BREATH COUNTING TO BLOCK HINDRANCES

BREATH COUNTING TO BLOCK HINDRANCES

Breathe in and out. Then count ,"One."
Breathe in and out. Then count ,"Two."
Breathe in and out. Then count ,"Three."

Go on counting this way up to ten. Then count down from ten to one. Count up from one to nine and back down. Count up to eight and back to one. then count up to seven and back to one. Continue decreasing the maximum number until you get to one.Then stay with one for a couple of seconds.

When you do this kind of counting, hindrances interfere. They take your mind away from the calculation. As soon as you realize that you are distracted, return to the counting.

When you have returned, maybe you have forgotten what number you last counted. Or maybe you don't remember whether you were counting in ascending order or descending order. Suppose you were distracted when you were at six. When you return, you don't remember whether you should go from six to seven or six to five.

Just start over. With kindness towards yourself, gently reprimand yourself. Make yourself repeat the entire counting all over again from the very beginning. When this happens to you a few times, you become determined not to let your mind go here and there. Then the mind stays on your breathing you defeat Mara. Stop when you have full confidence in yourself and in your practice. Then go back to your normal meditation exercise.