Panna Standing Meditation

In the early cool morning and quiet afternoon, the residents in PANNA VIHARA focus on mind and stand on the small wall (30cm high). This is "Panna Standing Meditation." The key to practice this standing meditation is to concentrate. When distracting thoughts raced through your mind, you cannot stand stably and then you will fall down. This is why standing meditation can train our mind and develop inner strength. Once you concentrate on the mind, your feet will feel a constant rhythm naturally. Then put your weight on the Yangquan points and be aware of all the minor changes from the various parts of your body. Next you can try to shift the weight along with your inner and outer soles, where are the main meridian of body, for 1-2 minutes. Repeat this cycle two or three times (it takes about 10 minutes) and then deeply breathe for 5 minutes. If you stand on the correct points, the inner gas in your body will start to be exhausted out. Standing meditation can enhance our awareness and clarify our mind. Besides it also benefits in peristalsis and feet meridians, improving the aging problem in the knee and joint process. During the process your feet may feel numb, swelled, pain and even cramped, but it can improve your circulatory system and strengthen the feet.

One day, when we practice standing meditation, Master asked us to close our eyes. Then, what happened? We fell from the low wall one by one. When the timer sounded, Master asked, "Who can stand on the wall with closed eyes over three minutes? Please raise your hand! Two minutes? One minute?" Master's question caused an uproar as none of us can stand on the wall stably with closed eyes. Master then asked us to think the reason. She asked, "is this body me?" If so, why is it so different between closed eyes and open eyes? True, this body is not me. "I" can not fully control and command it. Even when you go to restroom, it is the "body" asks you to go. You can only endure and tolerate if you want to resist its order. Observing all kinds of phenomenon in everyday life, it is easy to know the truth -- "I am not the body." However, we always refuse it and take the false to be true. We always clinging it and never let it go, afraid to lose it....... To explore the meaning of life in the deep flow of memory, you will know that you cannot control your birth, aging, sickness, and death. The only thing you can do is to purify your every intention with mindfulness, then it is possible to subdue the habits and transform the seeds in eight fields into the better ones. So our mind will become more and more pure and clean, without selfish ego. Once you find the happiness of life, you will not waste this birth. Panna standing meditation makes us aware of the minor changes between the body and external things. It helps us understand the truth of life. If you attach on the body and think I am it, you will feel time constraints. If you can break the false appearances, your spirituality will grow infinitely.