Preparing For Meditation

The Posture 
Find an uncluttered, well-ventilated (non-drafty), quiet place where you can sit undisturbed on a regular schedule. You may use a cover to protect yourself from the cold.

In the beginning, let comfort be your guide. Make sure you set up a schedule you can live with, and then keep to it faithfully. Adjust your sittings so that there is no excess of discomfort or pain, which includes finding a posture you can hold for a period of time that you will gradually extend. Learn to relax completely; do not try to control anything, and do not expect anything.

Make sure the garments you wear are comfortable and loose, and wear as few of them as circumstances permit. Loosen your belt or whatever might be binding or distracting, such as a wristwatch, jewelry or scent. There is actually no need for adornments, and their use during meditation should be avoided. 
The Legs

If, and only if, you can manage it, sit on the full-lotus, which is the traditional position considered most stable. For those who might want to try the full-lotus position, do as follows. First, sit on the  floor or a low cushion and fold your right leg in front of you, pulling it in close to your groin. Next, fold your left leg over it, with your left foot resting, sole upward, on your right thigh and close to your groin. Finally, lift your right foot, sole up, onto your left thigh, bringing it in close to your groin. You may be able to maintain this position for a short time at first, but, as you grow accustomed to it, you may find it contributing greatly to a sense of quiet, tranquillity and stability.

Sitting in the half-lotus position does not provide as firm a base because only one knee is weighted down by the opposite leg. To compensate for this, switch the position of your legs, if you can, with each sitting. If you find that this proves too difficult to do immediately, set aside time to gently lengthen the muscles of your legs, hips and groin; but beware that you don't pull a muscle or injure yourself in your eagerness, or you may have to take weeks to recuperate. Gradual, steady practice is advised and works for most people if they are loving, understanding and patient with themselves and, above all, if they are relaxed. Do not ever force yourself into a position or hold it when it brings on intense pain. It is not uncommon for misalignments to develop by twisting at the waist in order to have both knees touch the floor.

An effective way to help loosen the muscles that keep your legs from settling down on either side of you, so that they easily rest on the floor, can be done while sitting in a meditation seat. Sit on the very edge of your meditation seat with your feet placed shoulder-width apart and with your knees positioned directly over your ankles. Then lift one leg and rest the ankle of that leg on the thigh of the other, allowing the knee of the raised leg to descend out to the side as far as it can comfortably go, supporting it with your hands and then  lifting it and lowering it over and over again. Each time you lower it, think that leg is relaxing more. Then set it again, and let go even more, trying to feel what may be necessary to have this happen. Be sure your hips remain level the whole time and that your legs sink lower and lower on either side. Be aware of and be mindful of everything that is happening in terms of your thoughts and deeds during this simple exercise. If, after your efforts, you cannot manage to sit comfortably in the full- or the half-lotus position, then you may wish to try the "free" position.

Should pain develop, stay with it for awhile. Observe it, rather than lamenting your lot or wishing you were elsewhere, squirming, trying to escape or braving it out while gritting your teeth. Staying with your pain, you will soon clearly see how to succeed in your effort by the way you sit, the way  you breathe and/or by the way you view the situation.

Borrowing from another source, we can take this advice: "Be still and know." Whatever comes, allow it to happen. Do not avoid or reject, but take in whatever is happening, including your way of coping. Even if your reaction is to get out of the situation, providing you become fully aware of what is happening, you are no longer so thoroughly caught up in it. Be mindful of what is happening in the present, for only you are in touch with the events, their causes and conditions.

It may be beneficial for you to explore your response when sending loving-kindness to yourself. It may feel embarrassing, silly or unbecoming; you may even find yourself inexplicably crying. As practiced in the Theravada tradition, in combination with vipasyana,the meditation on loving-kindness is simple and profound, yet very effective, in reaching the sources of our deep suffering. It is Dharma at its purest, inasmuch as it addresses compassion as well as being intimate with pain. Do you experience pain as if it were an objectoutside of you, an intruder? This approach can generate meaningful insights into the workings of your mind and should be explored.

