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AlderaanDuran  ·  4013 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Let's Escape, Hubski.

Zazen. A form of seated meditation associated with Zen Buddhism. I sit in a Burmese position with a little zafu (small round pillow), which you'll see in the pictures in my second link. I do not like half or full lotus positions as I have really long legs and it's extremely uncomfortable. And kneeling is just for chumps.

Basically, meditation is sitting, and NOT thinking. You don't actively try to shut your brain up, you just sit, for as long as takes, for your mind to clear and then hold that. Thoughts come and go, and you just let them. You don't address them, dwell on them, or "think" when they come, you just let them come and go, and eventually they stop coming. You just focus on your breathing, your body, and your mind, and just feel the "oneness". You can count backwards when first starting out, as it helps people get into a calmer spot faster. Start from 100. To me, my goal and special spot is where I get to that point in my daily meditation where there are no other thoughts, and I'm simply just existing and nothing else.

This is a good starting point, as always:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen

    The posture of zazen is seated, with folded legs and hands, and an erect but settled spine. The hands are folded together into a simple mudra over the belly. In many practices, the practitioner breathes from the hara (the center of gravity in the belly) and the eyelids are half-lowered, the eyes being neither fully open nor shut so that the practitioner is neither distracted by, nor turning away from, external stimuli.

This website has some decent pictures and additional info:

http://zmm.mro.org/teachings/meditation-instructions/