"Breathing is a means of awakening and maintaining full attention in order to look carefully, long, and deeply, see the nature of all things, and arrive at liberation," says Thich Nhat Hanh in this 20th anniversary edition of his book on the Buddha's exercises of conscious breathing. The bestselling author is a Zen master and spiritual teacher who leads retreats on the art of mindful living. His interpretation of the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing is divided into seven ways to practice:
• Following the Breath in Daily Life
• Awareness of the Body
• Realizing the Unity of Body and Mind
• Nourishing Ourselves with Joy and Happiness
• Observing Our Feelings
• Caring For and Liberating the Mind
• Looking Deeply in Order to Shed Light on the True Nature of All Dharmas
Thich Nhat Hanh is especially helpful in providing practice suggestions for the awareness and care of our bodies. Here's a simple verse to use:
"Experiencing my body, I breathe in.
Smiling to my body, I breathe out.
Calming my body, I breathe in.
Smiling to my body, I breathe out."
We are used to ignoring and often taking our bodies for granted. Thich Nhat Hanh would have us nurture them:
"The hairs on your head may seem ordinary, but each hair is an ambassador of truth. Please receive the credentials of your hair. Observe them well and discover every message that each hair sends to you. According to the principle of interpenetration, each hair contains all the information of the cosmos. Are your eyes unimportant? Of course not. They are the windows that open up onto the miracle of reality. Don't neglect anything. Look deeply, and you will see."
The spiritual practices in this paperback enable us to make the most of the Buddha's exercises of conscious breathing.