However, you should let discretion be your guide. Do not submit to pain for the sake of absolving yourself of a sense of guilt or to prove how well-intentioned or how willing you are to endure torture. Consider it, rather, to be an act of loving-kindness or as mindfulness practice. Either way, it is expedient. However, if you find the pain too distracting, stretch out your legs mindfully, take a rest and return to sitting. If you can simply sit and not be involved in sitting correctlyin order to achieve something, you will find yourself becoming increasingly quiet, your breath becoming more subtle and your muscles becoming more relaxed; then meditation ensues quite naturally.

Chest, Abdomen, Buttocks 
Raise your chest a little, moving it forward, and sit so that the hollow part of your chest, the part that is at about the  level of the base of your sternum (the den of your heart), permits your diaphragm to function unimpeded. Newcomers to meditation often experience obstruction and discomfort in the chest, and that is usually caused by the den of the heart not being low enough. Should that occur, focus your awareness on your abdomen and refrain from any effort; you should feel relief in a short time. Your buttocks should be protruding a little, and your back should be comfortably, easily erect. Sit relaxed and self-composed, settling into your lower abdomen. This practice has been found to be especially calming.

Hands 
Sitting in the half-lotus position, make sure your right foot is on top of your left thigh. Your palms are turned up, with the back of your right hand resting in the palm of your left, while the back of your left hand rests at about the level of your tan-t'ien(or the lower part of your abdomen).

In the full-lotus position, the legs are crossed a little above the ankles, with the left leg uppermost. Here, the back of your left hand is cradled at the place where your legs cross.

When these positions become natural and comfortable, there is usually an accompanying sense of ease, silence and tranquillity.

Natural Breathing 
The abdomen relaxes and expands as you inhale and contracts as you exhale. This is, indeed, natural; for when you exhale, the diaphragm moves upward into the chest, while the abdomen simultaneously contracts. The contraction not only assists in evacuating the lungs, but also stimulates blood circulating through the organs contained in the abdominal cavity by compressing the viscera.

Right Breathing 
The abdomen is contracted as you inhale, and it relaxes as you exhale. This sort of breathing has been used in China since ancient times as a kind of physical and mental hygiene. Try both methods to discover whatever advantages each seems to hold for you, the practitioner, lest you get caught up in having to have things happen in only a certain way.

Breathing Practice 
While you are relaxed, it becomes profoundly evident that breathing simply goes on and that there is the knowing that it does. You can intentionally breathe in a certain way, but the need for doing so is based upon some external circumstances bringing about the need for the intention, so that the matter of choice seems somewhat obviated; thus, intention seems to come about almost capriciously, in spite of yourself, as it were. This paradox exists in everything that we do. Meditation takes place in the absence of thought, and yet we think that without thought there can be no meditation. Perhaps the answer to this conundrum lies in the sequence of two separate events rather than in what seems their apparent opposition. For example, when you are actively paying attention to your breath, you cannot be calm; and so you are advised simply to relax so calm can ensue. Meditation is distinguished by absence of thought and a very characteristic sort of breathing, neither of which can be brought about at will. Control must first be relinquished. You circuitously bring that about by applying whatever you may have discovered about relaxation, and that is the full extent of exerting your will. The following rule holds true, whether you practice natural breathing or right breathing: When you sit down to meditate, sit easily erect, breathing through your nose.

At first, your breathing may be rapid and shallow. As you relax and have the attitude of neither accepting nor rejecting whatever arises, your breathing slows down and deepens until you find that you inhale and exhale, in a cycle, once every minute. Ease may be conceived of as the standard. At no time should anything feel forced or uncomfortable; rather, it should all just happen free of any concern on your part.

As you continue to sit, your breath grows finer and finer. You should devote, at the very least, five minutes each morning and each evening to this breathing-relaxation practice. Practice as often as you can during the rest of the day, wherever and whenever you happen to think of it. As the breath slows and becomes increasingly subtle, the mind stabilizes and grows calm. As the mind goes, so goes the breath. To illustrate this, four kinds of breath are noted as evolving in the course of practice:

  • The first is called windy breathto describe the sound that you make as you breathe.
  • The second is known as gasping breath.Here, you no longer make any sound when you breath but have the feeling that you cannot inhale enough.
  • In the third type of breathing, the breath is even and silent and without any obstruction, but you have yet to feel calm. This is called air breath.These first three ways of breathing are still rough-hewn and still show signs of unrest.
  • When there is neither sound nor obstruction, neither roughness nor softness, and in that very quiet time when you do not feel that you are breathing at all and breathing evokes no association of any kind, you have achieved the fourth kind of breath, silent breath.

