How can I begin seated meditation?

Begin with breathing. Thoughts may keep coming, but you need not follow or fight each one. Simply return attention to inhaling and exhaling. Counting breaths gives attention somewhere to return. It is not for pursuing spiritual powers or unusual images, and forcing thoughts down or sitting longer does not necessarily indicate greater attainment.

If you want to progress to energy exercises or spirit movement, or already have sensitive energy experiences, I recommend guidance from a suitable teacher and group rather than experimenting at home out of curiosity. Those unfamiliar with meditation can set aside five to ten minutes daily to sit quietly, relax and breathe deeply and slowly. This is a starting point for calm, not mastery of all spiritual methods.

During my first meditation with Teacher Wang, I felt flowing qi turning my upper body. Not knowing what was happening, I was genuinely frightened. The second time, it was hot and seemed as though someone kept talking nearby. I thought fifteen to twenty minutes had passed, but on rising learned I had sat for over three hours. The teacher said it might have been meditative absorption. That was his explanation and my sense of elapsed time, not proof that sitting three hours establishes a particular attainment.

After returning to work in Taipei, I continued practicing during visits south, gradually encountering spirit movement. Two unusual experiences did not complete the training. More than pursuing sensations identical to others’, notice whether you can live clearly and steadily. Posture and duration must fit your circumstances. Address discomfort rather than explaining every pain away as “progress.”

In our spiritual learning, meditation also helps contact the original spirit and nurture spiritual energy. But sitting many times daily does not replace all other learning. I compare it to a child waking up: afterward the child still needs to learn about the world and relationships. Spiritual practice likewise needs understanding and wisdom alongside practical exercises, so human outlook and spiritual learning keep pace.

Meditation continues after spirit movement develops. In my teaching, meditation nurtures and spirit movement circulates; still and moving practice work together. The body beginning to move does not let you skip the foundation, and no particular reaction needs to become a target repeated every time.