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How important is sitting meditation as a part of Buddhist practice?

DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
This question came up in another thread, and I thought it would be interesting to address it directly. How important is sitting meditation as a part of Buddhist practice?
Is it essential? Desirable? Not important? Not necessary?

My initial view is that it's important as a foundation for other aspects of practice like mindfulness.
anatamancvalueInvincible_summer
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Comments


  • I think that formal sitting practice is absolutely essential it is what makes the actualisation of Buddhdharma a viable option. The cultivation of positive thoughts and doing things with care are meritorious, but will only take us so far.
    ChazcvalueInvincible_summerkarasti
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    Ive been told of arahants who awakened just from walking meditation.
    cvalueInvincible_summer
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    Taking time to do something that establishes some form of understanding and insight into Buddhist practice is very useful initially, and sitting imitating the Buddha is a great way to start.

    I laugh at myself when I first started sitting, crazy thoughts and ideas reeled through my mind. My mind's activity was worse than Kings Cross station at rush hour. But when the stillness started to come so did the insight.

    I would say it is a very useful place to start, but it doesn't suit everyone. I now prefer other forms of meditation but still sit. Some times more than others.
    cvalue
  • ChazChaz The Remarkable Chaz Anywhere, Everywhere & Nowhere Veteran
    Jayantha said:

    Ive been told of arahants who awakened just from walking meditation.

    Quite right.

    There have also been those who awakened being hit on the forehead with a sandal (Naropa).

    I think that meditation is what's essential - not just sitting, walking, Samatha, Vipassana, Tonglen or being hit on the forehead with a sandal.
    Invincible_summer
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    Even though I was 'brought up' in spiritual adventures by Zen practice, still I think there is a pretty strong case for seated meditation, whether or not anyone wants to call it "Zen" or "Buddhism."

    What is sometimes dubbed "spiritual life" by practitioners is just another way of saying your life or mine. From soaring to floundering, it's just your life or mine and when the unsatisfactories come calling, it's nice to have a tool that doesn't just drizzle into the sweet talk of a belief system or philosophy.

    Your life and mine might roughly be described as thought, word and deed or body, mouth and thought. Coping with just one or two of these aspects never quite pans out. They all need to be addressed and seated meditation has that capacity. (Other ways may have the same capacity, but I am more familiar with seated meditation). When the going gets tough -- as it invariably does for anyone who is serious about practice -- seated meditation has what it takes to weather the storm without copping out. On the cushion, thought, word and deed are all in focus ... even when they're not.

    I like seated meditation not so much as something that excludes all other possibilities, but rather as something that is serious about something everyone takes seriously -- "my life." One-night stands, tons of money, club-house camaraderie, philosophical refinements and other worldly gadgets don't cut it when it comes to getting our feet on the ground.

    Seated meditation does not exclude. Seated meditation does not include. Seated meditation -- from my point of view -- just works.

    Just some verbal confetti.
    anatamanmaartenInvincible_summer
  • betaboybetaboy Veteran
    edited January 2014
    Chaz said:

    Jayantha said:

    Ive been told of arahants who awakened just from walking meditation.

    Quite right.

    There have also been those who awakened being hit on the forehead with a sandal (Naropa).

    Yeah, but don't tell MaryAnne.:D
    Chaz
  • I already tried hitting myself in the head (3 concussions in my life). Therefore I went to sitting meditation as an alternative.

    Seriously I think sitting meditation can give us confidence in the Dharma right away at the beginning. A big part of practicing is to have confidence.

    Finally, sitting is a very powerful mind training technique in its own right. Rather than slam Buddhists who don't sit I will instead point out the benefits of sitting meditation. These benefits include: getting over an upsetting problem, dedication to the dharma, prajna/wisdom mind including wisdom of emptiness, seeing your own mind, and attaining peaceful abiding.
    cvalue
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited January 2014
    Buddhist meditation has as many definitions as love does.
    Sitting meditation for me provides the platform by which all my sense gate data can be observed, unmolested by my own identity conditioning. From this platform, a myriad other meditional forms can be utilized throughout my daily life.

