The following conversation between a Burmese Monk, Webu Sayadaw and his student drives home the important role that breath plays in our lives.

• ‘Do you breath in and out?
  - We do breath Sir.
• When did you start breathing?
  - When we were born.
• Do you breath when you sit upright, walk, eat and drink?
  - Yes Sir.
• Do you breath when you go to sleep?
  

- Yes Sir

• Can you abstain from breathing when you are busy?
  - No Sir. No one can live without breathing.’

Apart from breathing life into our system, Buddha saw many other uses of inward and outward breath.

It is an excellent object of meditation that remains with us throughout life. It is a ‘Nimitta’, object of meditation to which we can fall back at any of our conscious moments.

Buddha saw the vast possibilities that exist with ‘Anapanasati’ in order to contain the incessant flow of aimless thoughts that dissipate our mind’s energy.

Buddha drew two parallels to show the nature of our restless mind and the techniques to bring it under our command. To show the restless mind he related the story of a monkey, who by nature is in a state of agitation, incapable of remaining still even for a brief moment. The monkey has a itch on his back and accidentally he sits on a heap of poisonous ants. The ants spread themselves on the monkey’s back and start attacking it. It is hard to visualise how restless the monkey could be in that situation. Buddha said that the mind of an average person is no different from the monkey in that state.

In rural areas the villagers have a system of taming wild buffaloes. The animal is tied to a post with a rope and it is given barest food and water to survive. As the animal gets weaker in strength the length of the rope is reduced to limit its movements. At one stage, the animal through exhaustion sits still, close to the post to which it is tied and starts obeying the commands of the master. The post is compared to the inward and outward breath which serves as the reference point in order to bring back the mind from distracting thoughts to its natural state.

When we cease to feed the mind through the six senses the mind can remain in the present moment and not far removed from the inward and outward breath.

It is not possible for us to attend to our day to day matters while watching our breath. However, the conditioning that takes place by practicing Anapanasati for a few minutes in the morning can be used with great advantage to face different situations during the balance period of the day. We will give below three situations to illustrate this point.

We tend to react to varied situations on the spur of the moment without being mindful of the consequences of our reactions. If someone directs a harsh comment at us we react with harshness, even if we may not show it outwardly. Breathing exercise can slow down the intensity of the flow of the thoughts which in turn will create the required space in the mind for us to respond rather than to react to situations. Reacting is a mechanical process, more of a reflex action conditioned by our own Karmic energy. ‘Response’ implies wise consideration before we reciprocate.

When the telephone rings when we are deeply engrossed in some activity, it can evoke a negative reaction in us. We can take two or three deep breaths and intercept the flow of negative energy. If we can take three more breaths and generate positive energies in us, we can walk to the telephone smiling filled with kindness asking ourselves the question ‘how can I be of assistance?’ The tone of your ‘Hello’ will not betray your impatience and anxiety because you have none of these within you. Listening to your calm composed and confident voice, there will be a similar response from the other end.

When your child does not turn-up at the appointed time your mind succumbs to anxiety. Anxiety will give way to wild imagination and will torment you by dragging your mind to the past or to the future. Much of the suffering stems from imagination. The breath awareness can pull the thoughts from the past and the future and contain them within the confines of the present moment. A calm and peaceful mind is more conducive to rational thinking. This will create the atmosphere to plan out any assistance if the child by any chance needs it.

In Anapanasati Sutta (Majjima Nikaya) Buddha suggests that Anapanasati is a gateway to deeper insights and to final liberation. Constant practice of Anapanasati establishes us in fourfold mindfulness (Catu Satipatthana). Mindfulness leads us to seven factors of enlightenment (Bojjhanga Dhammas). i.e. Sati (mindfulness) Dhammavijaya (investigation), Viriya (effort), Piti (serene joy), Passaddhi (tranquility), Samadhi (serene concentration) and Upekkha (equanimity). They in turn lead us to final liberation.

A very fine proven technique could be used to isolate the period of the inward breath from the outward breath although technically both are part of one process. Once we do this, we can look at all external stimuli and mind’s reactions through the lens of the inward breath and outward breath.

When the mind is advanced through this technique, we notice another phenomenon. Through the inward – outward breath, we note the purity of the mind and conversely through the purity of mind we observe the inward – outward breath. They can inter-nourish each other.