Saturday Meditation

Program   10:30 AM - 12:00 AM, Saturday

1. Opening

2. Yoga & Stretching

3. Chanting Meditation

4. Sitting meditation / Moving meditation

5. Il-Won-Sang Vow / Heart Sutra

6. Conversation / Sharing reflection on dharma text

7. Closing

Why Sitting Meditation?

As a rule, seated meditation is a practice that, in the mind, calms deluded thoughts and manifests the true nature. It is also a method that, in the body, causes the fiery energy to descend and the watery energy to ascend. As deluded thoughts are calmed, the watery energy will ascend; as the watery energy ascends, the deluded thoughts will be calmed. Consequently, one’s body and mind will remain serene in perfect harmony, and both the spirit and energy will be refreshed.

However, if deluded thoughts are not calmed in one’s mind, the fiery energy will constantly ascend, burning up the watery energy in the entire body and obscuring the light of the spirit. The operation of the human body is like a steam engine; without the energies of fire and water, not even a finger can be lifted. A human’s six sense organs are all controlled by the brain; whether seeing, hearing, or thinking, whenever one uses the six sense organs, the entire body’s fiery energy will naturally become concentrated in the head, burning up the entire body’s watery energy, just as the oil is burned when a lamp’s wick is lit. Therefore, whether we think long and anxiously on something using our mental powers, look carefully at something using our visual powers, or raise our voices to talk energetically about something, our faces will perforce become flushed and our saliva will dry up. This is precisely what we mean by the phenomenon of the fiery energy rising upwards. We should use our six sense organs sparingly even with things that must be done; how much less should we let the wicks of our heads burn continually day and night with useless deluded thoughts! Therefore, seated meditation is a practice that aims to remove all these deluded thoughts, to manifest the original nature of true suchness, to bring down all the fiery energy, and to raise the pure watery energy.