We can practice while sitting. This is my personal experience which is divided into four instances below, for discussion with everyone.

1. Over the years, we have heard of cases of sudden death caused by prolonged addiction to video games, and the trend is increasing. If you can sit still with such perseverance, your spiritual practice will be greatly strengthened.

Video games can be exciting and satisfying, just like special drinks with strong tastes, which is very addictive.

Most people are impatient to meditate, because the function of meditation depends on accumulation, satisfaction will not be gained just by sitting down but requires patience to practice, and its characteristic is to sit to cultivate quietness. First of all, we have to suffer pain, and even then there won't be any “auspicious signs” (samadhi state). Even if there are “auspicious signs”, we have to let go of it. We cannot be attached to it, because attachment is contrary to the purpose of enlightenment. So to put it bluntly, meditation is as plain as drinking water, how can it make people addicted to it?

If someone says he likes to practice, it can be assumed that this person is corresponding to greed, and it is impossible for him to gain enlightenment. It turns out that enlightenment means living an ordinary life. Would you accept it? Would you still be willing?

2. I still remember that more than 20 years ago, I finally went to Bagan, the ancient city of Mandalay Province in Myanmar, which had long been cherished as the land of a thousand pagodas. The local tour guide proudly said: "Wherever you point your finger, there are pagodas.” The pagoda symbolizes the inner stability, immobility and fearlessness of the practitioner when he is meditating, and is the manifestation of his attainment.

When we sit cross-legged to meditate, we feel stable, not like the modern bean sofa, which is soft and difficult to sit up in. The practice of walking around the pagoda is the same as that of walking around the bodhi tree. It reminds us to keep a sober mind, let go of our obsession with greed, anger and delusion, and answer the call of Bagan for thousands of years.

3. Sit in prison. Why do we say sit in prison? Sit quietly and reflect on one’s wrongdoings. The purpose of meditation is to form the habit of looking inward. Stay quietly and reflect on what has us firmly trapped, only then can we reflect on the crux of the problem, only then can we make a full confession, regret and will not be in and out of prison.

To reflect on, although we are not in prison because of crime, but some people were shackled by the invisible mental cage, and could not quieten down, this has become a common disease of modern society. Let’s come back to the present and stay quiet for a moment: am I isolating myself in a cage? On the surface, this is a "false proposition", but it can be used to repel all evil tendencies, therefore we can see through our mind, which as sometimes we cannot let go of attachments, it interferes with our progress!

4. A monk asked Master Baizhang: “What is a strange and special event?” The Master replied, "Sitting alone on Mt. Daxiong” (The Master is talking about becoming a Buddha, and that's the strange and special thing. The great male (Daxiong), is the Buddha; the Buddha, is the enlightened one. To be able to sit alone on Mt. Daxiong is to allow awareness to stay independently without relying on any convenient method. Why is this strange and special? The original Mt. Daxiong is not outside, not thousands of miles away to look for; we ourselves are the Ashram, the Mahavira Hall. Mt. Daxiong (awareness) is complete, it’s just that we have not developed the habit of looking inwardly, so we do not perceive it. Lightly blink your eyes and return to mindfulness. Let go of attachments, and you can sit stably on Mt. Daxiong. This is not only answering to the 1000-year call of Bagan, but also to the call of the Buddha under the Bodhi tree.