The Teaching of Ajahn Chah

 The Teaching of Ajahn Chah

The practice of concentrating our attention on the in-and out-breath is an example of a type of meditation which is suitable for us all. It seems that when we go around doing various different practices, we don’t feel so good. But as soon as we sit and observe our breath we have a good feeling, we can see it clearly. There’s no need to go looking far away, we can use what is close to us and this will be better for us. Just watch the breath. It goes out and comes in, out and in – we watch it like this. For a long time we keep watching our breathing in and out and slowly our mind settles. Other activity will arise but we feel like it is distant from us. Just like when we live apart from each other and don’t feel so close anymore. We don’t have the same strong contact anymore or perhaps no contact at all. 

When we have a feeling for this practice of mindfulness of breathing, it becomes easier. If we keep on with this practice, we gain experience and become skilled at knowing the nature of the breath. We’ll know what it’s like when it’s long and what it’s like when it’s short.

We can talk about the food of the breath. While sitting or walking we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while awake we breathe. If we don’t breathe, then we die. If we think about it we see that we exist only with the help of food. If we don’t eat ordinary food for ten minutes, an hour or even a day, it doesn’t matter. This is a coarse kind of food. However, if we don’t breathe for even a short time we’ll die. If we don’t breathe for five or ten minutes we will be dead. Try it!

~ Ajahn Chah