This meditation retreat was truly a delightful, inspiring and insightful experience. Accompanied by my significant other, Pénélope, we had the immense opportunity to meet other practitioners, including Henrik Norberg, another fellow meditation teacher who trainer under the late Culadasa. Henrik currently manages the Dharma Treasure meditation retreat center, and has been for a few years.

Our stay blew our mind for several reasons that go beyond the meditation practice. The beauty of the desert environment, the diversity and warmth of the community – including a monk, Ajahn Buddhisaro, who lives there -, the innumerable natural caves we could explore and sleep in, an unforgettable full moon hike and a welcoming communal cooking and working experience. We only stayed for two weeks, but left with a thirst for more, wishing we could dive in more meaningfully into the richness of this stunning place.

This brings me to my main point. We are coming back to Dharma Treasure, this time for a much longer stay, this Fall! From October 20th 2024 to January 20th 2025, we will not only be living at Dharma Treasure, but managing the center, and helping out with all things necessary to run the place and hold a space for all visitors to practice fruitfully. I can hardly express the gratefulness I feel to be offered this opportunity. Creating and managing such an environment has been a dream of mine for a long time, and having the unexpected opportunity to bring this dream to life this Fall is truly a blessing. I had to rearrange some priorities and make a few sacrifices, including taking a sabbatical, but it was an easy decision given the nature of the opportunity.

Our goal with the stay is manifold. First, we want to make sure that all retreatants get the most out of their stay, whether they be beginner or advanced meditators, nature enthusiasts, or simply people looking for some time off from conventional daily life. Notably:

• We will improve the current greeting process for newcomers, so that people can join the communal life and participate in the activities and tasks that surround it as soon as they arrive. This includes improved and clearer briefing processes with regards to the rules, expectations and the schedule of the center, as well as a better mapping of the outdoor activities, hikes and caves.
• We will create an inventory of all things owned by Dharma Treasure. This will facilitate keeping track of objects owned, and streamline the process of lending, borrowing and acquiring possessions. Examples that come to mind are outdoor gear like tents, sleeping bags and rock climbing equipment ; or gardening and constructions tools and supplies.
• We will incorporate mindfulness into every feasible aspect of the food process. We believe that sourcing food ethically, eliminating food wastage and creating a warm atmosphere in which food is cooked, shared and enjoyed communally. This is challenging in the context of living together, especially when people of varied backgrounds and with diverse dietary preferences and restrictions come and go, but we will face that challenge head on, and will keep iterating improvements until we are satisfied with the approach.
• Help foster an atmosphere of transparent, lucid and non-violent communication, and encourage all participants to follow “Right speech” ethos. An idea that came about when staying at Dharma Treasure last winter was to have periods when speech is restricted through certain rules. One such rule could be “only discuss what’s occurring in the present, rather than the past or future”. We actually tried for 24 hours and failed quite miserably, but we would love to try again!
• On the meditation front, I will be leading daily guided meditations, which I will record and publish on Insight Timer. Together with Henrik, I will also a lead a TMI-inspired meditation retreat in January. Our ambition is to have practitioners follow the Elephant path with alternative meditation techniques (not the breath!). I will also be serving as the fallback resident yogi during that period, meaning that I’ll be holding the meditation space whenever no invited teacher is present. .

How to attend

The retreat center is located in Arizona, 90 minutes from the Tucson Airport, 45 minutes from Benson and Willcox, and 20 minutes from the small village of Sunsites. While remote, the retreat center is part of a close-knit rural community.

Compared to a lot of other retreat centers, Dharma Treasure is definitely on the affordable side, and it is also possible for attendees to significantly reduce costs by volunteering. I For more details on booking, lodging, and retreat guidelines, you can visit their official site at https://dharmatreasure.org/ or contact them directly via email at retreats@dharmatreasure.org.

Future plans

Our stay at Dharma Treasure supports our long-term vision of creating a unique environment where people can come and stay. While we don’t aim to establish a full-scale meditation center, we aspire to build a self-sufficient space that places nature at the heart of our lives. This space will welcome people from all walks of life, offering them the freedom to pursue meaningful interests, projects, and ambitions—whether spiritual, artistic, or intellectual—while simultaneously upholding the values that are dear to our hearts. I believe our experience at Dharma Treasure will inspire us to create such a place and clarify the specifics of our ambition.

I truly hope to see you there!

The Culadasa situation is forcing me to deeply reflect about my own goals and expectations regarding meditation practice. I hope that sharing my reflections will be helpful to you too.

