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

Harmful attachments are often described in Buddhist literature as impediments or hindrances because they block our view of the truth and prevent us from seeing our own Buddha nature. Read more
“True Dharma” means those teachings which are right, correct, and do not deviate from the Middle Way.The word “Dharma” has several different meanings. One meaningof “dharma” is “phenomena.” In this sense, “dharma” includes phenomena as large as the universe and as small as a mustard seed. “Dharma” also refers to the truth, the teachings of the Buddha. The Dharma the Buddha taught is what allows people Read more
People suffer from a variety of diseases of the mind, such as being greedy, judgmental, or quick to anger. The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra says, “There are four kinds of diseases of the body, which are due to excessive wind, heat, phlegm, or other causes. There are also four kinds of diseases of the mind, which are greed, anger, ignorance, and pride.” Truthfully, it 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
Buddhism says we should see friends and enemies as equal. This means we should learn to tolerate unfriendly people, unideal environments, and language that is hard on the ears. 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
Dharma is for people. There is one thing about the Dharma that I am completely sure of: the Dharma is for people. The Buddha’s teachings are not a cold philosophy designed merely to rearrange the concepts in our minds, they are a living act of compassion intended to show us how to open our hearts. I learned this truth just as everyone must learn it—by Read more
Offering lamps at Buddhist temples and stupas is a common practice. The Flower Adornment Sutra says, "The lamp of wisdom can break through all forms of darkness." As such, lamps represent the light of wisdom that pierces through the darkness of ignorance. This empowers sentient beings encumbered by confusion. The Buddhist practice of offering lamps originates from the actions of a poor girl named Nanda. Read more
Though sitting meditation was given to us from the ancient past it is a way for modern people to lead happy lives. Sitting meditation allows us to dispel the pressures of daily life that come from the mind’s confusion and a mistaken understanding of phenomena. Practicing sitting meditation quiets the mind and stills our thoughts so that we can recover our intrinsic nature. Sitting meditation Read more
In the past, during the feudal period of Chinese history, men were respected while women were thought of as being rather contemptible. The birth of a son was compared to fashioning an ornament as precious as jade, which not only made everyone happy, but also raised the status of his mother. 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
Most of us have an idea of what constitutes the space outside us; it is the environment in which we live. This includes the house we live in, the city we live in, or even the world we live in. Just as we need to skillfully manage our relationship to others, to the environment, and to wealth, we also need to properly manage our relationship Read more