In this episode I attempt a 15-minute meditation. It went well for the most part, although I did check the clock a lot. I also let out a large belch at 00:20:37 and had to focus on suppressing the giggles from that point on. Otherwise, mission accomplished!





Good going Ryan! I usually end up doing like a 5 min session, 15 is getting hardcore, man! I gotta try getting up early one Sat and try sittin’ with you. Great idea for a podcast!
Yeah, 15 minute is still rough for me. I know a place where 40 minutes is the standard meditation session! In fact, I’ll be going to one in a few minutes because I volunteer as a greeter there.
Cool! Think I’ll try getting back to meditating when i’m not meditating. The whole, “do” not “Think” thing. focus on being in the moment and not being attached to any one thought… and not being attached to “not being attached” Either that or I’ll just go eat a sandwich…
In Hindu tradition the hand position with palms pressed together at the center of the chest is called “Anjali Mudra.” Do Buddhists use the same term? I know they retain a lot of the old Sanskrit terminology…
Does Buddhism place a lot of emphasis on posture and keeping the spine straight?
There is a lot of emphasis on posture, although it depends on what you mean by having the spine straight. From a side view the spine naturally curves. The most common mudra I’ve seen in Zen is right hand cupping the left and the thumbs barely touch each other. I think it’s called the Maha Mudra, but I’m not sure. We just called “putting your hands in a Mudra,” even though there are apparently hundreds (as I’ve just found out).
Take these comments with a grain of salt. I really don’t know what I’m talking about.