Meditation gives you nothing
Lately, I’ve started taking meditation more seriously. Meditation has been a part of my martial arts experience since I started, but it has never really been discussed in much depth. In my first Tai Chi class it was a small part of our warm up. In Qigong it was what we did in the last ten minutes of class. In Baguazhang…well, you’re supposed to reach a meditative state while doing lots and lots of drills. But even though it has never been seriously discussed, we are all, as martial arts students, expected to slough off our everyday minds so that we can be at one with the movements. So that we can become the movements. But what does that mean exactly? And what does it really mean to meditate? How do you know if you’re even doing it “right”?
There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding meditation. At least, that was my initial impression. There is a prevailing belief floating around that meditation is supposed to take you somewhere, but where exactly would that be? For the purpose of martial arts, this isn’t really helpful. Meditation for me means remaining in the present moment. I don’t want to be anywhere else. Where would I go? I want to be here, practicing Tai Chi or Qigong or whatever else I’m doing. To become the movements, it is necessary to be in the moment completely, so that you no longer even think about yourself and completely forget you even have a self.
In Tai Chi I learned Standing Meditation. In Qigong we did short guided meditations where we visualized moving our qi up and down through the central meridian (or whatever meridian that is…). In Zen meditation – Zazen – which I am learning now, we sit facing a wall (this is Soto Zen, to be more precise).
I have stuck with both Standing Meditation and Zen meditation, or Zazen, because they have one thing in common – no one is telling me what to do. Also, while I enjoyed the guided meditations in my Qigong class, I cannot do them on my own at home, like I can Standing Meditation and Zazen (okay, technically I can, but it feels silly). And so I have developed my own routine – Standing Meditation and Tai Chi in the morning, Zazen at night before going to sleep.
But how do you know if you are doing it “right”? That’s the thing – there is no right way, really. Which I was kind of surprised to discover. There’s also nothing mysterious or magical about it. It’s simply a way of being in the present moment, being aware of your breath, the room around you and the thoughts that go in and out of your head every day and almost every moment.
It sounds so simple, yet can be so incredibly difficult sometimes…Still, meditation is an integral part of the internal martial arts and is actually one of the things I enjoy most about my practice.
…
While I don’t follow him, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has an excellent video on the Shambhala International website that sums up the basics of meditation very nicely. Also, Patrick Reynolds, of Zen is Stupid, has a really great (and funny) video about how to do Zazen and what to expect – see below.
Happy meditating. 
started, but it has never really been discussed in much depth. In my first Tai Chi class it was a small part of our warm
up. In Qigong it was what we did in the last ten minutes of class. In Baguazhang…well, you’re supposed to reach a
meditative state while doing lots and lots of drills. But even though it has never been seriously discussed, we are all,
as martial arts students, expected to slough off our everyday minds so that we can be at one with the movements. So that
we can *become* the movements. But what does that mean exactly? And what does it really mean to meditate? How do you know
if you’re even doing it “right”?
There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding meditation. At least, that was my initial impression. There is a prevailing
belief floating around that meditation is supposed to take you somewhere, but where exactly would that be? For the purpose
of martial arts, this isn’t really helpful. Meditation for me needs to help me remain in the present moment. I don’t want
to be anywhere else. Where would I go? I want to be here, practicing Tai Chi or Qigong or whatever else I’m doing. To
become the movements, it is necessary to be in the moment completely, so that you no longer even think about yourself -
that you completley forget you even have a self.
In Tai Chi I learned Standing Meditation. In Qigong we did short guided meditations where we visualized moving our qi up
and down through the central meridian (or whatever meridian that is…). In Zen meditation – zazen – which I am learning
now, we sit facing a wall (this is Soto Zen, to be more precise).
I have stuck with both Standing Meditation and Zen meditation, or zazen, because they have one thing in common – no one is
telling me what to do. Also, while I enjoyed the guided meditations in my Qigong class, I cannot do them on my own at
home, like I can standing meditation and zazen. And so I have developed my own routine – standing meditation and Tai Chi
in the morning, zazen at night before going to sleep.
But how do you know if you are doing it “right”? That’s the thing – there is no right way, really. Which I was kind of
surprised to discover. There’s also nothing mysterious or magical about it. It’s simply a way of being in the present
moment, being aware of your breath, the room around you and the thoughts that go in and out of your head every day and
(almost) every moment. It sounds so simple, yet can also be very difficult…
While I don’t follow him, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, has an excellent video (http://www.shambhala.org/meditation/) on the
Shambala International website that sums up the basics of meditation very nicely. Also, Patrick Reynolds, of Zen is
Stupid, has a really great (and funny) video about how to do zazen and what to expect.
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July 18th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Small world: your photo is of my tai chi teacher. The standing posture, which he called Universal Post, was a favorite of his. I do it every day, first.
You mentioned that you liked to stand because no one is telling you what to do. Without getting all mystical about it, let me suggest that in time, if you work to perfect the standing, the posture itself will teach you many things. Or, it could be said, that you will derive many things from it.
July 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am
That is incredible. Thank you for sharing that.
I chose that photo because I wanted to emphasize Standing Meditation – because almost everyone, when they think of meditation, thinks of sitting down. And that’s not the only way. I know what you mean – I’ve found Standing Meditation very powerful – I don’t know what else to call it. It has a way of grounding me, so that now if I don’t do it in the morning I feel very off all day. Even if I can’t do Tai Chi I do my Standing Meditation. I haven’t quite perfected it and I still have much to learn, but I do love it.
Thanks Walt.
July 24th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I did standing meditation for the reasons you cite, but after 5 months of daily practice (3 mos of 30- to 45-min practice), abandoned it as I saw no benefit other than not being winded climbing large hills. There was no cost involved in this, and I could do it on my own, yet “everyone” I consulted online warned that I needed a teacher (one I could never find). I could never find anyone to describe what the postures did for the body, only how to do them. These days I’m going with Falun Gong, which is free (!) and has a myriad of teachers everywhere. The standing postures are almost identical to those I was doing. I’m curious as to what benefits you’ve seen from doing the postures. To be fair, I usu. did the exercises while watching TV (otherwise it got boring), but 5 mos is a long time not to have some health benefit. Peace./Glenn
July 25th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hi Glenn. Thanks for commenting.
I should be clear and say that I only do Standing Meditation for about 15-20 minutes in the morning. That might not sound like much, but it’s all I need right now.
The one benefit I’ve noticed is this – and I’ll try to explain as best I can. In the mornings I have a tendency to start overwhelming myself with my to-do list for the day. By stopping and doing meditation I essentially slow that whole process down. I notice the weather, I hear sounds outside, I feel the carpet under my bare feet, I notice my arms starting to hurt, etc. Essentially, meditation wakes me up – all of my senses, if that makes sense(!). It’s not always pleasant, because sometimes this involves feeling pain (and boredom), but I prefer that to numbing myself (like I’ve done in the past).
Best of luck to you in your practice.