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Now, Buddhadāsa makes it clear in his Thai talks that the first step of this practice, concerning the long in and out breathing, is actually a preparation for meditation, and is connected to the practice of sīla as set out in the pancasīla, the five precepts, or guidelines for would-be meditators to practise in their ordinary lives, a practise which involves bringing speech and physical activities under some degree of control as a prelude to actually trying to control the mind by using some device to force it to concentrate. According to Buddhadāsa meditation actually is mental control.
Hence, in the first step he follows the Buddha’s instruction to fully comprehend long in and out breathing by asking people to make their breathing long quite deliberately. He says we should strive to understand the long breathing thoroughly by practising with its many different forms, we should get to know all the forms of long breathing the body is capable of doing: long breathing, longer, breathing, longest breathing, long soft and gentle breathing, long rough breathing, and so on. Sit and observe the forms of long breathing until we become thoroughly knowledgeable concerning them. Says he, we should also be aware to some extent of the effect the longer forms have on us physically, noting as we breathe in and out long how a particular type of breathing affects us. It’s a quality of most forms of long breathing to cause the body to relax and this seems to be the main point of this kind of practise: to discover through our own experience that the longer forms of breathing can be used to cause physical relaxation, then it’s just a matter of discovering the right kind of breathing, the sort of long breathing that relaxes the body most efficiently, and practising with it until it becomes an habit for us.
To do this practice most easily Buddhadāsa suggests that we practise in a particular way, that is, we count as we breathe in and out, we count to make the breathing long, as long as we wish, thus we perhaps would count in our mind up to three, or up to five as we breathe in, and, if our counting is equal to seconds in time, then we’d immediately have a three or five second in breath to contemplate. We do the same with the out breath, then we can lengthen or shorten the breathing as we like.
There’s another difference: Buddhadāsa suggests that we don’t do as people are normally advised to do when observing the in and out breathing, that is, we don’t observe a point at the tip of nose, noting the passing in and out of the breathing in that one place. This, is something we will do, eventually, but at first Buddhadāsa suggests that we learn to ‘follow,’ or ‘chase’ the breathing in and out of the body. Thus, we start at the tip of the nose, feeling the breathing enter the nostrils, and we try to follow the sensation of breathing as it passes over the inner body surfaces – over the pallete, down the throat, and into the lungs, and, because we’re actually observing feeling here, the feeling the breathing makes as it passes in and out of the body – the breathing itself being impossible to observe – we can also include the bodily movement in our observations, because, when we breathe in the lower body, the navel area will move more or less noticeably in response, and as this also creates a sensation we can include this in the exercise. So, we breathe in and follow or chase the breathing from the nose tip, down the throat and into the lungs, at which point we switch to the bodily movement and the sensations created by them until the in breathing comes to an end. We then reverse the process, first noting the bodily movement as the breathing begins to make the return journey then picking up the out-breathing as it enters the throat area and finally reaches the nose once more.
To do this is to really and truly fully comprehend, to know all about, the long in and out breathing, which is precisely what the Buddha asks people to do.
But remember, this long breathing step is a preparation for meditation. The main point is to learn about the long breathing as a prelude to learning to use it to cause the body to relax as and when we require. A relaxed and peaceful body in tandem with a carefully controlled lifestyle being the prerequisite for successful meditation to happen.
Buddhadāsa says that the second step, concerning the short in and out breathing, is done in much the same way as the first step. However there are differences because, of course, the short breathing isn’t so pleasant to experience, and it’s more difficult to observe. Nevertheless he says we should be willing to investigate short in and out breathing in just the same way we did the long in and out breathing. Buddhadāsa considers long breathing to be the sort that we should do, and short breathing, which is the sort of breathing people normally do throughout their lives, to be abnormal and thus the sort we should avoid. Hence when making breathing deliberately short unpleasantness on some level is soon experienced. How, for instance, do we feel when out of breath, when panting for air, because then the breathing would definitely be short and certainly abnormal. He wants us to experience all of this personally, to know for ourselves which sort of breathing is good for us, is healthier, more vital, but he wants us, as did the Buddha before him, to find all this out for ourselves by direct experience.
The third step is to ‘experience all bodies.’ ‘All bodies’ here refers to the breathing itself (which is also called a ‘body’ in Theravāda Buddhism, it’s the ‘body’ within the ‘body,’) to the the effect the breathing in and out is having on us physically, and ultimately mentally too, and to the continual process of conditioning going on particularly between the body and the in and out breathing. Every in and out breath we make causes the body to change in some way. This is called ‘conditioning’ in Buddhist circles. So, be able to be aware of the breathing entering and leaving the body, of the way the body is being made to feel – relaxed, tense or whatever, by the breathing - and try to observe also the actual interaction between the body and the breathing, and do all of this with each and every in and out breath. We can use any form of breathing, long or short, as suits us, during the practise of this step, to fully understand and directly experience the interdependence of the breathing and the body. This is to really and truly ‘experience all bodies.’
Having done this properly and completely we should then be fully cognizant of the interdependence of the body and the breathing, recognizing that the body can be brought under control by using certain forms of breathing, and that the mind also can be caused to relax by using the same method, although to a lesser degree.
