Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Amy Miller provides a systematic walkthrough of the seven-point meditation posture, the foundational physical instruction for Buddhist practice. She begins with leg position, explaining the ideal vajra lotus but offering progressively accessible alternatives: half lotus, simple cross-legged, and chair-sitting for those with limitations, with guidance on cushion height to support spinal alignment. She then covers the placement of hands loosely in the lap with thumbs touching, the critical upright spine held effortlessly, eye position slightly open with downward gaze to counteract drowsiness, relaxed jaw with teeth slightly apart, tongue resting on the upper palate to reduce swallowing, and the head tilted slightly forward. Throughout she emphasises that comfort and sustainability matter more than strict form, and that meditation requires a relaxed rather than rigid approach.
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File: 1.09 Seven Point Meditation Posture – Copy.mp3
UUID: c964954a-c48c-4f1e-8d04-7286065289db
Teacher: Amy Miller
Collection: Nutshell no details (Amy Miller)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~839
But let’s discuss the seven point meditation posture. We begin with the position of the legs. The ideal posture is to sit with the legs in what is called the vajra position. This is also called full lotus position. And in this position, each foot is placed sole upward on the thigh of the opposite leg.
It’s a difficult position to achieve, but with the proper training you can put your body in this position. And yoga can be very, very helpful for this. This position gives the best support to the body and mind. But it’s also not essential. So there are alternate positions, such as half lotus, where one foot is on the floor under the opposite leg and the other foot is on top of the opposite thigh.
A third alternative is simply sitting in a cross legged posture with both feet resting on the floor under the opposite thighs. It’s helpful to experiment with different sizes of cushions, Just having a cushion slightly under the buttocks just to raise it slightly higher than the knees can really help you put your spine in the proper posture. So we know that the spine is not straight, but you basically want to have the spine as extended as possible to keep a very nice flow of energy through your system. But it’s important to experiment with higher cushions, lower cushions, and see what helps you sit for longer periods of time without having your feet or your legs become numb. For some people, sitting on a cushion on the floor is not possible, so experiment with low meditation benches.
And it’s perfectly acceptable to meditate while sitting in a chair. For those with extreme back problems or other body problems, you can meditate lying down. However, for most people, when you lie down, you tend to go to sleep. So it’s not so effective. But the most important thing is to find a suitable position in which you are able to be comfortable.
So the second point involves the arms. You want to hold your hands loosely in your lap with the right hand resting in the palm of your left. The palms are facing up. The thumbs are lightly touching, so forming the shape of a teardrop or flame. Your hands should be resting about two to three inches below the navel, while your shoulders and arms are very relaxed.
And it’s helpful to leave a bit of space between your arms and your torso, your body, to allow some air to circulate. So this can prevent drowsiness during meditation. And you don’t want to be gripping your arms so tightly next to the body because meditation needs to come from a relaxed place. So let’s look at the back now. This is the most critical part of the posture.
Again, fully extended. This means that the back appears to be straight. However, it’s held in a relaxed, fully upright position. So as if your vertebrae were a stack of blocks, effortlessly resting in a pile. Again, the energy will move, will flow better, more freely, and it contributes to greater clarity and alertness in meditation.
The position of your legs can be critical for this, for getting your back into the proper position. But again, experiment to see what works best for you. The fourth point involves the eyes. So in the beginning, it’s often easier to concentrate with your eyes fully closed. Totally fine.
But as you gain some experience with meditation, it’s recommended to have your eyes slightly open to admit a little bit of light. And you want to direct your gaze downwards, either towards the tip of the nose or a spot on the floor just in front of you, but not focused directly on anything in particular. Closing your eyes can create a tendency of drowsiness, daydreaming or sleep, all of which are obviously obstacles to having clear meditation. The fifth point involves the jaw and the mouth, which should be very relaxed, with the teeth slightly apart, not clenched though, and the lips are lightly touching. Again, a very relaxed posture.
The sixth point is the placement of the tongue, which should rest lightly on the upper palate in the mouth, with the tip lightly touching the back of the upper teeth. So this can reduce the flow of saliva and the need to swallow, which can be very distracting in meditation. And the last point is the position of the head should be just slightly inclined forward so that your gaze is directed naturally to the floor in front of you or just the space in front of the tip of the nose. If the head is held too highly, you can have problems with mental wandering and distraction. If your head is too far forward, this can lead to dullness and sleepiness.
This is the end of session one, part one, involving the life story of the Buddha and the introduction of the seven point meditation posture.