Mindfulness of Breathing is Important! (Early Buddhist Practice)

[@DougsDharma]

🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂

[@sat1241]

nice video, have you ever done gazing meditation (Trāṭaka) ?

[@aaa-mr9oy]

Hey Doug I've followed your channel for a while now and just wanna say that i love how u make more "academic" content easy to follow and entertaining. Thanks for the effort you put into this videos!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Ignasi! Yes that's what I'm trying to do, little by little. 😄

[@bensonputhethu5918]

I have been looking for a KZbin channel on Buddhism for a while, but none of them were as concise and simple as yours. Thank you so much. I will make sure to share with others who are interested in Buddhism.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Benson, thanks for the comment!

[@xiaomaozen]

After more than 10 years, mindfulness of breathing is still the core of my meditation practice. It's relatively simple, but it also runs deep. Haven't read Anālayo's new book yet, but it's on my list. His previous works have convinced me completely. Fantastic expert/author. Thanks for the video, Doug! 😊 Looking forward to the 16 stages...

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome xiao mao! Yes Anālayo is quite an inspiration and always a source of interesting information about the early material.

[@westsidesmitty1]

I sometimes wonder if I will ever make it to vipassana meditation in the sense of the styles from S.E. Asia. With the lock down, there are no retreats and I wonder whether I will ever have the core strength and attention span to meaningfully sit the 11 day Goenka retreat. I've stuck to ''mindfulness of breathing in and out'' since I began meditation in the early 90's, as a means to clear and calm the mind and cultivate all the benefits that research has shown to come with even a modest practice. When I committed to deepening my practice and actually begin practicing Buddhism, (rather than just being a ''person who meditates'' and dabbles with books on different Eastern paths of liberation!), I found the Anapanasati Sutta, memorized a personalized amalgam of several translations, and it truly seems to be all I could ever need. Its 4 tetrads also cover the 4 foundations of mindfulness of the Satipatthana Sutta, while being very much more compact. I doubt I could ever memorize that one! Analayo, Rosenberg, and Buddhadasa offer fantastic and very specific books of instruction. And though breathing meditation is so often presented as preliminary to vipassana and/ or as ''concentration'' (vs. ''insight'') meditation, I feel the last tetrad of the Anapanasati sutta is unmistakably, true ''insight'' meditation. The specificity of my huge gratitude to my teachers tends to blur as the years roll, but I'm pretty sure it was you who once clarified that ''calming the body-conditioner'' (a phrase from one of the more unwieldy translations!) just meant observing the calming of the breath (and its calming effect on the body). One of the categories of the litany of my metta practice is always dedicated to my teachers. Many thanks.

[@DougsDharma]

Very welcome Smitty, yes I'll be getting into those tetrads next! 😀

[@chuckitaway466]

Very interesting and supportive of relative enlightenment

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Chuck! 🙂

[@keshavkhade9125]

Thanks Doug for giving the such useful information ....I just did the Vipassana course in which teaches the Buddha's meditation practice technic..

[@DougsDharma]

Sounds great!

[@uliuli201]

I will be waiting with baited breathe for the 16 point mechanics of breathing. Thank you.🙏📿

[@DougsDharma]

😄 You can find it here: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRj6xxWhLgQdd8guwFu1ZASM

[@mandy70006]

Love this - great message about the fundamentals actually being so much of the path, Doug. Can't wait to hear the 16 facets of the mindfulness of breathing practice next.

[@DougsDharma]

Great! Thanks Mandy, hope you find them helpful!

[@richardbaez566]

I loved the video and should really start doing mindfulness of breathing exercises.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes indeed Richard! I will be following this up with some videos on the practice.

