The Breath of Love - Anàpànasati Sutta

The Breath of Love
Author
Most Venerable Bhante Vimalaramsi Mahàthera

1
The Anàpànasati Sutta
A Practical Guide to
Mindfulness of Breathing and
Tranquil Wisdom Meditation

Please Note
Some  additional  materials  appear  in  this  version  of  this  book.  As  usual,  the
Anàpànasati  Sutta  explains  in  full  the  sutta  with  regard  to  your  meditation
instructions.  All  parts  of  the  Anàpànasati  Sutta  are  printed  in  bold  upright
letters. All other supporting sutta references used are printed in bold italics.
In this edition, three other primary practices are explained. They are Loving-
kindness  Meditation,  Forgiveness  Meditation  and  the  specific  instructions
for Walking Meditation which should accompany all practices. A glossary of
terms is added in the order you would study the meditation.
We hope this will be good support for your TWIM practice.


An Open Invitation
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammà Sambuddhasa
Many people are now on a search for a spiritual path that leads
their  mind  to  peace  and  happiness.  They  discovered  that  the
norms of the world which emphasize material happiness, do not
actually bring real peace and security.
Instead, those norms lead to more pain and dissatisfaction. For
these  people,  the  Buddha’s  Noble  Eightfold  Path  exemplifies
a  simple  and  contented  life;  a  life  that  is  open  and  free.  The
Buddha taught the method to free our minds of lust, hatred and
delusion.  He  started  by  showing  his  disciples  how  to  have  an
open  mind  that  expands  beyond  its  present  limitations  so  that
you can examine with understanding how everything works.
In the Kàlàma Sutta, the Buddha explicitly stated that you should
not  follow  any  beliefs  blindly,  but  rather,  you  should  always
examine  and  investigate  for  yourself.  These  admonishments
were put forth for the purpose of opening and expanding your
experience  so  that  you  will  not  be  attached  to  any  particular
doctrine without thorough investigation.
This kind of honest inquiry into any particular doctrine opens
on your mind and expands your consciousness. Then, you will
see what leads to a close or tight mind and what leads to a mind
that is open and clear.
One of the many lessons the Buddha teaches is to first, expand
your consciousness by the practice of generosity (dàna). When a
person is miserly, they have a tendency to have a tight and limited


mind full of craving. Their mind holds onto material things and
easily becomes attached to them. Attachment of any form makes
mind uncomfortable and tense.
This  tension  is  the  cause  of  immeasurable  pain  and  suffering
(dukkha).  Thus,  by  encouraging  the  practice  of  generosity,  it
teaches us how to have a joyful, open, and clear mind which is
never closed or tight.
Another form of generosity is the giving of time and energy to
help those who are having problems, i.e. to become real friends.
This  includes  helping  others  to  be  happy!  When  we  say  or
perform actions which cause people to smile, it opens our mind
and then joy arises. This doesn’t only happen to the other person
but  in  our  own  mind  as  well.  This  type  of  practice  helps  us  to
expand our mind and let go of the tension.
Precepts
The  Buddha  also  emphasizes  the  importance  of  keeping  our
moral discipline (sãla). The precepts are not commandments but
rather  they  are  suggestions  to  follow.  Keeping  them  leads  to  a
mind that easily becomes calm and composed. These five moral
precepts release mind from remorse, anxiety, and guilty feelings
if they are continually kept and observed.
These precepts are:
1.Abstaining  from  killing  or  harming  living  beings  on 
purpose;
2.Abstaining from taking what is not given;
3.Abstaining from wrong sexual activities;
4.Abstaining  from  telling  lies,  using  harsh  language, 
slandering, and gossip;
5.Abstaining from taking drugs and alcohol that dull our 


