Description

Breath meditation, the practice of centering the mind, teaches the liberation of the mind, not as a mind-boggling theory, but as a very basic skill that starts with being mindful of your breath and breathing. The best way I have learned to properly meditate, was through the path of breath meditation. If you let the breath follow its own nature, and the mind its own nature, the results of your practice will without a doubt be all that you hope for.

The practice of centering the mind can be compared to building a house:
Momentary concentration is like a house roof made of straw, threshold concentration a house roofed with tile and fixed penetration, a house built out of brick The nature of the heart, if it is not trained, will start to have negative thoughts, which in return causes stress and harmful thinking. That is why we need a principle to train ourselves that embodies happiness and is stable and secure.

These teachings are from the works of Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo: Keeping the Breath in Mind & Lessons in Samadhi (1906 – 1961), he is one of Thailand’s most renowned teachers of Buddhist meditation. I have created an abbreviated version to suit the western lifestyle, but the methods and principles remain the same. Ajaan Lee was a forest monk – he preferred to live in seclusion and made meditation his focus – so his teachings grew out of personal, practical experience, but also relating those experiences to standard Buddhist doctrine.