Sitting Meditation

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 makes us healthier.

The sutras say, “When the mind arises, all phenomena arise.” Modern medical science has proven that much of our sickness comes from our emotions, such as worry, greed, and anger. Meditation can give us a peaceful temperament, allows us to breathe calmly, and makes us feel refreshed. Sitting meditation also enhances circulation and boosts metabolism, thereby staving off the degeneration of bodily functions.

Sitting meditation enhances our morality.

In today’s society with its technological advances and material abundance, most people spend their days restlessly seeking after material pleasures, fame, position, and power, such that they cloud their minds with desire and lose sense of who they are. But, if these people can befriend sitting meditation they will become their own masters and will no longer be slaves to material things. They will be able to elevate their morality and transform their disposition.

Sitting meditation allows us to enjoy the bliss of meditative concentration.

The Buddha once said, “One who sits in meditation gains Dharma joy.” The Dharma joy mentioned by the Buddha is the bliss of meditative concentration. This bliss is created by a tranquil mind and cannot be compared to the happiness of the five desires. Those who diligently practice sitting meditation can obtain this bliss.

Sitting meditation develops our wisdom.

The Suramgama Sutra says, “Take focusing the mind as your precepts. Meditative concentration arises from the precepts; wisdom arises from meditative concentration.” Sitting meditation calms the body and spirit and purifies the mind. This not only makes us wiser, but it will win us everyone’s love and respect and make things easier to accomplish.

Sitting meditation is the path to cultivating merit and wisdom.

The practice of sitting meditation allows us to become Buddhas by seeing our intrinsic nature. Sitting meditation eliminates affliction and deluded thoughts, allowing us to be quiet both within and without. When the mind reaches nirvana, it expands into enlightenment. This is why a meditation hall is also called the Buddha’s court. As long as we put in the effort, we will be able to see our nature and become Buddhas.

The final goal of sitting meditation is to free the body and mind.

We must free ourselves from all forms of delusion and all discriminating thoughts, such that even the world of the Buddha and enlightenment is washed away without a trace. Amid the silence of ancient temples, Chan masters sat in meditation, burning stick after stick of incense. They dedicated their lives to the practice of sitting meditation, with their goal being to put an end to this world of delusion. They hoped that by constantly meditating they could purify their original mind and merge into time and space, reaching a liberated state of total freedom beyond enlightenment or delusion.

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

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

The Forty-Eight Vows of Amitabha Buddha as recorded in the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life.  [1] If I should attain Buddhahood, yet there would be hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals in my land, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.[2] If I should attain Buddhahood, yet humans and heavenly beings in my land would again be in the three lower realms after the end of Read more
On the path of life, sometimes we need to go straight ahead, other times we have to make turns in order to reach our goals. If we do not turn around when we need to, we will not “see the other shore.” But when we need to move ahead and we do not, we will miss a prime opportunity. When we have to make a 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
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
Control of the body means that we know when to act, and when not to act and that we know how to behave with moderation. Read more
What, exactly, is the meaning contained within this gong’an? For instance, some have asked, what are people like? This is a very difficult question to answer because if there are things they are like, then there are things they are not like. If we answer that people are like ghosts, then there are also people among ghosts. If we say ghosts are like people, then Read more
As we live, we must strive for a life of value. Buddhism is different from philosophy, for it does not only deal with knowledge and theory. Rather, Buddhism calls for devout faith, developed morality, and most importantly: spiritual practice.All we need is the right intention to begin any form of spiritual practice, whether it is bowing to the Buddha, chanting sutras, repentance, meditation, or other Read more
All these naturally beautiful landscapes of the world are odes of praise to the beauty and wonder of nature. The beauty of nature is really enchanting and fascinating! Read more
We sometimes see signs on the highway warning: “Keep a safe distance.” Actually, it is not only in driving that we need to keep a distance. For safety reasons, any person and anything in the world needs to keep a distance.Take, for instance, the human body. Our eyes, nose, and mouth all need to keep a distance from one another. Our internal organs all have 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
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
The Buddhist precepts are here to protect us from wrongdoing, lead us away from what is bad, and towards what is good. Vinaya Master Daoxuan of the Tang dynasty composed the Simplified and Amended Handbook of the Four-Part Vinaya [Sifenlü Shanfan Buque Xingshi Chao], in which he analyzed the precepts in terms of their “rules,” “essence,” “practice,” and “characteristics.” When one puts the actual rules Read more