VIPASSANA Meditation (Breath watching)

[Guest guest]

Buddha's way was VIPASSANA - vipassana means witnessing. And he found

one of the greatest devices ever: the device of watching your breath,

just watching your breath. Breathing is such a simple and natural

phenomenon and it is there twenty-four hours a day. You need not make

any effort. Buddha discovered a totally different angle: just watch

your breath - the breath coming in, the breath going out. There are

four points to be watched.

 

Sitting silently just start seeing the breath, feeling the breath.

The breath going in is the first point. Then for a moment when the

breath is in it stops - a very small moment it is for a split second

it stops; that is the second point to watch. Then the breath turns

and goes out; this is the third point to watch. Then again when the

breath is completely out, for a split second it stops; that is the

fourth point to watch. Then the breath starts coming in again... this

is the circle of breath.

 

If you can watch all these four points you will be surprised, amazed

at The miracle of such a simple process - because mind is not

involved. Watching is not a quality of the mind; watching is the

quality of the soul, of consciousness; watching is not a mental

process at all. When you watch, the mind stops, ceases to be. Yes, in

the beginning many times you will forget and the mind will

come in and start playing its old games. But whenever you remember

that you had forgotten, there is no need to feel repentant,

guilty - just go back to watching, again and again go back to

watching your breath. Slowly slowly, less and less mind interferes.

And when you can watch your breath for forty-eight minutes as a

continuum, you will become enlightened. You will be surprised –

just forty-eight minutes - because you will think that it is not very

difficult... just forty-eight minutes! It is very difficult. Forty-

eight seconds and you will have fallen victim to the mind many times.

Try it with a watch in front of you; in the beginning you

cannot be watchful for sixty seconds. In just sixty seconds, that is

one minute, you will fall asleep many times, you will forget all

about watching - the watch and the watching will both be forgotten.

 

Some idea will take you far far away; then suddenly you will

realize... you will look at the watch and ten seconds have passed.

For ten seconds you were not watching. But slowly slowly - it is a

knack; it is not a practice, it is a knack - slowly slowly you imbibe

it, because those few moments when you are watchful are of such

exquisite beauty, of such tremendous joy, of such incredible

ecstasy, that once you have tasted those few moments you would like

to come back again and again - not for any other motive, just

for the sheer joy of being there, present to the breath.

 

Remember, it is not the same process as PRANAYAM; it is a totally

different process, in fact just the opposite of what Buddha calls

vipassana. In pranayam you take deep breaths, you fill your chest

with more and more air, more and more oxygen; then you empty your

chest as totally as possible of all carbon dioxide. It is a physical

exercise -- good for the body but it has nothing to do with

vipassana. In vipassana you are not to change the rhythm of your

natural breath, you are not to take long, deep breaths, you are not

to exhale in any way differently than you ordinarily do. Let it be

absolutely normal and natural. Your whole consciousness has to be on

one point; watching. And if you can watch your breath then

you can start watching other things too. Walking you can watch that

you are walking, eating you can watch that you are eating,

and ultimately, finally, you can watch that you are sleeping. The day

you can watch that you are sleeping you are transported into

another world. The body goes on sleeping and inside a light goes on

burning brightly. Your watchfulness remains undisturbed,

then twenty-four hours a day there is an undercurrent of watching.

You go on doing things... for the outside world nothing has

changed, but for you everything has changed.

 

Osho: Dhammapada, The Way of the Buddha Vol.5 # 1

[Guest guest]

Nisargadatta , " sheevaraam " <kans_007@h...>

wrote:

> Buddha's way was VIPASSANA - vipassana means witnessing. And he

found

> one of the greatest devices ever: the device of watching your

breath,

> just watching your breath. Breathing is such a simple and natural

> phenomenon and it is there twenty-four hours a day. You need not

make

> any effort. Buddha discovered a totally different angle: just watch

> your breath - the breath coming in, the breath going out. There are

> four points to be watched.

>

> Sitting silently just start seeing the breath, feeling the breath.

> The breath going in is the first point. Then for a moment when the

> breath is in it stops - a very small moment it is for a split second

> it stops; that is the second point to watch. Then the breath turns

> and goes out; this is the third point to watch. Then again when the

> breath is completely out, for a split second it stops; that is the

> fourth point to watch. Then the breath starts coming in again...

this

> is the circle of breath.

