Stage 3
Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation: Stage Three
In the third stage of this meditation practice we let go of the counting and simply follow the breath as it flows in and out. This is the Mindfulness of Breathing proper, and if I were forced to introduce the Mindfulness of Breathing practice in two minutes then this is what I’d teach — simply paying attention to the sensations of the breath.
However, by saying that I don’t want to devalue the earlier two stages, which are important aids in helping us to practice effectively in this stage of the practice and important practices in their own right.
You can listen to a RealAudio recording that will guide you through the Third Stage of the practice.
A guided meditation CD containing three meditations led by Bodhipaksa is also available in our online store.
And lastly, you can listen to an MP3 version of the meditation described on this page by clicking on the player below:
Bodhipaksa: Mindfulness of Breathing: Stages One to ThreeHere’s an outline of the practice so far:
Stage Zero
Set up your posture, as described in the posture guidelines, developing awareness of the body and relaxing as best you can.
Stage One
Then, becoming aware of the breath as the central experience within the body, begin counting after each out-breath, counting in cycles of ten breaths. When you notice the mind wandering, gently bringing it back to the breath.
Stage Two
Moving into the second stage of the practice, begin counting just before each in-breath, again counting ten breaths before starting over again at one. When you feel ready, move onto the third stage.
Stage Three
In the third stage of the practice, drop the counting, and just follow the breathing coming in and out. Pay particular attention to the transitions from an in-breath to an out-breath, since those are the places where you’re most likely to become distracted.
Comments
Comment from Dino
Time: December 9, 2011, 6:10 pm
Is it just me, or time is very relative when your doing this exercise? I put an alarm on my cell phone for several minutes and they passed in a matter of seconds. I am very interested on your opinion about this matter. Thank you!
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: December 9, 2011, 6:14 pm
Well, as they say, time flies when you’re enjoying yourself. When meditation’s a struggle, time can seem to crawl by, so it’s a good sign that you felt that time was passing quickly.
Comment from Ellen
Time: January 3, 2012, 2:14 pm
Hello Bodhipaksa,
After a period of time of doing stages 1 and 2, I’ve now progressed in the last few days, to stage 3. It has typically taken a fair bit of discipline to meditate for even 30 minutes up to this point…due to body discomfort, restlessness etc. Today I had what felt like a breakthrough experience. I stuck with the counting stages for at least 10 minutes each…and even went back to them after starting stage 3, when I found that I wasn’t anchored firmly enough…then finally achieved enough calmness to feel ready for Stage 3. Fairly soon after beginning stage 3, I began to notice that my hands felt very large, accompanied by a deepening, drifty feeling, but also quite focused…there was a sense of a choice to just let go and let this happen, and that if I did, I would go deeper. I just keep focusing on my breath…this focus felt more and more pleasant and effortless. I had a physical sensation of almost travelling deeper inside myself and becoming very ‘small’ within my physical body which felt more and more like just a ‘field’ of some kind, kind of like a bubble around me. I almost felt like my awareness (basically ‘I’) was like a nucleus in a large spacious cell, and that my body was like the cell membrane with just sort of a fuzzy sensation. It wasn’t that I didn’t have thoughts arising, but I had no difficulty letting them go…the focusing and breathing was much more appealing to me. When my physical sensations and mental processes began to pull me out of this state, I opened my eyes and 50 minutes had passed without so much as a change in position (beyond correcting my posture a bit)…unheard of for me prior to this point. It felt so rewarding! As I’m doing more reading and exploration, I’m hearing terms like ‘access concentration’ and ‘jhanas’…I know very little about these at this point, but am wondering if the experiences I’m describing might possibly fall into either of these categories. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you :)
Comment from Ellen
Time: January 3, 2012, 4:19 pm
Wow! That feels good :) I had been feeling somewhat discouraged for the past week…just seemed like my meditations weren’t feeling very satisfying…felt a fair bit of resistance…so I was questioning myself a fair bit, as has been my lifelong tendency. So this was a good wake-up call to stick with things, and just accept what comes without judgment…without labeling things as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Acceptance seems to be the general theme these days…it seems to be the antidote to struggling. :) Thank you so much for your reply!
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