"If the lotus posture is the red thread of meditation, the act of meditating does not exclude other forms of postures. Firstly, because few people are able to achieve it from their first meditations. And secondly, because humans are subject to the influence of impermanence.
Throughout his life, the practitioner will be, like any living being, under the yoke of the fluctuation of phenomena. At each phase of his practice, he will see himself change physically and mentally.
"Posture is a reflection of what we experience in our daily lives.
"It will question you throughout your life and every new situation will test you.
"Posture polishes the ego like the effect of surf on a rock.
"We do not meditate because we are flexible, but we become flexible because we meditate.
"No longer meditating with the pressure of an ideal of right posture is to come closer to it.
"The lotus posture is not an absolute. It is simply the direction towards which you should aim, adapting however to your physical condition. As you embark on this ascent, you will define the path with every step you take. The more your mind is detached from the ideal of the posture, the more it will take a just and perfect form.
"On the subject of flexibility, I remember a thought that Sensi Masamichi Nord shared with us on the tatami, during one of his kinomichi classes:
"If you compare the movements of a small child with those of an old man, what will jump out at you is the difference in flexibility. The child is like rubber. His movements stretch endlessly, while the old person breaks like glass. Be flexible!" he said, straightening his chest and opening his arms towards the sky, "so you will preserve your Ki, for a very, very, very long time (Ki, which means "energy", is the term for the vital principle(s) that circulate(s) in living beings.
"There are sometimes phrases that resonate with us, accompany us and influence our entire life course, without us really knowing why. This is one of them.
Christophe Lorreyte - Book "Learn to meditate at last with the Tangram practice".
