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14 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan Tzu Chi HQ, Hualien, Taiwan

Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital is situated at Xindian, New Taipei City, Taiwan Tzu Chi International School, Bukit Jalil, Malaysia

a part of our spiritual cultivation. When the afflictions, fantasies, The truth is: what kind of spiritual
And, in fact, I view “meditation in illusions and delusions keep coming practice is there apart from living?
everyday life” as the best form of up and fill our mind more and more, Spiritual practice is right here in
cultivation. how are we to discipline the mind these normal daily life activities
and overcome these afflictions? That – these are the opportunities for
In cultivation, we need to understand can be a very dangerous position cultivation. Some people don’t realize
what it means to keep our mind in to be in. Sometimes, in the effort to this, so instead of seeing everything
meditation. This doesn’t only mean tame our mind, the more anxious from the perspective of cultivation
sitting meditation. Actually, when we are for control, the more we lose and developing wisdom-life, their
we sit down and quiet our minds to a handle on it. Some people have minds are caught up in their
do meditation, that’s often when the lost their mind this way. You really disagreements with others and other
most afflictions and baseless thoughts have to watch out for this. That’s “people issues.”
and feelings come up in the mind. why I encourage you to practice
That’s because at that time, we’re meditation in the midst of everyday Thus, we should recognize that we
disconnected from outer reality. life instead. Meditation in everyday can meditate in every moment of
[On the other hand], when we’re life is about training the mind in the our lives, and that challenges are
working, we’re in direct contact with midst of normal, daily life activities – but opportunities for mind training
the environment and we can have in the course of real life and living. and inner purification. I present
genuine encounters with the world You can achieve this while doing the work of weeding a vegetable
around us. But, when meditating, anything. But some people will think, garden as an analogy for spiritual
we’re cut off from it, and our mind “Is this spiritual practice? This is practice and cultivation in everyday
will conjure up many, many things. just doing normal, everyday things.” life, in that the goal is to remove our