Sit up straight (with
all the vertebrae of the spine fitting together snugly).
Keep your head upright. Direct your eyes towards the tip
of your nose so that nothing else is seen. Whether you
see it or not doesn't really matter, just gaze in its
direction. Once you get used to it, the results will be
better than closing the eyes, and you won't be
encouraged to fall asleep so easily. In particular,
people who are sleepy should practice with their eyes
open rather than closed. Practice like this steadily and
they will close by themselves when the time comes for
them to close. (If you want to practice with your eyes
closed from the start, that's up to you.) Still, the
method of keeping the eyes open gives better results.
Some people, however, will feel that it's too difficult,
especially those who are attached to closing their eyes.
They won't be able to practice with their eyes open, and
may close them if they wish.
Lay the hands in your
lap, comfortably, one on top of the other. Overlap or
cross your legs in a way that distributes and holds your
weight well, so that you can sit comfortably and will
not fall over easily. The legs can be overlapped in an
ordinary way or crossed, whichever you prefer or are
able to do. Fat people can only cross their legs in what
is called the "diamond posture" (lotus posture) with
difficulty, but fancy postures are not necessary. Merely
sit with the legs folded so that your weight is evenly
balanced and you cannot tip over easily -- that's good
enough. The more difficult and serious postures can be
left for when one gets serious, like a yogi.
In special circumstances
-- when you are sick, not feeling well, or just tired --
you can rest against something, sit on a chair, or use a
deck chair, in order to recline a bit. Those who are
sick can even lie down to meditate.
Sit in a place with good
air circulation, where you can breathe comfortably.
There should be nothing overly disturbing. Loud noises
which are steady and have no meaning, such as the sound
of waves or a factory, are no problem unless you attach
to them as a problem. Sounds with meaning, such as
people speaking, are more of a problem for those just
learning to practice. If you can't find a quiet place,
pretend there aren't any sounds. Just be determined to
practice and it will work out eventually.
Although the eyes are
gazing inattentively at the tip of the nose, you can
gather your
attention or awareness or sati(1), as
it's called in our technical language, in order to catch
and note your own breathing in and out. (Those who like
to close their eyes will do so from here on.) Those who
prefer to leave the eyes open will do so continually
until the eyes gradually close on their own as
concentration and calmness (samadhi)
increases.
In the beginning (and
only at the beginning, for a few minutes, not forever!),
to make it easy to note the breathing, try to breathe as
long as you can. Force it in and out strongly many
times. Do so in order to know clearly for yourself what
the breath rubs against or touches as it draws in and
out along its path. In a simple way, notice where it
appears to end in the belly (by taking the physical
sensations as one's measure rather than anatomical
reality). Note this in an easy-going way as well as you
can, well enough to fix the inner and outer end points
of the breathing. Don't be tense or too strict about it.
Most people will feel
the breath striking at the tip of the nose and should
take that point as the outer end. (In people with flat
or upturned noses the breath will strike on the edge of
the upper lip, and they should take that as the external
end.) Now you will have both outer and inner end points
by fixing one point at the tip of the nose and the other
at the navel. The breath will drag itself back and forth
between these two points. Here make your mind just like
something which chases after or stalks the breathing,
like a tiger or a spy, unwilling to part with it even
for a moment, following every breath for as long as you
meditate. This is the first step of our practice. We
call it "chasing after (or stalking) the whole time."
Earlier we said to begin
by trying to make the breathing as long as possible, and
as strong, vigorous, and rough as possible, many times
from the very start. Do so in order to find the end
points and the track the breath follows between them.
Once the mind (or sati) can catch and fix
the breathing in and out -- by constantly being aware of
how the breath touches and flows, then where it ends,
then how it turns back either inside or outside -- you
can gradually relax the breathing until it becomes
normal no longer forcing or pushing it in any way. Be
careful: don't force or control it at all! Still,
sati fixes on the breathing the whole time, just
as it did earlier with the rough and strong breathing.
