Sunday, January 29, 2006

Meditation - stillness and movement. A Taoist perspective

People tend to regard meditation as extremely difficult - if not altogether impossible...
But very often people have a concept of meditation that complicates its practice.
In a Taoist commentary on the I Ching*, there is a reference to the text, 'Directions for Blessings' where Lu Tung-Pin says the following:

"If you have your heart set on the universal Tao, you should certainly practice concentration in stillness. However, concentration in stillness is not a matter of intentionally keeping the mind on something while remaining quiet. If you intentionally seek stillness while quiet, once you move or act your mind will again be aroused. When stillness culminates, there is spontaneous movement - this is the force of potential. If you can seek stillness while active, your mind stays on truth, so you can act without error. Then there is no further concern when quiet."
"(Other) Taoist teachers also affirm that the real stillness and openness which they esteem as a method for breaking through the bounds of conditioned subjectivity and opening up objective awareness cannot necessarily be accomplished simply by arresting or inhibiting the movement of the mind, as this can leave intact the clutter of ingrained habits, only to reassert themselves again on arousal. The classical Chan master Pai-Chang, speaking of the need for insight as well as calm, said, "That which is held by the power of concentration leaks out unawares, to arise in another context."

Also,
"If the mind remains unmoved, and sees as if not seeing, being like open space, not dwelling on anything, (these visions) will naturally disappear."
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* 'The Taoist I Ching', translated by Thomas Cleary; Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1986; p. 12-13
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