I am abou to sit down and meditate. How should I do it. What instructions do you recommend for an effective time
Alan Watts recommends beginning by simply sitting where you are and not overcomplicating the practice: “The important thing is simply to begin—anywhere, wherever you are. If you happen to be sitting, just sit” 2. He also warns against “think[ing] and reflect[ing] unnecessarily, compulsively, from sheer force of nervous habit” 2.
On posture, he says meditation is best done seated on the floor or ground, “on a cushion,” either “cross legged or in the lotus posture,” if possible, or in a kneeling position sitting back on the heels 13. Another passage says it is “appropriate to sit like a Buddha with the legs crossed, or in lotus posture, with the back easily erect and the breath coming and going on its own” 8.
Watts also emphasizes that the point is contemplation itself, not some result you force from it: “The good of contemplation is contemplation—not some result that it may bring” 8. So the practical instruction he gives is to sit quietly, settle in, and let the breath happen naturally 814.
He also notes that some people prefer walking meditation to long sitting, and says he has “always preferred” it for its simplicity and because it avoids self-consciousness 45. In another passage, he says he prefers “the more active Zen of walking meditation” and other ordinary activities, and warns that too much formal sitting can make one “a stone Buddha” 10.
So, based on Watts, an effective time of meditation would be: sit comfortably and upright, do not strain, let your breathing go on its own, and avoid turning the practice into a performance or a goal 2813. If sitting feels too self-conscious, walking meditation is also a form he explicitly favors 4510.
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