Teachers and Pedestals

The fact that I was disappointed with the misconduct of John Yates (Culadasa) reveals that I had projected my own ideals and aspirations unto him. But John never asked to be taken for a saint, or to even serve as a exemplar of moral virtue. During meetings, he even repeatedly warned us against the “guru model”, which he firmly rejected. He believed that holding humans to godly standards was not only unrealistic, but dangerous.

While it’s concerning that John has taken and broken Upasaka vows, I believe that fundamentally, what disturbs us is that his behavior shatters our ideals about meditation practice. We might hope that meditation will magically untangle the psychological mess we call “ourselves”, or that it will heal our troubled and unhealthy relationships. But it turns out that meditation will not straighten up our lives for us.

The mind’s tendency is to view books, teachers and techniques through dogmatic lenses. Instead of tediously separating the wheat from the chaff, we either reject teachings completely, or accept them blindly out of faith. In hindsight, I see that since I began training as a teacher, I took the easy and mindless route and suspended critical and nuanced thought. I have put Culadasa and his teachings on a pedestal that rose above any criticism.

By doing that, I did myself an immense disservice. Not only did I transform the teachings into something narrow and absolute, but I also stopped taking responsibility for my own path and practice. I have given more importance to a framework than to my own experience, the very opposite of what these practices teach.

In the past, I had always included techniques from different traditions in my practice. When I needed a break from daily worries and wanted to relax the mind, I would practice Pa-Auk Ānāpānasati. When the body was in pain or discomfort, perhaps due to illness or my own reckless actions, I would scan body sensations and notice their quality of Anicca – impermanence – as taught by S.N. Goenka on 10-day Vipassana retreats. In times where formal meditation instructions lost their aliveness and the meaningfulness of meditation slipped through my fingers, I listened to a Mooji Satsang and practiced Advaita Vedanta self-inquiry. And when things got too intense, which they often did, I would revert back to Mahasi noting. By noting, I could reliably navigate through the unpredictable and overwhelming experiences that accompanied the progress of Insight.

The yardstick with which I measured a technique’s effectiveness was its ability to lead me towards meaningful and beneficial states, experiences and Insights. Yet as a teacher-in-training, I shied away from including other techniques in my teachings and daily practice. I found comfort in the idea that I had discovered the framework that “had it all”. No need to seek anymore; I simply had to practice.

The Benefits of Dogmatic Practice

Limiting my practice to a single framework did provide significant advantages. It largely eliminated hesitation and doubt from my meditation sessions. No longer did I debate what technique to practice. This simplicity was freeing.

Yet that advantage had a shadow. By narrowing my practice to The Mind Illuminated, I slowly stopped investigating the perceptions that made up my real-time experience. Instead, I concentrated my efforts on stabilizing attention and cultivating mindfulness. I temporarily left aside insight practices.

This marked an important shift in my meditation practice. Up until that point, the motivation that fueled my sessions was a burning desire to understand the depths of the mind, and to eliminate the subtle but alienating sense of duality, of subject/object, of me/other, that I could feel within myself, but couldn’t break free from.

By taking a pause from investigative – Vipassana – meditation to focus on concentration skills, meditation became less of a quest, and more of a mundane habit. I nurtured this habit daily with an hourly sit, and, don’t get me wrong, it did yield immense benefits. Practicing the meditation techniques taught by Culadasa in The Mind Illuminated for the past two years has transformed the way I approach meditation, and has led me to significant behavioral and cognitive changes.

Eventually though, this way of practicing drowned out the deeper quest for truth and repressed the existential turmoil that led me to meditation as a teen. Somehow, insight practice became a side-concern, something that I would pick back up once I has mastered The Mind Illuminated and reached Stage 10.

Rekindling the Inner Fire

Now that my teacher, Culadasa, has fallen off the pedestal I had put him on, I notice that my meditation practice had become tern and trite. I have stopped investigating phenomena with the intensity, playfulness and aliveness of my youth, and I’m still too young to write such a thing. I must reclaim the sense of meaningfulness and vitality that once animated my meditation practice.

I have therefore taken a resolve to open my practice up and make space for new discoveries and opportunities. No longer will I be exclusively practicing and teaching the techniques from The Mind Illuminated.

