Sit like a big bell.
Walk like a light breeze.

By investigating Chan, we cultivate samadhi. Chan investigation is neither conditional nor unconditional. Superficially, Chan investigation appears to be unconditional. Actually, when we investigate Chan, we are helping to increase the proper energy in the Dharma Realm. If everyone investigated Chan, there would be no wars in this world. It is said that:

Sitting for a long time, we will gain Chan.

But Chan investigation is not only done while sitting. We can investigate Chan while standing, walking, or reclining as well. A hardworking cultivator does not allow mundane matters to bother him. He holds the meditation topic at every moment. Remaining ever in the present, we investigate, “Who is mindful of the Buddha?” When, through our investigation, the mountains disappear and the waters vanish, then in that ultimate state, we will naturally exhibit awesome deportment in our walking, standing, sitting, and reclining.

1. Sit like a bell. Sit solidly. Do not be like a pendulum that swings to and fro. Sit erect and upright, with the eyes contemplating the nose, the nose contemplating the mouth and the mouth contemplating the heart. With the underside of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth, you swallow the saliva as it is secreted.

2. Walk like a breeze. During the short running period, run like the wind. Let that wind blow to the point that the heavens above disappear, the very earth dissolves, and all people in between are gone. When one is working hard, there is no mark of others and therefore, there is no heaven above, no earth below and no people in between. During the longer walking periods, we should walk like a breeze without causing any ripples.

3. Stand like an evergreen. While standing, keep your back straight. Stand upright, just like a lofty evergreen tree. 4. Recline like a bow. When lying down, assume the auspicious reclining posture. Lie on your right side with your right hand under your right cheek and your left hand resting along your left side. The Great Master Yong Jia said,

In speech or silence, in movement or stillness,
My body is at ease.
Even if someone drew a knife on me,
I would remain calm.
Even if someone poisoned me,
I would not get upset.

Master Bodhidharma, the first patriarch in China, was poisoned on six occasions by externalists. Even though he knew very well that it was poison, he still consumed it. Thus, we know that he was devoid of self and could look lightly on birth and death. When cultivators work hard, the heavens shake and the earth quakes, and ghosts and spirits weep. Even the demon kings are shocked. By working hard in our practice, we can keep the demon kings from being able to exert their power. That shocks them. If we could practice diligently for these twenty-one hours-a-day and work hard every second, we would surely cause the heavens to shake and the earth to quake.

In practicing to reach unconditional dharmas, we begin with conditional dharmas. We should not be afraid of the toil of the running periods and the sitting periods. Running can be likened to the conditional while sitting can be likened to the unconditional. Hence, the saying,

Within the unconditioned are conditions.
Within conditions lies the unconditioned.
What is conditional is also unconditional.
The conditioned is unconditioned.
The unconditioned is conditioned.