After consistently attending the online meditation sessions streamed every morning and evening, following the same routine of movements and instructions, some participants may find themselves memorizing the sequence of post-meditation massages after only two or three sessions. Actually, that’s precisely the point. If the process of meditation is different each time, it would be quite cumbersome. Why should we not change it up a bit?
Essentially, we need to be permeated with consistent practice and one function of meditation is actually to train us to be patient. Doing the same thing every day, counting the same breaths, counting the same numbers, all from one to ten, this is so boring! Some people might think since it’s all the same, there’s no need to meditate in front of a computer, and they can just do it on their own, which is not a wrong way of thinking. The highlight of our collective online practice isn’t the teachings; its uniqueness lies in the preparatory exercises and stretching at the beginning, plus the complete massage at the end.
Once, when I was leading a one-day English Chan meditation retreat in Taiwan, one of the participants felt that the session was fantastic and wanted to review the massage techniques after going back but didn’t know where to find the materials. He asked me if there were any videos on YouTube. At that time, I could only apologize and say “No,” which was a little awkward. I felt in my heart that it was such a pity that these people, who were rarely interested in meditation, wanted to delve deeper and review, and yet, I could only cruelly tell them, “Sorry, no.” This sowed the seed for the idea of creating review videos. Later, due to the pandemic, the production process was accelerated. At that time, I was still at the DDM Meditation Activity Department, where we filmed guidance for beginning meditation sessions, post-meditation massages, and even invited many Dharma masters to share their teachings with everyone. At that time, I thought this should be enough; everyone could just follow along on YouTube and replay it when they wanted to meditate. Later, when I came to the United States for my duties, because of the pandemic and the closure of the Meditation Center, I thought of using live streams to connect with Bodhisattvas on both the East and West coasts of the US, and even Bodhisattvas from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada came to participate.
However, continuously repeating the same content might not align with what some people are seeking. Some may simply be interested in hearing new things the Dharma master has to say. If they don’t find anything new, they might look elsewhere for new knowledge because they want to learn, which is also fine. In Buddhism, we are encouraged to engage in extensive learning and permeation. Some people are more inclined towards extensive learning due to their aptitude, while others may lean more towards permeation. Repeating the same things—sitting in the same posture every day, chanting the same texts in the morning and evening, reciting the same Diamond Sutra, Ksitigarbha Sutra, and Universal Gate Chapter — this is called permeation. Both extensive learning and permeation are actually needed.
We can have a focus, but we should not neglect either one of the two. If I prefer extensive learning, I’ll keep learning, seeking out different sutras whenever a Dharma master talks about them. After listening to one, I move on to another different talk. This approach is fine but we should not neglect our fixed daily practices. It might seem like we are repeating the same thing every day, but it is very important because by repeating the same practices, we are actually deepening our understanding of the Dharma. Once we have deeply understood a particular Dharma practice to a certain extent, we say “understanding one opens the door to all.”
The Buddha taught so many Dharmas, all with a common goal: to help sentient beings understand the concepts of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. The reason why so many different Dharmas were taught is because the audience has different aptitudes. For those with an aptitude to seek liberation, he taught the Dharmas on liberation. For those seeking human or heavenly vehicles, he taught the Dharmas that at least prevent one from suffering and evil rebirth. For those seeking Bodhisattva vehicle, he taught the Bodhisattva Dharmas. The fact that the Buddha taught so many Dharmas does not mean we have to learn about every single Dharma method. Although it is said, “Dharma methods are limitless, I vow to learn them all,” life is short, and not everyone can become like Master Xuanzang, who was proficient and knowledgeable in various fields.
We can explore various areas, but don’t forget to delve deeper into one Dharma method that resonates with you. Meditation is a good choice. If you feel that meditation resonates with you and that you can benefit from it, I encourage you to continue with it. There is nothing wrong with performing the same steps and content every day, because our goal is to deepen our understanding of this practice. However, this doesn’t mean that we should only meditate and not read other scriptures, or not listen to other Buddhist teachings. It’s not like that. We can have a focus, but we should not neglect other learning. Therefore, it’s important to engage in extensive learning as well as in permeation.
