What is Meditation?

One of the great advantages of sitting meditation is that you can take it with you wherever you go. Whether you are in a forest deep in the mountains or beside a stream among the grass and reeds, you can develop meditative concentration just by sitting down and crossing your legs.

But what is meditation? Does it come from sitting, standing, or lying down? Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of the Chan School, said that meditative concentration is not found in any of these positions. In fact, Huineng once told Chan Master Zhicheng, “Abiding with the mind contemplating stillness is sickness, not
Chan.”

How should we practice meditation? The great Chan Master Zibo once said:

Without delving into the mind, sitting meditation is a pointless exercise for increasing suffering;
If you can guard your thoughts, even blaming the Buddha can be beneficial to your practice.

Meditation is not about sitting quietly with your eyes closed—this is just one method for developing meditative concentration. What matters in meditation is being able to contemplate and focus the mind.

Chan Master Nanyue Huairang once said, “Consider an
ox pulling a cart: if the cart does not move, do you hit the cart or do you hit the ox?” Beating the cart is useless. In the same way, how you concentrate the mind is far more important than what you do with the body.

Chan Master Ruiyan, who lived during the Tang dynasty, would often say to himself, “Master, are you there? Yes; yes, I am!” Most people will think someone like this is crazy, but those who know about meditation can appreciate his profound words. Chan Master Ruiyan was trying to awaken to his intrinsic nature, and thus never left the present moment even for an instant.

To practice meditation, one must focus on the present moment, stop delusion, and see the mind.

In China, the Chan School encouraged the development of meditative concentration through communal labor, like carrying firewood and water. This training allowed Chan practitioners to see their intrinsic nature by illuminating their minds, thus achieving the ultimate goal of meditative concentration.

The Fundamentals of Sitting Meditation
While it is true that meditative concentration is not about sitting, sitting meditation is still a necessary practice for beginners. Sitting meditation is required to experience the joys of meditation and to begin to contemplate and investigate one’s intrinsic nature. To begin the practice of sitting meditation, it is important to have some basic meditation knowledge and be familiar with the fundamentals.

Meditation has been explained in many different ways in many different texts throughout the centuries, and while no explanation can give a complete picture of what meditation is, they all contain valuable teachings. For example, the 6th century text, the Condensed Techniques for Stopping Delusion and Seeing Truth describes the beginnings of sitting meditation as having balanced meals, balanced rest, a balanced body, balanced breathing, and a balanced mind.

From For All Living Beings, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

It is only through loving-kindness and compassion that we can find room in our hearts to forgive others. It is only through our willingness to let go of resentment that we can find a way to magnanimity.  Read more
Greed is a basic disease of all sentient beings. In our realm, the desire realm (kamadhatu), the force and effects of greed can be felt especially strongly. Greed is based on ignorance and cannot function without it. The fundamental ignorance that enables greed to function is the belief in a self that exists separately and independently from other sentient beings. This belief leads to nothing Read more
One of the biggest weaknesses in today’s society is that we have developed the habit of not saying we are sorry. Once we grow up and rise in status and knowledge, apologizing becomes harder and harder. But human beings are not perfect sages and we all make mistakes. Being able to correct our mistakes is a virtue in itself. This ability to amend our actions Read more
Some people may think it is strange that in this scientifically enlightened century anyone would want to talk about ghosts. In the past, even sages avoided the subject of the supernatural if they could. Confucius never spoke about ghosts. At the mere mention of ghosts, frightful images instantly arise in our minds of their pale faces, their wild hair and their sharp fangs. The truth Read more
The Sumati Sutra discusses fulfilling both worldly and supramundane needs. Sumati’s first three questions are regarding obtaining an elegant appearance, obtaining wealth, and keeping a harmonious family life—all of these are concerned with success in this life. Being satisfied in this way ensures that a bodhisattva will not be hindered, and can freely walk the bodhisattva path.Rewards and blessings are not stolen, forcibly taken, or Read more
Though the worlds that we see are fundamentally a product of our own minds, they usually do not appear this way to us. Like images in an intense dream, our perceptions appear to be wholly real to us, and not to have been generated by our own mental activity. For this reason, the Buddha taught many ways to help us comprehend the true nature of Read more
What are people supposed to do when they are troubled by afflictions? Some people are troubled by very specific things, others encounter poverty, and many have poor relations with other people. Some individuals are disturbed the moment they hear even the slightest comment they do not like, or they become angry when they see someone doing something they do not approve of. This sort of Read more
Humans are thinking animals! Since the beginning of time, there have always been people who fantasize, who have delusions, who dream—and many who have ideals. When we lie in our beds at night, we should be free from worry. Yet thoughts about our lives often arise then; thoughts about family, country, or even the world. Everything is within our minds.The average person often tends to Read more
Trustworthy WordsIf you lie, you will not be trusted. If you cannot be trusted, you will be ineffective in your own life and useless to other people. Lies hurt others because they damage their trust and their sense of what is right and wrong. This is a very serious kind of damage; it wastes time, frightens people and causes them to doubt their basic intuitions Read more
If you keep your practice steady,morning and night, summer and winter,there is nothing you can not doand nothing that can harm you.— Upasakasila SutraThe Importance of Being SteadyLaziness and fear of work will get you into trouble no matter where they appear. Laziness is a basic animal tendency that must be confronted the moment it starts. Once you begin to allow yourself to be lazy, Read more
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more
Being patient is an art, and being persistent is a kind of hope. Influenced by today’s instant culture, modern people tend to expect instant results in anything they do. Practitioners want to have attainment in this life, scholars want to become instant laureates in their fields, and entrepreneurs want to gain a huge fortune overnight. As the saying goes, “A flower picked before its time Read more