It is the breath that harmonizes. If you find that you easily grow calm and that your breath quickly becomes fine, this indicates that your mind is easily stabilized. With continued practice, it may take only a few moments for your breath to be regulated, and then the need to breathe will diminish and vanish; and, with that, you will no longer be disturbed by anything. Your mind, at this stage, is said to be quiet and stable. On the way to this trouble-free state, however, there is bound to be much discomfort and restlessness. If this persists, and to help to harmonize the breath, you can try the following methods,  progressing from one to the next as you grow proficient. Very relaxedly and unconcernedly count from 1 to 10 in all of these exercises:

  • Count your breaths, calling one exhalation and inhalation just one breath;
  • Count only your inhalations;
  • Count only your exhalations.

When you have reached ten, resume counting from number one. Gradually, as your skill develops, you will be able to count to one hundred in ten groups of ten, without having your mind wander and without dropping off to sleep. However, should that happen, you are required to return to one and start all over again. As you grow more at ease, your mind and breath will, slowly and peacefully, become interdependent. Confusion and sleepiness decrease in all three breathing methods of concentration, and the mind is calmed as well.

When the goals of breath-counting have been reached, your next step will be to trace your breath. The mind, by this time, will be very calm and very concentrated. By tracing your breath, this calm and this concentration deepen until the breath is felt to enter and leave through all of your pores. As you continue in this way, you will come to experience yourself dissipating like a cloud and melting away like a fog, until there is nothing but voidness. When this happens, you find yourself freed of all sorts of illness, as the mind is established on a new, deeper level of quiet; and it is then that it is time to dispense with the method of tracing the breath.

Regulating the Mind 
Meditation can improve your health, but its primary purpose is to  enable you to be  free  of thought;  because when this has occurred, wisdom shines brightly. With that aim in mind, then, we see that both counting the breathand tracing the breathare methods of regulating the breath and thereby the mind. If you are fully concentrated in this way, your thoughts are no longer confused or disordered. That is why people who have racing minds or who are involved in emotional turmoil are assigned the simple task of counting their breaths. It calms them in body, breath and mind. In body, they grow relaxed and free of tension, the breathing slows and deepens, and the mind grows quiet, calm and unperturbed.

As one continues in this practice, all but the finer states of mind disappear. Then, it is time to regulate the mind, for now it has become much less erratic. There are many methods of approach, but the one most favored is to have one rest his or her attention on just one point, and to consider any thoughts that arise to be like actors that appear on a stage and then leave. This attitude of passivity, of taking part less and less in what is happening, leads to concentration. Therefore, when you have succeeded in concentrating on the point of your choice, you are also free of disturbing thoughts; and, with continued concentration, the practitioner finds, as well, that fewer  disturbing  thoughts  arise for the rest of the day. So, concentrate upon or relaxedly be aware of the tip of your nose, your navel or the point an inch and a half below it, in an area known as the tan t'ien,because your mind needs something to occupy it. Traditionally, in this practice the mind is said to be like a monkey that has been restricted to a small space, where it can no longer jump and skip about.

Two things plague you most when you are preparing the ground, as it were, from which meditation sprouts:

1. When you first sit down, your mind is restless and unstable. You are pulled in all directions, eager to succeed one moment and frustrated when things don't turn out the way you want the next. You may begin to ache, first in one place and then in another, so that all of your time is taken up trying to escape the pain or consoling yourself, or both. You may imagine yourself elsewhere, participating in events that have taken place in your life, or that events that are somehow important to you are taking place again. You may find yourself dozing off over and over again.

2. Through continuing practice, your mind becomes more settled, and discriminating thought diminishes; but there is still confusion, and you easily tire and doze off. It is to deal with these problems that you should sense the point an inch and a half below your navel and about an inch and a half in, which is in the area called the tan t'ien.This will not only correct your disordered thought and keep you from drifting off in reverie, but it also has a recognized physiologically stabilizing effect that results in mental and physical health as well. Again, you have to find the point to concentrate on that works for you. It might be the tip of your nose, your navel or the point an inch and a half below it. Whatever you choose to do, however, stay with it for the duration of the time that you have set aside for sitting. Beginners, especially, should make their practice more successful by finding the time to meditate when they are most alert, by eliminating discomfort and distraction and, most of all, by understanding the purpose of it all.