[@jeanluclariviere7107]

Thanks Doug for another wonderful video, loving the shorter format, really looking forward to the next lecture.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad you enjoyed it Jeanluc! 🙏

[@scarlettfarrow633]

Another excellent and helpful video Doug. Thank you so much for discussing and clarifying this element of Buddhist practice. You have the valuable skill of seeing the many aspects of the subject of which you speak - making it all the more interesting and empowering.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Scarlett, very kind of you to say. 🙏

[@fredericksaturnine4167]

If you aren't being mindful your mind is susceptible to the negative influences around you, so a need for practice is necessary for continued purification. The ultimate enlightenment is reached once body and mind are liberated at death.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Derick, I'll be doing a video on this topic soon.

[@davidknight7933]

Thank you Doug great video. Anapanasati is my core meditation practice. Inspired by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, Thich Nhat Hanh and Larry Rosenberg and of course the Majjhima Nikaya. The practice is helping me to develop right sati and samadhi to contemplate the three characteristics of all conditioned things (Lokuttara hopefully one day). Look forward to reading Venerable Analayo work. Where I live in the UK I have yet to find a sangha. Books and KZbin for the past twelve years has been my source of contact with the Dhamma. So again thank you Doug, your a great teacher🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome David, best of luck on your journey!

[@jamief7155]

There are so many interpretations on how best to practice mindfulness of breathing, such as where if anywhere to watch the breath and the sensitive to the entire body discussion. Would definitely like to hear your take on it. Great work as always.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Jamie! I won't attempt to clear up all these interpretations ... there are too many! But it'll be a start anyway.

[@sinjunart49]

A wonderful talk, thank you. I recently did my own silent retreat for 5 days and the first half I only focused on the breath at top of my nose. I then did vipassana style body sweeping for the 2nd half. I was impressed with how far I got with just focusing on breath. I actually considered just doing breath the whole time - The vipassana style is really stressed as the ‘Main’ technique. I find it stiff but supposedly it’s really important to do the body sweeping. Maybe next time I will just do breath focus the whole time.

[@DougsDharma]

Neat! I think you'll find with the next videos on mindfulness of breathing that it actually includes vipassana practices.

[@SamBellGuitar]

Thanks Doug! Looking forward to next lecture on this subject. Also, the blue back lights look great! Hope you're well.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Sam, I'm experimenting with lighting, so it'll be changing around a bit here and there! 😄

[@linhnguyen7052]

Thank you so much. Look forward to watching your new videos.😊😊😊

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Linh, hope you enjoy them! 🙏

[@thenoblesearch07]

Very clearly explained.... waiting for the next video.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks a lot Soumya! 😊

[@dwarfyman4899]

This has cleared up a lot of my misunderstandings about what’s important to practice. But one thing I’m confused about is whether we are supposed to focus on the breath at the stomach or at the nose? And if it’s at the nose, is it supposed to be at the tip, or inside the nostrils? Thanks again for another great video, Doug

[@DougsDharma]

I'm not convinced these things really matter. The Buddha just says to set up mindfulness in front of you or alternately around the mouth. (Depends how you translate the Pāli). That might suggest the nose area as well perhaps.

[@jakes-corner]

Hey Doug, I love your videos and the knowledge you share. I have been meditating *nearly* daily for just over a year, mainly using guided breathing meditations (Headspace, Calm etc.), but have recently moved away from guided sessions to using binaural beats (BrainWaves app). I wanted to ask for your opinion on these if you have heard of them, as they claim they can help induce deeper meditative states. My thoughts were that since they are a tool we may not always have access to, then they could perhaps make unaided meditation more difficult, but I am unsure and have few friends who practice mindfulness on a regular basis. My experience says that they are definitely helpful, but I have never truly been able to meditate with just a simple timer! Many thanks, Jake

[@DougsDharma]

Well if you find them useful that's great Jake. I've never used one of those apps myself, I use just the simple timer in Insight Timer. But yes, they do run the risk of getting you to a place where you either feel you can't or don't want to meditate without the help. If you feel you're there, it might be good to try meditation once in awhile just by itself. Part of the practice of meditation is dealing with the difficulties!

[@zerothehero123]

Love your vids Doug! Have you read altered traits? A book review/discussion of the best scientifically specified application of meditation would be awesome!

