Breathing Meditation

Guidelines for Practice

Khai Thien

“And, bhikkhus, this concentration through mindfulness of breathing, when developed and practiced much, is both peaceful and sublime, it is an unadulterated blissful abiding, and is banished at one and stills evil unprofitable thoughts as soon as they arise” (S.v, 321; Vin.iii, 70; Visuddhimagga VIII. 145)

“I too, bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, generally dwelt in this dwelling. While I generally dwelt in this dwelling, neither my body nor my eyes became fatigued and my mind, by not clinging, was liberated from the taints.” (Sn, V, 317)

I. Preparing for Sitting Meditation

1. Body: You may choose one of the sitting postures: Burmese posture (cross the legs simply and rest both feet flat on the floor), full lotus posture (place the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh, with the soles turned upward), a half lotus posture (place one foot on the opposite thigh and the other foot on the floor beneath the opposite thigh), or chair posture (sit on a chair with your feet touching the ground.) Your back, neck, and spine must be in a straight line, and this posture must be maintained throughout the meditation. Place the left hand inside the right hand, palms facing upward, thumbs lightly touching, and rest the hands on the lower thighs. You may also rest your hands on your knees. Your sitting posture should be stable, comfortable, calm, and peaceful.  
2. Mind: Concentrate your attention on the place touched by the breaths at the nostril opening or the upper lip. If you feel uneasy or uncomfortable, you can focus your attention on the lower abdomen (near the navel) or just establish mindfulness in front of the face. The mindfulness in meditation must always have three essential characters: awareness, attention, and alertness.
3. Breaths: Let the breaths in and out be natural. Do not try to make your breaths be longer or shorter. Just breathe regularly and lightly. It is important to keep in mind that, during your sitting meditation, your breaths are the only meditative subject. Sometimes when your mind is distracted (i.e., thinking of other subjects), you must be aware of the distraction and try to bring your mind back to the meditative subject by observing and paying attention to your breathing in and out, fixing your mindfulness on the place touched by the breaths. Imagine that in-breaths and out-breaths are the post and your mindfulness is the rope that ties the mind and the meditative subject together, not letting the mind be unrestrained in a disordered manner.

II. Three Basic Steps of Practicing Breathing Meditation

1. Step One:

Be aware of each single breath: in, out, long, and short

In this first step, try to observe and be aware of your breaths in a mindful manner. “Breathing (in / out) a long breath, I know I am breathing (in / out) a long breath. Breathing (in / out) a short breath, I know I am breathing (in / out) a short breath.” Here, you should try to be aware of four plain manifestations of the breath: in, out, long, and short. You must recognize any manifestations of each single breath clearly in order to keep the mind awake and mindful to further attain pure concentration. When the mind becomes tranquil and the breaths become light and subtle, you can move to the next step.

2. Step Two:

Be aware of the whole body (of in-breath and out-breath)

Try to recognize the entire body of in-breath and out-breath, including the beginning, middle, and end of each single breath. “Breathing (in / out) I am aware of the whole body (of breath).” This is the effort to evidently realize the entire body of each breath. The key point in practicing this step is that you should give your attention to the place touched by the breaths (the nostril opening or the upper lip), and be fully aware of the whole body of breath. You should not go in or go out of mindfulness after the beginning, middle, and end of each breath since, in doing so, your mind will be distracted either internally or externally.

3. Step Three:

Calm the whole body (of in-breath and out-breath)

Try to maintain awareness and mindfulness of your breaths in and out constantly, with the determination to calm the breaths, body, and mind. If your breaths are not tranquil, you should silently generate the wish that “May my breaths become tranquil.” After making such a wish, your breaths will gradually become tranquil, and then your body and mind will be calm as well. At this point, your breaths may at time become very subtle or even difficult to be revealed; at certain times, it may seem not to even exist. This is just the calm feeling of the subtle state of breathing. You should fix your mindfulness on the place touched by the breaths; in this way, you will see that your breaths are clearly noticeable.

