Uncontrollable Shaking Phenomenon During Meditation
A few days ago, a religious group had a very enthusiastic response to the topic of “spiritual movement,” with people posting their opinions for several consecutive days.
It wasn’t until I saw a certain post yesterday that I decided to share my personal insights as well.
Currently, there are mainly two schools of thought regarding the “uncontrollable shaking phenomenon during meditation.”
One side believes it should be stopped, while the other side advocates allowing it to move freely.
The former is the traditional view, held by both Buddhism and Taoism, which asserts that it should be curtailed.
The latter perspective comes from spiritual practitioners who believe this indicates contact with divine beings guiding their practice.
Today, I will mainly provide information related to Buddhism and Taoism, as well as share my personal reflections.
In the book “Master Sheng Yen Teaches Zen Meditation,” Master Sheng Yen mentions two causes: “Qi movement” and “spiritual movement.”
“Qi movement” is further divided into two types: “regular movement” and “irregular movement.”
The former refers to fixed parts and movements, while the latter involves movements that are not fixed.
The master states that in order to resolve Qi movement issues, one must understand how to ‘release Qi’ through the ‘throat,’ ‘anus,’ or ‘bubbling spring point’ on the soles of the feet.
‘Spiritual movement’ refers to ‘invisible interference’ (the master has cited actual cases; for details, please refer to the original book’s section on ‘Functions of Zen Practice – Reactions During Sitting’).
The master believes that those who easily experience spiritual movement phenomena are often somewhat neurotic or hysterical, with strong expectations and fears that allow spirits to take advantage.
Practitioners must tell themselves not to let spirits control them and stop their bodies from shaking in order to free themselves from spiritual movement issues.
In terms of Taoism, the writings of Ziyang Zhenren (the first ancestor of Southern Alchemy) in his work ‘Cui Xu Yin’ contain descriptions very similar to those of modern spiritual practitioners.
In the era of our ancestors (Southern Song Dynasty), there was a group of alchemists who exhibited body shaking and various physical movements during meditation; they would also laugh and shout but claimed externally that these were miraculous phenomena in order to deceive others.