mind  (this  does  not  mean  a  doctor’s  prescriptions;  just
drugs or alcohol for the purpose of taking the edge off of
daily living).
Keeping  these  precepts  closely  means  that  our  mind  will  be
tension and guilt-free.
Subsequently, the Buddha taught the methods of meditation or
mental  development  (bhàvanà),  to  free  mind  from  tension  and
confusion. The essence of meditation is to open and calm your
mind and accept whatever arises without any tightening at all.
This  book  of  instructions  is  written  for  those  who  are  on  this
noble  quest.  To  a  beginner,  these  instructions  may  appear
confusing  and  difficult  to  understand.  However,  you  will
gradually  discover  the  many  benefits  when  these  instructions
are followed closely.
In  actual  fact,  within  the  texts,  meditation,  as  taught  by  the
Buddha,  is  never  broken  into  different  kinds  of  meditation.  It
is never taken to be deep concentration in any of its forms, that
is, fixed or absorption concentration (appanà samàdhi), access or
neighborhood  concentration  (upacàra  samàdhi)  or  moment-to-
moment concentration (khanika samàdhi), which actually brings
tightness to mind and suppresses the hindrances.
The ‘concentration’ meditation is a form of suppression, a kind of
cutting off of your experience which causes a kind of resistance
to arise in your mind. As a result, there is a conflict with reality.
On  the  other  hand,  “Tranquil  Wisdom  Insight  Meditation”
(TWIM), as found within the texts, opens mind and is continually
expanding  it.  It  does  not  ever  exclude  or  resist  anything.  A
‘concentrated’ mind does not meditate in the “Buddha’s Way”.


It  doesn’t  matter  whether  you  are  talking  about  full  or  fixed
absorption  concentration,  or  access  concentration.  These  still
cause the same difficulties in practice.
The important rule of the meditation is, no matter what distracts
your mind away from the breath and tranquilizing your mind,
you  simply  open,  expand,  let  it  go  without  thinking  about  the
distraction,  relax  mind  and  tightness  in  the  head.  As  you  feel
mind  open  and  relax  away  the  tension,  you  lightly  smile,  and
softly redirect your attention back to the object of meditation i.e.
the breath and relaxing on the in-breath and relaxing on the out-
breath.
Next  is  the  Pàli  word  samatha.  The  more  accurate  meanings
of  samatha  are  peacefulness,  calmness,  tranquility,  serenity  or
stillness and not as the commonly translated terms of absorption
or fixed concentration. Thus, the author prefers to use the word
tranquility.
The  Pàli  word  samàdhi  is  equally  important  as  it  has  many
different meanings such as calmness, unified mind, tranquility,
peacefulness, stillness, composure of mind, quiet mind, serenity,
and one of the lesser meanings, “concentration”. Thus, the true
meaning is not merely fixed absorption concentration or access
concentration,  but  calmness  or  stillness  in  different  degrees.
Interestingly,  Rhys  Davids  found  through  his  studies,  that  the
word  ‘samàdhi’  was  never  used  before  the  time  of  the  Buddha.
[2]

Even  though,  as  a  Bodhisatta,  he  practiced  ‘absorption
meditation’,  the  word  samàdhi  has  a  different  meaning  other
than  concentration.  The  Buddha  “popularized”  the  word
samàdhi  to  express  collectedness,  calm  wisdom,  tranquility,
openness, awareness, along with developing a mind which has


