Taoist Internal Alchemy (single cultivation) - Meditation practices
Daoist Meditation: The Purification of the Heart Method of Meditation and Discourse on Sitting and Forgetting, 2014 ... (Zuo Wang Lun) by Si Ma. Master Cherng's translation of Discourse on Sitting and Forgetting, an 8th century classic text on meditation by Si Ma Cheng Zhen, is accompanied by his extensive explanatory commentary, unique in its ability to make this complex text accessible to the Western reader. My opinion? There are many great methods to meditate and grow internally. Find the right one for you and do it daily. This practice is calming during daily life stress and will expand your insight into enlightenment.
Meditation on meditation:
The object of meditation is to silence the rational, thinking mind and shift awareness to the intuitive mode of conciousness. This intuitive modality produces an extraordinary awareness of "oneness" where the environment is experienced in a direct way without conceptual thinking. Fragmented reality ("knowing") becomes unified and true "seeing" occurs.
There are various meditation techniques. You can focus your attention on a single item - breathing, a visualized image or a verbalized sound. Zen Buddhism places great importance on zazen (sitting meditation) which is done every day for hours. Learning correct posture and breathing is essential here. In deep meditation the mind is completely alert, but it does not analyze, interpret or get distracted.
The East has long been adept at developing the meditative mode of consciousness - art, music, calligraphy, tea ceremony, ritual, as well as forms of rope bondage (shibari and kinbaku) all do this well. Rhythmic body movement like yoga and Tai Chi are also meditative if done "naturally" without thought interfering. Even ordinary work is considered a form of meditation in the Soto school of Zen Buddhism where the "everyday mind" is greatly valued.
There is a similarity between the meditative state, martial arts and the samurai tradition known as bushido - the way of the warrior. The warrior's heightened zone of concentrated awareness is the mind of somebody facing death. Perfectly still, ready to flow spontaneously without fear or the impediment of overthinking.
The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhist practices that lead to liberation highlights the importance of meditation in it's final two steps: Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
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