Sitting Meditation

Sitting meditation is a way for us to return home and give full attention and care to ourselves.  Every time we sit down, whether it is in our living room, at the foot of a tree, or on a cushion, we can radiate peace and tranquility like the Buddha sitting on an altar.  We bring our full attention to what is within and around us.  We let our mind become spacious and our heart soft and kind.  With just a few minutes of sitting in this way, we can restore ourselves fully.  When we sit down peacefull, breathing and smiling with awareness, we have sovereignty over ourselves.

Sitting meditation is very healing.  We can just be with whatever is within us, whether it is pain, anger, irritation, joy, love, or peace.  We are with whatever is there without being carried away.  We let it come, let it stay, then let it go.  We have no need to push, to oppress, or to pretend our thoughts are not there.  Instead, we can observe the thoughs and images in our mind with an accepting and loving eye.  Despite the storms that arise in us, we're still and calm.

Sitting meditation should be a joy.  Sit in such a way that you feel happy and relaxed for the entire length of the sitting.  Sitting is not hard labor.  It's an opportunity to enjoy your own presence, the presence of your family or fellow practitioners, the Earth, the sky, and the cosmos.  There's no effort.  Sitting and breathing, we produce our true presence in the here and the now and offer it to our community and to the world.