Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness of Breathing
This meditation practice, in one form or another, is very widespread in the Buddhist world. The particular form taught here in four stages is found in the Visuddhimagga (Path of Purity) of the great Theravadin scholar, Buddhaghosa, who lived in 5th century India and Sri Lanka. It therefore has a long pedigree, even if theres no description in the earliest Buddhist scriptures that corresponds exactly with this form of the practice. This particular version of the Mindfulness of Breathing is mainly aimed to calm and focus the mind, and is therefore what is known as a samatha (Sanskrit, shamatha), or calming practice rather than a vipassana, or insight, one. The Sanskrit equivalent to the word vipassana is vipashyana and both words mean insight, or truly seeing the nature of reality. The traditional name for this meditation practice is Anapanasati. This word simply means mindfulness (sati) of breathing (pana) in and out. This is a meditation practice where we use the breath as the object of attention to which we return every time we notice that the mind has wandered. In a nutshell, this practice works mainly through us withdrawing our attention from distracting thoughts and redirecting our attention to the physical sensations of the breath. By doing so, we are putting less energy into the emotional states of restlessness, anxiety, craving, ill will, etc that drive those thoughts. Over time the mind becomes calmer and our emotional states become more balanced and positive, and our experience becomes more positive. Its important to note that the practice involves noticing that the mind has been wandering and bringing it back to the breath. Distractedness is an inevitable part of the process of meditating and not a sign of failure! This step-by-step tutorial includes a number of guided meditation recordings that will help guide you through the practice. There are also readings for each stage of the practice , dealing with the most common questions and addressing the most common experiences that beginners tend to have. Although the meditation practice as taught here takes a samatha approach it is easy to bring elements of insight into a samatha practice. Also, some degree of samatha practice is virtually indispensible as a basis for vipassana, or insight, meditation. The mind needs to be somewhat calm in order for us to be able to reflect on the impermanence of our experiences! There are other traditional forms that are widely practiced, especially in the insight meditation traditions, but Ive found this one to be particularly suitable for complete beginners. The first two stages especially, which involve counting, are very helpful in stabilizing the mind. More experienced practitioners can feel free to adapt the practice to their own needs, shortening or even dropping some stages, and extending others.

Mindfulness Meditation

Introduction
In the mindfulness of breathing meditation practice we use the breath as an object of awareness. We follow the physical sensations of the breath as it flows in and out of the body. This meditation practice isnt a breathing exercise. We allow the breath to flow naturally and are simply aware of it. So there is no control over the breath. One of the first things we learn when we try to do this meditation practice is how distracted our minds are! All sorts of thoughts and feelings flow into our awareness, and then we find weve forgotten all about the breath. This is a good thing to learn. If we dont know this we cant do anything about it. Most of what comes into our minds is not very useful, and often its actually bad for us. For example we find ourselves worrying or getting angry, or putting ourselves down. The simple principle behind this meditation practice is that if we keep taking our awareness back to the breath over and over again then our mind gradually quiets down and we feel more contentment. Usually we do this with the eyes shut, to minimize distraction. Youll need to know how to sit effectively, so you can either go to the meditation posture guidelines or, if you already know how to sit, then go directly to the meditation practice. Use the links on the left to navigate round the practice. If this is your first time practicing the Mindfulness of Breathing, then start with stage one.

Coming back to the breath, over and over

In the mindfulness of breathing we give the breath our full attention. We use the physical sensations of the breath as an object that we focus on. We just allow the breath to happen. This is not a breathing exercise. We simply observe, and see what happens.

What we do in the Mindfulness of Breathing

So, we start off by following the breath. After a while what tends to happen is that we forget all about the breath, forget all about meditation, and get distracted by some train of thought, which is often nothing at all to do with meditation. We dont usually make any conscious decision to think about something outside of the meditation practice. It just happens as habitual patterns of behavior come into play. In fact, not only do we not choose to get distracted, we dont have much choice at all!

Mindfulness Meditation

Becoming Unaware
Our habits are controlling us. Its more like our thoughts are thinking us than we are thinking them. So one of the first things we learn in meditation is just how little control we do have its quite a disconcerting realization for many of us. However, the fact that we often arent in control isnt cause to become despondent its the same for most of us most of the time. And we have to become aware of how distracted we are before we can do anything about it. Question: So what do we do when were meant to be meditating, but arent? Often were getting irritated, or fantasizing about things wed rather be doing, or undermining ourselves, or dozing, or worrying about something. Most of these activities arent very helpful or fulfilling. Theyre not things we decided to do, theyre simply the habitual things we do when were not aware. The things we do when were meant to be meditating but arent, are called the hindrances to meditation, and well be exploring them in more detail in later classes. As well as learning about them well learn a whole bunch of tools to help us deal with them. The difference between being mindful and not being mindful is a big one, although were often not very good at recognizing the difference between the two states. After all, we slip in and out of awareness all day. But there really is a big difference between being mindful and not being mindful, as well learn to see.