However, only a fool would discard the immense value contained in Culadasa’s teachings and in his masterpiece, The Mind Illuminated. The 10-stage progress outlined in this book is the most pragmatic, reproducible and unambiguous I have ever worked with, both as a practitioner and a teacher. The distinction between attention and awareness, and their respective training as concentration and mindfulness, have clarified my practice and opened the door to states I thought were beyond my reach. And let’s not leave aside the detailed, specific and straightforward troubleshooting instructions for dealing with distractions, dullness or agitation. I will definitely continue to teach these concepts and include them in my practice. In fact, they should be part of any serious meditator’s toolbox. But in my case, it’s time to seek and play with a few other tools too.

Whatever unwholesome behavior he is guilty of, Culadasa’s teachings should not be fully rejected. In my case, this situation serves as a warning. In meditation and life, I should never elevate a teacher’s or framework’s authority above my own, nor should I attempt to tailor my experience to fit a particular model. Experience itself should lead the path. Meditation is a tool for experiential discovery, not another conceptual layer to encumber our moment-to-moment perceptions with.

Tips for Practice

I’m leaving you with a few of my “notes to self” on how to practice, in no particular order. May these help fuel a clear, deep and rewarding meditation practice for all of us.

Experiment! Fully experience whatever arises and passes away in consciousness. Hold nothing back. Go ahead and play with your meditation practice! Explore and adjust, see what works and what doesn’t. Don’t worry about not doing it right, but when you inevitably do, notice that thought and label it “doubt”. Meditating will not kill you, and if it feels otherwise, then face it. Let mindfulness burn the parts of you that are unnecessary and weak. Pursue – but don’t chase – what rings true and meaningful inside of you. Emphasize and cultivate – but don’t grasp – the aspects of your experience that promote joy and mental clarity. Don’t believe everything you think about your practice, yet don’t believe that too strongly either, for it’s also a thought.

Trust and observe your unaltered, animal-like and raw experience of this very moment, and this path will yield fruits that will quench a thirst you never knew you had.

So, what’s going on? As some of you already know, it has recently come to light that Culadasa, my meditation teacher, has engaged in misconduct. He has therefore been judged inapt to teach by Dharma Treasure, the organisation he had been teaching under. To summarize, Culadasa has been accused of adultery with about ten different women (not students) over the last four years, including sex workers, whom he may have paid using money from the organisation. You can read the full release from Dharma Treasure here.

This news came to me as quite a shock. Now, facing circumstances like this, it’s easy to jump to simplistic conclusions. Some see this situation as evidence that Culadasa was a fraud, while others bury their heads in the sand and take the accusations to be ill-motivated lies. Yet, reflecting on this situation with wisdom, honesty and an open heart reveals something more nuanced, and perhaps revelatory, about meditation, and its relation to our all-too-human strengths and weaknesses.

Meditation is the most potent tool for reliable and lasting mind transformation. Yet, it is not a magic pill or a panacea for all things psychological. Practicing meditation will not turn you into a saint, nor will it make you permanently “nice” or even-tempered. Meditation may provide you with the clarity and resilience necessary for profound mental reconditioning. A serious meditation practice will bring phenomenal improvements to the fluidity with which your mind functions, but at the end of the day, your dirty mental laundry will still be yours to clean.

I encourage you to be wary of those who claim that meditation can “eliminate desire” or make you “permanently happy”. Accomplished and awake meditators get angry, they experience sexual lust and some even drink too much.

“But”, you might ask, “if they are as awake and free as they pretend to be, then why do advanced meditators engage in harmful behavior?” I frankly don’t know. I’d love to ask Chögyam Trungpa, who was often so drunk he had to be carried around, how a mind so wise could oversee and justify such reckless actions. If I get to the point where I can speak about these things from a place of experience, trust me, I will.

The fact that Culadasa’s behavior surprised and disappointed me is revealing. I had elevated Culadasa and his teachings on a pedestal. I had turned him into an “idol”. It so happens that my “idol” is actually a man called John Yates, also known as Culadasa. John is not a saint, he’s a Homo sapiens, and a pretty unskilled one at marital relationships. But he’s a damn good meditation teacher, as anyone who’s read The Mind Illuminated knows.

Somehow, the mind can’t grasp that someone can simultaneously be a meditation master, with decades of experience, and a lewd sex-addict. Yet the evidence tells a different story. How many times do we need to witness the same pattern before we accept that moral perfection does not exist in humans? We are complex organisms with multi-layered and deep-rooted motivations, habits and instincts. Meditation will not free us from biological and psychological reality.

