How does meditation practice fit into the Buddhist path?
Sitting practice is the basic point, before we embark on any spiritual disciplines at all, especially in Buddhism. The teachings of Buddha are presented in a threefold way, as we mentioned. And on the hinayana level alone, we have shila, samadhi, and prajna—discipline, meditation, and intellect. And before we begin with shila—discipline—of any kind, we have to learn to slow down. That is the basic discipline of how to be. So the basic way to learn to behave in a buddhalike way is sitting practice. Then, after that, we develop meditation (samadhi) and knowledge (prajna). Before we learn to spell words, we have to learn our ABCs. We have to be actually willing to accept the boredom of sitting, willing to relate with that particular sanity, which is unconditional sanity. This sanity has nothing to do with fighting against insanity or trying to exorcise it. It is just fundamentally, basically, trying to be simple as what we are. That is the basic point according to Buddha. by Chögyam Trung
