Resources for Thai Massage, Traditional Thai Medicine & Theravada Buddhism
Synchronised Breathing in Thai Massage
Hello,
It was interesting to come across a Tibeten practice called tong-len, 'giving and receiving' which is a healing practice involving connecting with the suffering of others and a method of awakening compassion in oneself for the benefit of others.
One practical visualisation of tong-len involves breathing out one's positive qualities and breathing in the negative energy of others. This connects very much with the development of deep compassion within the Tibetan Mahaayaana spiritual path. It did remind me of the practice of 'synchronized breathing' in Thai Massage, mentioned by As'okananda in the Art of Traditional Thai Massage (1998), towards which As'okananda encourages the practitioner to cultivate.
My assumption is that As'oka based this technique on an older Thai tradition involving metta-bhaavanaa but I am curious to know if there is a connection between the Thai application and tong-len practice and if they share a same specific root practice.
Can anyone help me find out more information on the roots of the Thai breathing practice? Is it practiced in Thailand outside the formal therapeutic environment? Is it a separete meditation to the normal metta-bhaavaana practice found in Thai Buddhist practice? Do the Thai's have a name for it? Can anyone recommend any books that mention it?
Many thanks,
Indaka
It was interesting to come across a Tibeten practice called tong-len, 'giving and receiving' which is a healing practice involving connecting with the suffering of others and a method of awakening compassion in oneself for the benefit of others.
One practical visualisation of tong-len involves breathing out one's positive qualities and breathing in the negative energy of others. This connects very much with the development of deep compassion within the Tibetan Mahaayaana spiritual path. It did remind me of the practice of 'synchronized breathing' in Thai Massage, mentioned by As'okananda in the Art of Traditional Thai Massage (1998), towards which As'okananda encourages the practitioner to cultivate.
My assumption is that As'oka based this technique on an older Thai tradition involving metta-bhaavanaa but I am curious to know if there is a connection between the Thai application and tong-len practice and if they share a same specific root practice.
Can anyone help me find out more information on the roots of the Thai breathing practice? Is it practiced in Thailand outside the formal therapeutic environment? Is it a separete meditation to the normal metta-bhaavaana practice found in Thai Buddhist practice? Do the Thai's have a name for it? Can anyone recommend any books that mention it?
Many thanks,
Indaka
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tevijjo Yogi on -
Hi Indaka,
This practice you're asking about is considered more of a 'spiritual healing' and not so much a massage technique and is usually practiced outside of massage. Many people are trying to bring more to their massage practice because it is obviously lacking but, in general, these sort of techniques are only taught in more advance settings and when one has a personal teacher, as opposed to learning in a class setting.
As for Asokananda, most of his theory is really coming from other sources and not Thai. For example the Chakra work and Prana eggs, etc. These are not Thai theories although in some cases, such as this one with the breathing and 'drawing out' a patient's negative energy, they have Thai counterparts.
With regards to Metta... Metta is only one of the four Brahmaviharas that most people seem to focus on. In reality we need to develop all four. Developing the four Brahmaviharas was a requirement for doctors and healers since very early on. I don't know if this is taught in schools any more but it should be. I know Metta is spoken about a lot but all Metta means is good will or friendliness. Karuna, compassion, is more of what we will be using when working with patients who are in pain/suffering. I think many people confuse these two in meaning. The other two are Mudita, sympathetic joy, being happy for other's gains and good fortune and Upekkha or equanimity.
What does this mean for us as doctors? Well, we need to develop these qualities for the benefit of ourselves and our patients. For example... We must develop good will and friendliness and be kind to other beings. The next is to be compassionate for the those in pain and suffering. This is a quality most people who want to heal have already. I think these two are rather clear and most people already know a lot about developing them. The next two however, may be more obscure.
Sympathetic joy... This can be applied in many ways but I'll give an example which I feel most can relate to... Say for example we are treating a patient and they have gotten better but their problem hasn't been completely 'cured.' Now say this patient goes to another practitioner and has good results. Many people in this situation will feel jealous, betrayed, inadequate, etc. But what we need to keep in mind is that we are doing this for the benefit of the patient. So if he/she is better and we helped, great, if someone else did it, that's just as good because the main thing is the improvement of the patient and not our own gain of fame, name, etc. So, this is an example of being able to rejoice in others good fortune, especially if we would normally be jealous.
Upekkha means equanimity. All these terms have fancy translations but for most people that's all they are... Poetic. Unless we can understand their meaning and put them into use they are just ways to end a letter or e-mail in a "Buddhist Way." Upekkha, in practical terms is treating all things, all being as equal. It also means being unmoved by most pleasant and unpleasant things. And finally, it's realizing the nature of all things being dependent on another. In the case of beings, their lives are largely dependent on Karma.
So, for us as doctors we can look at this in a number of ways... On the one hand, we must treat all patients as equal. Not give more attention to the ones who tip better or have more money. On the other hand, Upekkha is a way to know one's limits as a healer. Some people, despite our best efforts, are not ready to make changes in their life or perhaps we're not the ones who are able to guide them in those changes. In either case, there comes a time when we must let them go and be ok with that. We can't heal everyone and we aren't going to make the right connection with all our patients. All we can do is our best and we must realize our limitations. So, some times it's necessary to let patients go or refer them to another practitioner. There is nothing wrong with that, it's not defeat on our part as a healer. All it means is that our karma and their's did not mesh in the right way. That's fine. There are many others out there who will be coming to see us, there is no need to cling onto one patient.
I know this going beyond your question but it came to mind.
David
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Permalink Reply by Hardi on -
Hi David
I found your detailed answer to Indaka's question very interestingly educational. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Hardika
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Permalink Reply by Indaka Weerasekera on -
Hi David,
Thank you very much for replying to my questions. I did guess that the breathing is a 'foreign' technique to Thai Massage but something that fits in quite well with the space created in the treatment setting in my experience. I was just interested to discover that there is something similar in Tibetan practices and wondered whether this was the reason. If you or anyone knows the names of any specific Thai counterparts, I would be interested to know more.
Thanks again and best wishes,
Indaka
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