The ultimate source of the breath

When we try and think about pure Mind, this is not pure Mind. Nor is our body and mentations pure Mind. If we wish to practice breath meditation, following the breath is not pure Mind, either. The in-breath is not pure Mind, nor is the out-breath.

When a Buddha does breath meditation, his mindfulness is not directed to the breath. His mindfulness is directed to the ultimate source called parimukha. This is another name for pure Mind. In breathing in and out, the Buddha is said to be ever mindful of the ultimate source of breathing.

If we wish to practice the Buddha’s meditation the key is to be above the breath, as it were, returning to the source of breathing which is beyond the in-breath and the out-breath. From the angle of Zen, if we wish to return to our original face before we were born, it is the face prior to the breath which is transcendent.

While Buddhist teachers stress following the breath—where has the Buddha said that following the breath is right practice? Our true nature is beyond breathing. We should, instead, find the source within us which transcends the in-breath and the out-breath.

Since our consciousness is connected to the body through the breath, we must turn our consciousness away from the breath to the antecedent of breath. Our consciousness, with practice, can be mindful of the beginning of the in-breath and out-breath which is, so to speak, breathless. When we succeed in doing this we will understand why the Buddha is sometimes called the light bringer.

Comments

[Vaccha]

henrick,

Not to debate with you here, but to clarify my comment:
Satipatthana is not a collection of various practices, but a gradual training in one practice whereby one goes deeper and deeper. To say that following the breath is a practice or the practice is to miss the point of going deeper; it is like going to visit a temple, walking up to the gate, and worshipping the gate. The point of the breath is to open the gate and go through, not to simply pay attention to the gate.

[henrik]

Sure. That was only the start , and you right that the sutra introduces other practices (like standing, sitting, thinking and so on), but that is beside my point. I just wanted to point out that following you breath is valid practice, and that the Buddha gave these instructions on several occasions.

[Kojizen]

The commentary to the Udana (188) gives basically two interprestions of causing mindfulness to be 'parimukha'. The first concerns the mindfulness of the tip of the nose or the center of the upper lip. The second is transcendent is which mindfulness embraces (pari) the source/chief/beginning/original cause (mukha). It is synonymous, according to the commentary, with 'niyyanattho' which means "having the characteristic of leading to release or deliverance." As is apparent, breath meditation begins with the establishment of 'parimukha'. And when we resonate with it--all the rest follows from the meditation. Short of this, it is fair to say, that one is spinning their wheels in the mud of ignorance and dogma.

[Vaccha]

henrick,

What you posted here is only the start! Keep reading that sutta. The point is not to simply follow the breath but clearly the training detailed there merely starts with breath and then quickly goes deeper. Do you not see the progression?

[henrik]

where has the Buddha said that following the breath is right practice?

Ok. I know I am not supposed to answer this, but I can't help it. Plenty places. The Satipatthana sutra springs to mind (Digha Nikaya 22), "Breathing in long, he discerns that he is breathing in long; or breathing out long, he discerns that he is breathing out long. Or breathing in short, he discerns that he is breathing in short; or breathing out short, he discerns that he is breathing out short."