Meditation and Reality

When you ask an American Buddhist whether s/he practices, there is a common assumption that “practice” means sitting meditation. According to Theravada Buddhism, Buddha taught an Eightfold Path to liberation. There are eight elements in this path. Right Concentration(Samadhi) is only one of the eight elements. Beyond Right Concentration, there is also (1) Right Understanding, (2) Right Intention, (3) Right Speech, (4) Right Conduct, (5) Right Livelihood, (6) Right Effort, and (7) Right Mindfulness (Sati). Right Concentration is the eighth element. Nevertheless, many American Buddhists believe that sitting meditation is the primary practice.

I am from the Ch’an tradition. About thirty years ago, I ran into the Theravada tradition and read Walpola Rahula’s book, What the Buddha Taught. Since then, my practice has been based on the Eightfold Path. Wapola Rahula made the point that Buddha never used the word “meditation.” Buddha was mostly interested in “bhavana,” which means mental cultivation. Mental cultivation is discussed in the Satipatthana Sutta, which focuses on the practice of mindfulness in everyday life. I have been practicing mindfulness for thirty years.

Why is it that the American public focuses so heavily on sitting meditation? There are historical reasons. I won’t get into them now. But one main reason is that there is a widespread belief that sitting meditation is…