The material on this page is based on a poorly made early Happeh Theory video. That script has been mostly rewritten and images have been added to help make the point of the video.
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Zen is the name of a collection of ideas and practices, whose implementation is said to lead to a state of enlightenment. Enlightenment is described as a state of permanent bliss, that is the result of being free from desire and suffering.
Enlightenment in the Zen tradition, is attained through the employment of a number of different methods. Sitting meditation is one of the methods, used by Zen practitioners to reach enlightenment.
The practitioner will sit in a special posture, like the one demonstrated in this picture.
The practitioner will sit in the posture for some period of time, watching the thoughts in their mind come and go.
The goal of the meditating person is to to reach “The Void”. The word “void” means an empty place. A mind that reached “The Void”, would be a mind that was empty and clear of all thoughts and desires.
According to Happeh Theory, the void state of mind can be reached by other methods.
According to Happeh Theory, the void can be thought of as a physical place within the body.
Moving the mind or the awareness into this physical void within the body, has the side effect of causing the mind to become emptyand enter the void state described by Zen practitioners.
For the purposes of this video, the mind and awareness will be treated as if they are the physical forces within the body. The kind of physical force being referred to, is like the sensation produced by pressing a finger into the palm of the other hand.
The sensation felt by the hand being pressed on is “a physical force”.
The multitude of sensations that are produced by all of the physical forces within the body, are perceived by the mind and are part of what makes the mind aware that it is living in a human body.
In addition to the local physical forces that exist in the brain area, which are represented by the black arrows superimposed on the brain in the next picture,
the brain is also stimulated by physical forces from within the body that press on the brain.
According to Happeh Theory, the brain reacts to the stimulation of those physical forces by producing thoughts and desires. Those thoughts and desires are another part of what gives the mind it’s awareness that it is living in a human body.
If the mind is filled with the sensations,
caused by physical forces within the body,
and if physical forces from the body pressing on the brain fill the mind with thoughts and desires, then it seems obvious that one way for the mind to become empty and reach the void state, would be to eliminate the physical forces within the body that produce sensations in the mind, and also eliminate the physical forces pressing on the brain that cause the production of thoughts and desires in the mind.
How could the physical forces in the body be eliminated? One way would be to stop the generation of physical forces within the body, at their source.
The human body is a living organism that must always be generating physical forces as part of the ongoing process of life. Stopping any of the physical forces generated within the body at it’s source would be likely to have negative health effects on the body.
Another way to eliminate the physical forces within the body, would be to neutralize the physical forces. In order to neutralize or cancel out a force,
an equal but opposite force must be produced somewhere within the body.
Neutralizing physical forces within the body with counterbalancing physical forces will not be discussed in this video. Instead, this video will use the simple analogy of throwing out trash,
to visualize how the physical forces within the body are neutralized.
The physical forces within the body that produce sensations that are perceived by the mind, and the physical forces pressing on the brain that cause the production of thoughts and desires, will be treated as if they are trash,
that can be stuffed away into specified areas of the body,
like stuffing trash into a trashbag.
The specified areas of the body have the properties of a void. A void is like a bottomless pit,
into which any amount of physical force will disappear into.
After the physical forces within the body disappear into the void like areas, they no longer produce any sensations that can be felt by the mind, nor do they press on the brain causing the creation of thoughts and desires.
Because the brain is no longer perceiving physical force induced sensations, thoughts, or desires, the mind will be empty, thereby fitting the definition of “The Void of Zen”.
Describing the location of the areas that the physical forces within the body disappear into requires a short statement about Yin Yang Theory. According to Yin Yang Theory, the human body is composed of Yin and Yang. Like any other two things that are pressed against each other, the Yin and Yang areas of the body have a joint in between them.
According to Happeh Theory, the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body are actual physical locations within the body, that behave like a void. Because those voids are bottomless, they can be filled with any amount of physical force currently present within the body, or any amount of physical force that could be generated by the body.
Real world exercises that demonstrate the principle just described, are a type of Kung Fu exercise known as “grinding”. The Kung Fu student will be told to “grind a part of their body”, which will produce sensations of power and pressure.
The power and pressure generated by the grinding exercise will naturally go into the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body, usually in the immediate vicinity of the part of the body doing the grinding.
By paying attention to the effects of the grinding exercise, the student will first learn that the power and pressure of grinding, naturally goes into the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body.
The student will then notice that, no matter how much grinding generated power and pressure, is pushed into the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body, they never feel full. Like a void, the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body will always feel empty, no matter how much power and pressure is pushed into them.
The individual who learned to push the physical forces generated by grinding exercises into the joints between the Yin and Yang areas of the body, could then apply that technique to reaching the “Void” described by Zen practitioners.
The individual would search their body for any sensations of physical force. They would then use the technique they discovered through the practice of grinding exercises, to push those physical forces into the joints between the Yin and Yang parts of their body.
After performing the technique on any and all of the physical forces they find within their body, their mind would become empty of sensations, thoughts and desires, thereby reaching the “Void” described by Zen practitioners, without using the Zen recommended mental practice, of “watching the thoughts come and go”.
Can the concept of grinding be observed anywhere readily available on the website
Actually I do not think that grinding is referred to anywhere else on the website. Maybe I can provide a way for you to visualize it.
Hold your arm in front of you with or without the elbow bent. Make a fist with your hand and turn the fist so your fingers and palm are facing towards your chest. Now while holding the fist tight, rotate it downwards. At some point the hand can no longer go downwards and will start to rotate up and forwards. Allow it to do so until the fist is pointing forwards in it’s natural position extending out from the wrist.
That entire motion is considered to be “grinding” of that particular part of the body. While performing that exercise you may or may not have felt your forearm, upper arm or shoulder tensing up. If you did feel any tension in any of those areas, that is part of the grinding exercise. Over time that sensation of tension will feel like it is traveling into other parts of the body as the arms get harder.
It is that tension that is forced into the “void within the body” that is described in the article.
Please be aware that there are people who feel this type of exercise is wrong or even harmful to the body because it makes the body very hard. And it is true that a hard body can cause health problems including mental problems. This type of training can cause extreme intolerance, aggressiveness and even sadistic tendencies. But it is also true that some people feel it is worthwhile to disregard the negative effects of this type of exercise because of the strength, power, and hardness the exercises give them. One type of thinking holds that in a war time situation for instance, it would be better to train a soldier to be strong, powerful and hard to increase their chances of survival, even if later on they developed a health problem from the training.
Thanks a lot happeh, I am so grateful for your work. Unrelated to the post, do you have any experience with or knowledge of Chinese/eastern astrology? Feel free to disregard if you prefer your posts and comments to stay on topic.