Sati
is able to pay attention to the entire path of the
breath from the inner end point (the navel or the base
of the abdomen) to the outer end point (the tip of the
nose or the upper lip). However fine or soft the breath
becomes, sati can clearly note it all the time. If it
happens that we cannot note (or feel) the breath because
it is too soft or refined, then breathe more strongly or
roughly again. (But not as strong or rough as before,
just enough to note the breath clearly). Fix attention
on the breathing again, until sati is
aware of it without any gaps. Make sure it can be done
well, that is, keep practicing until even the purely
ordinary, unforced breathing can be securely observed.
However long or short it is, know it. However heavy or
light it is, know it. Know it clearly within that very
awareness as sati merely holds closely to and follows
the breathing back and forth the whole time you are
meditating
(2). When you can do this it means success in the
level of preparation called "chasing after all the
time."
Lack of success is due
to the inability of sati (or the attention) to stay with
the breathing the whole time. You don't know when it
lost track. You don't know when it ran off to home,
work, or play. You don't know until it's already gone.
And you don't know when it went, how, why, or whatever.
Once you are aware of what happened, catch the breathing
again, gently bring it back to the breathing, and train
until successful on this level. Do it for at least ten
minutes each session, before going on to the next step.
The next step, the
second level of preparation, is called "waiting (or
guarding) in ambush at one point." It's best to practice
this second step only after the first step can be done
well, but anyone who can skip straight to the second
won't be scolded. At this stage, sati (or
recollection) lies in wait fixing at a particular point
and stops chasing after the breathing. Note the
sensation when the breathing enters the body all the way
(to the navel or thereabouts) once, then let go or
release it. Next, note when the breathing contacts the
other end point (the tip of the nose) once more, then
let go or leave it alone until it contacts the inner end
point (navel) again. Continue like this without changing
anything. In moments of letting go, the mind doesn't run
away to home, the fields, the office, or anywhere. This
means that sati pays attention at the two
end points -- both inner and outer -- and doesn't pay
attention to anything between them.
When you can securely go
back and forth between the two end points without paying
attention to things in between, leave out the inner end
point and focus only on the outer, namely, the tip of
the nose. Now, sati consistently watches
only at the tip of the nose. Whether the breathing
strikes while inhaling or while exhaling, know it every
time. This is called "guarding the gate." There's a
feeling as the breathing passes in or out; the rest of
the way is left void or quiet. If you have firm
awareness at the nose tip, the breathing becomes
increasingly calm and quiet. Thus you can't feel
movements other than at the nose tip. In the spaces when
it's empty or quiet, when you can't feel anything, the
mind doesn't run away to home or elsewhere. The ability
to do this well is success in the "waiting in ambush at
one point" level of preparation.
Lack of success is when
the mind runs away without you knowing. It doesn't
return to the gate as it should or, after entering the
gate, it sneaks all the way inside. Both of these errors
happen because the period of emptiness or quiet is
incorrect and incomplete. You have not done it properly
since the start of this step. Therefore, you ought to
practice carefully, solidly, expertly from the very
first step.
Even the beginning step,
the one called "chasing after the whole time," is not
easy for everyone. Yet when one can do it, the results
-- both physical and mental -- are beyond expectations.
So you ought to make yourself able to do it, and do it
consistently, until it is a game like the sports you
like to play. If you have even two minutes, by all means
practice. Breathe forcefully, if your bones crack or
rattle that's even better. Breathe strongly until it
whistles, a little noise won't hurt. Then relax and
lighten it gradually until it finds its natural level.
The ordinary breathing
of most people is not natural or normal, but is coarser
or lower than normal, without us being aware.
(3) Especially when we do certain activities or are
in positions which are restricted, our breathing is more
or less course than it ought to be, although we don't
know it. So you ought to start with strong, vigorous
breathing first, then let it relax until it becomes
natural. In this way, you'll end up with breathing which
is the "middle way" or just right. Such breathing makes
the body natural, normal, and healthy. And it is fit for
use as the object of meditation at the beginning of
anapanasati (4). Let us stress once more that this first step of
preparation ought to be practiced until it's just a
natural game for every one of us, and in all
circumstances. This will bring numerous physical and
mental benefits.