Now, there’s problem here, in that Buddhadāsa only ever made it clear that the first step of the practice was actually a preparation exercise, what he then said was that from the second step onwards we were concerned with meditation, with controlling and developing the mind. However, as he tells us that we should practise the second step in precisely the same way that we practised the first step, that is, by deliberately making the breathing short, shorter and shortest in order to fully understand it’s qualities and effects, then the second step must also be understood as a part of the preparation process, otherwise it makes no sense. It also means that the third step has to be included too.
All of this means that the actual meditation practice, the part where we try to bring the mind to concentration of a developed kind, takes place in the fourth step of the first tetrad. Hence the title of the fourth step: ‘calming the body conditioner.’ From what’s gone before we know that the ‘body conditioner’ is the breathing. From our previous efforts we know the breathing can be used to manipulate the body and, to some extent, the mind too. In the first two steps we practised to do this. But we were then making the breathing deliberately long or short. Now, we’re going to try and cause the mind to relax by using the breathing too, but this time we aren’t going to do it by making the breathing do anything, we’re going to allow breathing to flow in and out of the body in a natural way without trying to make it long or short, and by trying to focus our attention on its in and out flow continuously so causing the mind to gradually calm down and concentrate.
Buddhadāsa suggests that we continue to use the ‘chasing,’ or ‘following’ technique in the beginning stages of the fourth step, but that now we add a little more to it, that is, we try to note the ends of the in and out breaths. This is going to feel very awkward, but it will cause the mind to respond. So, breath in and be aware of the beginning of the breathing at the tip of the nose, then of the middle of the breathing as it flows over the mouth and down the throat, then become aware of whatever bodily movement is taking place, and stay with that until the in-breath comes to an end. There won’t be any noticeable kind of a pause between the end of the in and the beginning of the out breath, but there must be a point where the in breath stops and becomes an out breath, because we can’t be breathing in and out at the same moment in time. The idea is that we try to detect that small moment in time which exists between the end of the in breath and the beginning of the out breath, which is difficult, frustrating, but very rewarding in the long run - if one can do it. We try to do the same with the end of the out and beginning of the in breath too. Trying to do this is really the key to success because this exercise will force us to pay proper attention to the process of in and out breathing, and proper attention to the breathing especially during the practise of the fourth step of APS is absolutely essential.
We practise in this way, letting the breath be entirely natural, until we begin to feel some effect. Usually that comes when the mind starts to get interested, and when that happens then everything becomes much easier, the breath becomes easier to observe, the ends of the in and out breaths become more easily detectable, and the whole business becomes rather enjoyable so that we’re able to pay attention, to be ‘mindful’ of the breathing continuously without the mind ever wandering away. This is a wonderful experience, and is the point in the practise when we can switch techniques, and instead of chasing the breathing we can now start to ‘guard’ the breathing just at one place, which is usually at the tip of the nose, or wherever in the nose we feel the breath most easily. This is also where the breathing will noticeably change its nature and become shorter, and shorter, and softer and softer as it does so. This is the breathing calming down; this is where we actually ‘calm the body conditioner.’ Remember, we don’t force the breathing while doing this, it has to happen naturally. Once the breathing does begin to shorten then it will generally be self acting, and it’s just a matter of continuing to observe at the nose tip as the breath becomes tinier and tinier and the mind really starts to focus. Buddhadāsa introduces the nimitta at this point, the nimitta being an image the mind makes at the guarding point, however, as nimittas aren’t common to all people then we consider it unwise to talk about such things, and anyway it’s quite enough to continue observing the breathing; breathing will take the mind into full concentration, of that there can be no doubt.
Remember, in this explanation the first three steps are a preparation exercise for meditation to happen more easily, and only the fourth step involves the actual process of trying to meditate. We control the breathing but only in the first three steps. How long that takes to do depends on the individual. It shouldn’t take forever, after all there’s only so much one can learn about breathing its effects. We might, however, find the long breathing exercise particularly useful in the future as a prelude to our attempts to meditate, because long breathing can, once we know how to do it, prepare the body most wonderfully, causing it to calm down, relaxing it very easily, and a calm, relaxed body is the prelude to successful meditation. The long breathing exercise will also bring the mind to some degree of concentration.
The first three steps constitute what is described as the Buddha’s pranayāma, the Buddha’s breath control exercise. Remember it’s a prelude to meditation, something to be practised for a certain time, the aim being to understand the breathing and its effects and to learn to use the breathing more efficiently than we do now – for our meditations, and for better bodily health in our lives generally. How long one practises the three steps is up to the individual. Some may not want to practise this way at all, some will find the first step useful and make it a part of their meditation sessions, using it to bring on relaxation before trying to meditate seriously, others will do the whole thing. Being successful in the fourth step can take forever for some, it depends very much on how we live our lives. Being successful in the first three steps is much easier and shouldn’t take too much time to complete.
Remember also that Buddhadāsa only ever actually described the first step as a preparation exercise, but this has to include the two following steps too, and given the way he himself always explained the second step then it must be so.
Dvb.
Ānāpānasati - The Buddha’s sixteen step meditation practice. The first tetrad, and the method according to Suan Mokkh
Buddhadāsa’s approach to ānāpānasati is unusual. He uses the first tetrad, that is, the first four steps of the practice of ānāpānasati in a different way to other teachers.
According to the translation of the Pali text, the first step of the practice of mindfulness with breathing is to fully comprehend long in and long out breathing, the second step is to fully comprehend short in and out breathing, the third step is to experience all bodies, the fourth step is to calm the body conditioner.
dhamma vidu.com