Insight Meditation 
The method of concentration described thus far, in which you are to return to your object of concentration when you discover that you are caught up in discriminating thought, is a shallow way to grow calm and to stop wandering thoughts, because it involves thinking about the thoughts that arise, which is like adding fuel to a fire. It is not really a means of reaching calm, then, and so you must eventually abandon that method and take one more step to insight meditation.Ordinarily, you use your eyes to look outside.In this approach, you must literally put aside everything; close your eyes and observe and/or feel your discriminating thoughts. If you do, you will soon find you cannot hold onto them, dissolve them or send them away. Once this is deeply realized and you no longer struggle to hold onto them, dissolve them or send them away, you will know original stillnessand emptiness.When this insight develops and you reflect in this way on a thought that arises, it quickly disappears and is replaced by voidness. This marks the creation  of a radically new way in which the mind can work.

When you first set out to meditate, it may seem that your thought has lessened. After you have practiced for awhile, however, you will most likely feel that it has increased. What has actually increased is the realization of what has really been so right along, and this immediate and continuous source of suffering can serve as a lighthouse in the treacherous waters ofsamsara.This can be compared to not being aware of the dust rising in a room until a shaft of sunlight shines on it. In the same way, then, if you feel that you have too much thought, it is the first step toward enlightenment. Abandoning thought, persevering in the insight that permits this and delighting in this, usually over a long period of time, lead to a natural disappearance of thought. There is, instead, stillness. As you continue in this way, the stillness becomes more profound, for it becomes a stillness in which sudden enlightenmentcan occur.

Reciting the Name of Amitabha Buddha 
As you may have realized, it is not unusual for thoughts to assail you relentlessly when you sit down to practice. Usually it is beyond your control, and, even with the best of intentions, one might eventually feel that there is no way to begin to practice. If you find that is more the rule than not for you, you might try the Pure Land approach, which is simply to recite the name ofAmitabha Buddhaover and over again. It is a very simple practice and can be very effective, but it requires a deep faith and a strong vow to be able to carry it out. However, if you sincerely recite the name of Amitabha,so that there is no other thought in your mind, and do this for some time, false thoughtwill diminish.

Ch'an Master Che-Wu said that when a pure pearl is put into turbid water, the turbid water becomes pure. Similarly, when Buddha's name is put into a confused mind, that mind becomes Buddha. Ideally, reciting Amitabha Buddhashould free you of defilements in this very lifetime and assure your rebirth in the Pure Land as a great, bright light in the Ocean of Suffering, meriting praise for the Mahayana sutras and all the patriarchs and Dharma Masters of the past. Should you have any reservations about this practice, it must be said that this simple act of reciting Amitabhais profoundly Buddhist, because it engages body, speech and mind in one concerted effort-the body by regulating the breath; the speech by confining it to a simple utterance; and the mind by a resolve which has been made and a vow which has been taken.

There are variations on this theme, as it were. You can recite aloud. You can recite silently. You can recite as you inhale. You can recite as you exhale. You can recite on both inhaling and exhaling. The rate at which you practice varies according to your particular needs and abilities, but this is true of any practice that you might engage in. The recitation should, in any event, proceed with the tranquillity that comes from mind and breath depending on one another. As you continue in this way, the mind grows calm and the breath becomes shapeless. Then, it is as though only your original intention or vow functions, the recitation continuing on its own without disturbance or confusion until first the stage of no-mindis reached and then that of no no-mindis attained.

In The Sutra of Ch'an Samadhi it says that if a Bodhisattva meditates with nothing but the Buddha in mind, he obtains samadhi. This simple method of reciting the Buddha's name can rid you of discriminating thought, which is the false thoughtor the thinkingthat the common man is plagued with, and reward you with Right Wisdom;and because your breath is regulated, your health is improved too.