In a situation like this, we are faced with two alternatives. Either (1) we pretend that Awakening isn’t a thing, that it’s unattainable, or that everyone claiming to be awake is lying or (2) we grow up, get real clear about what we mean by Awakening and Insights, and have a honest discussion about the profoundly strange effects of solid, committed meditation practice.

I believe that we have much more to gain from exploring the second alternative.

• Relevant and practical resources, like selected suttas, books, videos and guided meditations.
• The motivation to commit to a more serious daily practice.
• The confidence and drive to begin teaching formally
• A deep dive into The Mind Illuminated. It’s been 18 months and we’ve just began discussing Stage 4!

Yet, if I was asked what the largest benefit of such a training is, I wouldn’t cite these benefits. This is because hands down, the most valuable aspect of the teacher training is the Sangha it has surrounded me with.

Meditation is a solitary practice, and for most of my life, it was a lonely one too. Not only did I have no teacher (well, except books), I also had no one to share experiences, insights and struggles with. Walking this path alone meant that my practice stood on shaky grounds. The motivation to sit daily came… and went. Despite great results on the cushion and in daily life, doubt always found a way to sneak into my practice. Was I on the right path? Was I deluding myself with all this Dharma stuff? What teachings could I trust and commit to?

Joining a group of like-minded meditation practitioners dissolved these doubts. After getting introduced to practitioners (including Culadasa himself!) who had walked the path to much greater lengths than I, my confidence in the teachings grew more robust. Periodically meeting with dedicated meditators strengthened my commitment to practice, and I thus increased my daily sits to an hour daily, sometimes more.

When, for some reason, motivation runs low, I bring to mind the community of teachers and students. I picture them practicing diligently, with consistency and a light heart. The urge to practice then arises: “I must practice! They are counting on me!”

Yet one does not need to join a teacher training or a paid course to get the benefits of a Sangha. A subreddit like this provides a sense of community and acts as a support group when the need arises. Furthermore, several TMI-focused online meetups offer access to skilled teachers and like-minded practitioners in an open and practical format. I organize such meetings every week, and know other teachers (Upali and abhayakara come to mind) who do too. Better even, many real-life communities around the globe meet regularly to practice or discuss. There might be one meetup near you!

Take advantage of these opportunities! Being part of a supportive community makes practice so much easier and more effective. Often, all it takes for a practitioner who is “stuck” is a quick meetup to unlock a whole new level of practice!

The Buddha said so himself, when asked what the value of good companionship was:

Having admirable people as friends, companions, & colleagues is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & colleagues, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path. (SN 45:2)

By teaching, I’ve seen firsthand that students who all well surrounded progress faster, with increased confidence and stronger diligence. Interested in joining an online Sangha? Here’s a list to get you started:

Online meetups

• Saturday morning at 10am EST with teacher abhayakara. Weekly and free. Subscribe here.
• Wednesday from 2pm to 3pm and 7:30pm to 8:30pm EST with myself, teacher-in-training. Bi-weekly rotating schedule and donation-based. Subscribe here.
• Tuesday evenings (London time and San Francisco time) with psychologist and teacher Tucker Peck. 10-20$ contribution. More info here.

Social networks

• The Mind Illuminated subreddit.
• Dharma Treasure community.
• Stream Entry subreddit.
• Pragmatic Dharma FB group.

I encourage you to join a group to see what benefits you can reap from them!

For some reason though, I never really paid attention to the Four Noble Truths. I found them vague and impractical. In fact, I never really got the difference between them. As I understood them these four truths only repeated “Life is suffering” in different terms, a statement I found unappealing and pessimistic.

This week however, I read a short essay on the Four Noble Truths written by Culadasa, my meditation teacher (here’s a link to the essay). Culadasa’s essay opened my eyes to the profound meaning conveyed by the Four Noble truths, which I previously couldn’t grasp.

I’d like to share with you my updated – and limited – understanding of the Four Noble Truths. I hope that this will bring to light the relevance of this ancient teaching, and maybe even clarify some aspects of the Path.

1. The Truth of Suffering

“Life is Suffering”. Doesn’t that sound sad and bitter? The original Pali word commonly translated as “suffering” is actually dukkha. The word dukkha, however, is more accurately translated as “unsatisfactoriness”. I think of dukkha as a subtle thirst that can never fully quenched, a nagging feeling that underlies all experience: regardless of pleasure or pain, I’m never completely content.