clarity and wisdom in it. Later, the Hindus changed the meaning
to  ‘concentration’.  Hence,  the  author  will  use  collectedness,
stillness, composure of mind, or unified mind for the meaning
here.
If  one  chooses  to  use  the  word  ‘concentration’,  they  must
understand  that  it  means  ‘collectedness  of  mind’,  ‘composure
of mind’, or ‘a unified mind’. It does not mean absorption, fixed
(appanà),  or  access  (upacàra)  concentration  or  even  momentary
(khanika) concentration.
This  book  is  written  with  a  deep  conviction  that  serenity  and
insight  were  yoked  together  in  the  Buddha’s  practice.  It  is
committed to the understanding that the systematic cultivation
of  ‘Tranquil  Wisdom  Insight  Meditation’  (TWIM)  brings  both
serenity  of  mind  AND  the  insights  needed  to  realize  the  true
nature of this psycho/physical (mind/body) process together at
the same time!
Furthermore, there is the seeing and realizing the cause and effect
relationships  of  all  dependent  conditions.  This  means  seeing
the impersonal process of Dependent Origination and the Four
Noble Truths, which, in fact, is the development of penetrative
wisdom that leads to dispassion, emancipation and awakening.
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Buddha  discovered  that  ‘concentration
practices’ of any kind did not lead him to Nibbàna.
After  becoming  a  homeless  one,  the  Bodhisatta  went  to  two
different  teachers  of  “absorption  concentration  meditation”.
His first teacher was Aëàra Kàlàma. After learning the Dhamma
and  discipline,  he  practiced  until  he  attained  a  very  high
and  distinguished  stage  of  meditation  called  the  “realm  of
nothingness”. The Bodhisatta then went to his teacher and asked
whether  he  could  proceed  any  further  with  that  meditation.


Aëàra  Kàlàma  replied  that  it  was  the  highest  stage  that  anyone
could attain.
The Bodhisatta was dissatisfied and went to another teacher by
the name of Uddaka Ràmaputta.   He  learned  that  Dhamma
and discipline and then practiced it and attained the “realm of
neither  perception  nor  non-perception”.  The  Bodhisatta  again
went  to  his  teacher  and  asked  a  similar  question  about  there
being  more  to  attain.  Again,  the  Bodhisatta  was  told  that  this
was absolutely the highest attainment anyone could achieve in
their lifetime.
The future Buddha was disappointed because he saw that there
were still many more things to let go of in his mind. He observed
that these “absorption concentration techniques”, which focused
intensely  on  the  object  of  meditation,  caused  tightening  in
mind.
The Buddha reasoned that there was still attachment whenever
there  was  tension  in  mind.  He  also  noticed  that  if  any  part  of
the  experiences  were  suppressed  or  not  allowed  to  arise,  there
was still some kind of holding on or attachment to an ego belief.
This  occurs  with  every  form  of  ‘concentration’,  that  is,  fixed
absorption concentration, or access concentration,
Thus, after six long years of trying all of the various spiritual and
ascetic practices from body mortifications like starving the body,
to  holding  the  breath,  he  realized  that  these  practices  did  not
lead him to a calm and open mind which was free from craving
and suffering.
On the night of the Bodhisatta’s realization of supreme Nibbàna,
he  recalled  an  incident  at  a  plowing  festival  while  he  was  just


a  young  boy  of  one  or  two  years  old.  When  his  attendants  left
him alone under a rose-apple tree, he sat in “Tranquil Wisdom
Insight  Meditation”  (TWIM)  and  experienced  a  mind  that  was
expanded  and  opened!  He  saw  that  this  form  of  meditation
would  lead  him  to  the  experience  of  “tranquility  Jhànas”,  as
opposed to ‘concentration Jhànas’.[3]
As a result of the gentle “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation”
(TWIM), his mind was filled with joy, his body became light and
happy.  When  the  joy  faded  away,  he  then  experienced  strong
calmness  and  peacefulness.  His  mind  and  body  became  very
comfortable.  His  mind  was  very  still,  very  composed,  and  his
body was exceptionally at ease, with sharp mindfulness and full
awareness  of  what  was  happening  around  him  .  He  could  still
hear sounds and feel sensations with his body at that time.
When  the  Bodhisatta  sat  under  the  Bodhi  tree  to  meditate  on
the full moon night of May and made his great effort to attain
supreme  Nibbàna,  he  recalled  that  not  all  forms  of  pleasure
are  unwholesome.  He  realized  that  there  could  be  pleasurable
feelings  arising  in  mind  and  body  although  there  was  not  an
attachment to anything. [refer to MN-36]
That  very  night,  the  Bodhisatta  practiced  “Tranquil  Wisdom
Insight  Meditation”  (TWIM)  through  the  method  of  opening,
relaxing,  and  expanding  mind.  In  short,  he  practiced  the
“Anàpànasati”  or  “Mindfulness  of  Breathing”  and  the  6R’s
which are the steps of Right Effort. As we all know, he became
the Buddha or the Supremely Awakened One.
The Anàpànasati Sutta, as taught by the Buddha 2600 years ago,
still  provides  the  most  simple,  direct,  thorough,  and  effective
method  for  training  and  developing  the  6R’s  and  smiling
through  our  daily  tasks  and  any  problems  as  well  as  for  our


