When you clean a room, if your mind is on the hand that holds the dust cloth, and no where else, that is practice. Why, then, do we emphasize sitting meditation, and not eating, sleeping, or working meditation? Because sitting meditation is a structured way of practicing single-mindedness, whereas the other methods, which are embedded in our daily life, are easier to perform automatically. We forget we are eating and sleeping, and become lost in wandering thoughts.

A member of the Center recently brought in a cartoon depicting a meditation hall. In it, a Ch'an master slept soundly behind a lifesize cardboard replica of himself sitting in meditation while his disciples practiced hard. But it was the master, sleeping single-mindedly, who had entered the door of Ch'an, not the disciples.

An old Ch'an story tells of a practitioner who was on a pilgrimage with his older Dharma brother. Whenever they stopped, the younger brother immediately dropped his bags, assumed the sitting posture and began to meditate; but the older brother dropped his bags, lay down and went to sleep. The Dharma brother who meditated became more annoyed at every stop. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and threatened to leave. The older brother asked why, and the younger brother replied, "We went through so much trouble leaving home and becoming monks. Time is limited. We should be using every minute wisely, but here you are sleeping your life away!"

Rubbing his eyes, the older brother asked, "What's wrong with sleeping?"

"We should be practicing, and the proper practice is sitting meditation."

The older brother picked up the Song of Enlightenment and read the stanza I am commenting on now.