This dukkha, or unsatisfactoriness, is different from simple pain. It is a mental agitation produced by our (un-awakened) relationship to sensations. We all regularly feel some form of pain. Most of time, this pain produces mental suffering: we feel dislike, or even hatred, towards the pain, and try to push it away. Yet this mental “pushing away” is unsuccessful, and only adds to our misery.

Yet, there may be times where we feel pain without the corresponding dukkha. In these brief moments, the body feels pain, but the mind remains peaceful, undisturbed. This reminds me of an odd experience from my first Vipassana 10-day retreat. I had to sit through an hour-long meditation session without moving, and the pain was excruciating. For most of my sit, I was in mental agony. Negative thoughts were racing through my head: “The bell can’t ring soon enough!“, “I can’t take this anymore!“, “Why am I going through this!?“. A few minutes before the bell rang though, the unexpected happened. The mind gave up. It stopped complaining.

Pain was still there. But without the adverse mental commentary, pain only felt like another sensation. Sharpness here, numbness there and some itching over here. What a relief it was to see things as they were!

Although, at the time, I did not recognize it as such, this experience gave me a glimpse of the second Noble Truth.

2. The Cause of Suffering

The first Noble Truth tells us that there is suffering, dukkha. If we follow dukkha down to its roots, we find craving. This is the cause of suffering: the second Noble Truth.

The mind desires things it does not currently experience and tries to push away what it currently experiences. By trying to control and change what’s happening, the mind is under constant strain. This never-ending battle creates mental tension, an underlying layer of dissatisfaction that permeates all experiences. Yet this dukkha is entirely optional.

Suffering and happiness are both mind-generated. Insofar as the mind rejects things as they are, we suffer. Happiness works in the opposite fashion: we are happy to the degree that we accept things as they are.

Most meditation practices aim to help us help us see and accept things as they are. In fact, that’s exactly what the word Vipassana stands for. That is because the only barrier to lasting peace is mental craving. By resisting the way things are, we feel dissatisfied. Is there a way out?

3. The End of Suffering

The goal of the Buddhist path is simple: to end craving, therefore ending suffering. By practicing meditation, or even other types of practices, the mind may temporarily stop judging and reacting to experiences. In these brief moments, we get a glimpse of what it’s like to see things as they are. How much more calm, quiet and meaningful the world now seems!

Yet eventually, this peaceful state fades away. The mind goes back to its old habits of craving and suffering. Are we doomed to enjoy brief periods of mental peace, only to fall right back into dissatisfaction? No. The Third Noble Truth teaches us this cycle – samsara – can be escaped.

To end suffering, we need to take a deeper look at the mechanisms of craving. Why do we crave in the first place? Why can’t the mind naturally be at peace?

This lead us to the root of craving: a spooky, persistent and deep illusion about ourselves. We feel as though we are distinct entities, separate from the world around us. Self-consciousness has led us into a trap. We experience ourselves as a separate subject in a world of external objects. Somehow, we feel like we are on “this side” while the world is on “that side”.

This delusion leads us to believe that our well-being depends on our interactions with external objects. We therefore manipulate the world around us in an attempt to achieve lasting happiness. We pursue what is pleasant, and flee from what is unpleasant. But we never quite get there. As soon as we improve one aspect of our experience, the mind finds new ways to be dissatisfied. This endless chase is futile: external objects can’t provide the deep peace we are longing for. This pursuit of happiness is flawed, but it is based on a misconception so pervasive that we are blind to it.

To escape suffering, we have to uproot craving by breaking the illusion of being a separate “person”. We therefore arrive at the Fourth Noble Truth: the path towards this goal.

4. The Path Leading to the End of Suffering

Intellectual knowledge of the previous Noble Truths is not sufficient to escape dukkha. We need to experience these insights for ourselves so that they can sink in and transform the way we perceive ourselves and the world.

The path leading to the end of suffering is divided in three interdependent trainings: morality, meditation and wisdom.

First, training in morality means speaking, acting and living in ways that promote well-being for ourselves and others. Second, training in meditation means practicing meditation with proper effort to develop concentration and mindfulness. Finally, the training in wisdom, is what fully free us by transforming our view through investigation.

Since meditation has become a habit, I sometimes forget why I’m practicing. Understanding the Four Noble Truths helps me recall the reason why I’m practicing in the first place: to break free from the dukkha of separation.

There’s a tendency in spiritual communities to infer spiritual causes to well-known and documented medical conditions. If you look for it, you’ll find outlandish claims that certain esoteric practices claiming to cure schizophrenia or even cancer. I take this as evidence that human potential for self-deception knows no boundaries.

