Posted By Mahabodhi on Feb 18, 2024 | 0 comments

Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book…

© Mahabodhi Burton

4 minute read

This excerpt is from the chapter ‘Buddhist Practice’ and it explores the mindfulness of breathing meditation practice, as taught within Triratna. It follows on from ‘Meditation Posture,’ which investigated key aspects around stimulation and relaxation.

2) The Mindfulness of Breathing

Or they might practise the Mindfulness of Breathing meditation, in order to develop the quality of mindfulness itself, so that that quality can then be directed more generally into their lives, and specifically to the four foundations of mindfulness, thus developing those qualities necessary for Nirvana.^[1]

After instructing the monk to take up his posture, the Satipatthana Sutta gives the monk instructions on practicing the Mindfulness of Breathing. The text only says that the monk should be aware of whether his breath is long or short,[2] after which it seems to give a description of the Body Scan.[3]

This instruction can and has been interpreted in different ways. The most obvious interpretation is that the monk isn’t aware only of the length of their breath, whether it is long or short, but tries as best they can to know as continuously as possible the exact details of their breathing, including tangible sensations as experienced and the movements of their shoulders and abdomen.

The principle here is that if we want to develop mindfulness, we need something concrete and tangible to be aware of. The breath has an advantage over other ‘neutral’ objects we could use—such as observing the flickerings of a candle flame—in that it is intimately connected with the body and thus the emotions, whose tenor is are reflected in the quality of the breath.

Across the globe, Buddhists in different traditions practise the Mindfulness of Breathing in slightly different ways. As with any spiritual practice it is important to have one specific method to follow, so that a sense of familiarity is built up and the practice does not need to be thought about and can instead be settled into.[4] However, it is also important to understand the principles behind each practice, and work from there.

In Theravada Buddhism

The Mindfulness of Breathing as practised in the Theravada tradition consists of watching the rising and falling of one’s abdomen; on Theravada retreats practice consists largely of alternating this practice with very slow walking meditation, in which the meditator mentally notes the exact movements of their body in each moment (for instance, when taking a step, saying to oneself; ‘lifting, moving, treading’ as each step is taken).

In Triratna Buddhism

In the Mindfulness of Breathing as practised in Triratna Buddhism, the practice involves following the breath as before, but the meditation is divided into four stages. This technique originated with the fifth century author of the Vissuddhimagga, Buddhaghosa, and is based in the principle that, each stage involving an increased acuity of attention to stay with the instructions, throughout the meditation one’s mindfulness is gradually refined.

The basic idea with the practice is to be mindful of the sensations and movements of the breath as it comes and goes, and to gently return to the breath whenever we notice that our mind has wandered off onto something else, such as a thought or a memory. Each stage can be 5 to 10 minutes long, depending on one’s experience.

Using counting in four stages

 

Stage one—Marking the end of the out-breath with a count.

First of all, we establish ourselves in our meditation posture. We are aware of our environment, the sensations we are experiencing, the structure of our body and balancing our spine so that it takes our weight down into the ground, as in the Grounding Meditation, we let go of any tension in the body, as if we are unfurling a fist. When we feel that our body is supporting us, and our mind and emotions are free from concern with our body, we gently turn our attention to whatever sensations and movements of the breath we can notice. After a while, watching our breath come and go, we begin to mark the end of our out-breath with a silent count … one. As we are trying to cultivate awareness and sensitivity it is good if our counting too can be subtle and sensitive. Observing the next breath come and go, we mark its end with another silent count … two. We carry like this until our counting reaches ten. At this point, on the next breath we start again at one, two, … and so on. We follow our breath in this way, counting sets of ten breaths. Whenever we are distracted, forget which number we are on, or find ourselves counting seventeen, we simply ‘pick up’ the next breath and start counting again from one.

 

Stage two—Marking the beginning of the in-breath with a count.

In the second stage we do exactly as we did in the first stage, but instead of counting the breath after it has gone, we count before we notice it has come in. The count is essentially in the same place as in Stage one, but we are now anticipating something happening rather than marking it having happened, and so our attention needs to be that bit sharper than in the first stage.

 

Stage three—Watching the breath but dropping the counting

In the third stage we drop the counting and carry on watching the breath, as continuously as possible, from moment to moment. This requires more awareness still.

 

Stage four—Watching the delicate sensations at the point where the breath first enters the body.

In the fourth stage we carry on watching the breath but focus our attention on the delicate sensation where the breath first enters the body, the place where the air brushes the tip of the nose or the lips. This requires our awareness to be at its most refined. As the meditation comes to an end, we gradually broaden out our awareness to include our body, our senses and our environment once more.

The virtue of counting is that the counting supports us in being aware of the breath (when we cannot remember the number we are on, it is apparent that our mind has wandered off); the meditation is never intended to be the ‘Mindfulness of Counting.’

The chapter goes on to explore a method of practicing this meditation which focuses more closely on the detail of the breath.

^[1] ‘Mindfulness of Breathing, developed and repeatedly practiced, is of great fruit, of great advantage, for it fulfils the four foundations of mindfulness; … The four foundations of mindfulness, developed and repeatedly practiced, fulfil the seven Enlightenment factors; … The seven Enlightenment factors, developed and repeatedly practiced, fulfil Clear-vision and Deliverance (Nirvana)’

[2] ‘Breathing in a long breath, the monk knows I am breathing in a long breath; breathing out a long breath, the monk knows I am breathing out a long breath … (similarly with a short breath).’

[3] After its instruction concerning knowing the length of the breath, the Satipatthana Sutta goes on to say that the monk focuses first on bringing awareness to his whole body, ‘He trains himself with the thought: “Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in.” He trains himself with the thought: “Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out”; and then focuses on calming it, ‘He trains himself with the thought: “Calming the activity of the body I shall breathe in.” He trains himself with the thought: “Calming the activity of the body I shall breathe out”: which we can view as a description of the Body Scan.

[4] Sangharakshita quote: ‘Non-repetition is the canker of the spiritual life’ (Based upon ‘Non-repetition is the bane of scriptures’ – Dhammapada 241.)