It might help you to count your recitations. Again, you can experiment to find out what works best for you. Count with each cycle of breathing in and out, preceding or following an exhalation; or just include it as part of each recitation. The count, here, can be anything that you decide upon, or you can simply continue to count from 1 to 10, as before, repeating it over and over. Or, again, you might even silently repeat your recitation ten times with each breath or as many times as you can. Any of the above approaches can help to bring about effective concentration, the object of them all being to provide you with something simple and repetitious to fully occupy your mind without disturbing it. You have to try it! You have to experiment with it! That is to say, now that you know the way to prepare a delicious and nutritious meal, you have to actually prepare it, taste it, see whether it agrees with you, improve on it, if need be, and then eat it until your health improves. By analogy you must use this procedure in your practice until the practice proceeds on its own and becomes, therefore, no longer practice but an art that seemingly has a life of its own.

During the T'ang Dynasty, Master Fei-Hsi composed a sastra on The Reciting Buddha's Name Samadhi Sutra. In it, he said that people use rare jade, crystal, diamonds or other precious things to make beads to use in meditation but that he himself traces his  inhalations and exhalations (as they use beads) while reciting Amitabha and that, furthermore, he can do it while standing, sitting, lying down and even while in deep slumber.

What To Be Mindful Of 
Every moment of every day presents an opportunity for meditation. However, you may feel that you are too busy or that you need a structure. In that case, you might try it upon arising in the morning and/or just before retiring at night. If you can make the attempt only once a day, experiment  to find  out what the  best time for you is,  not only in regard to availability but also in regard to the time when you feel most alert and responsive to practice. Look for quality in the short time set aside. In the beginning, especially, that time should be regarded as a time of rest, of relaxation or of unwinding. It is a time of not doing after all, a time of not being actively engaged in anything. From the start, then, find out how to let your practice proceed naturally, rather than seeking to make things happen through an act of determination. You might set aside ten minutes within which to practice and then extend the time a minute or two with each subsequent sitting, until you are sitting for thirty or forty minutes at a time; and you should find a place where you can be assured that you can continue to do so at the same time and place each day, because we are, very much, creatures of habit. In fact, when you wake up, and while you are still in bed, you should place your palms over your solar plexus and then guide them slowly down to your lower abdomen. Do this several times, and then go to the bathroom to relieve yourself, brush your teeth and bathe, and then sit down to practice. This routine can be used at other times during the day as well, and, when established, it becomes as natural as brushing your teeth. What is most important, however, is that you make it a living experience, a time of discovery through relaxation and passive observation.

Eating is one of our earliest sources of conditioning, and so part of your practice is to regard food as medicine. This may seem to be a simple enough thing to do, but it can prove to be very trying. For many, this simple practice is thoroughly disruptive, producing feelings  of  deprivation and anxiety when they no longer have access to their private pacifiers or conditioning. One of its purposes, however, is to reveal those attachments, in order to discover the natural inclination to be a part of them, and then have that awareness evolve into freedom.

As to the procedure itself, do not eat directly before you sit, because it may make you sleepy. If you have eaten too much, you may be thoroughly distracted by the discomfort of feeling full, perhaps even to the point of finding it hard to breathe. However, not eating enough has its disadvantages, too, making you feel weak, have headaches and be incapable of concentration. You must learn to listen to your needs. You must be aware of what happens to you all the time, so that you can know the right food, the right amount of it to eat and, also, discover how long to wait after having eaten before sitting.

In this way, you may find that life takes on a sense of order, that you are not so involved in eating anymore, and, as a bonus perhaps, that you are losing weight. With only the most superficial observation, you may discover that eating as you do ordinarily may be followed by a plethora of such symptoms as vague feelings of unrest, headaches, depression, anxiety, stomachaches, muddled thinking, fatigue or itching. If you can detect what the causes are, you may be able to rid yourself of the symptoms. However, that may not prove to be as easy as it may seem. There are many kinds of addiction, but it is characteristic of them all, according to a current theory regarding what is involved in allergy, that you crave the very things that cause your problems. Sitting passively aware of everything that is transpiring, you relax. This not only serves to reduce your reactions overall, but also helps you to become less attached to things that have been troubling you. You become aware of how everything has  happened, and, by not acting on it, come to tune in to an inner knowing that chimes in to help liberate you, as it were. It cannot be said too often that you must find out what is best for you.Some people require an empty stomach. Others prefer to shower and meditate an hour after eating lightly, and, to complicate matters, it may not always work for them. It's all there before one to observe. All it takes is being aware of what's happening all the time.

