Instructions on Counting the Breath

Your breath should be light, even, and flowing, like a thin stream of water running through the sand. Your breath should be very quiet, so quiet that a person sitting next to you cannot hear it. Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.

The instant you sit down to meditate, begin watching your breath. At first breathe normally, gradually letting your breathing slow down until it is quiet, even, and the lengths of the breaths fairly long. From the moment you sit down to the moment your breathing has become deep and silent, be conscious of everything that is happening in yourself...

Making your breath calm and even is called the method of following one's breath. If it seems hard at first, you can substitute the method of counting your breath.

• As you breathe in, count 1 in your mind, and as you breathe out, count 1.
• Breath in, count 2. Breath out, count 2.
• Continue through 10, then return to 1 again.