Restless Mind, Can't Sit Still? Start with "Faith"

Many people who try meditation for the first time meet the same problem. After only a few minutes of sitting, the mind won't stop. We think about work, about things at home, about a conversation we just had... The harder we try to be still, the less still we become. We often assume something is wrong with our method or our posture. But a teaching from more than seventy years ago gives a different answer: the real foundation is not technique. It is faith (信). description.

10/19/20266 min read

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Restless Mind, Can't Sit Still? Start with "Faith"

A Plain-Language Reading of a Teaching by Lü Zu (吕祖)

We often assume something is wrong with our method or our posture. But a teaching from more than seventy years ago gives a different answer: the real foundation is not technique. It is faith (信).

About This Teaching

This teaching comes from the Sage Sayings (《圣哲嘉言录》), a collection passed down in the Daoyuan (道院). It was given by Fu Sheng (孚圣) on the 8th day of the 9th lunar month of the Gengyin year, which was 18 October 1950.

Fu Sheng is better known as Lü Zu, Patriarch Lü Dongbin (吕祖吕洞宾). He is one of the famous Eight Immortals (八仙) of Chinese folk tradition, and is honoured as an important patriarch in the Taoist tradition of inner cultivation. For more than a thousand years, his teachings have centred on cultivating the heart and nature, and encouraging people to do good.

The original text is written in classical Chinese. What follows is our plain-language reading, so that readers of every background can take something from it.

The Opening Verse: A Map for the Journey

志端信正立修基，智慧诚明性不移。
炁气浑融观自在，居仁宏道期匡时。
澄清念虑葆玄根，镇定本为不二门。
月影梅华悟动静，盈虚消息个中存。

In simple English, the eight lines mean something like this:

An upright will and true faith lay the ground for practice;
with wisdom, sincerity and clarity, our nature stands firm.
When inner energies blend as one, we see with ease;
dwelling in kindness and spreading the Way, we hope to set the world right.
Clear the mind of restless thoughts and guard the deep root;
steady calm is the one true gate.
In moonlight and plum blossoms, we come to know stillness and movement;
waxing and waning, coming and going: it is all right here.

An upright purpose and sincere faith are the foundation of all practice. With wisdom and a sincere heart, we are not easily shaken by what happens around us. When body and mind are in harmony, we naturally feel at ease. And with kindness in our heart, we want to do something good for the world.

Let scattered thoughts slowly settle, and guard the truest part of yourself. Calm steadiness is the one gate to inner peace. Watch the moon's shadow move and the plum blossoms bloom and fall, and you will understand the natural way of stillness and movement, of fullness and emptiness.

1. Why Do We Need Faith?

In this life, we all hope to achieve something: a career, a family, a good character.

How far we go depends on how clear our direction is. And how clear our direction is depends on whether we have firm faith inside.

An old saying goes, "Without faith, a person cannot stand." The "faith" here is not just believing in some idea. It is an inner certainty: trusting the path you walk, trusting that good brings good, and trusting that sincere effort is never wasted.

2. Where Does Faith Come From?

Faith does not appear from nowhere. The teaching traces a clear path:

Firm faith comes from wisdom;
Wisdom comes from propriety (礼), that is, a sense of balance and good conduct in daily life;
Propriety must follow righteousness (义), what is fitting and fair;
And the source of righteousness is benevolence (仁), a kind and caring heart.

So it all begins with a kind heart. Kindness gives us a sense of balance in what we do. Balance brings clarity, and clarity makes faith firm.

Be upright, and you can be at peace. Be at peace, and you can be steady.

When the heart is upright, it becomes calm. When it is calm, it becomes steady.

3. Perseverance Is What Faith Looks Like

"Skill comes from diligence and is lost through idleness." (业精于勤而荒于嬉)

Many people have heard this saying. The teaching takes it a step further:

Diligence shows that our faith is gathered and strong. Laziness shows that our faith is scattered.

Meditation is the same. If we sit only once in a while, it is hard to go deep. If we keep at it every day, even for just ten minutes, the heart settles a little more each time.

Even a single word or a small action, done steadily and sincerely, is a way of cultivating faith.

4. Learning from Nature

The teaching gives two beautiful examples:

The moon waxes and wanes on time every month, and never gets it wrong;
The tide rises and falls on schedule every day, and never misses.

