‘While Western therapeutic approaches mostly give us strategies to feel less pain, Buddhism teaches us to be more open to what we’re feeling, even if it’s pain, without grasping for something other than what life presents in this very moment. In this way, pain transforms into a form of intensity or energy. So in a very fascinating way, psychotherapy and Buddhism are similar in orientation, different in their approach, and highly complementary in practice.
On the path of transforming my relationship to pain by experiencing body sensations without the reactivity of grasping or resisting, I discovered the body as an “energy body.” The word energy can sound a bit woo-woo, but in keeping with my phenomenological inclination, I define it simply as the flow of sensations in the bodymind. At a certain point in my practice, I needed a way to intentionally cultivate this flow of sensations. Still sitting meditation, which gets emphasized in Zen so much, didn’t quite suffice anymore. That’s when I took up Qigong, which literally translates as “cultivation of energy.” Once I intentionally entered this arena with a commitment to steady practice, a whole world of experiential subtlety opened up. New ways of feeling nourished and satisfied emerged.’ (from the Dewdrop)
Shundo David Haye 