III. Important Notes

1. If you cannot focus the mind by observing the in-and-out breaths, you may change to counting the breaths as follows: breathe in and breathe out, counting one; breathe in and breathe out, counting two. Keep counting from one to ten and then return to one and count to ten again. By counting breaths in such a way, your mind will gradually become focused. Once you reach the point of preliminary concentration, you may turn to observe the four manifestations of breathing: in, out, long, short, or the entire body of breath.
2. Do not change your mindfulness on breathing to any other subjects such as characters of suffering, impermanence, and non-self. These three characters belong to the subjects of insight meditation in later phases. Here, the aim of mindfulness on breathing is to make the mind tranquil and achieve focus.
3.  When moving from step one to step two (or subsequent steps), you should do only one thing: generate the thought that you want to experience the entire body of breath (step two) or the intention that determines to obtain the tranquility of breath, mind, and body (step three). While generating such a thought/intention, you should maintain your awareness of breathing in and out.
4.  Five hindrances occur in the process of practicing meditation: sensual desire (craving for pleasure to the senses), anger or ill-will (feeling malice directed toward the self and others), sloth-torpor or boredom (drowsiness, mental sluggishness, sleepiness, or lack of concentration), restlessness-anxiety (the inability to calm the mind), and doubt (lack of conviction or trust).
5.  Once the mind has become tranquil for a long duration (about an hour or more), a concentration-sign of breath such as light or colors will appear in several modes, depending on the individual practitioner. In this case, you should not immediately shift your focus from breath to those signs. Rather, you must maintain mindfulness on the primary subject of meditation: the in-breath and out-breath. You may shift your attention to the concentration-sign only when your breaths and the sign of concentration (nimitta) join together into oneness at the touching point (near the nostril opening). Now you can place your attention fully on the concentration-sign, taking it as the subject for your meditation. If you are able to maintain this kind of calm concentration for a long period (a few hours or more), you may attain access concentration (upacāra) whenever the five hindrances (see 4 above) are abandoned. You may further attain absorption concentration (appanā), in which the five factors of meditation (applied thought, sustained thought, rapturous joy, bliss, and one-pointed mind) become strong and stable.
6. You may apply the technique of breathing meditation to your everyday activities, always and everywhere, such as walking, standing, lying, and sitting. It is important to keep in mind that mindfulness of breathing is the foundation for living happily in the present moments (drsta-dharma-sukha-viharin).
7.  Once you are well trained in the mindfulness of breathing (bodily formation), you should continue to practice the next three spheres of mindfulness (as mentioned in the 16 subjects below).

IV. 16 Subjects of Breathing Meditation

Excerpts from the Pali Canon: Anapanasatisutta

From the Discourse on Mindfulness on In-and-out Breathing:

There is the case of a monk who, having gone to a forest, to the shade of a tree or to an empty building, sits down folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect and keeping mindfulness to the fore. Always mindful, he breathes in; mindful he breathes out.

            Mindfulness on body:

1.      Breathing (in / out) a long breath, I know I am breathing (in / out) a long breath.

2.      Breathing (in / out) a short breath, I know I am breathing (in / out) a short breath.

3.      Breathing (in / out) I am aware of my whole body (of breath).

4.      Breathing (in / out) I calm my whole body.

            Mindfulness on Feeling:

1.      Breathing (in / out) I feel joyful.

2.      Breathing (in / out) I feel happy.

3.      Breathing (in / out) I am aware of my mental formations.

4.      Breathing (in / out) I calm my mental formations.

            Mindfulness on Mind:

1.      Breathing (in / out) I am aware of my mind.

2.      Breathing (in / out) I make my mind happy.

3.      Breathing (in / out) I concentrate my mind.

4.      Breathing (in / out) I liberate my mind.

            Mindfulness on Dharma:

1.      Breathing (in / out) I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas (existences).

2.      Breathing (in / out) I observe the disappearance of desire.

3.      Breathing (in / out) I observe the cessation.

4.      Breathing (in / out) I observe letting go.

The Buddha Said:

“I too, bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still a bodhisatta, not yet fully enlightened, generally dwelt in this dwelling. While I generally dwelt in this dwelling, neither my body nor my eyes became fatigued and my mind, by not clinging, was liberated from the taints.” (Sn, V, 317)

“And, bhikkhus, this concentration through mindfulness of breathing, when developed and practiced much, is both peaceful and sublime, it is an unadulterated blissful abiding, and is banished at one and stills evil unprofitable thoughts as soon as they arise” (S.v, 321; Vin.iii, 70; Visuddhimagga VIII. 145)

“When ordinary people have not lost their jhana, and they aspire to rebirth in the Brahmā-world thus, ‘Let us be reborn in the Brahmā-world’, or even though they do not make the actual aspiration, then the development of absorption concentration provides them with the benefits of an improved form of existence since it ensures that for them. Hence the Blessed One said: “Where do they reappear after developing the first jhana limitely? They reappear in the company of the deities Brahmā’s Retinue’ (Vbh.424), and so on. And even the development of access concentration ensures an improved form of existence in the happy destinies of sensual sphere.” (Visuddhimagga XI. 123)

“Bhikkhus, when mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it is of great fruit and great benefit. When mindfulness of breathing is developed and cultivated, it fulfils the four foundation of mindfulness. When the four foundation of mindfulness is developed and cultivated, they fulfil the seven enlightenment factors. When the seven enlightenment factors are developed and cultivated, they fulfil true knowledge and deliverance.” (Mn. III, 82)