Yet, despite the “woo-woo”, we should not discard all “alternative” practices, such as meditation, as ineffective. There’s in fact increasing scientific evidence that meditation can help with many conditions like anxiety, depression and pain.

First, let there be no doubt that there’s absolutely no reason to differentiate meditation from medical or psychological treatment. If you’re under the care of a competent psychologist or doctor, and they’re willing to monitor you and support you while you practice meditation, there’s no reason to choose one over the other. When facing illnesses, meditation shouldn’t be used or seen as a cure or a treatment, but rather as an adjunct to treatment or simply a practice that might help.

But then, there are people – and I’ve known some – who are looking to treat their mental illnesses with meditation. This can quickly get ugly, since practitioners often interpret their symptoms as signs of their meditative progress. This can drive them to practice even more intensely and to bluntly reject other forms of advice and treatments. This is a path to self-destruction.

While I see meditation as highly effective for dealing with the “ordinary  neuroses” of most people, it was never intended to help with more serious manifestations of mental disorders. It’s totally inappropriate for that.

That’s not to say that meditation is “only” good for stress-reduction though. My personal viewpoint on neuroses is that most people are pretty deeply immersed in all kinds of neuroses. I would go as far as to say that the common shared worldview is, in a sense, seriously neurotic. I see meditation as the main remedy for that particular problem. This is why I practice and teach meditation.

As disappointing as it may sound, that effectiveness doesn’t extend to treating schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and other psychopathologies. Somebody with a serious mental health problem who decides on their own to learn meditation and cure themselves is much more likely to exacerbate his or her problem.

I sincerely believe that a well-meaning but perhaps naive meditation teacher can worsen the problem by giving certain pieces of advice. While some meditation instructions may be helpful for a mentally stable person that begins having a variety of meditation experiences, the same advice could very well lead a mentally ill student deeper into its problems. Unfortunately, there are certain experiences that could be interpreted both ways – either as a symptom of a mental disorder or as a valuable meditation-induced insight – depending on the specific context and on the subject reporting the experience. This confusion can lead to very real and dangerous consequences.

There are however, meditation teachers who are in fact fully qualified therapists, and who are using meditation very effectively in conjunction with all the other therapies that they’ve been trained for. That really works.

In doubt, one should always consult a professional. While regular meditation practice shows tremendous benefits for many, it is absolutely not a magic-pill for serious mental illnesses. It was never designed for that, and I strongly advise against trusting teachers claiming otherwise.

A few months ago, i read about an opportunity to apply for a teacher training course with Upasaka Culadasa (the author of The Mind Illuminated, my main meditation manual). The requirements seemed high, and with practitioners applying from throughout the world, I honestly didn’t think I stood much of a chance. Nevertheless, I still applied (more information on the teacher training and selection process here)

In December 2017, I received an email confirming my acceptance in Culadasa’s teacher training course. I am incredibly grateful to have this opportunity to study under the guidance of a meditation master. I have committed to a more serious daily meditation practice and to teaching meditation, both online and offline, using the techniques taught in The Mind Illuminated.

I will be meeting Culadasa and fellow teachers every two weeks for the next two years. I will also be studying The Mind Illuminated in-depth and other relevant material, such as the Suttas and commentaries.

May this be of benefit to everyone!

The basics of meditation positions

Meditation positions aren’t as mysterious as you might think. The sole purpose of a meditation position is to allow meditation. Aim for a meditation position that’s comfortable and stable, and yet that helps you remain alert. You shouldn’t feel pain while meditating, but you shouldn’t be so comfortable that you wander off or get drowsy. Basically, you want to adopt the meditation position that makes meditating easiest.

Keeping a straight back is helpful during meditation because it promotes alertness and reduces discomfort, especially when meditating for longer periods. To keep a straight back, sit right on your sitting bones, balance your weight evenly and gently tuck your chin in.

Sitting on a meditation cushion or bench will help keep your hips above your knees. This is important since it reduces muscle strain and helps sustain the meditation position. If your knees don’t easily fall to the sides though, don’t worry. Experiment with what’s comfortable, and don’t hesitate to use a chair if required. When using a chair, make sure the sole of your feet touch the floor. You can use cushions or books if they don’t.

Resting your tongue on the top of your pallet will reduce the flow of saliva, which can be mildly annoying during meditation. Hands placement is not particularly important ; let them rest naturally on your body.