This is the "faith" of heaven and earth: regular, steady and unbroken.

Our practice can be like the moon and the tide. We don't need to rush ahead all at once. We only need to keep going, day after day.

5. Words and Deeds as One: That Is True Practice

"Speak with loyalty and trust; act with sincerity and respect." (言忠信，行笃敬)

Be truthful in what you say, and dependable in what you do.

In the end, a person's cultivation shows in their words and actions. Saying nice things is easy; doing them is hard. Whether someone acts dependably tells us whether their words are sincere.

Practice doesn't only happen on the meditation cushion. It happens in every word and action of daily life.

6. Two Kinds of Faith

The teaching describes two levels of faith:

Faith in truth: using wisdom to understand the principles of life, and believing firmly because we understand.

Faith in cause and effect: seeing from life experience that good intentions bring good results, and believing firmly because we have felt it.

Whichever one you start with, it is the right path. As long as the direction is right, you will not lose your way.

7. From "Effort" to "Natural"

"Those who know it are not as good as those who love it; those who love it are not as good as those who delight in it." (知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者)

The teaching goes a step beyond this ancient saying: delighting in something is still not as good as doing it naturally, with no strain at all.

When you first start meditating, it may take some effort. Slowly, you will begin to enjoy it. Later, it becomes a natural part of your life, just like breathing.

And underneath all of this is faith without any doubt.

8. Uprightness from the Inside Out

This is the part of the teaching most helpful for meditation. Many people want to find peace in meditation but miss an important order. The teaching points out:

Emotions upright → Thinking upright → Thoughts upright → Heart upright → Body upright

First, let your emotions calm down;
When emotions are calm, your thinking becomes clear;
When thinking is clear, your thoughts become pure;
When thoughts are pure, your heart becomes upright;
When the heart is upright, your body naturally becomes steady.

The other way round, if your emotions are still churning, you cannot simply make your breathing smooth and your heart quiet right away.

In meditation, don't rush to be "still." First learn to let your emotions settle.

9. Helping Yourself, Warming Others

When a person is calm inside and their words match their actions, they naturally influence the people around them.

Be sincere with yourself, and sincere with others. When you have found peace, share that peace with others. The teaching calls this "carrying both self and others across" (人己两渡): growing yourself while also helping others.

This is practice at its most beautiful.

Five Simple Tips for Beginners

1. Build confidence first: believe that meditation is good for body and mind, and you will be able to keep going.

2. Settle your emotions first: when you sit down, don't rush to "empty your mind." Let your feelings calm down first.

3. A little every day: what matters is keeping it up, not how long you sit each time.

4. Bring practice into daily life: speaking truthfully and acting dependably are also practice.

5. Let it come naturally: don't force it, don't compare. Let peace arrive in its own time.

Going Deeper: Notes for Fellow Practitioners

The following notes touch on deeper practice and are offered for fellow members of the Daoyuan.

"炁气浑融" (The two kinds of qi blend as one): In the original teaching, 炁 refers to primordial qi, the original life energy we are born with, and 气 to acquired qi, the energy we take in after birth through breathing and food. When the two blend, it is a sign that sitting practice is going deeper. The precondition is still a mind cleared of restless thoughts.
"未能正其心，而欲灵凝气充，不可得也" (If the heart is not yet upright, hoping for a gathered spirit and abundant qi is in vain): The original teaching stresses that to calm the hun and subdue the po (魂清魄伏), gather the spirit and fill the qi, let the qi circulate and the breath grow even, and even to move the divine, we must first make upright the body, the heart, the thoughts, the thinking and the emotions. The order of practice must not be reversed.
"必正、必定、必信、必修" (Be upright, be steady, have faith, practise): The original teaching takes these four as the foundation of practice. They can be used for self-reflection before each day's sitting.
"渡修时期" (The period of practice for carrying others across): The final part of the original teaching points out that carrying both self and others across, and putting it into real practice, is the key to this stage of cultivation. Fellow practitioners are encouraged to reflect on it deeply.

Source: Sage Sayings (《圣哲嘉言录》), Daoyuan. Teaching by Fu Sheng (Lü Zu), 8th day of the 9th lunar month, Gengyin year (18 October 1950). This article is a plain-language reading and is for reference only.

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