Factors Influencing Meditative Concentration (dhyāna-samādhi)

Question: I feel that my meditation practice hasn't been going well recently—the depth of stillness I can enter is not as good as before. Is it because after the winter solstice the body's yang energy reaches its lowest point of the year, so if one's own qi and blood are not sufficiently abundant, it affects the quality of meditation? Also, if I move to a different living environment, would changes in the energy field also affect my meditation?

Answer: In winter, yang energy turns inward and is gathered into the body, so the energy released outward decreases. Because the energy is not released outward but is all stored within the body, the body becomes calm and stable, which is actually more conducive to sitting in meditation and cultivating samādhi. However, if the external temperature is too low and the body is cold, the qi and blood will not flow smoothly, and the body will exhibit various phenomena of blockage; the qi mechanism will not be easily activated, and this affects meditative concentration. When you move to a new living environment, the surrounding magnetic field changes, the mind becomes unsettled and has reservations, which has a certain impact on the body and can also lead to a decline in the quality of meditative concentration.

If you want to open up the flow of qi and blood through certain means, some methods may appear on the surface to have opened the flow of qi and blood, but that comes from converting the original vitality (yuanqi). The more it is converted, the more the original vitality is damaged, shaking the very foundation of the body—this affects not only health but also lifespan. For example, radish is known to regulate qi; after eating it, the qi starts to move, but this qi is not replenished from outside—it is drawn out by converting the body's internal original vitality, so the original vitality is reduced. Similarly, ginger and certain sweating-inducing herbs can move qi and invigorate the blood, but they do not replenish qi from outside; they also draw upon the body's original vitality, taking it out of the body's storage tank, so the original vitality in the storage tank decreases. These methods can be used in emergencies, but in the long run they damage the foundation, affecting health and lifespan. Bigu (grain-avoidance fasting) works on the same principle: it draws nutrients from within the body to the surface for use. In essence, it is robbing Peter to pay Paul—fine in the short term, but not sustainable in the long run.

This is like having no money in your pocket and taking money out of your treasury to spend. After spending a lot, you may appear at ease and glamorous on the surface, but the treasury is empty, and when you need money again later, there is nowhere to borrow it. All of a sentient being's daily activities—eating, drinking, and everything else—are drawn out of the treasury of one's own tathāgatagarbha. If too much is used and the treasury's reserves become insufficient, the person will be without blessings, and then everything will go awry everywhere, disasters will strike at every moment, and suffering will come one after another like a shadow following the body.