The Kneeling Position

The kneeling position is also called the “Hero Pose” in Yoga and the “Seiza Position” in Japan. For westerners, this is one of the easiest pose, especially when sitting on a meditation bench.

To do the kneeling posture, you need something to raise your buttocks. A meditation bench is the obvious choice, but if you don’t have one, you can also use books like in the video. Kneel down, rest your sitting bones on the object of your choice and bring your knees together. Then, rest your legs evenly but slightly apart, with the sole of your feet facing up. Keep your back straight and let go of unnecessary tensions.

The Burmese Position

This is the meditation position I usually meditate in. I find the Burmese position to be the most comfortable meditation position when meditating for extended periods. Unsurprisingly, this posture was taught to me when I went for a meditation retreat in Burma.

You can sit in the Burmese position with or without a cushion. Using a cushion can greatly help your legs rest evenly on the floor, which makes this posture more comfortable. Once seated, rest your legs on the floor in a parallel fashion, one in front of the other. Ideally, your knees should also be touching the floor, but don’t worry if they aren’t.

The Burmese posture requires less flexibility than the Half-Lotus and the Full Lotus postures, and it’s almost as stable.

The Half-Lotus Position

The Half-Lotus position requires more flexibility than the Burmese, and is often practiced as a means to achieve the Full Lotus position.

To do the Half-Lotus, sit with your spine erect and bring one of your feet near the other thigh. Then, take your other foot and bring it all the way up on the other thigh. For safety and comfort, make sure that your foot is not crooked. It should either be straight or at a right angle.

The Half-Lotus position is asymmetrical so if you use it, take the habit of alternating which leg your bring up.

The Full Lotus Position

The “classic” meditation position. Although the Full Lotus position is arguably overrated (you don’t need to sit in Lotus to get enlightened!), it’s an excellent posture if you can achieve it comfortably.

A cushion is a necessity for most when sitting in the full lotus position. Without one, your hips, knees and ankles are likely to get unnecessary strain. To do the full lotus, bring one of your feet up on the opposite thigh, with its sole facing up. Then, slowly lift the other foot up unto the other thigh in a symmetrical fashion. When sitting in lotus, both feet should be kept either straight or at a right angle, and should rest close to the abdomen.

Properly sitting in the lotus position requires flexibility, but when done properly, it provides unparalleled stability. The lotus position naturally keeps the spine erect and chases drowsiness.

Conclusion

Don’t fret too much over meditation positions, regular meditation practice is infinitely more important than a perfect posture. There’s nothing magical about difficult meditation positions. If they cause you pain or discomfort, don’t use them. What you do with your mind is more important than how you place your legs.

This article presents only 4 seated meditation positions. Plenty of other postures are suitable for meditative practice. You can meditate lying down and even while walking. If you find a certain meditation position to be comfortable, stable and to promote alertness, go for it!

Synchronize your breath with the figure below. Inhale as it expands, and exhale as it contracts.

Inhale as the figure expands, and exhale as it contracts.

If you’ve never meditated, here’s how to meditate for beginners, and a guide to meditation positions.

You might have heard that there’s no such thing as “bad meditation”. I disagree. If you just sit down and ruminate negative thoughts for 20 minutes, you might as well not meditate.

Meditation is subjective. You’re the only witness of your practice. It’s easy to get lost, especially when you begin. It’s simple to meditate effectively, but common to get it wrong.

Here are 5 sure signs that you’re not approaching meditation properly.

1. You don’t know why you meditate

Why do you meditate? 

Really, why?

To get anywhere in meditation, you have to know why you do it. It doesn’t matter what’s your reason, but it must mean something to you. Without a compelling reason to practice, you’ll meditate halfheartedly. You’ll skip it when you’re busy and after a while, you’ll stop meditating completely.

To meditate effectively, your brain needs to cooperate ; it needs to be convinced that meditating is a great idea. Otherwise, you’ll sit on the cushion and wander off.

I start every meditation session by reminding myself of why I meditate. I like to keep it fresh by changing it once in a while, but I always do it. It keeps me in tune with what I’m doing and helps me focus.

I meditate to open up to reality, to understand myself and to improve my relationship with the present moment. Meditating will help me see life clearly and be less reactive. It’s been very beneficial before and still is now.

You have to come up with your own answer. Be specific. Get personal. Go for something empowering:

I often get angry, and this causes suffering for me and others. Meditating will help me reduce the intensity and frequency of my anger.

This statement is effective because it clearly identifies the problem and its solution. It’s simple and neat, yet powerful.  It’s stronger than laziness, because it rings truth: you can’t fool around because you know what the problem is. The mind is out of tricks. You have to sit down and meditate.

