"Emotional control, drilled into [Diaz] at the Academy and practiced at every refresher course, took over. It was essentially psychosomatic, a matter of using conditioned reflexes to bring muscles and nerves and glands back toward normal. If the fear symptoms, tension, tachycardia, sweat, decreased salivation, and the rest, were alleviated, then fear itself was." (p. 19)
But we all need that, not just Astromilitary Corpsmen with the benefit of a "satorist" trainer!
Zazen practice is "Neither trying to think nor trying not to think, just sitting with no deliberate thought..." Thus, it is not a psychosomatic technique for controlling muscles, nerves, glands or emotions. Dogen wrote:
"The means of training are thousandfold but pure meditation must be done."
Zazen is "pure meditation" whereas Diaz's emotional control would be one of the thousandfold means of training. I sometimes wonder whether one of those means might be helpful although not as an alternative to zazen.
I also find just about everything to discuss in works by Poul Anderson.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
No, we do not, all of us, need that kind of elaborate military training. Only the kind of good sense that makes us look both ways before crossing a street or stopping for red lights.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But we could benefit from the emotional control.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
No, all we really need is ordinary self-control and self-restraint.
Ad astra! Sean
No. Ordinary self-control and self-restraint could be helped by psychosomatic techniques.
Kaor, Paul!
For those who want such methods.
Ad astra! Sean
Yes, of course.
Kaor, Paul!
And still something I don't believe most people will care about.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Well, that's up to them!
Paul.
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