Teachings From Ancient Vietnamese Zen Masters – 18
3 Breathing
Breathing in, you feel you are breathing in;
breathing out, you feel you are breathing out.
Breathing in, you know you are breathing in;
breathing out, you know you are breathing out.
While you breathe, you feel; then, you know.
Feeling – that means you feel the breath long or short.
Knowing – that means you are aware of the breath rising and falling,
rough or smooth, slow or fast.
KHUONG TANG HOI
(COMMENT: Breathing meditation helps calm the mind easily; it is also
a part of mindfulness meditation. There are many ways in breathing
meditation. Some teachers prefer to count or follow the breaths. You
should also try this way: With eyes half open, don’t count, don’t follow,
just feel the breaths; Be alert, and feel the breathing. Just be like a
baby, and feel the breathing. A baby can not think, can not count, can
not put her mind on the breaths, but she lives mostly with a sense of
feeling and she will cry when the room is too hot, or when she is
hungry. Just feel the breaths, don’t count or follow it. Remember that
all methods of breathing meditation are helpful, and you can try many
different ones. The Buddha said that breathing meditation cured many
illness too.)
