What is Meditation?

The Power of Zazen and Its nature

 

When starting to practice,

Be eager like a deer trapped in a fence seeking to get out.

 

In the middle

Be like a farmer during harvest not waiting for anything.

 

In the end

Be like a shepherd who has brought the flock home.

 

            Paltrul Rinpoche’s sacred word

 

 

A group of people sitting in the grass doing yoga.Just sitting on my old wool blanket feels so comfortable and anchored, and which seems to stop me from inner talking but make me the whole.

 

During this morning meditation, it just entered my mind.

“What is the meditation?” 

Meditation is right here and now and present in between the heavenly energy and the earthly energy, levitation and gravitation, and yang and yin.

 

The levitation is moving away from the earthly energy to the space, sky tian in Chinese.

If you have too much yang qi, you might have the characteristic of the idealist and day dreamer and so on, you are the one who wants to do something spiritual, invisible, altruistic etc, not really taking care of yourself. At last what will happen to you? You will fly away to the space away from the earth.

This isnÂ’t the state of meditation.

 

Then what is the gravitation, the opposite of the levitation;

You have the more yin energy in you, you are earthly, material, practical, more self-oriented, well-organized. So you donÂ’t really look up to the heaven but well grounded to the earth di in Chinese where you stand now.

This isnÂ’t the state of meditation either!!!

 

In ‘Meditation’, you are well balanced, there is no deviation and you are you as you are.

 

That is zhongyong, the number 1 virtue of Confucianism.

This is non-doing and suchness, wuwei in tao te ching.

 

Therefore you sit and taste non-taste of peace.