Posture & Breathing

Laurence Freeman speaks on posture and breathing, followed by Meditation and scripture comment.

Transcript

In this talk,

I'd like to look at two important aspects of meditation,

Particularly important when you're beginning.

The first is posture,

Your physical posture,

And the second is breathing.

When you meditate,

The ideal posture is to sit.

Sitting is halfway between standing up and lying down,

So it's a combination of being both relaxed and alert.

The basic rule of posture is to sit with your back straight,

Whether you're sitting in a chair.

I would recommend a sort of a kitchen chair rather than a sofa.

And if you're sitting in a chair,

Put your feet on the ground,

Both feet on the ground,

Your hands on your lap or on your knees.

Now,

Sitting with your back straight doesn't mean that you sit rigid or tense.

There's a natural curve to the back,

Of course,

So basically sit upright but not tense.

Your physical posture then should be relaxed,

Your shoulders should relax,

The muscles of your face,

Your forehead,

Your jaw.

Many people find it helpful to rest the tip of their tongue lightly on the lower teeth,

The inside of the lower teeth,

And that means you don't have to swallow so much.

These are secondary things,

But they can be helpful in the early stages of meditation.

Then your breathing.

Your breathing is important.

Keep breathing during meditation,

But don't become self-conscious about it or turn it into a technique.

Many people say the mantra in rhythm with their breath.

So you could,

For example,

Say the mantra,

Mara Natha,

As you breathe in and breathe out in silence.

Or you could say the first two syllables on the in-breath,

Ma Ra,

And the second two,

Na Tha,

On the out-breath.

The important thing is not to divide your attention between the breath and the mantra,

But give 100% attention to the word and to the sound of the word.

Listen to the word as you say it,

Ma Ra Na Tha.

You could think of the breath as a wheel that's constantly turning,

It's natural,

It's a reflex.

And you can rest the mantra very gently on the wheel of the breath,

But again,

Give your full attention to the sound of the word.

In time,

The mantra will form and develop its own rhythm,

And you'll find the whole thing is much less self-conscious.

It's much less awkward than you may feel at first.

When you first start to meditate,

It's going to be a little different.

You're going to have an experience that you haven't had before.

But like everything else,

You become more familiar with it.

And as it becomes part of your daily life,

You'll find that it becomes a friendly and comfortable presence in your daily life.

So always a good idea to begin the meditation with a few moments of stretching,

Or you could listen to a little music before meditation,

Or you could just splash your face and hands with water if you're feeling in need of refreshment,

So that you come to the meditation feeling as fresh and as relaxed as possible.

So there are different ways you could do that,

Depending on the time of the day,

Depending how much time you have.

But always begin the meditation with a few moments of physical preparation.

Just be conscious of how you're sitting.

And again,

The breathing is a way of beginning to take the attention off your thoughts.

Just by paying attention to your breath for a few breaths will be very helpful as you prepare then to say the mantra.

So let me just run through this again.

If this is your second meditation,

Then it's always useful to hear the basic teaching again,

Because it is so simple,

We have to listen to it maybe many times,

Ready to grasp it.

Sit down with your back straight,

Relaxed,

Feet on the ground.

Close your eyes lightly,

Relax the muscles of your face.

And then silently,

Interiorly,

In your mind and heart,

Begin to say your word.

And the word again I would recommend is the word Maranatha.

Ma-ra-na-tha.

So let's meditate now.

Market for you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Jesus normally gave his deepest teaching in very simple language,

In parables,

In little stories.

And one of them is about the Kingdom of Heaven,

Which he describes in this way.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who found a treasure buried in a field.

He buried it again and for sheer joy went and sold everything he had and bought the field.

It's a very engaging story.

We'd all like to find a treasure one day while we're out for a walk.

But then he buried it again.

What does that mean,

To bury the treasure again in the field?

Why did he bury it again?

What is the symbolism at work here in this parable?

And then we're told he goes and sells everything he has and buys the field for sheer joy.

He's filled with joy.

To sell everything you have to buy one field,

Even if it has a treasure in it,

Is a little extreme.

Jesus seems to be making an important point here about absolute value.

If we can find that place in our lives,

In our hearts,

Where we have found the source of value,

The source of meaning,

The source of being,

Everything becomes relative to that.

We have found a guide.

We have found a criterion.

We have found a way of life.

So this parable is deeper in meaning than it may seem at first.

What is the kingdom of heaven?

Is it the treasure?

Is it the burying of the treasure,

The selling of everything,

The buying of the field?

Or is it the finding of the treasure?

Reviews

🙏🙏

Lovely calming bell going into meditation

I greatly appreciate the format of this meditation. Thank you for your creation.

Parable of the buried treasure. Beautiful, Brother. As always. 🙏 Thank you.