[@DougsDharma]

Haven't read that one. My impression though is that the science around meditation is really in its infancy.

[@gabrielchan4359]

👍

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@mikelion2743]

Hi Doug. Could you please tell me what the difference is between a secular Buddhist and just Buddhist? I follow a different tradition but I find your videos really fascinating. Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Mike, I discuss my own approach in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4XbfJqwbbKYjck . Though note that each of us is going to be different and have different preferences and interests. So what's best is to find what appeals to you in your practice.

[@mikelion2743]

@@DougsDharma Thank you kindly for your reply. I am new to your channel and just after writing this I saw your video explaining your view, so thank you. Keep up the good and thought provoking work!

[@damindadineshimaduwagamage9044]

Many people reach "Sotāpanna" by listening to Dhamma. They are /were beginners and did not achieve "Sothapanna" By meditating for long hours. However, after that "Sotāpanna" state, to become "Sakadāgāmin", "Anāgāmi" or "Arahath", you must meditate. So, those advanced Practitioners at that time were most probably already in the "Sotāpanna" state. Why somebody already enlightened needs mindfulness/Awareness. I personally think this what happens when we try to understand Buddhist teaching objectively. While you can get to know about Buddhist teaching objectively to some extent, it is NOT the right way to understand. The only and the right way to answer this question is to experience it. One needs to have a subjective experience. Without that, you entangled in analytical, logical, or any type of scholarly views, which is part of the illusion we live in. Budhha seems to reach samadhi and be in a nirodha-samāpatti even when he is enlightened. To me (to my layman's mind), it is a "holiday" with zero distraction to mind and body.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, while an intellectual approach to the dhamma is fine, one does need to practice it to gain mastery. 🙏

[@gabrielchan4359]

❤💯👍

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@nolifeonearth9046]

can you make a video on the thai forest tradition?

[@DougsDharma]

I might, if I could find a good scholarly overview of it to work from.

[@mariablasurrutia8936]

Thanks Doug! Loved the lecture. Do you happen to know of any places/ organisations that do group retires? Especially looking for something non-commercial and more spiritual

[@DougsDharma]

There are a lot of them, but it would be best to find one close to where you are. I'd look up Buddhist centers close by, often they will run retreats. Though note that with Covid now, many retreats are going virtual for the time being. One very good retreat center in the US is www.buddhistinquiry.org/, but of course there are many more.

[@kristofferkr3254]

Doug I have had some very interesting experiences regarding breathing and meditation. I was doing a 10-day vipasanna retreat and at one point I got the notion to let my breathing be uncontrolled by my own will (if that's possible) so I wouldnt breathe rythmically but if my body felt like it would be best to exhale I would exhale and I wouldnt inhale until my body told me to. At one point I exhaled and didnt inhale for quiet a long while and after following my bodys signals and breathing this way and just observing my breathing, my backpain I was dealing with disappeared. Any insights on this? Should breathing be controlled/rythmical while meditating?

[@citruspeel]

Hi doug after watching a few of your videos Ive decided Buddhism is how i want to live my life, but i am in a local town and the nearest buddhist temple to me is almost 100kms away from me. Im also a teenager and i cant just drive or move there when i want to. What do you recommend i do? Btw i love your channel its been really helpfull so far, so thank you.

[@user-Void-Star]

Your brain is your temple bro. You can buy a little statue of Buddha and make a little shrine in your room.

[@citruspeel]

@@user-Void-Star Thanks, but im not sure how to make a shrine, and i dont know much about buddhist practises if u get what i mean. I can probably search it up though. Thanks :)

[@DougsDharma]

Hi McChucky! Check out my playlists, I have a couple that might interest you, on beginning with Buddhism, and on beginning Buddhist practice. Those should help get you started. Best of luck with it!

[@sincerelyme7423]

Does this have anything to do with the Heart Sutra?

[@DougsDharma]

How so?

[@whushaw]

If you’re reading this you’re now manually breathing (take a deep one for me)

[@DougsDharma]

Will do! Thanks whushaw. 🙂