External Movement, Internal Stillness

The Foundation of Profound Concentration

The cultivation of meditative concentration is not a task that can be accomplished in a single day or night. It is a lifelong journey of refinement. To remain internally still while the external world is in constant motion is the hallmark of profound meditative concentration. The more pure and untainted your heart becomes, and the less you are influenced by external interference, the more easily you will be able to perceive the subtle changes occurring outside of yourself.

At this stage, you must rely on the foundations of compassion and wisdom. With these, you can clearly understand the situations both within your own body and in the world around you. Within your own body, you must learn to remain unaffected by the fluctuations of emotions, physical sensations, or the suffering brought about by birth, aging, sickness, and death. Outside of yourself, you must remain undisturbed by the environment or the various obstacles that arise from the discriminations of high and low, or the comparisons between yourself and others.

The Dangers of an Unstable Mind

You must realise that the external world is defined by impermanence and constant change. By contrast, your inner world must be defined by stillness. This is the true meaning of the skill of external movement and internal stillness. If your heart is not still, it will create ripples of disturbance. These ripples can have severe consequences:

• They awaken the karmic creditors residing within your body, causing them to stir.They attract attached spirits from outside your body, who are drawn to your instability.In extreme cases, they may even invite the interference of demon crowds.

Before one has reached the state of an awakened being and attained true meditative concentration, if your heart follows the external environment, how can you possibly stop or transform your karma? If you cannot stop or transform your karma, how can you hope to escape the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death? You will inevitably continue to suffer under the weight of these inescapable realities.

The Necessity of a Pure Environment

This is precisely why a practitioner, before reaching the state of an awakened being, must seek to practise in a pure environment. You must protect yourself from external disturbances that would otherwise agitate or pollute your heart. By doing so, you can focus entirely on the cultivation of your inner heart. You must purify your heart again and again until you finally realise your true nature. Only then will you be able to enter the world to teach and save beings without becoming tainted by the dust of the world. This is the secret to why an awakened being can move through the world while remaining internally still, never creating negative causes, and instead transforming the environment, spreading the Dharma, and saving beings.

Navigating the Six Realms with Precepts

The external world is composed of countless beings, all of whom are drifting endlessly through the six realms of rebirth, caught in the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. As a practitioner, you must never allow yourself to be moved by this chaotic external environment. When you are faced with this dynamic and restless world, you must take the Precepts as your foundation. With the Precepts as your protective shield, you will be able to avoid being misled by the beings and the various realms of rebirth that would otherwise cause you to lose your concentration.

If you lose your concentration, you will inevitably create negative causes and suffer the evil consequences that follow. This is also the primary reason why so many who claim to be practitioners find themselves standing at the gates of the hells. The external world is impermanent and lacks stability. Therefore, you must learn to handle external affairs with a gentle, compliant, and calm demeanour. To act externally while keeping your heart perfectly still is the true skill of a practitioner who has mastered meditative concentration.

Namo Amituofo