Tuesday, October 27, 2015

16 exercises on mindful breathing (Revised)

(Revised)
Sutra on Mindful Breathing
(Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing)
- 16 exercises on mindful breathing -

Breathing in ~ : original
Breathing out ~ : my commentary version
                            (I = awareness = breather)

1. Concentrating on breathing
‘Breathing in a long breath, I know I am breathing in a long breath.
Breathing out a long breath, I am awareness, awareness is breathing out a long breath.

2. Realizing "breather = awareness = I"
‘Breathing in a short breath, I know I am breathing in a short breath.
Breathing out a short breath, I am awareness, awareness is breathing out a short breath.

3. Scanning the whole body
‘Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, Awareness is aware of the pain in the whole body.

4. Calming the pain in the whole body
‘Breathing in, I calm my whole body.
Breathing out, Awareness releases the tension in the whole body.

5. Feeling joyful
‘Breathing in, I feel joyful.
Breathing out, Awareness is joyful because awareness can touch the wonders of life.

6. Feeling happy
‘Breathing in, I feel happy.
Breathing out, Awareness is happy because awareness can touch the wonders of life.

7. Scanning the feelings
‘Breathing in, I am aware of my mental formations.
Breathing out, Awareness is aware of the painful feelings.

8. Calming the painful feelings
‘Breathing in, I calm my mental formations.
Breathing out, Awareness calms the painful feelings by releasing the tension in the feelings.

9. Scanning the mental formations and the seeds
‘Breathing in, I am aware of my mind.
Breathing out, Awareness is aware of the mental formations and the seeds in store consciousness.

10. Selective watering
‘Breathing in, I make my mind happy.
Breathing out, Awareness gladdens the mental formations through selective watering.

11. 
Concentrating on the mental formations 
‘Breathing in, I concentrate my mind.
Breathing out, Awareness concentrates on the mental formations to attain insights.

(Awareness looks deeply into the mental formations to understand the root cause.)

12. Liberating the mental formations
‘Breathing in, I liberate my mind.
Breathing out, Awareness liberates the mental formations through insights.

(Awareness transforms the mental formations by the energy of compassion.)

13. Contemplating impermanence
‘Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas.
Breathing out, Awareness observes the impermanent nature of all perceptions.

(Object of mind, or this world is just our perception and impermanent. Only if we stop thinking, our calm and clear mind can reflect the reality as it is.)

14. Contemplating non-craving
‘Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire.
Breathing out, Awareness observes the disappearance of idea.

(Craving is just an idea and disappears in time.)

15. Contemplating no-self
‘Breathing in, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena.
Breathing out, Awareness observes no-self.

(Emptiness, or interbeing is the ultimate truth. This is because that is.)

16. Contemplating 
the extinction of all notions
‘Breathing in, I observe letting go.
Breathing out, Awareness observes 
the extinction of all notions, or nirvana.
(I let go of all notions, of everything because I am convinced that all notions are wrong.)

1-4: Body
5-8: Feelings
9-12: Mind (mental formations + consciousness)
13-16: Objects of Mind (dharmas = objects of perceptions =
                                       perceptions)


* The original is excerpted from “Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing,” Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book, compiled by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village. 

(Cf.)  
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/06/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://www.mindfulnessbell.org/articles/mb53.pdf (p4-9)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVEO3YCNVoE(0~27:30)

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