    What is actually important though is that a meditation platform is developed, not that any specific posture or form needs to limit it.
    BhikkhuJayasaraInvincible_summer
  • HamsakaHamsaka goosewhisperer Polishing the 'just so' Veteran
    Sitting meditation is necessary for me. The discipline and practice of it directly addresses my most painful experiences of suffering (which I've come to realize are self generated via meditation and therapy).

    I smell an invitation to target certain members for argument's sake :( . I like a good debate . . . no, I really like a good debate! I've witnessed some good debates here, but they are far less common than arguments about who gets to be 'right'. Those are a true waste of space and the person(s) trying to be 'right' end up making themselves look silly :(

    Gassho :)
  • until yesterday 'I' thought meditation necessary for all to understand Buddha's Teaching

    we (our family) went to planetarium last week and i went because of other family members

    that is just it for me

    but yesterday i had a discussion with my son, actually he started it

    he asked me 'what do you think/feel after you have been to planetarium'

    i told him 'it is just another experience, that's all'

    then he said " i felt how insignificant 'I am' after we have been to planetarium last week'
    what is the point of doing all these things that we thinks very important?

    luckily i had an answer

    i told him, you are still young (26 years) and you need food, shelter, clothes and medicine and no one here to give them to you so you have to do your job to get them

    he is in front of the computer playing computer games, watching movies after he comes back from work

    he did sitting meditation for one year or two when he was 9 years or so

    what do you have to say?

  • Buddhist practice is huge. Even devoting one's whole life to it, as a monk, requires narrowing and selecting. So although many elements could be said to be important, nobody can do them all. It comes down to which elements are valuable to you.
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    Buddhism without meditation is called the 6 fold path, not the 8 fold path. :)
    howcvalueJeffreyInvincible_summer
  • seeker242 said:

    Buddhism without meditation is called the 6 fold path, not the 8 fold path. :)

    'sabbasava sutta' says meditation is one of the seventh ways need to practice to get full Enlightenment

    that also not just meditation but 'bojjjanga or the seven factors of enlightenment'

    samma Samadhi in 8fp comes after samma dhitti

    to get samma dhitti one should practice sathara satipattana

    to practice satara satipattana it is 'much' helpful to get concentrated mind by doing 'whatever meditation -using any one of 40 methods'


    because we do not know or can not see how long one has been doing meditation in their previous lives
    we can not say meditation is not necessary

    meditation is not just concentration the mind
    but
    analysing Dhamma (events we face) with clear and open mind

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited January 2014
    how said:


    What is actually important though is that a meditation platform is developed, not that any specific posture or form needs to limit it.

    So what examples are there of alternative platforms to sitting meditation? Do you mean for example walking meditation? Chanting? Anything else?
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    upekka said:

    ...meditation is not just concentration the mind but analysing Dhamma (events we face) with clear and open mind

    I agree, but how do we develop a clear and open mind if not with sitting meditation - what alternatives are there?
  • how said:


    What is actually important though is that a meditation platform is developed, not that any specific posture or form needs to limit it.

    So what examples are there of alternative platforms to sitting meditation? Do you mean for example walking meditation? Chanting? Anything else?
    Walking is better - you won't fall asleep, plus it is good cardio. So even if you don't attain great meditative heights, you'll at least lose weight.
    Chaz
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    betaboy said:

    So even if you don't attain great meditative heights, you'll at least lose weight.

    Not for me because I do walking meditation really slowly. ;)
    lobsterChazVastmind
  • upekka said:

    ...meditation is not just concentration the mind but analysing Dhamma (events we face) with clear and open mind

    I agree, but how do we develop a clear and open mind if not with sitting meditation - what alternatives are there?
    to develop clear and open mind 'we' have to do 'Insight' (vipassana) meditation

    it can be sitting or walking or on the bed until we fall on to sleep

    how we do sitting Insight meditation?