Anyone who has missed a night or two of sleep and has had to work knows how miserable it can be just to stay awake, let alone concentrate and, perhaps, do physical labor as well. Sleeping too much can make you feel sluggish, and so neither too much nor too little sleep is good for  meditation. So there it is again! It is up to you, the practitioner, to find out what is best. Then, once you have done that, you can work out a schedule. For example, you might sit from nine to ten in the evening, retiring directly afterwards. Arising at six in the morning, you can go about your morning ablutions and sit again before going out for the day. Should you awaken at night and find that you are not sleepy or that you have trouble falling asleep again, you can use that time as an opportunity to meditate. Sleep usually ensues as relaxation sets in. Should it not, however, then simply continue to sit. With practice, your need for sleep diminishes, and you may find that you can manage quite well on just four or five hours, or even less. In fact, there are meditators on record who no longer have any need to sleep but meditate instead. This ability is not something that can be forced or even learned but develops naturally.

Perseverance 
Beginners often find that sitting practice is very uncomfortable. In fact, some may even continue to feel that way long past the time that they qualify as  beginners. What keeps them coming back is perseverance. To make progress you must persevere, and you must sit every day at the same time and in the same place, relaxed and gently erect, simply aware of whatever is happening or lightly engaged in concentration and free of any sense of coercion.

Results 
Looking for results is counterproductive. Ideally, all thought falls away and is replaced by a natural state, which, incidentally, proves to be healthy because it is free of desire and, thus, relatively free of stress. Having no aim is refreshing but is seldom understood, as such, and difficult for most to come by. The desires to do, to excel and to succeed are at the heart of one's very being. To relinquish such inclinations would seem to be outside the scope of what one can do, because it would take away the illusion of control. That is why a correct understanding of the Dharma is so important.

No Concern 
Drop all cares! Put away all things during your practice and simply regulate your breath and mind. Then, even deluded thoughts are seen to come and go. Not caring about them, your mind grows calm. Close your eyes while sitting, and you won't see outside things. Sounds may still be evident, and you may feel that they are disturbing and that your practice is difficult; but in that very moment, if you are aware of what you are thinking as just thinking or of what you are hearing as just hearing, your problems, as such, drop away.

Habits 
It is not really enough just to do sitting practice; and it is certainly not enough if you are doing so only twice a day. You must be attentive to your conduct and constantly be on guard against falling into the trap of habitual behavior. This means that you must recognize and then seek to control your greed, anger and delusion, that you should do good, take refuge in the Three Treasures (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), observe the five precepts (not to kill, steal, commit adultery, lie or ingest intoxicating substances), and that you should read, study and inquire to make clear what you understand of the Dharma to be able to set up and maintain Right Understanding and Right View. In this way, you can be more free of desire, be more able to concentrate, and, in time, have successful meditation take place.

Experiences Likely to Arise 
Do not be upset if, while practicing, you suddenly grow very hot, perspire profusely, shake, perhaps even violently, hear what seems like all-pervading sound, find yourself assuming various positions without intending to and, possibly, see apparitions. Do not attempt to suppress any of these manifestations! However, most practitioners never have any such experiences, but, on the contrary, practice successfully and have the benefit of improved health as well. One might wax mysterious and say that it is due to karma, although that is really no more than saying that it is what it is. It should suffice to say that meditation can sometimes be attended by mental, emotional and physical effects that are transient, as long as there is no attempt to stop them. Should they upset you, just understand that everything is void and that even what seems to exist changes constantly. Keep in mind that nothing is real because nothing has any inherent nature; and so there is nothing to crave or to reject. It is with such a view that you may be free of grasping, and it is then that concentration should easily ensue. Without such a view, however, you are in danger of being trapped by whatever may seem important to you.

Dharma Master Tao-Yuan, in describing his style of practice, said that one who has prajna(wisdom) should arouse great compassion and make a great vow to attain samadhi, to convert sentient beings widely, and not to seek salvation for himself. He must also abandon all conditions, or, in other words, simply stop doing anything at all, neither differentiating body and mind nor motion and stillness. He should eat and sleep just enough to sustain health, and he should set aside a time and place to meditate each day, sitting in either the full- or half-lotus position. Should he choose to sit in the full-lotus, he should place his left foot on top of his right thigh and his right foot on top of his left thigh. Respectively, he should then place the back of his right hand in the palm of his left and then put the back of his left hand on his left foot in the half-lotus, or on his two upturned feet in the full-lotus, touching his thumbs together ever so lightly.

