MEDITATING on the breath is a widespread and nondenominational practice; we need not adhere to specific philosophical tenets or religious beliefs to benefit from it. Many spiritual traditions, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, teach meditation on the breath. The meditation taught below is one way of meditating with the breath as the meditation object. You may encounter other Buddhist teachers or Buddhist traditions that give different instructions. All are valid ways of doing mindfulness of breathing.

THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS OF BREATHING

Breathe normally and naturally, without forcing the breath in any way. Focus on one of the following:

• the tip of the nose and upper lip and observe the sensation of the air as it goes in and out

• the abdomen, observing its rising and falling with each inhalation and exhalation

• on the general sensation of the breath flowing in and out of your body

Initially you may spend a few meditation sessions experimenting to see which of the three methods works best for you. After you do, stay with that, without changing your focal point within a session or from one session to the next. At the beginning, some people find it useful to count each cycle of the breath, going from one to ten. Other people find this distracting. Check which is best for you.

While you observe your breath, let yourself be content. Our society has conditioned us to be dissatisfied with who we are, what we have, and what we do. We’re usually thinking that we should be different than we are, have more than we have, and do something better than we’re doing. Breathing meditation is a chance to be content with ourselves the way we are.

Contentment is the real richness. Practice letting yourself be content. If thoughts to the contrary arise, let them go. Think, “What I am is good enough. What I’m doing is good enough. What I have is good enough.” As you retrain your mind to think in this way, you’ll be more satisfied. Things will advance by themselves. You don’t need to push in your life. Relax and enjoy the present moment in which you’re living; it is the only moment you have.

As you become skilled in this meditation, gradually expand your awareness to be mindful not only of the sensation of the breath, but also of:

• The stages of the breath: Be aware of what it feels like when you’re about to inhale, while you’re inhaling, and when the inhalation is finishing. Be aware when you’re about to exhale, while you’re exhaling, and when the exhalation is finishing. If there is a natural pause, be aware of the sensations at that time. Be in the present, with the breath.

• The different kinds of breath: Notice when your breaths are long or short, when they are coarse (heavy) or fine (light), when they are rough or smooth.

• The relationship between the breath and your body. Is your body more or less comfortable and relaxed when the breath is long or short, rough or smooth?

• The relationship between the breath and your mental and emotional states. How do the feeling tones of the mind differ when the breath is long or short, rough or smooth? Do certain breathing patterns correspond to specific emotions? How do the breath and various emotions and feelings of happiness or unhappiness affect each other? Here you may experiment, gently lengthening the inhalation and exhalation. How does this affect your emotions and thoughts?

• The changing nature, or impermanence, of the breath. Be aware of the change that is occurring in the breath, in the body, and in the mind moment by moment.

• Whether or not there is a solid, independent person who is breathing or who is controlling the breath: Who is breathing? What is a breath? On what basis is it said, “I am breathing?”

The Buddha explained mindfulness of breathing in the Foundations of Mindfulness Sutta (Satipatthana Sutta) and in the Mindfulness of Breathing Sutta (Anapanasati Sutta). You may wish to refer to those suttas (sutras) or to teachings on them for more information.

A SIDE BENEFIT

Calming our mind is not the only purpose of mindfulness of breathing. In fact, when properly done, the complete practice of mindfulness of breathing brings insight into the nature of reality. One immediate result of mindfulness of breathing is that we will clearly notice the objects, emotions, and thoughts that frequently occupy our mind. While we try to keep our attention on the breath, the mind continually runs off to other objects. At first we may be shocked at how uncontrolled and distracted our mind is or at the types of thoughts and emotions that arise in it. Some people may think that meditation is making their mind more undisciplined. However, this is not the case. Rather, our mind is usually filled with these same thoughts, emotions, and feelings, but because we are so busy going here and there and doing this and that, we have never noticed this. We are fortunate now to become aware of the contents of our mind. With that knowledge we will be able to change the aspects that lead to misery and confusion in our lives.

Being aware of the various thoughts and emotions that flit through, and sometimes overwhelm, the mind is the foundation for discerning constructive and destructive emotions and thoughts. We may intellectually know the definitions of these mental factors, but being able to observe them in our own experience is different. Once we are able to discern them and understand their causes, functions, and results, our motivation to counteract them using the antidotes the Buddha taught will increase. The chief mental afflictions, their disadvantages, and their antidotes are described in the chapter “Antidotes to the Mental Afflictions.” The five hindrances and five faults that interfere with the development of serenity and their antidotes are discussed in the chapter “Working with Distractions.”

ALTERNATIVES

In the context of meditating on the gradual path, mindfulness of breathing is done as a preliminary meditation, mainly for the purpose of calming the mind and subduing distracting thoughts, and the majority of the session involves analytical, or checking, meditation on a specific lamrim topic. As noted above, in other contexts an entire meditation session may be done using mindfulness of breathing. In addition, there are meditation objects other than the breath that may be used for calming the mind and cultivating concentration, if that is the focus of your meditation session.

While the breath works well for some people as the object of meditation when cultivating concentration or serenity, for others it doesn’t. For example, some people who have asthma find observing the breath makes their mind tight. People who have bad allergies often cannot breathe through their nose, so following the breath is difficult. Fortunately, the Buddha taught a number of other meditation objects that can be used to develop concentration, such as loving-kindness, the parts of the body, and so forth. Describing all of these is beyond the scope of this book, but one that is commonly used in the Tibetan tradition is the visualized image of the Buddha.

Here we do not try to see the Buddha with our eyes, but instead see him in our “mind’s eye.” Imagine Shakyamuni Buddha appearing instantly in the space in front of you. He is the size of your thumb; visualizing a small image like this helps to focus the mind and prevents distraction. You may want to look at a statue or painting of the Buddha before your meditation session in order to remember his features, but in your session, lower your eyes and let the image of the Buddha arise in your mind. Going over all the details individually in your mind’s eye helps you to remember them. After doing that, focus on the entire image. Be satisfied with the clarity of the image that appears, without making your mind tight in an effort to reconstruct each and every detail. If the clarity declines, review the Buddha’s features and again focus your mind on the entire image. If the stability of your concentration is interrupted by thoughts and sensations, bring your mind back to the image of the Buddha.

Using the image of the Buddha as the meditation object to develop mindfulness and concentration has several unique advantages: it helps us to remember the Buddha continually and thus to accumulate positive potential and increase our feeling of connection to him. When death approaches, it will be easier to recollect the Buddha and his qualities, which will soothe the mind and maintain it in a positive state during the death process. It also increases our ability to visualize, which is helpful in other meditation practices in the Tibetan tradition.