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Anapanasati FAQ - 1
We have received various email inquiries about
Anapanasati. Some of the questions & our responses
are included here.

How important is posture?

How often and for how long should we meditate?

What is the best time of day for meditation?

Do you encourage a deep in-breath on every breath?

What kind of time frame there is for completion of step 0?

Am I correct in remembering that each step is indeed a conscious
step?
I have been noticing that I cannot just fall into the 'natural
rhythm' of my breath, and watch it as it occurs automatically.
Instead, I seem to have a difficult time disengaging my Will from
the process.
When certain feeling bodily arises, if it is not too intense, I can
still fix my mind on the breathe. But what do I do if it become too
intense?

Do you have any advice for when I feel my head pounding

while bowing after sitting meditation (or any other uncomfortable
experiences such as getting dizzy upon arising from sitting)?

How important is posture?

Good posture helps a lot, but a practice of non-attachment
should not get too wrapped up in it. With time, and help from
yoga asana (for example), gradually adjust to and develop a
good posture, whether one sits on the floor, uses a kneeler, or
sits on a chair.
The main thing is to find a healthy balance between being
relaxed and comfortable, on one hand, and sitting up straight,
on the other. Slouching interferes with the breathing and
natural flow of energy within the body. Forcing an upright
posture creates tension. Neither are beneficial or pleasant.
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It may be necessary to accept that we haven't taken very good

care of our bodies over the years and that some pain and
discomfort is the price for that negligence. Don't torture
yourself and don't pamper yourself. learn and let go.

How often and for how long should we meditate?

Like most things, it depends. Fixed, one-size fits all answers
don't usually help much.

A general rule of thumbs is that most people will have a fair

amount of progress, keep learning, and deepen their practice
with a regular hour of meditation each day. The hour may be
divided between one or two sessions, depending on personal
circumstances.
Of course, some may not be able to manage that much.
Appreciate what opportunities one has & make the most of
them.

What is the best time of day for meditation?

Again, it depends on the details of your life. Many of us enjoy
meditating first thing in the morning, or after some loosening
up with yoga. The mind is generally rested & fresh, has plenty
of energy. As Tan Ajarn put it, "our tea cup hasn't overflowed
yet."
Towards the end of the day is another favorite, as it helps us
process & let go of whatever may be troubling us from the day's
experiences. Better to recognize & let go of the stuff, than let
it mess up our sleep.
Nonetheless, the "best time" is any time that we are able to do
a little meditation. This includes the many minutes scattered
throughout the day that we spend waiting for somebody to pick
up the phone, waiting in line, etc. Better to wit on the
breathing rather than impatiently

Do you encourage a deep in-breath on every breath, or just at the

beginning of a meditation session? How do you encourage a deep in-
breath without forcing or controlling?
Personally, I (skb) like to start with intentionally deeper
breathing -- but not forced -- to loosen up the body and focus
the mind. Later, it's deeper by itself.
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While deeper or longer breathes may involve some intention,

at times, the intention need not be heavy or forced. Work with
the body & breathing as they are, not as you want them to be.
Play around. Make deeper breathing a game rather than a goal.

I follow the breath at the tip of my nose, and return each time I'm
distracted. I've always wondered what kind of time frame there is
for completion of step 0 (or attaining an unfaltering and continuous
awareness of breathing). On a good day I can stay with the breath
for 3 to 5 breaths without being pulled away. Most books I've read
suggest months to weeks for gaining continuous awareness of
breath. Recently I've been experiencing the long breathings effect
of the body more clearly.
I am wary of fixing numbers or lengths of time on meditation
practice. They can be OK as rough guidelines, but should not be
taken more seriously than that. Also, not so useful to compare
the experiences of one meditator w/ another until the whole
system & its dynamics are thoroughly understood.

"Attaining an unfaltering and continuous awareness of

breathing" may be asking too much. Did we teach you that at
Suan Mokkh? Or is it in one of our books? If so, it can be taken
as an ideal, but practice needs to be reasonable & realistic. I
advise meditators to start exploring the long breaths as soon as
they can "pretty well" stay with the breathing and fairly well
aware of it. The mind may be wandering off a bit, but still one
comes back to the breath readily and quickly.

Btw, "Lesson 0" is my (skb) own terminology, not the Buddha's

or Tan Ajarn's. I know think I overdid the emphasis on it 5 or 7
years ago. Sorry about that ;)

Some teachers seem to teach Anapanasati differently than the way I

think that it was taught at Suan Mokkh. Am I correct in
remembering that each step is indeed a conscious step? That is, "I
breathe long breath, I know that I am breathing long breath, I
breathe short breath, I know that I am breathing short breath"? This
seems to be a linear approach.
Yes, Tan Ajarn suggests practicing in a step-by-step, systematic
way. Other teachers -- for example, Thich Nhat Hahn & Larry
Rosenburg -- take a more freestyle approach. I would use the
word "intentional" here to express that Tan Ajarn felt one
should know what one is practicing and choose it with
awareness and intelligence. However, don't let the Sutta's
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wording mislead one to think that "I" am aware of the breathing

or "I" am breathing.

