reclining on the right side, lion's posture

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Lombardi4
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reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by Lombardi4 »

What is the reason behind the Buddha's advice to lie down on the right side "in the lion's posture?" Why not on the left side for example?



"And how is a monk devoted to wakefulness? There is the case where a monk during the day, sitting & pacing back & forth, cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the first watch of the night,1 sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. During the second watch of the night,2 reclining on his right side, he takes up the lion's posture, one foot placed on top of the other, mindful, alert, with his mind set on getting up [either as soon as he awakens or at a particular time]. During the last watch of the night,3 sitting & pacing back & forth, he cleanses his mind of any qualities that would hold the mind in check. This is how a monk is devoted to wakefulness. - AN 4.37
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piotr
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by piotr »

Hi, :smile:
Stefan wrote:What is the reason behind the Buddha's advice to lie down on the right side "in the lion's posture?" Why not on the left side for example?
Because lying on the left side squeezes your heart.
Bhagavaṃmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā...
chownah
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by chownah »

Try it both ways and see which is best for you.
chownah
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Dugu
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by Dugu »

Can someone give me a picture of the lion's posture? I am not good at transforming words into mental images.
Justsit
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by Justsit »

Here's one:
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Ben
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by Ben »

The Buddha's Parinibbana. Artist unknown.
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“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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Dugu
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Re: reclining on the right side, lion's posture

Post by Dugu »

Thanks. Funny, I actually prefer to sleep on my right side too, except my legs are not on top of each other, my left leg is bend over my blanket. haha

would the lion posture be a good meditation position?
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