Hello Joe and thank you. I guess it is a little unusual, but I do not put much faith in dogma. Westerners have real problems sitting for an hour in a full or half lotus, so I say to them that it is the meditation that is important and the method of sitting is secondary.
People are welcome to sit anyway they like providing they sit upright and with ears & nose on straight and if in a chair, that they hold their legs at 90deg's to the floor. I also do not insist on a mantra or the counting and people new to meditation can choose whichever they feel comfortable with ( there is one guy who counts up from 1-0 and then backwards to 1). The key thing is to fill the mind with something that the ego can't get a grip on. It is the vehicle and experience that is important at the early stages. I do suggest they hold their hands so that they get to feel the light contact of skin on skin ie where the working surfaces touch there is the reality. New people only meditate for 10 mins and then move to 20 mins when comfortable and we develop from there. The plan is to end up at a 1 hour session. I also put statements and questions I prepare to them after the group. I have attached a couple - (oops! attachments not so easy will try another time). Nothing radical or new. regards Bob --- In [email protected], "Joe" <desert_woodworker@...> wrote: > > Welcome, to the Group, Bob! Good of Merle to recommend the site. > > Do I understand that you are organizing the Zen in a Chair practice? I hope > you'll tell us a bit about it, as you wish. I don't think Merle has > attended, so we have not heard details, only the interesting title. > > Greetings!, from the desert of southern Arizona, > > --Joe > > > "bobthomas564" <bobthomas564@> wrote: > > > > Hi All, Just a thank you to Merle for introducing me to this site. Looking > > forward to reading some of the members experiences. > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
