WORLD SHAKUHACHI DAY on October 8 – Let’s blow 108 RO!

Blow away Covid-19 !

This week there will be the first World Shakuhachi Day. We will blow 108 R0 to “express condolence with victims of Covid-19, sympathy and encouragement to infected and hospitalized patients, and to dedicate a heartfelt thanks to the medical staff and hope for a solution to fight back the disease. Let’s blow 108 Ro with the spirit of bowing away this global pandemic.”

As my ROBUKI practice lasts normally around 10 minutes, I trained counting until 108 RO and it took me 27 minutes (4 RO / minute). I didn’t have difficulty to count, putting a mental mark every 12 RO up to 9 times. Keeping a regular breathing rhythm and relaxing in the sound help me to stay focused.

If you have difficulties to count until 108, here are some tips about how to keep track of 108 RO.

For my following sessions of 108 RO, I put on the timer on 27 minutes, with a bell ring every 3 minutes (=12 ROx9). This helps me to hold on to my rhythm of 4 RO / minute and enables me to notice immediately if my breath becomes a little more shallow or my lips tense up.

On Thursday October 8, I will be celebrating the World Shakuhachi Day online at 8:30 PM (UTC+2) with a ROBUKI of 27 minutes (108 RO). If you would like to join, just contact me. All you need is a shakuhachi and a computer or a tablet with a webcam.
Let’s blow 108 RO together!

Next to this event, ROBUKI is is part of my regular shakuhachi meditation. I like to put on the timer instead of counting how many RO I blow because it allows me to concentrate fully on my favourites meditation practices, which are the Loving-Kindness and the Tonglen Meditations.

Loving-Kindness Meditation

One of my favourites meditations is the Loving-Kindness Meditation. You cultivate an open heart starting with yourself and expanding it to the loved ones, family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, people you hardly know, people you cross on the street, strangers, challenging people, ennemies, terrorists, criminals,…

May you be happy. May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be at peace. May you live with ease.

The first time I practiced this meditation I was chocked with the idea of sending love and kind wishes to “bad” people. You need a good guidance to understand and experience what it truly means. It is a lifetime training.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Robuki-wave practice, whenever I do a ROBUKI session, I send in my thoughts long breaths to various people in the Loving-Kindness meditation spirit.

It couples nicely with the Tonglen meditation, which is another of my favourites meditations: inhaling suffering, transforming it into healing energy and blowing healing and peace .

It has become for me a 4 steps breathing meditation: inhaling suffering, transforming it while holding my breath a second, sending a long and healing breath to the world or to specific people, holding a second of silence and serenity.

As any meditation practice, it doesn’t always go smooth and focused. But whenever I get distracted (for example, by stories about the people I am sending a long breath to, by thoughts about the last news about the Covid-19 pandemic, etc.), I acknowledge it and go back to my focus.
Inhaling suffering. Exhaling peace and healing.

And you, do you have a specific meditation practice during ROBUKI? Please share in the comments section below.
A long and healthy breath to all!