Not Sitting, but the Unshaken Within
When no thought arises amid all outer circumstances, that is "sitting"; when the original self within stays unmoved, that is meditation.
Is my body still while my mind runs busily after the outside all day?
📝Reflection
Huineng said merely sitting still is not practice. With the body on the cushion but the mind wandering a thousand miles, you are not sitting. Conversely, standing in a busy market with the inside unshaken — that one is the one who sits. This freed me. Stillness is not the privilege of a quiet place. On a noisy commute, in a crowd, if the center within does not waver, that very spot becomes a meditation hall. Don't wait to change your surroundings. One unshaken center turns any place into a still one.
🌱Apply It Today
In your most hectic moment today — a crowded street, a loud meeting — bring just three breaths inward. The outside stays the same, yet the inside need not shake.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