    Sit and close eyes
    take any experience comes into ear or nose or body
    try to put them into 'thinnan sangathi passo' (internal sense base+external sense base+relevant consciousness)
    for example:
    if you hear a sound try to see that "'you' hear the sound" because there was the ear, a sound came from outside and to knew it ear consciousness should ab arised

    at the beginning this process is slow

    when you are analyzing one experience, there are lots of experiences pass without your notice
    that doesn't matter
    by the time being you will be able grasp the experience and analyse it within short time
    this time difference with two different experiences will get shorter and shorter

    and

    one day, at one moment you will be able to grasp the experience and analyse it simultaneously

    that will be the turning point of 'your' life

    do this, experience it and try to explain the experience to others using the words you know
    'I' bet 'you' can not



  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited January 2014

    how said:


    What is actually important though is that a meditation platform is
    developed, not that any specific posture or form needs to limit it.

    So what examples are there of alternative platforms to sitting meditation? Do you mean for example walking meditation? Chanting? Anything else?

    What ever helps you stop clinging to or pushing away the phenomena around you, is a potential meditation platform. It's usability however is best measured by it's portability and application to all representations of daily life .
    The point of my post was to promote the development of whatever meditation platform works best for you, over the endless mental mastication promoting the worth of one form over another.
    It is easy to think that what worked best for one person works best for others and such evangelical views only made a practitioner on the other thread feel dissed.

    My platform is a meditative one as Soto Zen Shikantaza but various forms of faith/devotion or scriptural immersion are credited with being the traditional alternatives for folks who don't relate to formal sitting meditation..
    EvenThird
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
    Citta said:


    I think that formal sitting practice is absolutely essential it is what makes the actualisation of Buddhdharma a viable option. The cultivation of positive thoughts and doing things with care are meritorious, but will only take us so far.

    Perhaps.
    That is however a very narrow Buddhadharma.
    Formulaic and ultimately empty of real essence.

    If the cultivation of positive thoughts and doing things with care are sufficiently meritorious you will awaken. That is far enough to know form and emptiness and what is required.

    However 'far' is a relative point from where I sit.

    :buck:
    how
  • Mom. Are we there yet?
    lobster
  • sovasova delocalized fractyllic harmonizing Veteran
    how many buddha figures do you see in the "playing rugby pose" ?

    obviously sitting is essential to practice

    but people will do anything to avoid it, especially if there is not the delightful habit energy from past "lives"

    one lama i heard speak mentioned he had a student in germany whom he instructed to do sitting meditation

    and like a month later when he came back, the student was like lama-la pleeeeease teach me some sort of ritual, some sort of prayer, i will do anything except for seated meditation

    it's funny, anything to avoid sitting down and looking directly at your own mind

    love meditation.

    there are lots of other things you can do but really the sublime states of concentration or whatever need a total body awareness and the external world has to lose focus. "a mind turned inwards finds contentment true"

    so in short i would say
    in the beginning seated meditation is incredibly important

    in the middle it is incredibly important

    and in the end it is incredibly important


    you are sitting right now! but drop the distractions. theoretically shouldn't it be easier to drop such tasks like reading and typing and just sit there? biochemically it is less calories burned, less wandering

    so it is not that it is easy or hard, it is that we have habits, and to change those habits (deep ones about fundamental aspects of reality) you gotta sit and let your mind relax. you will not know what you're missing until you get into it regularly.

    meditation means familiarization


    sit and visualize all wandering beings finally settling their bodies and minds to penetrate into deepest insight. that which binds and that which liberates is within!


    "in"sight
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran
    Just some verbal confetti.
    Well thrown ;)

    For those who can not meditate, take heart.

    The last few retreats I have been on I very quickly go into a meditative awareness. Must be the conducive environment or sincerely lost Buddhists. ;)
    . . . anyway the only chance for a break of 'normal monkey mind arisings' is during formal meditation - where I know I will not be disturbed.
    So I just sit or walk in the proscribed manner and pretend I am meditating . . .

    The funny thing is everyone else is doing the exact same . . . but they are just so up tight, sincerely trying, practicing, entering advanced yawning etc . . .

    Fake it Baby, one day you will fake it for real . . . which I believe is also Dr Ruth's advice . . .

