A Path to Tranquility · Ānāpānasati Sutta · Third Step

In this series of five simple exercises, Martin Guldberg presents us with a 2000-year-old path to physical and mental peace. The exercises follow the first five steps of the famous text Ānāpānasati Sutta, which is a famous and beloved Buddhist scripture. Ānāpānasati Sutta is Sanskrit and literally means 'breathing-presence-instruction'. In the first two steps, you become aware that you are breathing, that is, you simply become aware of your breathing. In the second step, you increase your awareness by examining some of the qualities of your breathing, for example, is it deep or shallow, free or controlled, fast or slow.

From here you go to the third step: 

FOLLOWING THE PHASES OF BREATHING

This step in the Ānāpānasati Sutta can be translated in two ways – and we will be inspired by both ways.

This third exercise focuses on the first of these. Here, one tries to attentively follow the inhalation all the way from the beginning to the end. In the same way, one tries to be present with the exhalation all the way from the beginning to the end. By involving the time dimension more explicitly in this way, the practitioner is invited to stay focused in every moment of the breathing process. One is still present that one is breathing in when one is breathing in, and that one is breathing out when one is breathing out. One is also still aware of the nature of the breath. When the time dimension is included, that is, the presence with every moment of the breathing process, focus and presence can be increased further.

Photo: Ulrich Hald