You’d like to create a good state of mind. You want to have the breath flowing nicely. What does that mean?
"You’d like to create a good state of mind. You want to have the breath
flowing nicely. What does that mean? People get all tied up in knots,
reading about how the breath has to be this way or that way. They think
they’re actually going to be pumping air into their nerves. That’s not
the case. The breath energy is already there in the body. It’s simply
that in some places it’s not flowing well, or that you’ve been breathing
in a way that’s laborious or unpleasant in the body. Part of that has
to do with your perception of exactly what’s happening when you breathe.
So
one of the important parts of meditation is learning how to play with
your perceptions. Think of the breath energy coming in and out of the
pores. See what that’s like. Think of it coming in at certain spots in
the body where there’s a trigger point — in other words, wherever there
are some knots in your muscles. Think of the breath energy coming in
right there, going through the knot. Or you can think of it coming in
and out the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet. Play with these
perceptions and see what happens. Play with each perception long enough
to see what impact it’s having.
When you’re evaluating the
breath, what standards do you use to evaluate what’s good and what’s
not? A common mistake is to think that somehow by stopping the way you
breathe or getting the mind dizzy — in other words, getting it in a very
abnormal state — that’s going to be a breakthrough to something really
good. Well, no it’s not. Awakening happens when the mind is perfectly
balanced and things are perfectly normal. Everything feels just right.
So you’ve got to work on how to develop a sense of just right."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Focus on What You’re Doing"
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