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Just Observe Your Breath
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
“There are some practitioners who want to bend and twist their breathing the way they think it ought to be. The Buddha said that is not the correct way. You only be aware of your breath and do not try to intervene. You don't need to do anything, just know. You just observe, you do not need to suppress, you do not need to force. You just be with your breath in awareness. When there is sunshine it just shines across the land and it doesn’t try to spread its rays everywhere or force the land to absorb its rays. The sun just shines.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
http://mettarefugedharmanuggets.blogspot.com/2011/09/just-observe-your-breath.html
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
http://mettarefugedharmanuggets.blogspot.com/2011/09/just-observe-your-breath.html
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Comments
I do know that manipulating the breath can lead to hyperventilation.
and secondly. When he says 'there are some who want to bend and twist their breathing...'
Whats that suppose to mean?? I dont like that. Makes it sound like theres rules,and there shouldnt be any rules in Buddhism or practice. Everyone is different in their practice. Start focusing on what YOU think works for you. Find your own way. Stop quoting others. Im a HUGE believer in 'Theres No right or wrong way' so dont EVER let anyone tell you otherwise.
''You have your way and I have mine. As for the Right way, Correct way and ONLY way, It does not exist...''
Its not about right or wrong, but what is most helpful, that's all.
then you asked 'is this still the correct way? - well ive just said there is No correct way. Theres no right way to drink. Theres no right way to steal theres no right way to have sex..some do it man on top, some do it doggie style..so theres no right or wrng way. Thats what im saying. By the way, the quote is from Philosopher Friedrich Nietzche..
Your right though about these arn't buddhism. I was just letting people know that Buddhas teachings are not The ONLY way. There are alot of clever people and paths out there. (and we are one of them - We all have our own path inside us, we dont NEED to follow others paths and ideas. Some people obviously NEED a guiding hand while others dont)
There is a quote by a Buddhist MASTER who always stated we didnt need teachers. One of his quotes goes ''it is nonsense to insist that we cannot achieve enlightenment without learned and piious teachers. Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves...'' ~Hui-Neng~
"We should tread the Path according to the teaching of the Law, and not keep our mind in a state of indolence, thereby creating obstacles to the understanding of the Norm. To preach or to hear the Law without practicing it would give occasion for the arising of heretical views. Hence, we should tread the Path according to the teaching of the Law"
How can you tread the Path according to the teaching of the Law if you don't even know what the teaching of the Law is?
"right" view and "right" anything in buddhism is a mistranslation. The pali term is samma, and doesn't have an accurate english translation, but "this works" would be more accurate than "right".
Buddhas way isn't your way! He can guide u slightly. But eventually u will have to find ur own way. Hense the ultimate way has not yet been found!
@zenff There are many different ways to manipulate the breath, depending on the goal. The slow breathing recommended for meditation won't cause hyperventilation, unless you know something I don't.
Yes for some years it worked well; slowing down the breathing and breathing low in the belly. But in retreats it got weird – for me – and I had to stop manipulating the breath.
So my take at it is that manipulating the breath is not something that should be done; at least not for a long time.
How do you know the Buddha was REALLY enlightened? That he really didn't suffer anymore? And even if you knew, why would it be the only way to happiness?
There are many pathways out of the woods to get home and one can wander around and perhaps even find one eventually.
To me, the teachings of the Buddha can be represented as one of these paths that have already been taken. That path is presented to us with the idea that we may follow it if we choose. There are no set rules but there is advice on how to successfully navigate the path and avoid the common hindrances that may derail or delay getting home.
I don't want to assume very much, but this is the impression I get from most people drawn to spirituality and religion. I just recently "discovered" Alan Watts and something he said immediately rang a bell for me and synthesized my own feelings on faith/belief : " the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on." " the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be. "
" A Christian and a Taoist have an argument about what to call a cup. The christian says, 'surely this is called a cup. This is what I have been told all my life.' The Taoist says, ' Surely it is called a pei..for thousands of years we have called it a pei, so this must be it.' A buddhist walks up, drink from the cup and looks to the two, 'Call it a pei or a cup it is meant to be used to drink, and that is it's purpose'."
What I took from this, is that their may not be a right/wrong path, just a common goal. Inner peace may not be obtained solely through buddhism, but if you seek inner peace...the only person to acheive that is yourself. An idol or God cannot lead you to this path, only you can lead yourself there.
Again, I'm not the best source on all of this...I just feel my opinion may have had some merit on the topic.
Imagine an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says, "That is a cup." The Frenchman answers, "No it's not. It's a tasse." The Chinese comments, "You are both wrong. It's a pei." And the Indonesian laughs at the others and says "What a fool you are. It's a cawan." The Englishman get a dictionary and shows it to the others saying, "I can prove that it is a cup. My dictionary says so." "Then your dictionary is wrong," says the Frenchman "because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse." The Chinese scoffs at them. "My dictionary is thousands of years older than yours, so my dictionary must be right. And besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be pei." While they are squabbling and arguing with each other, a Buddhist comes up and drinks from the cup. After he has drunk, he says to the others, "Whether you call it a cup, a tasse, a pei or a cawan, the purpose of the cup is to be used. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and refresh your thirst". This is the Buddhist attitude to other religions.
Ven. S. Dhammika
Observation first is always a good idea, and will probably have a very corrective effect on less 'healthy' breathing patterns... a striking thing that has happened to me is attaining access (kinda 'alchemically') to that pre-conscious mind that monitors things on that level. It is very useful for me to note that intentional manipulation really is less than ideal, but still, our desire to _fall into our natures_ may intersect with consciousness.