Some beginners of Life Cultivation practice think Jingzuo is a very mysterious matter. Yet Jingzuo is only a form of meditation involving sitting. Once we learn and practice it, we will start to love it because it makes us feel comfortable and relaxed. It is simple and fun to get into it. Let us get into Jingzuo in greater detail.
Jingzuo is a static fitness method. It makes us fit without moving, and that is why we call it static.
To put it simply, it involves closing our eyes and sitting cross-legged, adjusting our breath, putting our hands in a certain position, and not thinking about anything. That is easy, right?
The practice is called Jingzuo because we are required to sit and be silent. It is a basic practice in Taoism. It is called Zen Sitting in Buddhism which is a compulsory practice in Zen Buddhism.
Since it involves sitting, how to sit is a major subject. Usually we sit cross-legged and are divided into natural posture, single-cross posture, and double-cross posture.
Jingzuo practice will nourish our body and prolong our life. It will also open up our wisdom and increase our wisdom. In the practice of Chinese martial arts, Jingzuo is also a way to increase our internal strength and willpower.
Jingzuo practice literally means to sit quietly. Therefore, one of the essence of the practice is quietness, meaning we will sit for a long time and be calm. If we sit for a long time, we will be fixed. If we are physically active for a long time, we will feel tired.
Therefore if we practice Jingzuo for hours, we should exercise our muscles and bones by doing the Mustang Shenzhan Technique to relax our physical body, combining stillness with soft activities. This is merely for your reference. Use your judgment in your particular situations.
As far as the Jingzuo sitting posture is concerned, most people will choose the double cross-legged posture. A practitioner will go into calmness faster, and control his mind more efficiently. With a single cross-legged posture, it is easier for the practitioner to scatter his spirit and attention. However, it is more difficult for a beginner to start with a double cross-legged posture. It is an option for a practitioner to think about.
02 How long should we practice Jingzuo each day?
Theoretically speaking, as long as it is a systematic practice system, whether it is Buddhism or Taoism, or any other sect with meditation practice, the more time we devote to meditate, the better. The effect of practice will be better, and the progress will be relatively easy and rapid.
A master in the practice once used a metaphor to illustrate. Meditation is like boiling water, and daily meditation practice is like constantly adding firewood to the stove, so that the temperature of the water gradually rises and even boils. If we want the water to boil, we must add firewood all the time without interruption, otherwise the water temperature will become hot for a while, then cool down, hot again, and cool again. It is difficult to maintain a long-term boiling state.
In real life it is difficult for us to meditate all the time, especially for beginners. A beginner has various pressures from work and life, as well as his physical and mental state, making it difficult for him to have too much time to meditate. This in turn is divided into two cases.
01 Life is forced, and there is not much time to meditate
In this case, we should take as much time as possible to meditate in our spare time, ranging from a few minutes to an hour or two at a time. The Mustang Jingzuo Technique is based on deep breathing as the basic, so it is easy for us to be constant in our lives. As long as we practice with our heart, even if we only have one minute to meditate, every breath will not be wasted.
Moreover, we should arrange our work and life well, and go to an intensive meditation camp for seven to ten days every once in a while. In the training camp, we will maintain eight to ten hours of meditation time every day, so the progress is more obvious.
At the same time, according to the experience of most people, if we can arrange our life so that we can sit at home twice a day for at least an hour each time, our daily mental state will be well maintained.
02 My physical and mental state does not allow long meditation
In this case, we have time to meditate, but every time we sit for more than a few minutes, we feel extremely uncomfortable physically or mentally, so we can’t hold on.
In this case, we must have patience to cultivate our own ability, and don’t be too hasty. Just like practicing long-distance runs, we should not run too fast for too long at the beginning. We should prepare for the work by starting with a few minutes of meditation at a time and do it a few more times a day. Gradually, we add a little more time on the average each time, such as an extra minute. After such a period of time, such as a few months, we will gradually increase to the point where we can sit for more than an hour each time, so that we can maintain a better habit.
In a word, it is very beneficial for us to spend more time meditating every day while keeping our body and mind relatively comfortable.
03 How long should we practice Jingzuo?
As a physical exercise method for static fitness, meditation is more and more popular among people. Some businessmen like to meditate. Some professional office workers like to meditate. Ordinary rural people like to meditate.
If we want to go into the purpose of meditation, there are many theories, but as a way of static fitness, there is no need for us to go into it deeply. As a way of physical and mental conditioning in our daily life, it has indeed benefited many meditation enthusiasts.
Exactly how long is appropriate for meditation? We are in different stages of meditation practice, so it is inappropriate for everyone to practice the same length of time, so we should not use time as the sole measurement.
Take John as an example. If John meditates for less than twenty minutes, he can’t completely relax, let alone enter into stillness. If he can’t experience stillness, he reaps no benefit from meditation; It will take him a long time to achieve relaxation and tranquility.
Most beginners will meditate not less than twenty minutes in the beginning, and gradually increase the time to forty minutes per session. Then it is up to each individual. There is no need to pursue an hour or even a few hours of meditation per session. After all, fitness is a part of life, so we do not advocate excessive pursuit.
To be continued.
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Folks, that is all for now. If you think this article may be beneficial to your friends and loved-ones, feel free to forward this article to them. Life cultivation is mostly for older people with declining body health. If you are young and energetic, this may not be your cup of tea. However, if you have family members or friends who are middle-aged or older, they may want to practice life cultivation to maintain a life without pain or medication.
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Stay tuned for the next episode: Fundamental Jingzuo Technique Part Three.
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