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Watching the Breath (Anāpānasati)
Anāpānasati * is a way of concentrating your mind on your breath, so whether you are an expert at it already or whether you have given it up as a lost cause, there is always a time to watch the breath. This is an opportunity for developing ‘samadhi’ (concentration) through mustering all your attention just on the sensation of breathing. So at this time use your full commitment to that one point for the length of an inhalation, and the length of an exhalation. You are not trying to do it for, say, fifteen minutes, because you would never succeed at that, if that were your designated span of time for one- pointed concentration. So use this span of an inhalation and an exhalation.
Now the success of this depends on your patience rather than on your will-power, because the mind does wander and we always have to patiently go back to the breath. When we’re aware that the mind wanders off, we note what it is: it may be because we tend to just put in a lot of energy at first and then not sustain it, making too much effort without sustaining power. So we are using the length of an inhalation and the length of an exhalation in order to limit the effort to just this length of time within which to sustain attention, put forth effort at the beginning of the exhalation to sustain it through that, through the exhalation to the end, and then again with the inhalation. Eventually it becomes even, and one is said to have ‘samadhi’ when it seems effortless.
At first it seems like a lot of effort, or that we can’t do it, because we aren't used to doing this. Most minds have been trained to use associative thought. The mind has been trained by reading books and the like, to go from one word to the next, to have thoughts and concepts based on logic and reason. However, ānāpānasati is a different kind of training, where the object that we’re concentrating on is so simple that it’s not at all interesting on the intellectual level. So it’s not a matter of being interested in it, but of putting forth effort and using this natural function of the body as a point of concentration. The body breathes whether one is aware of it or not. It’s not like pranayama, where we’re developing power through the breath, but rather developing samādhi concentration and mindfulness through observing the breath, the normal breath, as it is right now. As with anything, this is something that we have to practise to be able to do; nobody has any problem understanding the theory, it’s in the continuous practice of it that people feel discouraged.
But note that very discouragement that comes from not being able to get the result that you want, because that's the hindrance to the practice. Note that very feeling, recognise that, and then let it go. Go back to the breath again. Be aware of that point where you get fed up or feel aversion or impatience with it, recognise it then let it go and go back to the breath again.
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* Anāpānasati: literally, ‘mindfulness' (sari) of the in and out breath.
If you’ve got a really active thinking mind, you may find the mantra1 ‘Buddho’ helpful. Inhale on ‘Bud’ and exhale on ‘dha’ so you’re actually thinking this for each inhalation. This is a way of sustaining concentration: so for the next fifteen minutes, do the ānāpānasati, putting all your attention, composing your mind with the mantric sound, ‘Bud-dho’. Learn to train the mind to that point of clarity and brightness rather than just sinking into passivity. It requires sustained effort: one inhalation of ‘Bud’ -fully bright and clear in your mind, the thought itself raised and bright from the beginning to the end of the inhalation, and ‘dha’ on the exhalation. Let everything else go at this time. The occasion has arisen now to do just this you can solve your problems and the world’s problems afterwards. At this time this much is all the occasion calls for. Bring the mantra up into consciousness. Make the mantra fully conscious instead of just a perfunctory passive thing that makes the mind dull; energise the mind so that the inhalation on ‘Bud’ is a bright inhalation, not just a perfunctory ‘Bud' sound that fades out because it never gets brightened or refreshed by your mind. You can visualize the spelling so that you’re fully with that syllable for the length of an inhalation, from the beginning to the end. Then -’dho’ on the exhalation is performed the same way so that there’s a continuity of effort rather than sporadic leaps-and -starts and failures.
Just notice if you have any obsessive thoughts that are coming up - some silly phrase that might be going through your mind. Now if you just sink into a passive state, then obsessive thoughts will take over. But learning to understand how the mind works and how to use it skilfully, you’re taking this particular thought, the concept of ‘Buddho’ (the Buddha, the One Who Knows), and you're holding it in the mind as a thought. Not just as an obsessive,habitual thought, but as a skilful use of thought, using it to sustain concentration for the length of one inhalation, exhalation, for fifteen minutes.
The practice is that, no matter how many times you fail and your mind starts wandering, you simply note that you’re distracted, or that you’re thinking about it, or you’d rather not bother with ‘Buddho’ - "I don’t want to do that. I’d rather just sit here and relax and not have to put forth any effort. Don’t feel like doing it". Or maybe you’ve got other things on your mind at this time, creeping in at the edges of consciousness so you note that. Note what mood there is in your mind right now not to be critical or discouraged, but just calmly, coolly notice, if you’re calmed by it, or if you feel dull or sleepy; if you've been thinking all this time or if you’ve been concentrating. Just to know.
The obstacle to concentration practice is aversion to failure and the incredible desire to succeed. Practice is not a matter of willpower, but of wisdom, of noting wisdom. With this practice, you can learn where your weaknesses are, where you tend to gel lost. You witness the kind of character traits you’ve developed