abdomen to the entire body--a practice that unifies the breath, body, and mind into a single shared phenomenon.Showing how the flow of breath is directly affected by chronic tensions in the body and in the mind, Johnson explains that when breath starts flowing through more and more of the body, it becomes a direct agent of healing, massaging and melting any areas of tension it touches and moves through, whether physical or emotional. By breathing through the whole body in accordance with the Buddha’s instructions on breath, the body becomes much more comfortable, the mind starts resolving its addiction to thinking, and meditative practice deepens much more rapidly, allowing the teachings of the Buddha to be directly glimpsed and revealed.

A guide to meditative breathing practices in Western religions and how these practices provide a direct experience of GodSurprised by the number of attendees from Western spiritual traditions at his Buddhist retreats, Will Johnson wanted to understand what drew them to this type of spiritual experience. He found many devoted Christians were in search of a more direct experience of God beyond faith alone, so he began exploring what breathing practices could be found in the sacred texts of Western monotheistic religions. Johnson discovered that, like their Eastern counterparts, Western traditions speak of gaining direct access to God via the breath. After experimenting with these teachings during a 10-day retreat at a desert monastery, he discovered that each of us has the potential to open up to the presence of spirit in every breath.In this book, the author offers a close look at the importance of breath in each major Western religion, including the Jewish teachings of ruach as life-giving spirit in the form of breath and the Islamic poetry of Rumi, which describes breath as essential for cleansing the soul. He then ties each breathing tradition to the Book of Genesis, sacred to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” Just as God blew life into Adam, every breath we take--if we follow the breathing practice of surrendering completely to inhalation--can open us up to the presence of God.Through his own contemplative journey, Johnson shares his experience of striving to surrender to the fullest presence of God through each breath. As he takes the reader step-by-step through his own breathing practice, the author explains his physical and mental techniques for meditating successfully through breath and provides helpful guidelines to get the most out of meditative retreats. Johnson also offers deep reflections on how these shared practices of experiencing God through the breath transcend religious differences.

Finding the path to radiance through deeply felt, sitting meditation• Shares practices to show how sitting meditation can be reconnected to lived, bodily experience and help you rediscover your natural somatic radiance• Explores how the modern thought-focused frame of mind introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies• Draws on techniques from the Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as insights from the author’s own teachers and collaborators, including Ida Rolf and Judith AstonThe modern practice of seated meditation is in serious need of reformation. What began as a living, vibrant, and felt practice—the primary practice of the Buddhist path to spiritual realization—has painted itself into a corner of frozen stillness, divorced from lived, bodily experience.Presenting an accessible and deeply felt guide to sitting meditation as an active exploration, Will Johnson offers a revitalized understanding of this essential spiritual practice through deeper connection with the body. Johnson argues that the thought-focused mode of consciousness of modern rigid seated meditation introduces patterns of holding and tension into our bodies and virtually guarantees that awakening will not occur. He explains how our focus on thought, rather than embodied experience, results in a numbing of our connection to our physical self and the dimming of the body’s natural somatic radiance, which in turn leads to the nagging presence of chronic pain, a general sense of malaise, and the inability to get comfortable in our own bodies.However, this “consciousness of separation” can be overcome. Johnson presents a wide range of practices, including 14 meditations, to support the awakening of breath and presence in the body, drawing on techniques from Buddhist, Sufi, and somatic wisdom traditions as well as methods from his studies with Ida Rolf and Judith Aston.Through the radical path of conscious sitting, Johnson shows how to transform your sitting meditation practice into a fully natural mudra of greater grace from which radiance will naturally flow. As the egoic perspective is dissolved, and chronic pain and discomfort are lessened, practitioners begin to feel a new, enlightened, bodily radiance—what Johnson calls “The Great Wide Open.”

Embodied mindfulness in daily life• Explores the culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body• Teaches you how to alter your physiology to move beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness• Provides instruction and somatic koans for practicing the core principles of radiant mindfulness—awakening the body, liberating the breath, and opening up to vision and soundDrawing on the Buddha’s teachings, Will Johnson provides a daily practice that moves beyond the static consciousness of mindfulness to a natural, spontaneous state of embodied awareness. Acknowledging the foundational importance and structural limitations of mindfulness practice, he explores the often overlooked culminating instruction of the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta to breathe through the whole body.Through somatic reflections and meditations, Johnson shows you how to alter your physiology to change consciousness. He explains how to move through levels of conscious awareness, from the passive observation of the breath and the reality of this present moment to radiant mindfulness—an awakening of the body, liberation of breath, and opening up to vision and sound. In this state, the “I” disappears but awareness becomes heightened and unfiltered, allowing a direct experience of unity with the world and within oneself.This book offers ways to spontaneously achieve the enlightened state beyond the mind that the Buddha taught as the true goal of meditation. The simple yet profound practice of radiant mindfulness can transform everyday life into a path of spiritual awakening.