#55 Half Seated Posture

Sit by placing one buttock on a soft seat, with no support for the hands and feet. By staying in that position, one will be filled with the understanding of the Supreme Reality.

Verse 78

How to do this technique

When you first read this verse, you may wonder how sitting in such a funny (even ridiculous) posture, could help one achieve enlightenment. One has to sit in a soft seat on one buttock, with the other buttock and feet and hands suspended in mid-air, without any support. The answer is very simple. To sit in such a posture requires a great deal of balance. One has to be fully aware, totally focussed on the present, to maintain such a posture. If the mind starts wandering, you lose awareness of the present moment. Then you lose your balance and you topple over. This meditation like all other meditations simply brings you to the present moment. By being in the present, you are in a state of awareness, where there are no thoughts. If you remain in a state of awareness for a long enough period, you will permanently reside in awareness, and achieve enlightenment. Something similar happens with mountaineering. Mountain climbers are constantly at the risk of losing their lives. Inclement weather, a small slip, an avalanche, a falling rock striking them, and their lives are lost. They cannot let their mind wander to the past or the future. It is too dangerous. They feel a great sense of peace and joy while climbing. This peace comes from living in the present. By keeping the mind silent and remaining aware. Yet it is not necessary to do mountain climbing to feel this peace. Mountaineering can be a dangerous sport. To feel this peace and joy, one simply has to be in the present. Live life in awareness from moment to moment. The meditation given in this verse helps us to live · in the present moment. One cannot help but do so. If your mind starts wandering, you will lose your balance and fall.