As far as my practice and experience goes I couldn't think of a better exercise of Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi than Zazen meditation. Asanas and Pranayama are excellent preparations for it. For me those are actually a necessary prerequisite to be able to sit through lengthy Zazen sessions. And being of a Christian background I see no reason why not to draw inspiration from Jesus and the spiritual fundamentals of the Christian belief as for Yamas and Niyama.
Thank you, Raffael - I’m glad to hear it resonated! I agree that it makes a lot of sense to draw on multiple influences, especially if one follows an approach that has parallels in many traditions. I had a chat with Elizabeth Oldfield a few episodes back that went into detail about Christian ethics in ways that reminded me both of yogic and Buddhist frameworks.
Exceptionally deep and mindful conversation.
As far as my practice and experience goes I couldn't think of a better exercise of Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi than Zazen meditation. Asanas and Pranayama are excellent preparations for it. For me those are actually a necessary prerequisite to be able to sit through lengthy Zazen sessions. And being of a Christian background I see no reason why not to draw inspiration from Jesus and the spiritual fundamentals of the Christian belief as for Yamas and Niyama.
Thank you, Raffael - I’m glad to hear it resonated! I agree that it makes a lot of sense to draw on multiple influences, especially if one follows an approach that has parallels in many traditions. I had a chat with Elizabeth Oldfield a few episodes back that went into detail about Christian ethics in ways that reminded me both of yogic and Buddhist frameworks.