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Filed in Theravada
The Joy of Effort
The path doesn’t save all its pleasure for the end. You can enjoy it now.
16 STEPS OF BREATH MEDITATION
1 Breathing in long, one discerns, “I’m breathing in long;” or breathing out long, one discerns, “I’m breathing out long.”
2 Or breathing in short, one discerns, “I’m breathing in short;” or breathing out short, one discerns, “I’m breathing out short.”
3 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out sensitive to the entire body.”
4 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out calming bodily fabrication” [the in-and-out breath].
5 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out sensitive to refreshment.”
6 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out sensitive to ease.”
7 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out sensitive to mental fabrication.”
8 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out calming mental fabrication.”
9 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out sensitive to the mind.”
10 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out gladdening the mind.”
11 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out steadying the mind.”
12 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out releasing the mind.”
13 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out focusing on inconstancy.”
14 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out focusing on dispassion.”
15 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out focusing on cessation.”
16 One trains oneself, “I’ll breathe in and out focusing on relinquishment.”
—From Majjhima Nikaya 62, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Thanissaro Bhikkhu is abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, outside of San Diego. He is the author of a series of books on meditation—Meditations, Meditations2, and Meditations3—available for free at accesstoinsight.org.
Image 1: © DAVID POPPIE, COURTESY OF PAVEL ZOUBOK GALLERY
Image 2: © R. Taylor L.M.P.A.
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thank you very much...i like it a lot...
Namaste...."Like the disenchantment a child senses when he or she has mastered a simple game and feels ready for something more challenging"; this rings so clear, pointing directly at the heart of the path where a teacher in persona or life itself beckons us to leave the nursery. To borrow from the Christian tradition and no longer understand or act as "babes in Christ'. Your words continue awaken and prod me.
Thank you Bhikkhu