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Comparing the Practice in the Village and in China
One of the great challenges of Chinese and Japanese Zen is the habit energy of drowsiness: even after having enough sleep, practitioners still feel sleepy when sitting in meditation or listening to the Dharma. To address this, the Ming Dynasty Zen monasteries used the incense board to awaken practitioners, and later developed the method of sitting and running (alternating sitting meditation with fast walking meditation). The legend of National Master Yulin and Zen Master Tian Hui shows that after only seven days of sitting meditation—interspersed with fast walking meditation—the Zen master “awakened” when he accidentally bumped his head against a pillar, opening wide the essential question of mindfulness. Plum Village has adopted this Dharma door as “running meditation,” while also encouraging the practice of slow walking meditation (one breath per step, two steps per breath…).
The three core principles of the Plum Village Dharma door:
- Continuity – practicing continuously, without interruption.
- Joy – nourishing happiness right in the midst of practice.
- Here and now – the results are seen immediately, not in the distant future.
By applying the “key” of the Buddha (impermanence, interbeing, non-self), we can resolve koans, for example, “Who is the one reciting the Buddha’s name?” without having to wait for decades. Each breath, each step, each smile illuminated by that insight helps reduce suffering, increase joy, transform the individual, and nurture the sangha.