How to Do Meditation in Action?
It is believed that meditation helps to keep a pure and sound mind. But nowadays, many people may find themselves too busy to spare the time to sit quietly and meditate. The good news is that meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it is something that we can practice anywhere at any time. Actually, the Buddha had already taught about how to practice meditation in any daily life activities, and if one can apply it persistently, inner peace and awareness will be achieved.
In this current age, meditation is an excellent way to improve our physical and mental well-being. It’s essential for each of us to maintain a peaceful and sound mind through the practice of meditation, since we human beings are constantly afflicted by our negative emotions such as desire, hatred, and ignorance, etc. Driven by these afflictive emotions, we might not communicate or handle affairs properly. So it’s of great importance for us to keep a pure and sound mind in any circumstance.
With regard to the way to practice meditation, it would be better to sit to do the practice. Because it’s rather difficult to meditate while doing daily activities, such as walking, eating, etc. Yet, to practice in action has been clearly stated in Buddhist scriptures. In The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness, it is said that:
When walking, a monk knows, ‘I am walking;’
When standing, he knows, ‘I am standing;’
When sitting, he knows, ‘I am sitting;’
When lying down, he knows, ‘I am lying down’.
So according to Buddhist teachings, not only should we maintain a peaceful mind when we abide in sitting meditation; more importantly, we should be able to observe our mind in any daily activities. And the way of observing our mind has been well explained in sutras taught by the Buddha more than 2000 years ago.
In fact, observing our mind in action is very essential in our daily life as most of us maybe cannot spare the time to do sitting meditation at a regular or fixed time everyday. But if we can observe our mind when we are driving, walking, working or engaging in other daily activities, then we will be able to maintain a peaceful mind, which is very necessary to us.
Therefore, we should often try to apply this way of practice in our daily life. If we can sustain a peaceful mind, when some unpleasant things happen, we may get angry at first but are not likely to lose our temper so seriously or get completely out of control. So it is very important to safeguard our mind and keep awareness with mindfulness.
While, without a long-term practice one may not grasp the technique to meditate in action, as with any practice or any spiritual accomplishment, it cannot be grasped or attained easily, rather it is something gained through constant and long-term effort.
