What do you sit on?
What do you sit on?
For me i sit on a zabuton with a cushion on top being either an old army blanket for the most part but lately been using a zafu as i find it gives me more back support and sometimes i use a seiza bench when sitting for long periods of time. What do you use?
Last edited by bodom on Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
- jcsuperstar
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Re: What do you sit on?
i used to use a zafu, now just the floor or a small square thai meditation mat
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ
the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
Re: What do you sit on?
Thats old school. Taking in back to the Buddhas days.jcsuperstar wrote:i used to use a zafu, now just the floor or a small square thai meditation mat
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What do you sit on?
Im slowly easing myself away from the sitting supports to the floor. I need to strengthen my lower back.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What do you sit on?
BBB,
Have you tried the buckwheat hull filled zafu. Some friends whose tailbone gave them problems during long sits found the alternative more comfortable than the kapok filled. A particularly nasty encounter with ideopathic neuropathy ended my sitting on the floor.
John
Have you tried the buckwheat hull filled zafu. Some friends whose tailbone gave them problems during long sits found the alternative more comfortable than the kapok filled. A particularly nasty encounter with ideopathic neuropathy ended my sitting on the floor.
John
Re: What do you sit on?
Mountain, yes that is what i am currently sitting on. It is very supportive but i find i feel more balanced sitting closer to the floor and will try to ease myself off of it. It would be nice to learn to sit on the floor without having to drag my zafu everywhere with me when i could just sit on the floor!mountain wrote:BBB,
Have you tried the buckwheat hull filled zafu. Some friends whose tailbone gave them problems during long sits found the alternative more comfortable than the kapok filled. A particularly nasty encounter with ideopathic neuropathy ended my sitting on the floor.
John
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What do you sit on?
Started with a whole beanbag, because I could form it to support my lower back and legs. But after some time I realized I didn't need lower back support, so I used a cheap old couch cushion instead.
The cheap old couch cushion turned into a pancake after a few weeks, because the stuffing was inferior. I turned a few couch cushions into pancakes, then looked around and settled on a Salubrion chair, which offered exactly the right tilt for my body form. But I still had to put a small cushion on top of it, because otherwise it was too hard on my butt. I used my pancakes for that.
Since then I've settled on a nice round cushion filled with natural ingredients. Works fine. I'll usually shove a wadded towel or thin blanket or something under my right leg, because the knee still hovers above floor-level, although the left knee touches down. I find that anything that elevates my butt about 2-3 inches off the floor is enough to allow my back to achieve a natural straight posture. I can do straight on the floor, but it's not really ideal for my body form.
The cheap old couch cushion turned into a pancake after a few weeks, because the stuffing was inferior. I turned a few couch cushions into pancakes, then looked around and settled on a Salubrion chair, which offered exactly the right tilt for my body form. But I still had to put a small cushion on top of it, because otherwise it was too hard on my butt. I used my pancakes for that.
Since then I've settled on a nice round cushion filled with natural ingredients. Works fine. I'll usually shove a wadded towel or thin blanket or something under my right leg, because the knee still hovers above floor-level, although the left knee touches down. I find that anything that elevates my butt about 2-3 inches off the floor is enough to allow my back to achieve a natural straight posture. I can do straight on the floor, but it's not really ideal for my body form.
Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
Re: What do you sit on?
Ive got the Buckwheat Zafu as well, my practice has really kicked off since ive got it, really supports my back.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
Re: What do you sit on?
As Ajahn Brahm in Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond said "The purpose of posture is only to free you from discomfort so that you can let go of the body as soon as possible."clw_uk wrote:Ive got the Buckwheat Zafu as well, my practice has really kicked off since ive got it, really supports my back.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: What do you sit on?
Good quote, the position i was in before would be painful after about ten minutes but with the zafu and new sitting position my mindfulness now has time to strenghten so when pain comes it doesnt effect my practice anymore.As Ajahn Brahm in Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond said "The purpose of posture is only to free you from discomfort so that you can let go of the body as soon as possible."
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
- puthujjana
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Re: What do you sit on?
I sit on a folded blanket.
"Once you understand anatta, then the burden of life is gone. You’ll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy."
- Ajahn Chah
- Ajahn Chah
Re: What do you sit on?
When I was doing a 20-day retreat in New Zealand a few years ago, the guy in the next cell, an ex-pat German, was sitting on a folded blanket!
For me, I am getting closer to the ground. I use an Afghan prayer mat and on top of that a futon-style cushion that is nearly squashed flat. I sometimes fold the cushion over to try and elevate my backside so as to sit in half-lotus for extended periods. But with all the moving and unpacking lately, my left knee is giving me some trouble.
Cheers
Ben
For me, I am getting closer to the ground. I use an Afghan prayer mat and on top of that a futon-style cushion that is nearly squashed flat. I sometimes fold the cushion over to try and elevate my backside so as to sit in half-lotus for extended periods. But with all the moving and unpacking lately, my left knee is giving me some trouble.
Cheers
Ben
“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
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- 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
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: What do you sit on?
I used to use the buckwheat zafu/zabuton combination, but my left leg invariably gave out after 20-30 minutes. I jogged about 15 or so miles each week back then (late last summer/fall) and I think that contributed through a combination of things. I now use a seiza bench I made from plans I found online. I put the zabuton on the floor and I made the bench long (wide?) enough so the legs just clear the zabuton. Now I'm good for almost an hour, mostly pain free. Sometimes I have trouble with one of my knees and I'll go back to the zafu for a session. It seems better now than last year, but still nowhere near as good as the bench.
Regards: AdvaitaJ
Regards: AdvaitaJ
The birds have vanished down the sky. Now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains. Li Bai
We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains. Li Bai
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Re: What do you sit on?
i sit on a mushroom stool with a padded seat, home made
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He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill