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　　(5) The fifth sort are the breath sensations flowing in the intestines, helping to warm the fires of digestion, just as if we were steaming fish or other foods to keep them from spoiling. When our food is cooked, it can be of use — like the steam condensing on the lid of a pot — to enrich the blood that nourishes the various parts of the body. Whichever kind of nourishment should become hair, nails, teeth, skin, etc., the blood sends to those parts.

　　These breath sensations are always flowing in waves through the intestines to disperse the heat of digestion. When we eat, it”s like putting food in a pot on the stove and then closing the lid. If there”s no ventilation in the pot at all, and we simply add fire, it won”t be long before our stomach is wrecked and our intestines ruined, because we”ve closed the lid so tightly that no air can pass in or out, until the heat becomes too strong and burns our food to a crisp. Our body won”t get any benefit from it. On the other hand, if the heat is too low, our food won”t cook through. It”ll spoil, we”ll get an upset stomach, and again our body won”t get any benefit. These sorts of breath sensations help keep our digestive fires just right for the body.

　　If we look at these five sorts of breath sensations in the correct way, we”re sure to reap two sorts of results: (1) In terms of the body, those of us with many diseases will have fewer diseases; those of us with few diseases may recover completely. Diseases that haven”t yet arisen will have a hard time arising. (2) In terms of the mind, we”ll become contented, happy, and refreshed. At the same time, meditation can help free us from bad kamma because unskillful mental states won”t have a chance to infiltrate the mind. Our life will be long, our body healthy. If we keep developing our meditation to higher and higher levels, the four properties (dhatu) of the body will become clear and pure.

　　* * *

　　If we practice meditation by keeping the breath in mind until the breath is refined and the mind is refined, the breath settles down to a stop and the mind settles down to be still, then we”ll be able to see our body and mind clearly. The body and mind will separate from each other, each existing independently — just as when outsiders don”t come entering in and insiders don”t go out. Awareness will arise within us as to how the body is functioning, how the mind is functioning. How has our body come into being

　　 We”ll know. And where will it go from here

　　 We”ll know where it came from, where it”s going — we”ll know it completely. What actions we did in our past lives that caused us to be born in this state, we”ll know. This is called knowledge of past lives.

　　2. The people and other living beings who”ve been our parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends: Where have they come from

　　 When they die, what sorts of pleasures and pains will they meet with

　　 And where

　　 We might be able to make contact with them and send streams of mental energy to help them. This is called knowledge of death and rebirth.

　　3. We”ll see that the body and mind are inconstant, stressful, and not-self, to the point where we become disenchanted with them. This will cause us to let go of the body and will free us from the fetters of attachment. These fetters include such things as attachment to worldly phenomena (loka-dhamma): When we let ourselves get pleased with gain, status, pleasure, and praise, it”s no different from the King of Death tying our hands up tight. Then when he gives a single lash with his whip — i.e., we suffer loss, disgrace, pain, and censure — we come tumbling right down.

　　Another kind of fetter is self-identification — attachment to the body, seeing it as ”us” or as an entity, which gives rise to misconceptions. Another fetter is uncertainty — …

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