Meditation postures
Choose a posture that is comfortable to sit in for 45 minutes to an hour. Do not force yourself to sit in one of the lotus postures if it is too painful. “If pain was our goal we would be sitting on a bed of nails.” (S.N. Goenka quoted in Hart)
Pain is one of the meditator’s chief obstacles, so don’t encourage it. Acceptable postures include full, half, and quarter lotus, American Indian, Burmese, kneeling, or in a chair. The goal of practice is to obtain mindfulness / awareness / equanimity during everyday life, 24 hours a day, every day. Thus, eventually there will be mindfulness / awareness / equanimity even when we are not sitting, when we are working, eating, walking, etc. Therefore, clinging to a particular posture as the “one and only right way” is not necessary.
In Theravada (includes Vipassana) meditation, the eyes are closed. This helps to center our awareness and attention inward. But if you need to open your eyes to feel more centered, this is okay too. It is not uncommon to sometimes feel that you are falling or leaning one way or the other and the simple solution is to open your eyes slightly until the feeling dissipates. While the eyes are open it is best to have a relaxed gaze about 2 meters (6 to 7 feet) in front of you toward the floor and your eyes are relaxed and not straining.
You may place your hands in your lap or wherever is comfortable. The point is to be relaxed and not in a tense position with the legs, hands, or the body. A common placement of hands that is popular is to put your right hand, palm up, under your left hand, palm up, and have the thumbs lightly touching each other.
Don’t struggle with pain when it arises in the legs. Observe the pain and do not put any resistance to it. If the pain is still too strong, change your posture. It is okay to change your posture in the meditation hall during the sitting, just mindfully note the change in posture and then make the change in your body position.
See also
References
- Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka. William Hart, 1986.
- The Complete Book of Buddha's Lists -- Explained. David N. Snyder, Ph.D., 2006.
- http://www.thedhamma.com/
- http://www.the4nobletruths.com/