Anapatasati Sutta: Meditate on the Breath with Thich Nhat Hanh

“In breathing there is peace.

“Breathing in, I know I am breathing in, breathing out I know I am breathing out. The practice is simple but the effect is great. Our mind is seldom with our body, wandering in the past and future. But paying attention to our inbreath and outbreath brings our mind back to our body, and suddenly we are here! Fully present in the here and the now.

“Being mindful of the inbreath and outbreath is not thinking. We are not thinking about the breath or controlling it. We don’t ‘work on our breath,’ we just become aware of it. We become fully present to our breath and embrace it tenderly as a mother embraces her child in her arms.

“If you embrace your breath tenderly, after just one or two minutes, the quality of your breathing is changed, and the quality of your awareness is transformed.”

NOTE: Just as Hanh speaks of “embracing” your breath tenderly, so the early Gnostic Gospel of Phillip spoke of embracing the breath, and identified our very breath with the Holy Spirit of Christ in us.

"In his Breath, we experience a new embrace; we are no longer in duality, but in unity.... All will be clothed in light when they enter into the mystery of this sacred embrace.... What is the Bridal Chamber, if not the place of trust and consciousness in the embrace?" ~Gnostic Gospel of Philip

Instructions from Anapanasati Suttra

Thich Nhat Hanh gives a lively translation of this sutra which he says was the original direct teaching of the Buddha. The important principles to note are:

·      There is no control or effort, just innocent observation of breath moving in and out. Awareness touches the breath “as lightly as a feather touching a bubble.”

·      No thinking or analysis, just awareness of breath. In observation of breath, thinking dissolves.

·      Breath is the link between spirit and body. Through awareness of breath, spirit rests in body, as the flame in and around the candle’s wick.

·      “We have all conditions necessary for happiness here and now, right in our body.” We become increasingly aware of this as we observe breath move from nostrils to navel.

We invite the breath as an honored guest. Perhaps as God! As the Hebrew scriptures declare, the very soul of Adam is the divine breath or Nephesh. From nostrils to navel, there is a hollow channel flowing with the life-energy of Prana. As we follow the breath through this channel we can scan the energy centers in the body: crown, forehead, throat, heart, solar plexis, hips, base of spine. These “wheels” or chakras were developed in later tantric texts as the portals to all worlds of spiritual experience.

In Taoist breathing practices of China, known as Qi Gong meditation, breath moves in deep cycles from nostils to belly, gradually refined until it moves just from chest to belly, solar plexus to belly, and finally all in the belly, the navel gently rising and falling. Then breath is like a pulsing pearl of Qi energy just beneath of navel. This is called “embryonic breathing.” The breath becomes, quite specifically, “deep, slow, soft, smooth, and fine.”

Here “smooth” refers to a continuous flow from inbreath to outbreath and outbreath to inbreath, with no hesitation in the transition. “Fine” means that there is no roughness or granulation in the breath; it is creamy and smooth in consistency.

Here are Hanh's simple lovely instructions from the Anapatasati Sutta:

“Breathing in, I am aware of breathing in. Breathing out I am aware of breathing out.

“Breathing in, I enjoy my inbreath, breathing out I smile.

(In breathing there is peace and joy).

“Breathing in, I follow my breath through the whole body. Breathing out I enjoy my breath through the whole body.(Nostrils to navel.)

“Breathing in I smile to my body, breathing out I allow my body to release all tension.

Now one may become aware of specific areas of the body as "condition of happiness." The body is filled with gifts for us. We need travel to no other worlds, we don't have to possess or grope other bodies, and we require no "out of body experiences" for our happiness.

"Breathing in, I am aware of my eyes. Breathing out, I smile upon my eyes. I am grateful for my eyes."

"Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile upon my heart. I am grateful for my own heart."

Thus we may continue, scanning the whole body with joy and gratitude, touching the body with awareness and brushing it with breath, as lightly as a feather touching a bubble.