5 Roots - Meditation and Stillness as Your Birthright

The Five Roots: Transforming Meditation into Power

In our journey through life, we often seek external solutions to internal challenges, overlooking the powerful resources already residing within us. The latest episode of World Truths and Eyes podcast delves into this concept through the exploration of "Chong Kun," the fourth of the five roots in Zen philosophy, focusing specifically on meditation and stillness.

Myongahn Sunim explains that these roots—innate qualities that exist within every human being regardless of background, race, gender, or socioeconomic status—can either be consciously transformed into powers (Orlyok) or allowed to unconsciously drag us through life. This particular root of meditation, or "quietude" as it's sometimes called, represents our innate capacity for stillness, silence, peace, and calmness. When consciously cultivated, it transforms into "sammae" or meditative absorption.

What makes this teaching particularly empowering is the understanding that we already possess everything we need. There's a profound democratization in this perspective—the ability to access these qualities isn't reserved for the privileged few or those deemed worthy by some external standard. The root of meditation exists within everyone, just as the previous roots discussed in earlier episodes (belief and perseverance) exist within us all. This isn't merely philosophical comfort; it's a practical recognition that transformation doesn't require acquisition but rather activation of what's already present.

One of the most fascinating aspects discussed in the episode is the paradox of mental movement. MyongAhn Sunim points out how bizarre it is that we can easily jump from thought to thought in most circumstances, yet become completely stuck and unable to shift our perspective when strong emotions or rigid ideologies take hold. This paralysis isn't due to losing the capacity to move our minds—it's a temporary obstruction we create ourselves. As he eloquently puts it, "I stand in my own way... What is this 'I' that stands in the way of accessing it? Precisely, to a large degree, I, the ego."

The podcast emphasizes that intellectual understanding alone cannot lead to transformation. Reading about meditation or enlightenment will not make one enlightened—"You cannot read yourself into enlightenment," MyongAhn Sunim states definitively. This speaks to a broader truth about spiritual practice: knowledge must be embodied through practice. This perspective challenges our modern information-hoarding tendencies, where we often mistake knowledge accumulation for actual growth.

Perhaps most profound is the discussion of the gaps between thoughts—those momentary spaces of stillness that exist but often go unnoticed in our busy mental landscape. Meditation practice serves partly to help us notice these gaps, to become aware of the stillness that already exists within the constant flow of mental activity. This awareness represents the first step toward transforming the root of meditation into a conscious power we can apply in our lives.

The episode concludes with a reminder that in every moment of our lives lies the possibility to cut through mental noise and discover our true nature. This isn't something we need to build or create—it's something we need to uncover, a quietude that has been there all along, waiting for us to notice and nurture it into full expression.