    :wave:
  • I have posted this story before but it bears repeating. These are two of the greatest masters:

    When the time had come for Gampopa to part from his teacher Milarepa, Milarepa placed the soles of his feet on the top of Gampopa's head, symbolizing that their work together was done. As Gampopa was about to depart, however, Milarepa added: "There is one particularly profound teaching I have yet to impart to anyone, but it is too precious to give away just like that, so you may go." After this, the two embraced and Gampopa went on his way.

    Gampopa had barely passed out of earshot when he heard Milarepa calling out to him. Hurrying back, he knelt once more before his teacher, whereupon Milarepa turned his back on him and, lifting up his robe, exposed his bare buttocks, entirely covered with calluses from years of meditating on a rock.

    "This is my final teaching to you, my beloved heart-son," said Milarepa. "Now just do it."
  • I have posted this story before but it bears repeating. These are two of the greatest masters:

    When the time had come for Gampopa to part from his teacher Milarepa, Milarepa placed the soles of his feet on the top of Gampopa's head, symbolizing that their work together was done. As Gampopa was about to depart, however, Milarepa added: "There is one particularly profound teaching I have yet to impart to anyone, but it is too precious to give away just like that, so you may go." After this, the two embraced and Gampopa went on his way.

    Gampopa had barely passed out of earshot when he heard Milarepa calling out to him. Hurrying back, he knelt once more before his teacher, whereupon Milarepa turned his back on him and, lifting up his robe, exposed his bare buttocks, entirely covered with calluses from years of meditating on a rock.

    "This is my final teaching to you, my beloved heart-son," said Milarepa. "Now just do it."

    These blokes are insane. :wtf: :crazy:
  • lobsterlobster Crusty Veteran

    Gampopa had barely passed out of earshot when he heard Milarepa calling out to him. Hurrying back, he knelt once more before his teacher, whereupon Milarepa turned his back on him and, lifting up his robe, exposed his bare buttocks, entirely covered with calluses from years of meditating on a rock.

    "This is my final teaching to you, my beloved heart-son," said Milarepa. "Now just do it."

    Trust Milarepa to notice the non essential.

    And thus do we pass on the lineage of the sacred moon, by this blessed pudding. One Holy Twerk to another . . .

    That is the story that was passed on to me . . .

    image
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    how said:


    My platform is a meditative one as Soto Zen Shikantaza but various forms of faith/devotion or scriptural immersion are credited with being the traditional alternatives for folks who don't relate to formal sitting meditation.

    Yes, I see what you mean. I think most Buddhist traditions employ some form of sitting meditation, though I can think of at least one tradition where practice is purely devotional and the main practice is chanting.
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    upekka said:


    ...to develop clear and open mind 'we' have to do 'Insight' (vipassana) meditation

    Not in all traditions though.
  • upekka said:


    ...to develop clear and open mind 'we' have to do 'Insight' (vipassana) meditation

    Not in all traditions though.
    tradition?

    that is another concept, dear

    at the end of the day 'tradition' is individual's perception

    'Nothing' else

    No Thing

    :)
    Hamsaka
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    Zen does not have "vipassana" it just has zazen. Especially so for Soto style zazen. :)
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    upekka said:

    upekka said:


    ...to develop clear and open mind 'we' have to do 'Insight' (vipassana) meditation

    Not in all traditions though.
    tradition?

    that is another concept, dear

    No, it's descriptive of how things are - there are all these Buddhist traditions, each with their own beliefs, assumptions, methods of practice, etc. Clearly there are similarities, but there are also differences.
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    And the differences are all just an illusion.
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    anataman said:

    And the differences are all just an illusion.

    How many traditions have you been involved in?

  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    Tibetan and Zen - Dzogchen, Zazen
  • anatamananataman Who needs a title? Where am I? Veteran
    They are really just the same thing done differently
  • 4 good reasons to meditate.


