Sitting Meditation in Conjunction with Timeless Zen

The goal of sitting meditation in Won Buddhism, as in some other East Asian meditation traditions, is to nurture the pristine fundamental spirit of human beings. In Won Buddhism, practitioners do this by developing the ability to rest the energy in the Danjeon, which in the Scriptures is also called “the elixir field.” It is located in the lower abdomen, about two to three inches below the naval. Those of you familiar with Japanese traditions will recognize it as what is called the “hara.” We usually practice sitting meditation during moments of quietude, when one is not actively engaged in daily activities. Significantly, though, the teaching places an equal and balancing emphasis on the practice called “timeless zen,” or continuous mindfulness during daily activities. Many people like to place the main emphasis on sitting meditation as the way to nurture the spirit, but today I would like you to consider with me the following question: In order to achieve this goal of nurturing the pristine fundamental spirit, is it essential for the practitioner to use sitting meditation during moments of quietude in conjunction with meditation during activity, namely timeless zen? By the same token, does timeless zen absolutely need sitting practice during moments of quietude in order to achieve its goal? The thesis of this paper is that in order to nurture the spirit, one must integrate the use of sitting meditation and timeless zen. This integrated practice strengthens what I call the “mind muscle,” namely the muscle of awareness that one needs in order to nurture the spirit continuously. My analysis will be based primarily on texts, with experiential analysis as illustrative support. I will express the experiential analysis in first-person statements. KCI Citation Count: 0