Regaining Awareness
So we get distracted, but at some point we become aware that we havent been aware. In other words we regain our awareness. This is a crucial point in the meditation process. Now were aware again. Now were no longer being driven by our habits. We have freedom again. We can decide that we dont want to re-enter the world of distractedness. We have choice. We can choose to exercise being aware rather than be dominated by our habitual distracted states of mind. We have an opportunity to cultivate awareness by maintaining our mindfulness of the breath. When we realize weve been distracted we can take our awareness back to the breath.

The power of making choices

Theres an important opportunity available to us at the point when we regain our awareness. We can choose not only what we do (taking our awareness to the breath), but how we do it. When we realize that weve been ditracted there can be a strong temptation to beat ourselves up. Of course if we do that then were going straight back into an uncontrolled, unaware state of distractedness we undermine ourselves or get annoyed.

Mindfulness Meditation A more creative response is that we bring our awareness back to the breath with as much kindness, and patience, and gentleness as we can. Instead of giving yourself a hard time about having been distracted you can even congratulate yourself on having regained your awareness. This is a very important practice; whenever you realize that youve been distracted, focus instead on the fact that youve regained your awareness and allow yourself to feel a sense of pride and joy at that fact. You can even imagine yourself punching your fist in the air in a gesture of victory. When youre taking your awareness back to the breath, bear in mind that your mind is a miraculous and precious thing. Carry your awareness back to the breath in the same way as you would pick up a young kitten in order to return it to its mother. Try and be that gentle and that kind. Your mind has a natural tendency to wander, just like a young, inquisitive animal. So theres no point in being harsh with yourself. The meditation practice well be learning after weve practiced the Mindfulness of breathing for a few weeks is called the metta bhavana, and its all about bringing more of those qualities of kindness and appreciation into our lives.

Benefits of the practice

In the mindfulness of breathing meditation no matter how many times we become distracted we come back to the breath over and over again, and that has a number of important benefits, which are detailed below. This isnt by any means an exhaustive list of the benefits of this practice, which also include improved immune function, the development of greater amounts of brain tissue, delayed aging, etc. Here were talking mainly about the changes in your experience that will take place if you regularly practice this meditation.

Developing Awareness
The breath becomes a kind of anchor that helps us to stay in awareness. Were practicing recognizing the difference between awareness and unawareness. Were also working on developing those qualities of patience, kindness, and gentleness that are so important when we realize when weve been unaware when weve just come out of being distracted and have regained our awareness. And were also training ourselves to stay out of the hindrances, which are distracted states of mind that. Becoming distracted is a bit like falling over when youre a little kid. When we try to follow the breath its like weve decided to walk. But then after a few steps we stumble and get distracted. But we keep picking ourselves up by going back to the breath. The way kids learn to walk is by taking a few steps, falling over, and picking themselves up over and over again. The way we learn to be more

Mindfulness Meditation aware is by following the breath, getting distracted, and then going back to the breath over and over and over again.

Developing Calmness
Ive mentioned that the hindrances are not very satisfying states of mind. Being annoyed, or fantasizing, or undermining ourselves, all involve a lot of mental disharmony. They cause turbulence in our minds, and so we find that were not very calm. Learning to spend less time in the hindrances means that we develop a calmer mind.

Becoming More Content

The hindrances are also not states in which were very happy. If were fantasizing, for example either about things wed rather be doing, or about things were not happy about then theres emotional disharmony since were not happy what were doing. Spending less time in distracted states of mind means that we become more content.

Developing Concentration
And when were distracted then were not very concentrated our mind is jumping from one topic to another like a butterfly. This means we dont experience anything very deeply like when were talking to someone and were also preoccupied and realize theyve been talking but we dont know what theyve said. Or when were eating handfuls of raisins but not really tasting them because were reading and the radio is on. That kind of thing doesnt help us connect very deeply with our experience. And how can we reflect if we cant keep up a focused train of thought? And if we cant reflect then how do we learn? Practicing mindfulness helps us to be more concentrated so that we can live more deeply, and appreciate life more fully. Later, well also be looking more closely at calm, contentment, and concentration and looking at ways we can cultivate those qualities more directly, as part of the tool-kit of methods were developing to work with our mind.