Don’t go vague and empty statements like:

I want to be less emotional.

This is weak. It’s too general and doesn’t offer a solution. It lacks power.

People who know why they meditate practice lucidly. They are motivated and don’t get thrown off track so easily. They meditate effectively.

2. You hate meditating

If you always feel like meditation is a pain in the ass, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s a good idea to include meditation in your schedule, but don’t approach it like other tasks. Don’t reduce it to a chore. Meditating is a great idea, but mechanically forcing yourself to wait 20 minutes on a cushion is not.

Meditating can be fun. It should be fun. When I sit on the cushion, my worries are far away. I’m simply meditating. Nothing more. Reality unfolds constantly, it’s fascinating. No experience is ever the same. Everything is fresh. Sometimes I even wonder how I’ll get up from the cushion.

Meditate for YOU. Take this time to add some space in your life. Let your thoughts calmly settle down. Stop worrying. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t try to be anything else than what you are. Experience the freedom of not having to care, and see the benefits you get from it. Enjoy yourself!

3. You can’t stick to a meditation technique

There are many great meditation techniques to choose from. It can be hard to pick one. You may be tempted to “try a little bit of everything”. Testing the waters before you commit to a meditation technique is smart, but at some point you have to dive in.

Don’t let the fear of missing something throw you off track. This is a trick of the mind. It convinces you that the grass is greener on the other side, so you try a new technique. Soon enough, the freshness of the technique wears off ; you’re back where you started. The mind recommends something else. There you go, off trying out the grass of another pasture.

Stop hesitating. The perfect meditation technique doesn’t exist. Pick the one that gave you the best results so far and stick to it. Be lucid, but don’t over think it. If you can’t choose, pick at random. Meditation techniques are just vehicles. Don’t get distracted by their superficial differences.

If you dug 50 wells, each only 1 meter deep, you’d never reach water. To meditate effectively, stay committed to a technique. You’ll see results.

4. You think meditating makes you superior

You’ve probably met a fair share of annoying “spiritual people”. They can’t wait to tell you about their recent “insights”, or about how fabulous they are since they began a new practice. They might try to convince that you should buy freaking crystals or other new-age pseudo-spiritual junk. They might even brag that they’re enlightened.

There’s a reason most meditation retreats are silent. Meditation and other spiritual practices have a frustrating tendency. They can make you feel superior. Seduced by the richness of some experiences, you may literally feel superhuman. You may want to tell everyone about it, but that usually isn’t a good idea. They inevitably won’t respond well, and you might rationalize this by deciding that they’re not “spiritual” enough for you.

I’m all for open communication on these subjects, but the goal of spirituality is not the growth of ego. The mind loves to feel superior, and it will try to convince you of many things. If you buy into them, the results can be disastrous. For you and for others.

Ego can creep in from the backdoor. It might disguise as Buddha. Remember that you can’t be free if you judge people. Spiritual practice shouldn’t close you down. Always keep sight of the bigger picture. Meditation is not an escape from reality. It’s an opportunity to see it clearly, to jump right into it without distractions.

The easy way to deal with this is to respond by meditating. You catch yourself proudly thinking that you’re SO spiritual? Fine, just notice it: “Oh! Another thought about how good I am. How surprising!”. See how quick it vanishes. Thoughts have no power unless you believe in them.

Kind of like God.

5. You read more about meditation than you practice

Meditation is not about knowledge, it’s about wisdom. Just like reading about the color red will never help you see it ; meditation needs to be practiced and experienced, not read about.

Some of you are reading this article because you don’t feel like practicing. You rationalize that reading about meditation is better than nothing, so here you come.

Don’t get me wrong, I recommend reading. But it has to be included in your meditative practice. Otherwise you’ll get lost. Teachings are just pointers, they are maps. If you use 50 different maps to go somewhere, you’ll get confused.

For example, some teachers speak of progress on the path, while others proclaim that you’re already enlightened.

You may also read that meditation is about “not doing anything”. Meditation is different from any other “doing”, because you’re simply witnessing the “doings”. In that sense, it’s effortless. Yet, you could take this advice and resolve to become a couch potato. An enlightened couch potato.

Don’t try to get your head around these teachings by thinking alone. They’re an intellectually unsolvable problem.

Limit the amount of theory. Put it into practice! Meditate!
You’ll figure it out.

All right.

Time to stop reading.

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