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Chrysanthemum Sitting and the Three Doors of Liberation
When you sit, you don’t have to force your eyes open—whether open or closed, you can still “touch” the world by feeling the presence of brothers, sisters, trees, rain, and sunshine within you. Sitting meditation is a time to enjoy being yourself, care for your five elements (form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness), and help the seed of mindfulness and wisdom in you to sprout.
• Find your chrysanthemum position—with an erect spine and relaxed shoulders and face—so you can sit at least twenty minutes (or even an hour) without pain.
• Practice “Breathing in, I am aware of my body. Breathing out, I allow my body to relax,” smile to your body and to your breath, and let mindfulness embrace you rather than control you.
Mindful breathing is like turning on a light to see the miracle that you are alive. Every sound of the bell offers nine in-and-out breaths of mindfulness, concentration, and joy—so bell-masters wait long enough for everyone to complete three cycles before the next ring. As you deepen practice, you can:
- Touch your feelings to make them more pleasant.
- Recognize and embrace restlessness instead of fighting it.
- Discover the three doors of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and aimlessness—to stop running after peace and happiness and instead enjoy them in the here and now.
True practice happens in community. Build a Sangha of friends—Buddhist or not—who share mindfulness, concentration, and harmony. Support each other in keeping precepts and strengthening your bodhicitta, the mind of love: only when your determination and joy in practice are wholehearted should you receive new commitments. Restlessness, forgetfulness, and the mind’s creations (form, fashions, ideologies) lose their grip when you return to your in-breath, touch the impermanence of all things, and cherish each miracle of the present moment.