Having established a stable and comfortable base, he should then lean forward and backward and sway from right to left, slowly, diminishing the swings until he finds a place of balance, where he feels that he is sitting easily and without strain. To assure himself that this is so, he can check to see if his ears are directly over his shoulders and whether his nose is in line with his navel. He should, however, not force himself to assume and maintain a position that is not natural for him. Should he want, eventually, to be able to sit erectly, he should devote time to doing just that, as a separate daily practice.

When he is then able to sit in that way without any thought having to be given to it, he can incorporate it into his concentration-practice time. He should then touch the tip of his tongue to his palate, just behind his upper front teeth and maintain this contact throughout the entire time that he is sitting. To keep from falling asleep, he has his eyes slightly open, directing his gaze downward through the space permitted by his lowered eyelids. Having so arranged himself, he sits, thinking of neither good nor evil. Should any such thoughts arise, however, he should be aware of them as simply thoughts.

Practicing in this fashion over a period of time, he naturally comes to be of one mind(a mind no longer occupied with objects). When this stage has been arrived at, the four elements-earth, water, fire, and air-are said to be automatically at ease, and he has reached the level of bliss. Becoming skilled in these ways, he attains to what is described as great satisfaction.If he is not so skilled, however, he is advised to concentrate on the one mind until he is successful in obtaining this satisfaction.When his practice period is over and he is ready to get up, he moves slowly. Thus, when he stands up, he does not disturb his deep concentration and can, in time, continue to maintain it at all times and in all places, holdingit as though it were a small baby. As he continues in this way, the complete strength of dhyana should eventually become available to him.

It is easy to look for a pearl in calm water, but it is very hard to do so when there are large waves. The pearl of Mind appears, then, in the clear waterof dhyana. In The Complete Enlightenment Sutra, it is written that Ch'an Ting(dhyana) gives rise to clear wisdom that is free of all obstruction, that is beyond everything, and that comes about more readily in the calm of meditation.

A question in The Great Sastra asks why the Buddha advises that one use only the lotus (or half-lotus) position. His reply was that, of all the methods that have been tried in meditation, the lotus position was found to be the most secure and stable, enabling the practitioner to sit for a long time without tiring; and so it is ideal for practicing Ch'an. It has a way of putting one's mind in order, too, just as it arranges one physically. Of the four mind avenues of practice-sitting, walking, standing and lying down-the lotus position is supreme, contributing to the most proper demeanor for practice.

There are heterodox practitioners who raise their feet, stand up often or bare their feet. Such conceited fellows exhibit unrest and cannot quiet their minds. This, then, is another reason why one should sit in the lotus position. Furthermore, sitting in this manner, it is easier for one  to develop correct thought and correct concentration which can then lead to oneness of mind.Elsewhere in The Great Sastra, it is also advised that one who would learn to meditate should concentrate on one point, which should be either between the eyebrows or in the middle of the forehead.

The great T'ien-T'ai master, Chih-I, who taught Chih-Kuan and methods of practice in Ch'an, described in great detail how one should regulate one's diet to be fit to enter the Tao. Simply put, he said that if you eat too much at one time, your stomach will be so full that you will be unable to breath properly. This, in turn, will cause your psychic centers to be blocked and your mind to be obstructed, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for you to practice. If, on the other hand, you have not eaten enough, this can cause your mind to be unsteady for want of energy. Naturally, these extreme conditions are to be avoided, and they suggest just two reasons why one should practice the Middle Way.

Regarding your diet, avoid food that only you can know is unsuitable for your practice, can keep the elements in disharmony and can lead to illness. This is a way of pointing out the practicality of being ever mindful, for it is through such observation that you can ultimately learn what is appropriate for you. It is not unheard of that certain foods cannot only make one feel out of sorts or ill, but also may cause one to have sudden mood swings or even hallucinations. Hence, the sutra says that if you are physically at ease, the Tao can prosper, and that if food and drink are properly regulated, happiness can be enjoyed in quiet and the still mind can make a great show of zeal.

