At the weekend I went to the monthly meditation session that I've mentioned before. It is held at the home of someone (D) who is a follower of Thich Nhat Hanh (known as Thay, pronounced 'tie'). I don't know whether D is a Buddhist or not. I don't know whether I am a Buddhist because I listen and respond to what I hear at these meetings, or whether I'm just a non-believer who finds the Buddhist way of looking at the world interesting and approachable, and above all kind and loving. I'm getting the impression that it's not exactly a religion, more a way of looking at life. I just know I find it enormously uplifting and that it helps me deal in no small way with my illness and treatment.
On Saturday we started with someone reading out sixteen exercises in mindful breathing. They all sounded ridiculously simple. The first one was 'Breathing in, I am aware that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I am aware that I am breathing out'. Well, there's not much to that, I thought, it's pretty obvious. After these sixteen apparently simple statements, we then sat in silent meditation for a length of time that felt like five minutes but was actually about half an hour. After that we listened to a recorded talk by Thay about some of these breathing exercises, including the first one that I've quoted above, and all became clear to me.
I went home and after some searching found this talk on the website http://tnhaudio,org. I've paraphrased below what Thay had to say about the first breathing exercise, because it really resonated with me, and I hope others might find it helpful also.
Thay says that you need to be aware of your in-breath and your out-breath. It sounds very simple and easy, it's not hard work at all. Your in-breath may last 2 or 3 seconds. When you breathe in, you follow your in-breath, you don't think about anything else. This is mindfulness. Your mind does not think about other things, just your in-breath alone. You don't think about the past, the future, of your projects, of your business, of your pain. You are free. One in-breath alone makes you free - free from your worries, your past, your future. Breathing in is a joyful thing, it's very pleasant. Imagine someone who is already dead - they can't breathe any more. But you are alive, and you are breathing in - how wonderful! To be alive is a miracle, the greatest of all miracles. And all you have to do is breathe in to get in touch with that miracle. Thay chuckles on the tape: 'I'm almost 90', he says, 'and I'm still alive. I know that because I am breathing in. When you die, you cannot breathe in any more - that's true, I guarantee'. (laughter from his audience). Therefore, celebrate your in-breath. Breathing is a kind of celebration, celebrating the fact that you are still alive. If you think that the practice of Buddhism, of mindfulness, is hard, you are wrong. It's very pleasant. Breathing in, you can get a lot of joy and peace. It takes 2-3 seconds to breathe in, and during that time, not only do you have mindfulness and concentration, but also the insight that you are alive, and that to be alive is a wonderful thing.
So there you go - thought for the day, courtesy of Thich Nhat Hanh. OK, so I can hear some of you poo-poohing this and saying that it's childish and simplistic to say that just breathing can help you cope with your troubles. But if you spend a little time each day just concentrating on your breath and not thinking about anything else, even as little as 10 minutes, it's like a little bit of time out, it's a refuge from your cares and worries. Try it!
