Neither walking nor sitting: keep the mind in ordinary activity

Carry the practice into everything you do, following the mind as it arises in walking, working and talking.

Perché funziona

Zhiyi lists four kinds of samādhi. The fourth, “neither walking nor sitting,” is not confined to a posture: the text says it in fact covers walking, sitting and all activities, and Nanyue called it “following one’s own mind.” Its principle is that whenever a thought or intention arises, the practice of samādhi is performed on it. The mind is trained not by leaving the day behind but by seeing each arising within it.

Come farlo

1. Choose one ordinary activity for the day, such as washing up, walking to a shop, or a conversation you expect to have.
2. Before starting, make a short stop: feel the feet or the hands, and let the breath settle for a few breaths.
3. During the activity, notice the first intention that arises, for example to hurry, to complain or to look away.
4. When you notice it, hold it for a breath with the same light attention you used in the adjustments, then return to the activity.
5. At the end of the day, recall which moments of intention you caught, and which you missed.

Prove scientifiche

The text states the fourth samādhi as including walking, sitting and all activity, and as the practice of samādhi carried out on whatever intention arises (Mo-ho chih-kuan vol. 2). Modern research on mindfulness programs, reviewed by Goyal and colleagues, found moderate evidence for reduced anxiety and depression and for pain relief, but these were structured programs, not this daily practice, and the review did not test the Tiantai form. (anecdotal)

No study has tested the neither-walking-nor-sitting practice on its own. The Goyal review concerns meditation programs in general and is cited for context only.

Fonti

• Zhiyi. Mo-ho chih-kuan (摩訶止觀, T1911), vol. 2 (上), Chinese text on Chinese Wikisource. Sections on the four samādhis (常坐, 常行, 半行半坐, 非行非坐) and the Lotus samādhi.
• Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M. S., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368.

Errore comune

Turning daily life into a list of moments to fail at. The practice is to notice intention, not to police it; catching a thought late is still catching it.