The Basics of Breathing

　　When the body is still, you gain knowledge from the body. When the mind is still, you gain knowledge from the mind. When the breath is still, you gain knowledge from the breath.

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　　Ordinary, everyday breathing doesn”t do anything special for you except keep you from dying. The breathing on which your awareness is intent can give rise to all kinds of good things.

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　　Ordinary breathing is the breath of suffering and stress. In other words, when it comes in it reaches a point of discomfort, so it has to go back out. When it goes out it runs into discomfort again, so it comes back in. This kind of breathing isn”t called meditation. Meditation means gathering all your awareness into the mind.

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　　The present aspect of the body is the breath. The present aspect of the mind is mindfulness and alertness. So bring the present of the mind together with the present of the body.

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　　The breath is like water. Mindfulness is like soap. The mind is like clothing. If you don”t keep washing the mind, it”ll get dirty. When your clothing isn”t white and clean, it doesn”t feel comfortable to wear.

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　　Don”t put pressure on the breath, force it, or hold it. Let the breath flow easily and comfortably, as when you put a fresh egg in cotton batting. If you don”t throw it or push it down, the egg won”t get dented or cracked. This way your meditation will progress smoothly.

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　　If the mind isn”t yet still, just watch the in-and-out breath without trying to notice whether it”s comfortable or not. Otherwise, the mind will start to stray. It”s like a farmer planting an orchard: If he mows down too much grass all at once, he won”t be able to plant all his trees in time and the grass will start growing again. He has to mow down just the area that he can plant in one day. That”s how he”ll get the results he wants.

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　　Whether or not the breath is even, you have to keep your mindfulness even.

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　　The breath is like waves. Mindfulness is like a boat. The mind is like a person sitting in the boat. If the waves of the breath aren”t still, the boat will tip or overturn, and the person in the boat will drown or at the least get into difficulties. You have to make your mind still like a boat that has cast anchor in the middle of the sea when there”s no wind or waves. The boat won”t tip, and the person in the boat will be still and at peace. This is the point where the mind enters the noble path: It”s a free mind with full power, released from the sway of the Hindrances.

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　　The breath in the body isn”t limited just to the breath that flows in and out the nose. The breath in the body spreads out to every pore, like the vapor that gets exhaled from an ice cube. It”s much more refined than the air outside. When the internal breath goes out the pores, it gets reflected back into the body. This breath is called the supporting breath. It helps keep the body and mind cool and still. So when you breathe in, let the breath fill the inside of your body; when you breathe out, let it spread in all directions.

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　　When you breathe in, you have to feel the effects of the inner breath in three parts of the body: (1) the lungs & heart; (2) the liver, stomach, & intestines; and (3) the rib cage & spine. If the breath doesn”t have an effect all over the body, you”re not getting the full results of concentration.

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　　Hot breathing is destructive. It gives rise to pain and makes the body age. Cool breathing is constructive. Warm breathing is like medicine.

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　　The common breath is like an emetic. The refined breathed is like a curative. The intermediate breath is like a food supplement.

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　　The common breath is long and slow. The refined breath is short and light. It can penetrate into every blood vessel. It”s a breath of extremely hig…

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