Looking at your breath to get your mind into concentration is one of the main harmless kinds of pleasure, you're not creating any bad karma with anybody.

"The Buddha has us sort out which kinds of pleasure are actually harmful and which ones are harmless. The main harmless ones are those based on getting the mind into concentration, because this is a pleasure where you're not in conflict with anybody. When you're sitting here looking at your breath, nobody is trying to elbow you out of the way so that they can hog your breath. It's totally yours. It's an entire field open for you to explore, to reap what pleasure you can.

And that's a very rare kind of pleasure in the world. You're not creating any bad kamma with anybody. You're not creating any unskillful mental states."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Well-Thatched Roof" (Meditations5)

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