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To transcend ourselves is the essence of Sitting Chan. This means surpassing our body, our mind and our spirit by first overcoming our bodily soreness, pain, and numbness from sitting. If we are incapable of conquering ourselves, how could we overcome issues caused by others, such as those in businesses or relationships.
So, crossing our legs in Sitting Chan is the necessary first step to transcend ourselves.
Once we overcome this biological dimension, such as soreness, pain, and numbness from Sitting Chan, we could then be able to enter into the second dimension - the dimension of consciousness.
Sitting Chan Helps to Replenish Our Brain Power
Our brain activity never ceases when we are alive, including the period of time when we are sleeping. This incessant brain activity contributes to to the aging and forgetfulness of our brain.
Through Sitting Chan, we can restore our brain power because, during meditation, we naturally relax our body and mind. Both of our body and mind would then have the opportunity to obtain the necessary rest and ready themselves for the next task.
With proper rest, our mind becomes more alert. It also becomes more in tune with our biological condition. In other words, we could quickly “feel” the state of the health of many of our organs, and we could also be aware when they do not functioning properly. This sensitivity and awareness comes naturally to us after a period of practicing Sitting Chan.
Master Our Consciousness to Promote Longevity
Most of the beginners remain in the first dimension of Sitting Chan and rarely surpass the first dimension.
The essence of Heart Chan is in enabling the practitioners to elevate themselves from the dimension of the biological body to the dimension of the consciousness.
Then step by step, to the dimension of the subconsciousness and ultimately to the dimension of the spirit. .
When we reach the dimension of spirit, we are in full command of our mind. Those of us are not at this level, would often use our brain in vain and age quickly. Having completely command of our mind, is the only way to maintain optimum physical health.
Liberate Our Mind & Detach From All Forms
To reach this second dimension, we need to transcend our biological body first. If we can keep our body motionless for 15 minutes, we then have mastered the ability to control our biological self during these 15 minutes. Next, we need to work on the synchronizing our mind with our body. That means there is no thought activities whatsoever. It is not easy to quiet our mind completely. However, an effective way to accomplish this is through simplification of our complex thought into simple thoughts. Then eliminate all thoughts altogether. We call this the state of no notion. Or in Buddhist term, detachment from all forms. We live in the world of forms. The TV advertising, the internet, the criticism or praises, the luxurious goods are all forms. If we could our live by not being seduced or affected by these forms, then we have surpassed this dimension of our consciousness. "Detaching from all forms" are interpreted into "focusing on the present moment" in most of the schools. This dimension of consciousness is where the teachings of many of the schools end. Very few of them teach beyond this dimension. |
