https://tnhtalks.org/2022/04/06/what-is-sitting-meditation-for/
Original Vietnamese title: “Ngồi Thiền Để Làm Gì? [Thực Tập Căn Bản Làng Mai] TS Nhất Hạnh”
Originally posted by: Làng Mai (Plum Village Vietnamese YouTube channel) https://youtu.be/OdQ-RNNK2XE
This is part of the Dharma talk given on January 23, 1997 in New Hamlet, Plum Village France.
Transcript
What is sitting in meditation for? Why do we have to sit in meditation? How come does a monk have to sit in meditation many times a day? What’s the point of sitting as still as a statue like that?
Let’s say if someone… If a young person comes here and asks novice nuns and monks, “Why do you have to sit so many times a day? What’s the point of sitting?“, how can we answer that question appropriately? What’s the purpose of seated meditation?
Of course, we’ll need to look deeply into the heart of the questioner in order to find the right answer. It’s not that we use our own understanding to give the answer. Look deeply into the heart of the questioner.
In the old days, there was a monk who sat in meditation all day, all night. As soon as he found himself at a loose end or having nothing to do, he would sit in meditation. So one day there’s another monk asking, “What are you sitting in meditation for?”
This monk said, “I sit in meditation to become a buddha.” So the answer for this question is “Sitting in meditation is to become a buddha.”
The other monk, upon hearing that, he bent forward and picked up a shard of broken roof tile. Then he sat down and started filing the broken shard.
Curious, this monk asked, “What are you filing that shard for?“
The other monk said, “I’m filing the broken shard to make a mirror to look into.” “I’m filing this broken shard to make a mirror, so I can look into it.”
This monk thought, “That’s ridiculous. How on Earth can you make a broken shard into… a mirror?”
Then the other monk looked up with a grin on his face, “Then, how on Earth can sitting meditation make you a buddha?“
That’s a Zen story that everybody knows.
So sitting in meditation and expecting to become a buddha is like filing a broken shard and hoping it will become a mirror to look into. We should understand. We should understand that picking up a broken shard to file it is the answer of the other monk.
Sitting in meditation with the intention to become something is not the official way to do it. Because sitting in this way, there’s searching and expecting for something. We still have this searching and longing for something. And as long as there’s searching and longing, there’s going against one of the three doors of liberation, which is aimlessness.
“I sit in meditation. I don’t wish, or search, for anything. Even that’s to become a buddha.” That’s the spirit of aimlessness.
It’s because of this reason, in Tào Động school, or Soto Zen, there’s a term, which is ‘Shikantaza’. It’s a Japanese word. ‘Shikantaza’ is the Japanese word. And in Sino-Vietnamese, it’s “chỉ quản đả tọa“.
“Tọa” means “to sit”. “Chỉ quản đả tọa“ means “to only sit.” Only sit and expect nothing. This is the principle of Soto Zen. While sitting, just sit. Don’t search or expect for anything. Don’t hope to become anything. That’s “chỉ quản đả tọa”.
Can we do this?
If we sit just to sit, then what’s the point of sitting at all? Among us, there must’ve been some people who have already tasted the Dharma happiness of sitting in meditation. Sitting without longing or wishing for anything, without any purpose. Because “sitting” means “taking refuge in peace” and “being seated in peace“.
“Taking refuge in peace” means staying there in imperturbable tranquility and solidity. It means sitting still. Just sit still. And sitting still is a great art. In the Upper Hamlet, we have the “Sitting Still Hut”.
“Sitting still” is the English phrase translated from the Vietnamese word “an tọa”. You just sit still. And you sit like that with no purpose whatsoever. Even the purpose of becoming a buddha. Or the purpose of reaching enlightenment. This purpose, or that purpose. Because if we sit with a purpose, it means we’re still running. Not sitting. We’re running, and searching and longing for something.
But what is “searching and longing“? Searching and longing for something is what we’ve been doing in millions of our past lives. We’ve always been running. Running to search for something. Throughout countless lives, we’ve been hurrying, going up and coming down, rushing and searching for something.
And now, we visit a practice center, we receive from our teacher the practice called “chỉ quản đả tọa”. “Sit still, my child. Don’t search for anything anymore. Stop all that you’re doing. You just have to sit.“
And stopping this way is no easy feat. Stopping this way, we have to have considerable insights to really stop.