Actually, the difference
between "chasing after the whole time" and "waiting in
ambush at one place" is not so great. The latter is a
little more relaxed and subtle, that is, the area noted
by sati decreases. To make this easier to understand,
we'll use the simile of the baby sitter rocking the
baby's hammock.(5) At first, when the child has just
been put into the hammock, it isn't sleepy yet and will
try to get out. At this stage, the baby sitter must
watch the hammock carefully. As it swings from side to
side, her head must turn from left to right so that the
child won't be out of sight for a moment. Once the baby
begins to get sleepy and doesn't try to get out anymore,
the baby sitter need not turn her head from left to
right, back and forth, as the hammock swings. The baby
sitter only watches when the hammock passes in front of
her face, which is good enough. Watching only at one
point while the hammock is in front of her face, the
baby won't have a chance to get out of the hammock just
the same, because the child is ready to fall sleep.
(Although the baby will fall asleep, the meditator
should not!)
The first stage of
preparation in noting the breathing -- "chasing after
the whole time" -- is like when the baby sitter must
turn her head from side to side with the swinging
hammock so that it isn't out of sight for a moment. The
second stage where the breathing is noted at the nose
tip -- "waiting and watching at one point" -- is like
when the baby is ready to sleep and the baby sitter
watches the hammock only when it passes her face.
When you have practiced
and trained fully in the second step, you can train
further by making the area noted by sati even more
subtle and gentle until there is secure, stable
concentration. Then concentration can be deepened step
by step until attaining one of the
jhanas (6), which, for most people, is beyond the rather
easy concentration of the first steps. The jhanas
are a refined and precise subject with strict
requirements and subtle principles. One must be strongly
interested and committed for that level of practice. At
this stage, just be constantly interested in the basic
steps until they become familiar and ordinary. Then you
might be able gather in the higher levels later.
May ordinary lay people
give themselves the chance to meditate in a way which
has many benefits both physically and mentally, and
which satisfies the basic needs of our practice, before
going on to more difficult things. May you train with
these first steps in order to be fully equipped with
sila (morality), samadhi
(concentration), and pañña (wisdom), that
is, to be fully grounded in the noble eightfold path.
Even if only a start, this is better than not going
anywhere. Your body will become more healthy and
peaceful than usual by training in successively higher
levels of samadhi. You will discover
something that everyone should find in order to not
waste the opportunity of having been born.
Notes
1.
Sati is a key term in Buddhist meditation.
It means "recall, recollection, awareness, attention,
mindfulness." All of these concern the present and do
not involve memory or thought. In this article, the
activity of sati is conveyed through a
number of verbs: to fix, to note, to attend, to pay
attention, to be aware, to experience. (Sati
does not mean "to concentrate or focus.") Please study
these various words and their meaning in each context,
then you will have a correct understanding of sati,
namely, what it is and how to use it to get free of
dukkha.
2.
Don't try to push other things out of awareness, that
will create tension. Just keep your attention centered
on the breathing in a balanced way. Let go of anything
that takes you away from the breathing.
3.
In fact, our breathing tends to be unhealthy, which
contributes to many physical and mental problems. Please
learn to breathe freely and naturally.
4.
"Anapanasati" is the Pali term for the
practice of mindfulness with breathing (the very subject
of this essay).
5.
In India and Thailand small hammocks are used instead of
cradles.
6.
The jhanas are
states of one-pointedness which result from highly
developed concentration which is turned inward. In them
one is only aware of a particular object and certain
mental factors.
First electronic
edition: September 1996
Transcribed directly from disks provided by Santikaro
Bhikkhu.
Formatting & Proofreading: Scott Oser <oser@hep.uchicago.edu>.
Later reformatted by Santikaro Bhikkhu.
This electronic edition
is offered FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY.
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