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The Meditation Seat
While this is a rather traditional Japanese meditation seat, it is not the best thing to sit on while you are meditating. The best meditation seat is the Zafu cushion, also from Japan, and used in Soto Zen Buddhist temples. Click on the Zafu cushion link to see one.
Here's how to put the meditation seat together. It's super fast and easy -- you can build it in an hour.
For tools, you'll need:
1. A handsaw, unless you have a power saw
2. A drill (small electric drill is ideal)
3. A screwdriver (whichever type fits the screws you will buy)
4. A hammer
5. A 1/8" drill bit
6. A 1/16" drill bit
For material, you'll need:
1. A 3-foot board of light, cheap wood, ½-inch or so thick (The one we'll be showing was 9/16"). It should be around seven inches wide -- the one we'll be illustrating was 7¼". It's OK to just be approximate for the width.
2. 8 1-inch #8 wood screws, with round head.
3. 8 1-inch to 1½-inch nails, no thicker than 3/32"
Construction:
There are only 4 parts, one is Piece "A" below, two of them are Piece "B" below, and the last one is Piece "C" -- all are shown below.
Piece A is simply an 8" length of your board
For piece B, cut a 6" length, measure 2½" up from the bottom on the right side, and scribe a diagonal to the upper left corner. Cut along the diagonal. using handsaw, coping saw, power saw, scroll saw, whatever.
Duplicate piece B -- of course you need two of them.
For piece C, cut a 5" length, then measure 6" across, and cut off the excess.
On piece A, go up one 8" side 2½" and make a mark. Then start at the top, and go 2½" down and mark that. Mark a point 5/16" from the edge (about half the width of the board -- ¼" will due for ½" board), at the same level as your 2½" marks. At those two points, drill 1/16" holes for your nails.
Lay the 8" length of piece A onto the diagonal of piece B, along the edge. Hold it in place, and continue your first 1/16" drill-hole into the top of the diagonal piece. Secure it with s nail. Then line up the other hole, continue it into the top of the diagonal, and secure that with a nail. Drive the nails in completely, with your hammer.
Repeat the process above with the other side-piece (piece B)
Turn the meditation seat on its side, and place piece C between the two side pieces, as in the photo below. positioning it right where you want it.
Press the side piece (B) onto the 5" width of the base piece (C), so that it's ready to drill. See photo below.
Mark where you want the screws -- this will vary, but just center it reasonably. At those levels, make a pinhole with a nail, just ¼" or so from the bottom.
Hold it in place as before, and drill one 1/16" hole for the first nail. Secure that with a nail, then swivel the base piece into place, and drill the other hole. Secure that with a nail also.
Process the other side piece in the same way.
You now have eight nails holding it together. Right next to each nail-head, mark a point to drill for the screw. Use common sense, and try to position the screws well. Then drill at those points with your 1/8" bit. Put in your 8 screws, and the meditation seat is complete.
If you're deft, you can skip the nail step for the base piece. I just held it in place and eyeballed it, drilling one 1/8" hole, inserting the screw, and proceding in the same way as with the nails.
Some people will want to make a fancier one. Sure. Go to.
A Bigger Seat for Larger People
To make a larger meditation seat, for stouter humans, begin with a wider board than 7¼". I found one at Home Depot that was 11+ 3/8 inches. You would saw off two 9" pieces. Address the first piece with the 11.375" side the horizontal bottom. On the right side, go up 4" and make a mark. Scribe a line from that mark to the opposite (left-hand) upper corner. Saw along the diagonal, so that you have a larger version of piece B, above. This is a side piece. Make another side piece to match it. Measure the length of the diagonal, and saw off a piece that length from the remaining 1.375" board. This is your piece A.
Measure the thickness of the board. Multiply that number by two, and subtract it from 11.375. This gives the next length to cut off from the remaining 11.375" board. The short side will go between the side pieces on the bottom. For the length of the long side, it should be 2½" less than the width of your source-board. 11.375 minus 2.5 = 8.875 inches, 8+7/8".
Then follow the instructions for the smaller seat.
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