    Invincible_summer
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    anataman said:

    ...the same thing done differently

    But the devil is in the detail.
  • anandoanando Explorer
    Hi,
    why talk that much? Buddho said, find a silent place, sit down with a straight spine.....
    It´s Gotamo Buddhos own instruction.

    anando
  • anando said:

    Hi,
    why talk that much? Buddho said, find a silent place, sit down with a straight spine.....
    It´s Gotamo Buddhos own instruction.

    anando

    Is it ? Or is it your interpretation of a translation from a extinct language which might or might not be the words of Gautama.
  • Hello, this is the original instruction from Dighanikayo. Practically it is better to sit for a long time, than to stand upright.

    anando
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    To me, it is an essential part of the practice but it took time.
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    edited February 2014
    Citta said:

    anando said:

    Hi,
    why talk that much? Buddho said, find a silent place, sit down with a straight spine.....
    It´s Gotamo Buddhos own instruction.

    anando

    Is it ? Or is it your interpretation of a translation from a extinct language which might or might not be the words of Gautama.
    Oh stop being so pedantic - that's my job! :p
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    I must practice sitting meditation. But more and more I am able to bring it out into the rest of my life, so that even if I am not sitting, I am still meditating in a sense. Considering it is said it often (usually?) takes many lifetimes to work through everything on your way out of Samsara, it makes sense that different people will be in different spots. Just because one person has to meditate an hour a day to ground themselves (and then loses it 10 minutes after they stop) doesn't mean another person isn't far enough along (lifetimes ahead, perhaps...we limit ourselves to thinking within this lifetime too often, i think) to be able to not sit at all and still be carrying themselves in a Dharmic manner throughout the day. That doesn't mean they've never gone through having to sit for an hour a day, it means that perhaps they surpassed that requirement in their practice 4 life times ago.
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    Interestingly, I just read an article from Twitter about this topic. I will share the link below. It has to do with mindfulness being more important than meditation. I think where the article loses something though is in the lack of the tradition. Meditation for the sake of just meditating has benefits, but I think it loses something in being able to bring happiness, peace and freedom when you are not doing it in conjunction with study of a wisdom tradition. I think that can be done with traditions other than Buddhism, including Christianity, when the motivation and intention are set correctly.

    But I personally think (based on just my experience and in talking with my teacher) that you cannot properly hope to have true mindfulness without first having tamed the mind with meditation. It is just a practice of frustration eventually because you cannot kee to the point of mindfulness without first having calmed your mind. Just my opinion though, at this point in my practice.

    It seems that the people in the article who experience "boredom" in meditation especially need to keep going with it and break past that boredom rather than giving up. The problem, it seems, is in an expectation of meditation to do something certain for you and disappointment when it does not. They are still stuck in the same cycle that brought them to meditation to begin with-expectation of a particular outcome and clinging to it. Anyhow, here is the article:

    http://theenergyproject.com/blog/more-mindfulness-less-meditation
    Invincible_summer
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Neat.
    I like the definition:
    'Meditation is learning to do one thing at a time'.

    Cool.
    Chaz
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    My fav.
    Meditation is allowing each moment to be itself.
    JeffreyChazVastmind
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    What I find problematic with the article that @karasti shared is that the author had 25 years of meditation under his belt before he decided that focusing more on daily mindfulness was more beneficial. His thesis is that mindfulness > meditation, but then basically says halfway through that you should build a base in samatha meditation before trying pure mindfulness.

    Okay...


    Also, the idea that meditation doesn't bring anything to "real life" is really dependent on the individual. Sure, it can be used to suppress or escape stuff, but it can also be a great source of insight into reality.

    I agree with @karasti that it's important to have the context of the faith tradition when pursuing a spiritual practice. It provides the checks and balances that make the practice effective. If I just started to pray to God without believing in God's existence, what benefit would I get from that?
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    karasti said:


    But I personally think (based on just my experience and in talking with my teacher) that you cannot properly hope to have true mindfulness without first having tamed the mind with meditation. It is just a practice of frustration eventually because you cannot kee to the point of mindfulness without first having calmed your mind. Just my opinion though, at this point in my practice.

    Absolutely. I've found that it's very difficult to practice mindfulness effectively off the cushion without regular time on the cushion. And this seems to be a common experience.
    ChazhowInvincible_summer
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    Sitting meditation is fundamental but it is practice for living mindfully and should never take it over.
    anatamanKundoDaltheJigsaw
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