highest  aim—mind’s  own  unshakable  deliverance  from  greed,
hatred and delusion, which, is another way of saying craving).
The  simple  steps  that  are  the  6R’s  and  the  practice  of  smiling
into our daily tasks are what this sutta is really communicating
to us. The method described here is taken directly from the sutta
itself  and  the  results  can  be  seen  clearly  and  easily  when  you
practice according to the instructions in this sutta.
The author would like to emphasize that the instructions in this
book are not his “own opinion”. Actually, these are the Buddha’s
own  instructions  given  in  a  clear  and  precise  way.  This  can  be
called the “Undiluted Dhamma” because it comes directly from
the  suttas  themselves,  without  a  lot  of  additions  or  free-lance
ideas.
The  Anàpànasati  Sutta  gives  the  most  profound  meditation
instructions  available  today.  It  includes  the  “Four  Foundations
of Mindfulness” and the “Seven Awakening Factors” and shows
how  they  are  fulfilled  through  the  practice  of  “Mindfulness  of
Breathing”. This is done through attaining all of the meditation
stages of understanding (Jhànas).[4] This sutta shows the direct
way to practice “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM)
and does not mix in any other meditation practices.
Strangely, the current separation into various types of meditation
like “fixed absorption concentration”, or “access concentration”
and  “momentary  concentration”  seems  to  appear  only  in  the
commentaries  and  never  in  the  suttas.  Thus,  you  must  notice
this  and  compare  these  commentaries  with  the  suttas  for  their
accuracy.
Upon the attainment of the fourth Jhàna, three alternative lines
of  further  development  become  possible.  This  sutta  deals  with


only one of those lines, namely the attainment of all the material
and  immaterial  Jhànas  (meditation  stages  of  understanding),
followed by the experience of the cessation of perception, feeling.
and  consciousness  (nirodha  samapatti  in  Pàli),  and  finally  the
experience of seeing clearly the links of Dependent Origination
(Pañicca-Samuppàda) and the Four Noble Truths (Ariyasacca).
In these attainments, the Buddha mentions four meditative stages
that  continue  the  mental  unification  established  by  the  Jhànas,
meditation stages of understanding. These states are described
as  “the  liberations  that  are  peaceful  and  material”,  (råpa),  and
they are still mundane states.

These  mundane  states  are  distinguished  from  the  immaterial
(aråpa)  Jhànas,  meditation  stages  of  understanding,  which
then  deepen  the  subtle  mental  observations,  and  are  named
after  their  own  exalted  stages:  “the  base  of  infinite  space,
the  base  of  infinite  consciousness,  the  base  of  nothingness,
and the base of neither perception nor non-perception.”  

These states of consciousness are very attainable if one ardently
and continually keeps their daily meditation practice going. As
this is a gradual training, you first must learn to walk before you
run. Thus, the beginning of the meditation practice is the basis
for further development.
This  is  a  straight  and  direct  path  towards  liberation  and  the
supramundane  Nibbàna.  It  does,  however,  require  sustained
meditative effort, applied to a simple object of meditation to the
breath and relaxing. This allows the mind to become calm and
clear without distractions.
When you practice the Anàpànasati Sutta as a “Tranquil Wisdom
Insight  Meditation”  (TWIM),  you  will  find  that  your  creativity


