Test your stillness by how you speak about others afterwards

After sitting, check whether the mind is still in the way it talks about other people, because the sūtra says a body still while the mouth judges others is going against the Way.

Por qué funciona

The Seated Meditation chapter redefines motionlessness internally as seeing the motionlessness of the self-nature, and externally as not activating thoughts about the good and bad realms. It says the deluded person may be motionless in body but still opens his mouth to speak of the right and wrong, strength and weakness, good and bad of others, and that this goes against the Way. The practice uses speech after sitting as a concrete, after-the-fact check on whether the stillness has reached the mind.

Cómo hacerlo

1. After your usual sitting, stand and feel your feet before speaking to anyone.
2. In the first conversation that follows, notice whether you are assessing another person’s right and wrong, strength or weakness.
3. If you were, do not punish yourself. Simply name it to yourself: “the mind was judging.”
4. Return to the next conversation with one plain thing you need to say, without evaluating the other person.
5. At the end of the day, note the moments of judgment and what they seemed to protect you from.

Evidencia

The passage on motionlessness and on speaking of others’ right and wrong is in the Seated Meditation and Meditation and Wisdom chapters of McRae’s translation. Using speech as a check is the page’s method, derived from the text. (anecdotal)

Not studied. The text does not name a speech check; this is one way to apply its warning and may not suit every sitter.

Fuentes

• McRae, John R. (trans.) (2000). The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (Taishō vol. 48, no. 2008). BDK English Tripiṭaka. Moraga, CA: BDK America. Free PDF from the publisher.

Error común

Using the check as a verdict on your worth. The sūtra’s concern is where the mind is directed, and the check is information about where the sitting has landed, not a grade.