Mindfulness Meditation

Overview of the practice

After youve read this you can work your way through the practice one stage at a time, reading the background information we offer, and listening to the guided meditations on RealAudio. The Mindfulness of Breathing practice is in four stages. After setting up your posture you become aware of the physical sensations of your breath. Whenever your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the breath. Then: Stage One: Count after each out breath. Start at one, placing one number after each exhalation. When you get to ten, then start again at one. Stage Two: Do the same as in the first stage, but counting just before each in breath. Stage Three: Drop the counting, and just follow the breath as it flows in and out. Stage Four: Narrow your focus until you are concentrating on the sensations of the breath flowing over the rims of your nostrils.

Stage Zero - the importance of preparation

With any meditation practice, its important to do a certain amount of preparation in order to help things go well. But all too often, this preparation is seen as an optional extra and is not done thoroughly, or at all. Thats a bad idea. Imagine youre baking a cake, and you want it fast. You want results. You want to get straight to the eating stage with as little time spent on fussing around with ingredients as possible. So you throw some flour and eggs and sugar into a cake tin (Hey! Whos got time for measuring!) and slam it in the oven. Oh, the gas isnt lit. Okay, lets just turn it up full now so that it cooks faster. Yum! Looking forward to your cake? I thought not. If you want to get certain results (whether a delicious cake or a calmer, clearer mind) you have to set up the right conditions for that to happen. This is an important Buddhist principle called conditionality, which states, in part, that if you want x, you have to provide the conditions that allow x to arise. There are no short cuts. The preparation that we do in meditation is the stage of setting up our postures, deepening our awareness of our bodies, and relaxing as deeply as we can. This preparation is essential if we want to provide the conditions for the arising of a calmer, clearer, less stressed, more peaceful mind.

Mindfulness Meditation I call this preparation Stage Zero to emphasize that its not an optional extra. Setting up the right conditions for your meditation practice to go well is an essential and integral part of your meditation practice. In a way it would be much better if we called Stage Zero Stage One instead. That way there would be less of a tendency to think that you can drop the preparation and just plunge into the practice. Unfortunately, that would be rather confusing, since the stage of counting after the out breath is universally known as Stage One.

Stage Zero as a practice

You can practice Stage Zero as a practice in its own right, spending anywhere from five to twenty minutes on this exercise, or you can go straight into Stage 1 after working through the material below.

Start with adjusting your posture adjust your cushion height so that your back is relatively straight, and also relaxed make sure that your hands are supported relax your shoulders, letting them roll back to open your chest adjust the angle of your head, so that the back of your neck is relaxed, long and open, and your chin is slightly tucked in let your eyes close Youre now ready to begin working on body awareness and relaxation. Take your awareness through your body, from your feet to your head, becoming aware of every muscle, and relaxing it as much as you can. If your awareness wanders, just come back to your body. Once youve scanned through your entire body from your feet to your head, then be aware of your body as a whole, continuing to make sure your posture is open and upright, and that you are continuing to relax. Then notice the sensations of your breathing right in the center of your experience. Let your awareness fill your breathing, and let your breathing fill your awareness. Just keep on bringing your awareness back into your breathing, and let the relaxed rhythmic movements of your breathing have a calming effect on your mind. You can continue doing this for several minutes, or you can go onto Stage 1 of the practice, which involves counting your exhalations.

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Stage Zero - the importance of a sense of purpose

One thing that you can add to your preparation for meditation in stage zero is the cultivation of a sense of purpose. As you go through your body, relaxing, and as you become aware of what you are taking into meditation, you might become aware that there are certain things that you particularly need to work on. You might notice, for example, that there is a lack of joy and inspiration in your experience. Maybe you have a tendency to get annoyed right now. Or perhaps its just that your mind is a little restless and needs to be calmed down. Its good to develop a clear intention of what you want to achieve in such circumstances. You can set yourself the goal of finding a way to enjoy your practice more, or of calming your mind. You can take this awareness of purpose into the other stages of your practice, monitoring from time to time what progress youve made in moving towards your goals. Perhaps the first approach you take doesnt seem to be working, and you need to try another method. Or perhaps what you are doing works very well - perhaps even too well! You may try to calm your restless mind and be so successful that your mind becomes rather dull and sleepy. At that point you may wish to change your purpose for a more suitable one - in this case perhaps you could adopt the goal of balancing relaxation and energy. Having goals like these can revolutionize your meditation practice. Its all too easy for our meditation practice to become stale and mechanical, as we unmindfully use some technique that was once appropriate but isnt now. Having clear goals is another way of bringing more mindfulness into our practice. It helps us to become not only aware of what emotional, mental, and physical states are present in any given moment, but keeps us alive to where we are going and, very importantly, whether what we are doing is taking us to where we want to go.