Full Awareness of Breathing

Breathing can be a means to calming down and gain poise thereby stepping on
the threshold of awakening. Maintaining full attention in a careful, prolonged
and deep manner can give one insight into the heart of everything and arrive at
liberation. The sixteen methods of inhaling and exhaling is the essence of the
Buddha‟s teachings on the Full Awareness of Breathing.

Everything that exists can be placed into one of the Four Establishments of
Mindfulness-namely the body, the feelings, the mind and the objects of the
mind. The sixteen methods of breathing in and breathing out can be divided
into four groups of four methods each. The first group uses the body as the
object of Full Awareness; the second uses the feelings; the third, the mind; and
the fourth, the objects of the mind. After explaining the sixteen methods of
conscious breathing, the Buddha speaks about the Four Establishments of
Mindfulness and the Seven Factors of Awakening. He then reminds us that if
the methods of fully aware breathing are practiced continuously, they will lead
to the realization of the Seven Factors of Awakening.

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SIXTEEN METHODS OF CONSCIOUS BREATHING

Body-Centered Practice

1. „Breathing in a long breath, I know I am breathing in a long breath.

Breathing out a long breath, I know I am breathing out a long breath.

2. „Breathing in a short breath, I know I am breathing in a short breath.

Breathing out a short breath, I know I am breathing out a short breath.

3. „Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I am aware of

my whole body.‟

4. „Breathing in, I calm my whole body. Breathing out, I calm my whole body.‟

He or she practices like this!

In the beginning we identify the in-breath and out-breath. ‘Breathing in, I know this
is my in-breath. Breathing out, I know this is my out-breath.’ Secondly I follow my
in-breath all the way through. By doing so, I keep my mindfulness and
concentration strong. I preserve my mindfulness and concentration during the whole
time of my in-breath and my out-breath.

‘Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.’ This exercise will bring mind
and body together. With mind and body together, we are truly established in the here
and the now, and we can live our life deeply in each moment. Lastly we release
tension in our body. The above practices help the body to be peaceful enabling us to
take care of our body.

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Practicing with Feelings

5. „Breathing in, I feel joyful. Breathing out, I feel joyful.‟

6. „Breathing in, I feel happy. Breathing out, I feel happy.‟

7. „Breathing in, I am aware of my mental formations. Breathing out, I am

aware of my mental formations.‟

8. „Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my

mental formations.‟

He or she practices like this!

Now we come to the realm of feelings and develop and nourish a feeling of joy
and recognize that the seed of joy is within us, waiting to sprout when watered with
attention. Once the joy sprouts forth, it stabilizes and matures into happiness. There
is a little difference between joy and happiness. In joy there is still some
excitement. But in happiness you are calmer. In the Buddhist literature there is the
image of someone very thirsty walking in the desert, and suddenly he sees an oasis,
trees encircling a pond. So he experiences joy. He has not drunk the water yet. He is
still thirsty, but he is joyful because he needs only to walk a few more minutes to
arrive at the pond. That is joy. There is some excitement and hope in him. And
when that traveler comes to the oasis, kneels down and cups his hands, and drinks
the water, he feels the happiness of drinking water, quenching his thirst. That is
happiness, very fulfilling.

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Practicing with other Mental Formations

9. „Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my

mind.‟

10. „Breathing in, I make my mind happy. Breathing out, I make my mind
happy.‟

11. „Breathing in, I concentrate my mind. Breathing out, I concentrate my

mind.‟

12. „Breathing in, I liberate my mind. Breathing out, I liberate my mind.‟

He or she practices like this!

Feeling is one category of mental formation. In Buddhist psychology we speak of

fifty-one categories of mental formations or samskara. Crystal is a formation,
because many conditions have come together in order for it to manifest as a crystal, a
physical formation. Leg for example is a physiological formation and anger is a
mental formation. We learn to become aware of any mental formation that
manifests. Anger, hate, despair, joy, jealousy, compassion - continuously manifest,
rise and fall, wave after wave of ceaseless manifestations. You are always awake
and present so you can recognize them. You don’t need to fight or to grasp; you just
recognize them as they arise, as they stay for some time, and as they go away. There
is a river of mind in which every mental formation is a drop of water, and you
observe the manifestation and the going away of that mental formation. Don’t try to
grasp, don’t try to fight. Just calmly recognize them, smile to them, whether they are
pleasant ones or unpleasant ones.

