Question: Can we meditate while lying down? Is this not the best way to relax?

Sri Chinmoy: For meditation you do have to relax. And for a spiritual person who has meditated for many years and knows how to meditate at his command, lying down and meditating for hours is no problem. But for the beginner, or for the person who is not advanced in meditation, lying down will present a problem. This type of meditation is not dynamic or active. His blood circulation will not function properly and a very subtle kind of drowsiness will attack him. But when he is in a sitting position, drowsiness cannot assail him. The very act of lying down takes us into the world of coma. Then what happens is that we feel we are meditating most sincerely and dynamically but we are wrong. I had a cousin who is now twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She used to tell us that every night she would meditate at least ten hours while lying down. My sisters used to enter into her room and find her snoring. They would then pull her hair, nose and so many things. But she would not wake up. The following morning she would say that she meditated the whole night. She did not have conscious meditation. It was an unconscious way of feeling that she was meditating. Meditation is very good; but this kind of meditation while lying down tends to lead towards self-deception about one's own spirituality. It is better to meditate while sitting or even standing. While walking up and down, to and fro, you can also meditate. I used to meditate in a very relaxed way two or three hours or more while walking very fast, like the marching of a soldier.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Meditation: God speaks and I listen, part 1, Vishma Press, 1974
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mgs_1