Hakuin (and the Butter Visualisation)
''I '' I encourage all you superior seekers in the secret
depths to devote yourself to penetrating and clarifying the
self, as earnestly as you would put out a fire on the top of
your head.''
Hakuin wandered far in his illness and desperately sought the help of the cave dwelling sage Master Hakuyu, who
told him he had spent himself on over zealous practice. Master Hakuyu advised him this....
Master Hakuyu replied, “When a student engaged in meditation finds that he is exhausted in body
and mind because the four constituent elements of his body are in a state of disharmony, he should
gird up his spirit and perform the following visualisation:
''I encourage all you superior seekers in the secret depths
to devote yourself to penetrating and clarifying the self, as
earnestly as you would put out a fire on the top of your
head.''
Hakuin wandered far in his illness and desperately sought the help of the cave dwelling sage Master Hakuyu, who
told him he had spent himself on over zealous practice. Master Hakuyu advised him thus....
Master Hakuyu replied, “When a student engaged in meditation finds that he is exhausted in body
and mind because the four constituent elements of his body are in a state of disharmony, he should
gird up his spirit and perform the following visualisation:
“Imagine that a lump of soft butter, pure in colour and fragrance and the size and shape of a duck egg, is suddenly
placed on the top of your head. As it begins to slowly melt, it imparts an exquisite sensation, moistening and
saturating your head within and without. It continues to ooze down, moistening your shoulders, elbows, and chest;
permeating lungs, diaphragm, liver, stomach, and bowels; moving down the spine through the hips, pelvis, and
buttocks.
“At that point, all the congestions that have accumulated within the five organs and six viscera, all the aches and
pains in the abdomen and other affected parts, will follow the heart as it sinks downward into the lower body. As it
does, you will distinctly hear a sound like that of water trickling from a higher to a lower place. It will move lower
down through the lower body, suffusing the legs with beneficial warmth, until it reaches the soles of the feet, where
it stops.
“The student should then repeat the contemplation. As his vital energy flows downward, it gradually fills the lower
region of the body, suffusing it with penetrating warmth, making him feel as if he were sitting up to his navel in a
hot bath filled with a decoction of rare and fragrant medicinal herbs that have been gathered and infused by a
skilled physician.
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“Inas much as all things are created by the mind, when you engage in this contemplation, the nose will actually
smell the marvellous scent of pure, soft butter; your body will feel the exquisite sensation of its melting touch. Your
body and mind will be in perfect peace and harmony. You will feel better and enjoy greater health than you did as
a youth of twenty or thirty. At this time, all the undesirable accumulations in your vital organs and viscera will melt
away. Stomach and bowels will function perfectly. Before you know it, your skin will glow with health. If you
continue to practise the contemplation with diligence, there is no illness that cannot be cured, no virtue that cannot
be acquired, no level of sagehood that cannot be reached, no religious practice that cannot be mastered. Whether
such results appear swiftly or slowly depends only upon how scrupulously you apply yourself.
