Notes from the Dharma Talk, Monday, June 6, 2011

Dong Hung Buddhist Temple English Language Service

Mark Palamara, May19, 2011

The Venerable Monks Thich Chuc Hoi, Thich Chuc Do and Thich Chuc Thanh presided.

The topic of discussion was a continuation of “Mindfulness of the Body”. Chuc Thanh asked the group if anyone has the body as a tool of or focus of meditation. Discussion included focusing on breathing, on your pulse and beating of your heart as part of meditation. Your body, that is the parts that make up your body, is a tool for the realization of consciousness.

While the body and its parts can be a tool of meditation, it should not be the focus of meditation. As we chant in the Heart Sutra, “… no eyes, no nose, no mind, no body…”, achieving emptiness is the goal of meditation. The Buddha teaches us to focus on impermanence, to let things go. Impermanence is truth….

We are encouraged to try different meditation practices to learn which is the best for us. Then we should work with that one method to develop it rather than jumping from method to method. The best starting point is to meditate while focusing on breathing. Meditation is not “sitting there like a rock”. It is means of developing our awareness.