and intuition increase as your practice develops.
This  approach  forms  the  timeless  and  universal  appeal  of  a
true  ‘Doctrine  of  Awakening’,  that  is,  realizing  Dependent
Origination  and  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  which  has  the  depth
and  breadth,  the  simplicity  and  intelligence  for  providing  the
foundation of a living Dhamma for all. You will sense the urgency
of the fundamental “non-materialistic” problems and search for
solutions that neither science nor “religions of faith” provide.
More  important  is  the  final  realization  which  comes  through
the method of “Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM).
This  practice  invites  you  to  experience  the  various  meditation
stages of understanding (Jhànas) and allows you to see through
direct  knowledge,  all  twelve  impersonal  links  of  “Dependent
Arising”.
This  means  you  will  see  and  realize  directly  the  first,  second,
third and fourth Noble Truths in each of the links. When these
Four  Noble  Truths  have  been  seen  and  realized  directly,  you
will  truly  understand  the  Buddha’s  Teachings.  This  is  because
one  cannot  see  the  “Origin  of  Suffering”  without  first  seeing
the  “Suffering”  itself  and  suffering  would  not  cease  without
practicing  the  way  leading  to  the  cessation  of  suffering  (the
8-Fold Path which includes the 6R’s). Thus, seeing and realizing
Dependent Origination, means that you see and realize all of the
Four Noble Truths, which is actually the true essence of Buddhist
meditation.
The  true  aim  of  the  Anàpànasati  Sutta  is  nothing  less  than
final  liberation  from  suffering  which  is  the  highest  goal  of  the
Buddha’s Teachings—Nibbàna. The practice of the Buddhist Path
evolves in two distinct stages, a mundane (lokiya) or preparatory
stage,  and  a  supramundane  (lokuttara)  or  accomplished  stage.


The  mundane  path  is  developed  when  the  disciples  undertake
the gradual training to develop their virtues (continually keeping
the  precepts),  collectedness,  or  deep  composure  of  mind,  and
wisdom. This reaches its peak in the practice of “Tranquil Wisdom
Insight Meditation” (TWIM), which deepens direct experience,
and  at  the  same  time,  shows  you  the  Three  Characteristics  of
all Existence that are: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha)
and the impersonal nature of existence (anattà).
In  short,  there  are  two  kinds  of  Nibbàna.  One  is  the  worldly  or
mundane  type  of  Nibbàna  and  the  other  is  the  supramundane
or unworldly type of Nibbàna. The mundane or worldly type of
Nibbàna is attained every time the meditator lets go of craving and
relief arises along with a kind of happiness. This type of Nibbàna
will occur many times when one is seriously practicing “Tranquil
Wisdom Insight Meditation” (TWIM). The supramundane type
of  Nibbàna  only  occurs  after  the  meditator  sees  and  realizes
‘Dependent Origination’ (Pañicca-Samuppàda) and the four Noble
Truths. This supramundane Nibbàna takes patience and effort to
achieve.

It  is  not  impossible  for  laymen  and  laywomen  to  attain  the
supermundane  state  of  Nibbàna.  With  persistent  daily  practice
and by taking an occasional meditation retreat with a competent
guide  who  understands  how  the  “Tranquil  Wisdom  Insight
Meditation” works, even those who live active lives in the world
can still achieve this highest goal.
It was mentioned in the Parinibbàna Sutta, that during the time
of  the  Buddha,  many  more  laymen  and  laywomen  became
saints than the monks and bhikkhunis when they practiced on
a regular basis. The common belief that one must be a ‘monk’ or
‘nun’ in order to reach this goal is just not true. The exhortation
of  the  Buddha  was  for  all  people  who  were  interested  in  the


correct path. He encouraged them to … ‘Ehipassiko’ (a Pàli word
meaning  ‘come  and  see’).  This  is  very  good  advice  because  it
helps  those  who  are  interested  to  get  out  of  their  judgmental,
critical mind and honestly practice to see if this is, in fact, the right
way. (See sutta number 73 The Greater Discourse to Vacchagotta
in the Majjhima Nikàya for confirmation of lay people attaining
Nibbàna).