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Meditation and the Principles For Training Body and MindMeditation -- above all, seated meditation -- has always been one of the foundational practices of Buddhism. Shakyamuni Buddha realized supreme enlightenment while seated in meditation beneath the bodhi tree. When he set out to establish the teachings and convey this enlightenment to others, he organized the Buddhist path according to the three basic disciplines of purity in the observance of the precepts, or moral restraints (S. sila); meditative concentration, or Samadhi; and wisdom, or prajna. The two factors of concentration and wisdom are developed primarily through formal meditation practice, with moral restraint as a preparatory basis. The Chinese word, "chan", which we use to distinguish the Chan and Zen schools in East Asia, is a transliteration of the Indian word "dhyana". Dhyana originally refers to states of meditative calm and absorption produced through the practice of seated meditation. The formal practice of sitting quietly with legs folded in the "lotus posture" remains one of the most distinctive features of Chan training.To practice, one must learn to find perfect quietude and concentration while in the midst of activity, as well as activity in the midst of quietude. Proper integration of the body and mind are instrumental to this process. To describe this process of training we distinguish basic concepts: (1) harmonizing the body; (2) harmonizing the breath; (3) harmonizing the mind.
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