--- Bud <bud@rajah.com> wrote:
> I won't get into it in detail and will avoid a long rant, but I think it is
> time to let go of the militaristic approach and sit in comfortable positions
> that are not physically damaging or painful, and allow students to enjoy the
> meditation practices...
>
> If this means letting go of some traditional forms, my apologies to some of
> the more insistent teachers, but over 30 years of practice and watching the
> physical damage and negative impact on meditation practice to many students
> has convinced me that this is necessary, at least in the West.
>
> Meditation practice should not be about pain in the legs. We should practice
> meditation because it feels good and improves the quality of our lives...
> pain is a natural warning that something is wrong in our approach.
I agree, Bud. Seiza is very grounding, and is a good position for your breathing--I think you can
breathe much deeper that way than in other sitting positions--but why put yourself through all the
pain? My cats meditate in all kinds of positions, but they always look comfortable :-). As for
playing, if you sit towards the edge of a chair, with one leg almost parallel to the back, and the
other pointing more or less straight out, you can breathe just as deeply. I can't see any other
reason for sitting or standing a certain way other than to facilitate the two things mentioned
above, so as long as that's achieved I say do what's comfortable.
Peter H
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 03 2003 - 09:09:53 PST