Regulating Sleep 
It is said that overindulgence in sleep results from ignorance, clouds the mind, and should be discouraged. He who sleeps too much will soon not only cast aside his practice of Dharma but will also quickly lose his ability to practice, as his mind becomes confused and all his good roots come to no avail. Therefore, one should awaken to the impermanence of life and regulate one's sleep in order to keep one's spirit high and one's mind clear for the purpose of abiding in the state that leads to the manifestation of imperturbable stillness. Hence, it is further said that self-cultivation should always go on and that excessive sleep should not be allowed to cause one's time to pass aimlessly. One should think of the destructive fire of impermanence that scorches the whole world and strive to be liberated from it as soon as possible, instead of indulging oneself in excessive sleep.

Regulating Body, Breath and Mind 
Body, breath and mind are all interdependent and are sometimes conceived of as being aspects of the same thing. In Buddhism, there are practices that have been devised to work with these aspects. Also, there are methods that are designed to take you through preliminary, intermediate, and final practices. These methods and practices are employed to prepare you to enter into and to come out of, some say, the heart of it all-meditation.

Your everyday activity must have a gentle quality. If there is any roughness to it, your breath is made rough as well; and when your breath is rough, your mind is unsettled, so that when you attempt to sit, you become perplexed and uneasy. To remedy this, simply visualize yourself as being already physically relaxed and sitting at ease before you actually sit down to practice. When the beneficial effects of this simple procedure have manifested and you feel warm and relaxed and gently present, you can arrange yourself in your chosen sitting position.

What follows are directions for sitting in the half-lotus position, as described by yet another teacher. Arrange your cushions so that you can sit comfortably for a long time. Then, position yourself in the half-lotus position. To do this, sit upright with your knees out to either side and your legs crossed at your ankles. Then place your left lower limb on top of your right thigh and slide your left lower leg in close to your lower belly, so that the sole of your left foot is turned up and the toes of your left foot are parallel to your right thigh. The toes of your right foot are also arranged so that they are parallel to your left thigh.

Should you want to sit in the full-lotus position, observe the above procedure; and then place your right lower leg on your left, turning the sole of your right foot up and drawing it in close to your lower belly. Once settled, loosen your belt just enough to keep it from slipping and then loosen anything else that might be even slightly binding, like a wristwatch or a snug collar. When you have done that, lay the back of your left hand in the upturned palm of your right, and rest the back of your right hand on the upturned soles of your feet. Then check to see if you are leaning, slumping or straining, and, having made whatever adjustments you need, shake your limbs seven or eight times to relax them. Then check again to see how you are sitting, making sure that you are not slumped down or sitting rigidly upright but are easily erect. Your head should not jut forward or lean to one side or the other, and your chin should not be vigorously pulled in. You should feel that you are just sitting naturally. Then, slowly and continuously exhale through your mouth, while imagining that all the waste and impurities that might be in your psychic centers are being expelled along with your breath. Close your mouth, so that your upper lip and teeth meet your lower ones and your tongue touches your palate, and then close your eyes and inhale clean airthrough your nostrils. Now, imagine that you are a mountain, settled and immobile. Sitting in this way, you can avoid both strain and slackness.

Regulating The Breath 
For meditation successfully to take place, the breath must first be regulated. There are, traditionally, four kinds of breath: audible, gasping, coarse and restful.The first three are considered to be somewhat disruptive. If you can hear your breath, it is said to be audible.If it is not audible, and is also obstructed or not free, it is called gasping breath.If the breath is neitheraudiblenor fine, it is said to be coarse.When it is neither audiblenor gaspingnor coarse,but continuous, being barely perceptible and so fine that it is almost imperceptible and also accompanied by comfort and ease, it is called restful breath.An audible breathscatters your composure;  a gasping breathties you up; a coarse breathtires you; but a restful breathindicates a quiet mind. If any of the first three ways of breathing is present, it means that your breath is not yet regulated.

Regulating the Breath: a Summary 
There are three notable phases that take place during the course of this practice:

  • Concentrating properly, you relax.
  • Your mind grows calm as you relax more and more.
  • You have the experience of breathing through all  your pores.