Though actual meditation involves the mind and spirit, the body also needs to adopt a position to encourage the meditation.

The seven step meditation posture of the Vairocana Buddha is regarded as a perfect stance for meditation:

  1. The eyes shouldn’t be either wide open or completely closed. The gaze shoud be directed downwards along the line of the nose.
  2. The head should bend slightly forwards. Nose and navel are in vertical alighnment with each other.
  3. Teeth and lips resting their natural position and not pressed together. The tip of the tongue lightly touches the gum behind the upper teeth. This posiion limits the flow of saliva so that you do not need to swallow so often during meditation. The breath flows calmly and naturally. Don’t artificially slow it down or force it.
  4. The shoulders are straight and at equal height.Arms and shoulders are relaxed.
  5. The back is straight and upright, without bending too far backwards or forwards.
  6. The hands res in one another in your lap, palms turned upwards. Both hands are slightly curved so that the tips of the thumbs touch one another and form a triangle.
  7. The legs are crosed in a full or half lotus. In the full lotus each foot rests on the upper thigh of the opposite leg, with the sole pointing upwards. The half lotus is easier: the left foot rests on the floor under the right lege and the right foot lies on the left upper thigh (or the other way round)