>

> If you can watch all these four points you will be surprised, amazed

> at The miracle of such a simple process - because mind is not

> involved. Watching is not a quality of the mind; watching is the

> quality of the soul, of consciousness; watching is not a mental

> process at all. When you watch, the mind stops, ceases to be. Yes,

in

> the beginning many times you will forget and the mind will

> come in and start playing its old games. But whenever you remember

> that you had forgotten, there is no need to feel repentant,

> guilty - just go back to watching, again and again go back to

> watching your breath. Slowly slowly, less and less mind interferes.

> And when you can watch your breath for forty-eight minutes as a

> continuum, you will become enlightened. You will be surprised E>

just forty-eight minutes - because you will think that it is not very

> difficult... just forty-eight minutes! It is very difficult. Forty-

> eight seconds and you will have fallen victim to the mind many

times.

> Try it with a watch in front of you; in the beginning you

> cannot be watchful for sixty seconds. In just sixty seconds, that is

> one minute, you will fall asleep many times, you will forget all

> about watching - the watch and the watching will both be forgotten.

>

> Some idea will take you far far away; then suddenly you will

> realize... you will look at the watch and ten seconds have passed.

> For ten seconds you were not watching. But slowly slowly - it is a

> knack; it is not a practice, it is a knack - slowly slowly you

imbibe

> it, because those few moments when you are watchful are of such

> exquisite beauty, of such tremendous joy, of such incredible

> ecstasy, that once you have tasted those few moments you would like

> to come back again and again - not for any other motive, just

> for the sheer joy of being there, present to the breath.

>

> Remember, it is not the same process as PRANAYAM; it is a totally

> different process, in fact just the opposite of what Buddha calls

> vipassana. In pranayam you take deep breaths, you fill your chest

> with more and more air, more and more oxygen; then you empty your

> chest as totally as possible of all carbon dioxide. It is a physical

> exercise -- good for the body but it has nothing to do with

> vipassana. In vipassana you are not to change the rhythm of your

> natural breath, you are not to take long, deep breaths, you are not

> to exhale in any way differently than you ordinarily do. Let it be

> absolutely normal and natural. Your whole consciousness has to be on

> one point; watching. And if you can watch your breath then

> you can start watching other things too. Walking you can watch that

> you are walking, eating you can watch that you are eating,

> and ultimately, finally, you can watch that you are sleeping. The

day

> you can watch that you are sleeping you are transported into

> another world. The body goes on sleeping and inside a light goes on

> burning brightly. Your watchfulness remains undisturbed,

> then twenty-four hours a day there is an undercurrent of watching.

> You go on doing things... for the outside world nothing has

> changed, but for you everything has changed.

>

> Osho: Dhammapada, The Way of the Buddha Vol.5 # 1

 

in fact the techniques or pranayama are very various; Osho had the

habit of making clans or partitionning, he was spending much time

telling his disciples which direction to look, which direction not to

look (much power);

the breathing meditations are all the same, Osho says that vipassana

is without control and pranayama is controlled but it is not true

because pranayama has been much diverse than this and Buddha never

came up with new " yoga " as the Indians had done in this area a very

extensive job for centuries already; the last point about so called

non-controlled vipassana, is that in our " regular " state of agitated

mind, breath is irregular because mind is wandering and changing

wavelength and thoughts all the time mixing long term (romantic plans

for example, soothing and closer to alpha wave) with short term

(anger, jealousy,fear, greed) all the time, so...

the mere observation is a regulation of the breath, because thoughts

become very long wave length when you concentrate on anything...

thoughts never stop, minds seems very suspended but always will be

able to recall, thus proving that it was there in the background...

and the last trick of the old fox Osho...

nobody gets enlightened after 48 minutes of persistent vipassana and

not after 48 hours; the result after 5 minutes of continuous watching

the breath is already a great appeasement, and sometimes 5 minutes

isn't even possible and sometimes you are force-thrown into vipassana

for one hour or two, it is the work of Grace too, according to your

needs of the time...

erix