What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
.....and as a follow up to the poll answer, do you feel using a chair has disadvantages?
"It is what it is." -foreman infamous for throwing wrenches in fits of rage
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Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Greetings Salty-J,
That said, I generally still (stubbornly? habitually?) sit cross-legged just like I was taught in kindergarten... so I don't quite know what to select as far as your poll goes!
Metta,
Retro.
To be honest, the most productive meditation sessions I've ever had have been in a chair, so for me it's had advantages!salty-J wrote:.....and as a follow up to the poll answer, do you feel using a chair has disadvantages?
That said, I generally still (stubbornly? habitually?) sit cross-legged just like I was taught in kindergarten... so I don't quite know what to select as far as your poll goes!
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Half lotus right leg on top of left.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Mostly chair, sometimes burmese. Like Retro I tend to have best results on a chair.
Four types of letting go:
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things
- Ajahn Brahm
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
oops, I knew I was forgetting an option.....
The things I've read always list using a chair last, so that is why I am asking about any disadvantages.....
The things I've read always list using a chair last, so that is why I am asking about any disadvantages.....
"It is what it is." -foreman infamous for throwing wrenches in fits of rage
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Kneel, using a home-made bench.
I too got the impression that sitting in a chair was frowned on so I've avoided it.
I too got the impression that sitting in a chair was frowned on so I've avoided it.
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Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
You also forgot quarter-lotus: one foot on the calf of the other leg, but half lotus is close enough to that.salty-J wrote:.....and as a follow up to the poll answer, do you feel using a chair has disadvantages?
The Satipatthana Sutta mentions, going to a place and sitting "cross-legged" but that was the style at the time and the Sutta mentions the importance of being mindful in any position. Therefore, I think non-cross-legged positions are fine.
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Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Greetings David,
Metta,
Retro.
It's interesting actually. When attempting the Goenka 'body sweep' technique, sweeping up or down the legs, I found it far more difficult to do when my legs were interwoven. When it was a straight "foot on the floor" scenario, scanning up and down was easier, without needing to somehow work out what feelings and sensations were associated with each leg, or without having to change the geo-spatial direction of the sweep part way through at the ankle or knee.David N. Snyder wrote:The Satipatthana Sutta mentions, going to a place and sitting "cross-legged" but that was the style at the time and the Sutta mentions the importance of being mindful in any position. Therefore, I think non-cross-legged positions are fine.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Half lotus descriptions list the right leg on top of the left. I do left on right, 'cause my right doesn't fold down low enough (I think I messed it up as a kid).
Are there any specific reasons that right on left is preferred?
Are there any specific reasons that right on left is preferred?
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
I have noticed that in the Theravadin tradition right hand in left and right leg on left is the usual instruction and in Mahayana esp. Zen the opposite instruction is given with left on right. The reason given in Zen is that the right side of the body is the active while the left is the passive and this is supposed to balance the yin and yang or something of the sort. When I practiced Zen I never bought into it though. I never heard of any significant reason for hand placement in Theravada. I just know right on left is more natural and comfortable for me. Note also there are teachers in both traditions who instruct to rest with hands on knees so really it is all about personal preference and comfort.thereductor wrote:Half lotus descriptions list the right leg on top of the left. I do left on right, 'cause my right doesn't fold down low enough (I think I messed it up as a kid).
Are there any specific reasons that right on left is preferred?
.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
These days it's usually a chair or a couch.
A few years ago I dislocated one of my knees and tore some cartilage. Since then I can't sit in half lotus without pain. Sitting in half lotus for a full meditation session would be very painful. I can manage to sit cross-legged for 10 or 20 minutes without pain sometimes now though. Over time my knee has gotten better, so maybe in a few more years I'll be able to sit in half lotus without pain again.
A few years ago I dislocated one of my knees and tore some cartilage. Since then I can't sit in half lotus without pain. Sitting in half lotus for a full meditation session would be very painful. I can manage to sit cross-legged for 10 or 20 minutes without pain sometimes now though. Over time my knee has gotten better, so maybe in a few more years I'll be able to sit in half lotus without pain again.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
I use the walking position, standing, and Burmese. (Walking is at least as important in my practise, it's where I really get to notice intention
I am not very good at meditating on a chair, it just doesn't feel that stable. However, I've made a conscious effort to learn to sit on the floor - we do that for dinner, and I sit on the floor by a coffee table to use my computer when at home. So there's nothing "special" about my meditation position (which I believe is the idea - it's just a comfortable way to sit, not something esoteric). The key for me is having quite a high stack of cushions, so my back can be bowed corrected, and my knees (or, rather, my legs) are on the floor.
I think I do Burmese with legs the opposite way from "normal", but I see that as simply a flexibility issue, again, nothing special...
Mike
This is true, but it passed, in my experience. It's also much easier to do a body scan when standing, which I do at each end of the walking track before and after turning.retrofuturist wrote: It's interesting actually. When attempting the Goenka 'body sweep' technique, sweeping up or down the legs, I found it far more difficult to do when my legs were interwoven. When it was a straight "foot on the floor" scenario, scanning up and down was easier...
I am not very good at meditating on a chair, it just doesn't feel that stable. However, I've made a conscious effort to learn to sit on the floor - we do that for dinner, and I sit on the floor by a coffee table to use my computer when at home. So there's nothing "special" about my meditation position (which I believe is the idea - it's just a comfortable way to sit, not something esoteric). The key for me is having quite a high stack of cushions, so my back can be bowed corrected, and my knees (or, rather, my legs) are on the floor.
I think I do Burmese with legs the opposite way from "normal", but I see that as simply a flexibility issue, again, nothing special...
Mike
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
Cross-legged doesn't appear on your poll so I can't vote. What I mean by cross-legged is probably the same as what Retro means. Leggs crossed below the calves with calves resting on the feet.
kind regards
Ben
kind regards
Ben
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in mountain clefts and chasms,
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- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
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Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
I use y=to sit burmese style but now use a bench for kneeling because my legs would go numb and cease up! quite interesting when the fire alarm went off one day.salty-J wrote:.....and as a follow up to the poll answer, do you feel using a chair has disadvantages?
so long as the body is held erect any sitting posture is good.
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Re: What position do you use for sitting meditation.....
that happens to me too if I actually settle in half lotus, (okay, quarter ) when it's time to get up.....I have to literally move my feet and legs with my hands and arms, because I can't move them at all, and then afterwards there are very intense "leg fell asleep/waking up" sensations which are interesting to try and observe without aversion! I would just keep trying like this, but my knee has the arthritis (@36! How you like them apples?) which ends up causing so much pain sometimes I opt for the chair.....but I guess for whatever reason, I want to be able to sit lotus position eventually, as it is recommended in the books I'd read.....it's nice to hear so many of you sit "Indian style"/cross legged, or in a chair though, at least I am not in bad company in not utilizing exotic sitting positions.....Manapa wrote:I use y=to sit burmese style but now use a bench for kneeling because my legs would go numb and cease up! quite interesting when the fire alarm went off one day.salty-J wrote:.....and as a follow up to the poll answer, do you feel using a chair has disadvantages?
so long as the body is held erect any sitting posture is good.
"It is what it is." -foreman infamous for throwing wrenches in fits of rage