October 28, 2017 By Admin

Mindful Breathing with Mindful Observation

Mindful Observation Through Mindful Breathing

The following guided meditation is a combination meditation from Asanga’s Grounds of Hearers, Jam-Yang-Shay-Pa’s concentration meditation on the breath, and the Anapanasati Sutta. These guided meditation instructions have been simplified and combined for contemporary use by lay meditators.

Observation of Observation – Mindfulness in Breathing

Contemplate breathing in and out with complete mindfulness. Then do so by breathing in and out.
Notice mindfully how a long breath feels in the body, and notice how a short breath feels in the body.
With mindful contemplation notice the feeling in the body when you breathe in and out. Now do so with long and short breaths. Notice and experience the movement of your breath in and out, long and short.
Calm the body. Continue to breathe in this way with an intention to purify your body of all defilements.
Contemplate how your mind works when you meditate on your breath. Work on calming your mind.
Now breathe with an intention to gladden your mind, calm your mind, and let go of your mind.
Notice closely how it feels when you release your mind in mindful, calm breathing. Purify your mind!
See if you can achieve meditative stabilization. Breathe in and out, long and short. Purity and notice!
Allow your body and mind to experience inner joy. Simply breathe in and out, long and short.
Contemplate the experience of a glimpse of impermanence in body and mind by breathing in and out.
Notice the utter impermanence of thoughts, feelings, and breaths. They simply arise and fall, always!
Just practice being your mind-body breath and release desires. Separate yourself from desire.
Consider renunciation of ego-mind suffering in samsara. Let the body and mind breathe in and out.
Did you experience any short experience of bliss in this breath meditation? Can you describe it?
Was there any moment when you experienced inner happiness in this process? Can you describe it?

For more information refer to Zahler, L. (2009). Study and Practice of Meditation: Tibetan Interpretations of Contemplation and Formless Absorption. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, pp. 105-136.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

Happiness Characteristics – Post #2 Below I will note a few key characteristics of experiences and attitudes associated with happiness. Do your best to experience some of these each day – as much as is possible. Here is the first list. Being Fully Alive to Experiences – Do your best to be fully involved in […]

Liberation of the True Self Socrates is reported to have noted that “the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but on building the new.” In Buddhism there are clear relationships between “no-self” and the force of impermanence, that reality that ensures constant change and thus personal […]

Yoga Nidra and Your Inner Peace Yoga Nidra will allow you to relax like you may never have relaxed before. Follow these modified instructions for your best relaxed state. If at any time during Yoga Nidra you feel uncomfortable, simply stop and breathe in a manner that restores equilibrium. Although this uncomfortable outcome is highly […]

Self-Medication: Is Your Hand-Held Device a Dopamine Device? Mindfulness Activities: Here is a simple activity that may inform you about your personal level of addiction to your digital/electronic devices. Simply click the link below to download the PDF Worksheet; answer each question according to your personal opinions. Dr-Anthony-Quintiliani_HandHeldDeviceActivity Be sure to complete the meditation activity […]

Meditation Guide to Getting Started Since just sitting in basic (mindfulness or vipassana) meditation is such an important practice on your way to emotional regulation – and possibly and eventually to Enlightenment – I decided to offer a quick review of this skilled practice. Practice every day! 1) Sit comfortably with your back softly errect […]

Concentration, Contentment, and Loving Kindness I have written various entries on concentration meditations in prior posts. Yes, concentration meditation is beyond pure mindfulness meditation. Here I will present briefly two other forms of meditation that are quite intentional and also beyond mindfulness: contentment and loving kindness meditations. Let’s begin with intentional meditation of contentment. Contentment […]

Loving Kindness Meditation from The Buddha Loving Kindness Meditation (hereafter LKM) is, perhaps, one of the most popular meditation practices in the world. What many practitioners do not know is that one form of it came directly from The Buddha. Along with LKM wisdom we also are guided by the enlightened words of The Dalai […]

Building Healthy Intimate Relationships: Intimate relationships are often the source of many years of happiness and satisfaction, and sometimes the cause of great pain and suffering. It depends! I will list various realities of initiating and maintaining a positive intimate relationship. After reading these, ask yourself: Where is my relationship? If you are unhappy, do […]

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy “gems” In my opinion there are about eleven such “gems” in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Use of these interventions in various types of psychotherapy may improve clinical outcomes beyond insight. Although these curative interventions have often been associated with treatment of psychological trauma, object loss, and inner conflict, they may also be useful in the […]

More Psychoanalytic Gems – In an earlier post, I noted a list of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Gems, including a later post on D.W. Winnicott’s approaches to building a therapeutic alliance. My general aversion to this form of therapy has more to do with its slowness and high costs than to its effectiveness. It is effective! However, […]

Gratitude Practices to Improve your Emotional Mood The following fourteen suggestions may improve your emotional mood. One reward from practicing gratitude is that we tend to feel a little better no matter what our causes and conditions are at the time. Here is the list. Make a habit of thanking people. “Thank you.” Appreciate […]

Thoughts on Fixing Higher Education in America There has been much discussion about what is wrong and right with the American Education System; opinions range from public schools that are costing more and more to fund but not producing great results all the way to the higher education systems that supply the schools and colleges with […]

Retreats and Therapy: The Power of Silence E. Kubler-Ross once noted that people need to more often revisit silence within themselves and realize all of life’s purposes include learning from our despairing experiences. Suffering may be a hidden source of being blessed with new inner knowledge. Personal suffering if not too, too great may also […]

Holiday “Blues” and a Few Antidotes It is common for many people to experience a full range of emotions during the holiday season. It is also quite common for many people to experience holiday “blues.” In a more clinical understanding, this condition often includes both sadness/depression and anxiety/apprehension. Ideally, we should be able to experience […]

Mindfulness, Movement, and Meditation Practices Meditation Master Thich Nhat Hanh offers some of the most helpful mindfulness, movement, and meditation instructions available today. His themes here are about reducing your suffering, increasing your satisfactions, and expanding your happiness as a result. Please do not note that “I do not have time to do these things!” […]

From The Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation We humans have a unique way of perceiving and processing emotional experiences. Years ago I developed a formula to understand the perception and process of emotional experiences: CABS-VAKGO-IS/Rels. The C stands for cognition; we spend a great deal of time thinking about pretty much everything we […]

Walking Meditation with Gratitude Upasika Kee Nanayon (1901-1978) was a famous laywoman on the spiritual path of Buddhism. She noted some very powerful suggestions on how to improve walking meditation in nature. I have added a few more ideas of my own and from others. See the informative list below. Remain present-minded when you walk […]

Facing Addiction in America On November 17, 2016 The Surgeon General of The United States (Dr. Vivik Murthy) issued THE FIRST Surgeon General Report on our addictions problems. Since addictions in America may well be the single most threatening condition facing the nation’s health and economy, as well as casting strong doubt about a good […]

Expanded Information about Your Compassion Practices and Benefits Compassion Practice Tips and Exercises The Buddha noted that one should not dwell on the past, become too attached to future outcomes, but instead concentrate our mind only on the present moment of our experiences. The Dalai Lama noted that compassion is a necessary condition for inner […]

Insights – Vipassana Mediation There will be future, more advanced vipassana meditations posted on the site. For now, however, we will end this series with a final post about the insights often experienced via vipassana meditation. We learn via experience about impermanence, suffering and its causes, no-self, emptiness and many other things – or, perhaps, […]