1. Chair sitting. The body should be erect with face forward. The nose and navel and ears and shoulders should be in alignment. The chin is slightly drawn in and the shoulders level. The waist should be straight and our seat stable. The spine should not be stretched too straight, but neither should it be bent. Relax all the muscles of the body without using any strength and be relaxed and natural.
2. Cross-legged sitting. Both legs are bent and the right foot is placed underneath the left thigh. The left foot is placed on the right thigh. This is the half-lotus posture. The full-lotus used by monks is even better. Another posture is the simple-seat, with legs crossed and feet under knees, in general, choose the most comfortable.
3. Hand Position. The two hands, hanging naturally, are placed with the palms up on top of the legs. The palms are placed on top of each other with the tips of the thumbs touching and the "tiger’s mouth" facing forward as if holding an object. The hands rest lightly in front of the stomach on top of the calves without pressure and naturally relaxed.
4. Reclining. Lying with the face up (too soft an inner spring mattress is not suitable), the back should be level and straight. The feet are extended level, with the toes pointing upward and naturally relaxed. The palms should face inward, lightly touching the sides of the thighs. The height of the pillow can be adjusted for comfort. All the muscles of the body should be relaxed. The eyes gaze in the direction of the abdomen.
5. First open the mouth and exhale the stale air from the lungs, then close the mouth slowly and draw fresh air in through the nose. Repeat this 3 to 5 times in order to harmonize the breath.
6. Lightly close the mouth. The upper and lower lips and teeth should slightly touch. The tongue sticks to the hard palate behind the top teeth.
7. The eyelids should hang like curtains. The vision extends from the bridge of the nose to the abdomen, but it is not necessary to concentrate. Our attitude should be one of gazing but not gazing, relaxed and natural. The eyes must not be completely shut in order to prevent falling asleep, and the light should not be too bright.
8. Abdominal breathing. Use deep breathing to allow air to completely fill the lungs, but do not expand the chest. The lung cavity expands downward from the pressure of the diaphragm, the downward movement of the diaphragm causes the abdomen to protrude slightly. When, one exhales, the abdomen withdraws as the diaphragm is pressed upwards, forcing the stale’ air in the lungs to be completely expelled. The breathing should be deep, long, fine, even, light and slow. There should be no sound.
In the beginning, one must not force the breath to be deep and long. If normally one cycle of inhalation and exhalation takes four seconds, then during meditation it should be increased slightly to six seconds. After several weeks, this could be increased to eight seconds. In summary, beginners must not use force to hold the breath in order to avoid a feeling of oppression or discomfort. In slightly extending the length of exhalation, it should not be forced, but perfectly comfortable.
9. Eliminate random thoughts. All random thoughts must be completely banished. In the beginning, the mind is uncontrollable, and it is very difficult to achieve stillness. Simply suspend cogitation and sink the mind to the abdomen. At the same time, one should use the technique of counting the breaths. This causes the mind to focus on the count, and with practice random thoughts disappear.
10. Counting the breath. One inhalation and one exhalation is called a "breath". One breath equals one count, if you count the exhale, do not count the inhale, and vice versa. Count from one to ten or to one hundred. In the beginning, because random thoughts have not yet been eliminated, one often forgets the count in the middle. Simply start over from one. After a long time proficiency comes, and advanced practitioners can achieve stillness without counting at all.
11. Concentrate the mind. During meditation, the mind should be fixed at one point. In the beginning, one can focus on the Dan-t’ien (a point in the lower abdomen). As one inhales, the mind should concentrate on the lower abdomen and imagine the air penetrating all the way to the abdomen. (In reality, the air only reaches the lungs, but even though it is impossible for it to reach the abdomen, one should imagine this). When exhaling, also imagine that the air is exhaled from the abdomen. At an advanced level one can focus on other points, such as the ni-wan [crown of the head), t’ien t’ing [middle of the forehead], ming-t’ang ["third eye" in the lower forehead], shan-ken [bridge of the nose], chun-t’ou [area under the nose] or yung-ch’an [ball of the foot], etc.
12. When finished meditating, open the mouth and expel three to five breaths to dissipate the heat of the body. Slowly rouse the body, gently stretching out the arms and legs. Rub the hands together to produce heat and massage the face, neck, shoulders, arms and legs while slowly standing up. Beginners, when they feel their legs becoming numb, should massage them until comfortable again. Under no circumstances stand up abruptly.
The preceding points are an elementary presentation of the fundamental methods and postures. More advanced practices will not be described at this time.