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Investigating Objects of Mind

13. „Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas. Breathing
out, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas.‟

14. „Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire. Breathing out, I

observe the disappearance of desire.‟

15. „Breathing in, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena.
Breathing out, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena.‟

16. „Breathing in, I observe letting go. Breathing out, I observe letting go.‟

He or she practices like this!

Insight of Impermanence
We may read or hear about impermanence, and intellectually conceptualize a notion
of impermanence, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. This notion, when it is just a
notion, may not help us to lead an integrated life. Using the stream of concentration,
you need to meditate to imbibe the true spirit of impermanence and arrive at the
liberating insight of impermanence.
While sitting, walking, reading, drinking, we are concentrating on the nature of
impermanence. That is the only way to touch the insight of impermanence.
Concentration means to keep that awareness alive, moment after moment, to
maintain it for a long time. Only concentration can bring insight and liberate you.
When we start grappling with the notion of impermanence, it appears to be a lofty
philosophical doctrine and as we nourish this notion with concentration and
practice, it is a fluid stream, a samadhi.

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Objects of Mind

Buddhism explains that subject and object cannot exist separately, like the
left and the right. You cannot imagine the existence of the left without the
right. When you believe that there is a consciousness inside trying to reach out,
to understand the objective world out there, it is referred to as “double
grasping.” Consciousness is made of the knower and the knowable. These two
manifest at the same time. It‟s like up and down, left and right. An object of
mind is the business of perception. You perceive something, whether that
something is a pen, or a flower. The object of perception always manifests at the
same time as the subject of perception. To be conscious is always to be
conscious of something. To be mindful is to be mindful of something. You
cannot be mindful of nothing. To think is to think about something. So the
object and the subject manifest at the same time, like the above and the below,
the left and the right. If you don‟t see it like that, you are still caught in double
grasping.

The Full Awareness of Breathing, if developed and practiced continuously

according to these instructions, will be rewarding and of great benefit.

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THE FOUR ESTABLISHMENTS OF MINDFULNESS
The Four Establishments are the body, the feelings, the mind, and objects of
mind and we practice full awareness of the Four Establishments through
conscious breathing. We attempt to observe „the body in the body,‟ „the feelings
in the feelings,‟ „the mind in the mind,‟ and „the objects of mind in the objects
of mind.‟ Observing the body in the body means that in the process of
observing, we do not watch from a distance as a separate or independent
observer, rather we unite ourselves one hundred percent with the object being
observed. This unitive experience, this stream of integrated concentration is the
path that can enable us to penetrate and thus lead to the attainment of insight
and direct experience of reality. In “observation meditation” the body and
mind are one entity, and the subject and object of meditation are one entity
also. There is no sword of discrimination that slices reality into many parts. The
meditator is a fully engaged participant, not a separate observer.
The essence of “observation meditation” is to let go of the distinction between
the subject and object, and the aspiring practitioner foregoing the dual
approach becomes united with the object of meditation. When we observe
something, we are that thing.

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Observation meditation is a natural awareness of what is going on in the Four
Establishments: body, feelings, mind and the objects of the mind. Stubbornly
clinging to all that exists or resisting and rejecting it all both lack the lucidity of
an awakened mind. To succeed in the work of observation, we must persevere to
go beyond both attachment and aversion and be fully awake to clearly
understand.

THE SEVEN FACTORS OF AWAKENING

Buddha discusses the arising, growth and attainment of the seven factors of
Awakening in conjunction with conscious breathing.
(1) One who develops full attention and strives to maintain it by being fully
awake, his practice of observation will be met with success; thus enabling him
to see clearly all that exists. Full attention is awareness and the main factor of
Awakening.
(2) The work of observation to shed light on the object of our attention and see
clearly all that exists is investigation of the dharmas.
(3) Energy is perseverance and diligence.
(4-5) Joy and ease are wonderful feelings nourished by energy.
(6) Concentration gives rise to understanding. When we have understanding, we
can go beyond all comparing, measuring, discriminating, and reacting with
attachment and aversion.
(7) Going beyond is letting go. Those who arrive at letting go will have bud of a
half smile, which proves compassion as well as understanding.

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