To approach the lessons step-by-step, one at a time, &

systematically fit Tan Ajarns's understanding and personality. (It
may not fit everyone's.) This approach makes it easier to notice
when one is distracted and may decrease the tendency some of
us have to wander around on whims or due to boredom. He
also thought it was a more comprehensive approach, better
suited to fulfilling all the lessons well. Don't forget: the
purpose of anapanasati is the quenching of dukkha through
letting go of all attachment to "I" and "mine." Developing the
"Dhamma tools" needed to experience and contemplate the
vipassana of the last four lessons (experience not technique)
doesn't happen by wandering around.

What are the benefits to setting each stage versus letting it come
naturally and noticing? I guess my reason for asking is because I
have such a hard time consciously forcing the short breath. I want
to get away as quickly as possible from it. Is that part of the gig,
watching the aversion? What do you suggest?
No need to force it! Nudge it, encourage it, play with it, but no
need to force. Of course, trying forcing a while and notice the
tension created. Relax, take it easy, and notice the difference.
But the breath keeps changing and the mind can influence the
direction the change takes.

The long (deep, easy-going, relaxed, healthy) breath is the

main thing. Short breaths are more for comparison; don't get
hung up on them.
Anyway, you can't really force any of the lessons. You can't do
them until the reality which they work with has happened,
i.e., the piti of lesson 5 or the impermanence of lesson 13.

You can't just leap to a lesson (step) because you want to. Each
requires a fair amount of proficiency in the previous lesson.
That is, if we aren't able to calm the breathing (4), there won't
be much or any rapture to work with in 5.

What does it mean to "let a step come naturally"? Does one just
slide into it? Then, is one really mindful?

Recently in my meditations (anapanasati), I have been noticing that I

cannot just fall into the 'natural rhythm' of my breath, and watch it as it
occurs autonomically. Instead, I seem to have a difficult time disengaging
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my Will from the process. I notice this because my breath seems forced. My
questions are these: 1)Is this a problem? and 2) If it is, can anyone offer
suggestions for solving it?
Not, I think, a facile question. Although this is extremely
common in anapanasati practice, and perhaps all forms of
meditation, it also leads us to explore what attachment is all
about. So both very common and very important.
1) In the early stages of practice it isn't really a problem. When
the mind is distracted, busy, confused, dull & sluggish, or
whatever, the main task is just to keep attention on the
breathing. That the mind will end up controlling the breathing
at the same time is of secondary importance. However, as the
mind is able to stay w/ the breathing more consistently, the
control of the breathing -- in other words, clinging to the
breathing -- is increasingly in the way. Notice the sense of "I
who am breathing" or "I who am observing the breathing."
Notices how this "I" is trying for something, has some goal or
objective, and consequently clings & controls to get it.

2) I don't know of any magic bullets. Rather, one (the mind)

catches oneself (the mind) controlling the breathing in one way
or another; then, ease up & let go of that control. Part of the
mastery of meditation is learning how to do this through one's
own experience = trial & error. In the past, when this sort of
thing sometimes drove me crazy, I found it useful to take my
attention off of the breathing for a minute or two by listening
to a natural sound like the wind in the trees or birds singing.
This gave the breath a chance to go back to its "natural"
(unwatched) rhythm. Then I would bring attention back to the
breath & try to notice how it was just then. Later, when the
controlling took over again -- sometimes very quickly -- I would
repeat the process. W/ time, I started to learn the difference
between "just breathing" and "breathing with a breather."

When certain feeling bodily arises, if it is not too intense, I can still
fix my mind on the breathe. But what do I do if it become too
intense? For example, if a mosquito come and sting my finger, a
very intense sensation arises. I am use to diverting my attention to
the feeling and take the sensation as an object of meditation. But
in anapanasati proper, how do I manage such a situation?
Since the main thing is SATI (mindfulness), that some feelings
enter into awareness is just part of life and that some of these
are strong enough to grab our attention is also part of life.
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What we do about these events is a matter of choice,

experience, and wisdom. I don't think that there is one single
proper response.

If we are working with Anapanasati systematically -- one lesson

at a time -- such an intense feeling (or memory, thought,
whatever) may seem like a distraction. But that is probably
more of a judgment than a reality. It is more like a perch
(arammana) for consciousness, an experience, and an
attachment. So the question becomes, what to do so that it
isn't a problem (= attachment) any more.

Focusing direct attention on the source of the feeling -- the

mosquito bite is not the feeling itself -- is one approach.
Contemplate the feeling & its components -- itchiness,
discomfort, whatever -- until the attachment dissolves. Btw,
drawing on some recent models in cognitive science one might
recognize that the feeling is co-dependently originated among
skin, nerves, consciousness, and memory (at least).

Another approach is to stay with the breathing -- as far as

intention goes -- yet note as the intensity of the feeling pushes
in & later subsides. Note the mind's tendency to react to the
sensation & its unpleasant feeling (dukkha-vedana). Come back
to the breathing as a way to let go of that tendency & other
reactions.

If this episode has gotten in the way of whichever lesson one

was working on, it may be necessary to start over with lesson
one. If one was able to carry on w/ that lesson, then no need to
start over.

Do you have any advice for when I feel my head pounding while
bowing after sitting meditation (or any other uncomfortable
experiences such as getting dizzy upon arising from sitting)?
Trying ending your meditation as follows:

open eyes slowly, blink until vision is comfortable, look around slowly;
gently massage legs, then slowly stretch them;

when you feel full present in the room & in your body, back to "normal"
awareness, then do the bows gently & comfortably;

or skip the bows, if you prefer, then arise patiently.

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Source: http://www.suanmokkh.org/archive/aps/aps-faq1.htm