These two meditations are the first two steps of a traditional Burmese Buddhist insight practice. I’ve added comments about affirming the life of the breath.
Life-Affirming breath-watching
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GONG – it’s particularly important to keep your eyes open during breath watching – adjust the posture – with eyes open if you can – gradually tune into the rising and falling of the breath – now do not change the breath pattern any way – no adjusting – just observe the breath as it goes in – the way it goes and comes out again – the way it comes out – it’s useful to find a place to watch – the first place recommended is the nostrils – feel the breath going in and out of the nostrils – or if you can’t feel that, the rising and falling of the chest or the belly –
now please observe, is the in breath or the out breath longer – this could be different every breath – you’re not making an average of your breathing – one breath, the out breath may be longer – the next one, the in breath may be longer – this should keep you focused on each individual breath – each one is different –
you may find lots of comment about how I would like to be breathing – I would like my breath to be not so shallow or not so fast – not this, not that – it’s quite a process to really accept whatever kind of breath each one is –
stay present as the breath goes in – there are many moments of awareness – as the breath goes out, there are many moments of awareness – stay present with the beginning of the in breath, the middle of the in breath – where does the in breath stop – where does the out breath begin – be present in each moment – observe what the breath is doing in that moment – don’t get tensed up by trying to observe each tiny moment – keep the breath flowing in a perfectly relaxed natural way –
one way this is life-affirming breath-watching is, you affirm each moment of your breath as you watch it – the watching is the affirming – the watching without any adjustment is affirming what is – this is the way this breath is happening – I’m affirming, accepting, receiving that –
there may be a gap between the in breath and the out breath at each end – observe when you come to the end of the in breath – is there a gap before the out breath begins – is there a gap at the end of the out breath – before the in breath begins – just observe – is there or isn’t there – always notice which is the longer – is the out breath shorter or longer than the in breath – each breath may be different – if you go off on thoughts – of course what you come back to is the breath –
affirming here has nothing to do with thinking – you’re affirming directly with your awareness of each moment – I’m breathing in – this is the middle of the in breath – now I’m in the end of the in breath – now I’m in the gap – being there in the gap – that is the affirming – fully being present in each moment of our living awareness – that is affirming our living awareness –
keep the breath in the centre of your awareness – you may also notice other sensations around the body – tuning into your breath tunes you into your whole body-space awareness – so any sensations that come to your attention – notice them – affirm their life by noticing their presence – keep the breath at the centre of your awareness –
by being present in each moment of my breathing – I’m affirming the life of my breathing – breathing is the most direct way I know I’m alive – this is my life that I’m seeing – moving in and out of the body – the living process of the body that I’m seeing –
observe what kind of calm – if there’s calm in your mind state – what’s it like – what kind of bodily feeling is the calm – affirm it – there are many magic things about watching breath – one is it takes you into your bodily life – moving away from thought life – affirm the life of your body and spirit, by watching the breathing –
now dedicate the merit you’ve gained from this practice to all beings may we all affirm this precious life that we live – GONG
Breathing with Rapture
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rapture is the traditional word used. rapture is bliss-form
GONG – gently move into awareness of the breath – adjust the posture – move into the body awareness that the breath takes you into – be aware which bits of posture need adjusting, to open the spaciousness in the body – explore how much it helps when you relax, to be able to just watch what the body is doing with its breath – to let the body do its breathing – without interfering in any way – relax the mind and body – there is nowhere to go – only this present moment – there is nothing to do – only be present – on this particular breath is my out breath shorter or longer than the in breath –
I’m doing life-affirming breathing – feel the life of the breath – you’re affirming it feel what affirming feels like – being with the life of the breath, as it happens, is affirming it – allowing the breathing to do what it naturally does, is affirming it –
experiencing rapture I breathe in – experiencing rapture I breathe out – experiencing rapture I breathe in – experiencing rapture I breathe out – rapture – there is rapture in breathing in, rapture in breathing out – what is rapture – what is this feeling of rapture I’m experiencing as I breathe – this is another way of affirming life-affirming breath-watching – I’m affirming the joy of breathing – it’s a joy – it’s rapture to be alive – to breathe – you don’t have to do anything extra to experience rapture – all you’re doing is noticing the rapture that is there naturally anyway – let go and relax into each breath – so you notice or pick up on the natural rapture being alive and breathing –
rapture is a strong term – it’s not just saying enjoy it – it might be nice breathing – this is rapture – let yourself go into breathing – each breath has no limits – I am alive – I am breathing – experiencing rapture I breathe in – experiencing rapture I breathe out –
this might also take you into an expanded sense of where you experience your breath – not only in the movement of the physical body – also in the whole field of your body the breath moves – you might feel the breathing is going right down to your toes and coming up from your toes – even though you know it’s just your lungs –
experiencing life-affirming rapture – I breathe in – affirming the rapture of being alive – I breathe out – really give in to the rapture – let it take you over – don’t hold back – let the rapture fill your whole body, if it will – don’t try to make it do that – you’re not doing anything – you’re just being present with what is – affirming the life of what is – in each moment – now we dedicate the merit gained I this practice that all beings may experience the rapture of being alive – GONG