NOTES AND INTRODUCTION
This is a small collection of information about anapana meditation, mainly from Nan Huaijin's
books. Anapanasmrti (mindfulness of breathing) is a meditation method for transforming the
mind and body. This practice is common to Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism
(including Chan / Zen and Tiantai / Tendai), Esoteric Buddhism, and Daoism.
Most of the books attributed to Nan Huaijin were actually recorded from his lectures and then
transcribed into Chinese and published by students. Only a few of these books have been
translated into English. But since they come originally from lectures, the material is not always
presented in a very systematic way. This is my attempt to collect information about anapana
meditation in one place for easy reference, and was originally just a compilation made for
myself, to help me understand the different aspects of practice.
BOOKS BY NAN HUAIJIN THAT DISCUSS ANAPANA MEDITATION
ISBN 087728542X - Tao & Longevity: Mind-Body Transformation
ISBN 0877287766 - Working Toward Enlightenment: The Cultivation of Practice
ISBN 087728802X - To Realize Enlightenment: Practice of the Cultivation Path
(Not Published) - The Conversations of Nan Huai-chin and Peter Senge
TIANTAI SCHOOL BREATHING CLASSIFICATIONS REFERENCE
喘 (Pinyin: Chuǎn, English: Panting): Short, rapid breathing in the lungs
風 (Pinyin: Fēng, English: Wind): Normal, unhurried breathing
氣 (Pinyin: Qì, English: Energy): Deep, quiet, subtle and inaudible breathing
息 (Pinyin: Xī, English: Rest): Stillness or rest, breathing cannot be sensed
EKOTTARA AGAMA SUTRA: THE BUDDHA TEACHES HIS SON RAHULA ANAPANA
MEDITATION
Rahula rose from his seat and went to the Exalted One's whereabouts. On his arrival, he bowed
down his head at the Exalted One's feet and sat down at one side. Presently, he rose again and
asked the Exalted One: How does one practice mindfulness of breathing, abandon false
thoughts and overcome all sorrow? How does one obtain as sublime result the taste of
deathlessness?
The Exalted One replied: well said, well said, Rahula! You are indeed capable of asking this
question and thereby "roaring the lion's roar" in front of the Tathagata: How does one practice
mindfulness of breathing, abandon false thoughts and overcome all sorrow? How does one
obtain as sublime result the taste of deathlessness? Now, Rahula, listen attentively and take
heed. The time has come for me to elucidate and give you details.
Just so, Exalted One, replied Rahula. While Venerable Rahula joined his hands as a token of
reverence to receive the Exalted One's Teaching, he was given the following instruction:
A monk intent on a quiet, secluded and really lonely place goes there, sits down cross-legged
and straightens body and mind. Concentrating on the tip of his nose without letting mental
proliferation arise, he breathes out a long breath and is fully aware of it; breathing in a long
breath, he is fully aware of it; breathing out a short breath, he is fully aware of it; breathing in a
short breath, he is fully aware of it; breathing out a cool breath, he is fully aware of it; breathing
in a cool breath, he is fully aware of it; breathing out a warm breath, he is fully aware of it;
breathing in a warm breath, he is fully aware of it. He contemplates the whole bodily process of
inhaling and exhaling and is fully aware of everything. When there is breathing he is fully aware
of its presence, and when there is no breathing, he is fully aware of its absence. In the event of
breathing out conditioned by the mind, he is fully aware of it; and in the event of breathing in
conditioned by the mind, he is fully aware of it. In this way, Rahula, one can practice
mindfulness of breathing and thereby abandon all thoughts of aversion and confusion,
overcome all sorrow and thus obtain the taste of deathlessness as sublime result.
NAN HUAIJIN TEACHES ANAPANA MEDITATION (FROM TO REALIZE ENLIGHTENMENT,
6-7)
After you sit down to meditate, it is first best to cultivate "wind" (the coarse form of breathing)
while holding your hands in the hai-mu mudra (the Esoteric School's term); this is what is called
the "orchid hand position" in Peking opera. When refining the breath, you must square your
shoulders and let your arms extend straight, with your hands at your pelvic bone (except if they
are too long or too short). Once you extend your arms, your shoulders will naturally straighten,
and your internal organs will also naturally be extended, and then the breath will pervade them
all. Thus, there is no choice but to use this posture.
In the next step, as your nose draws in the breath, your lower abdomen will naturally contract.
The breath fills you to the point where you cannot breathe in anymore, and then you expel the
breath. When you breathe in, it is fine, long, and slow. When you let it out, it is coarse, short,
and fast.
Keep doing this over and over again. When you get filled with breath, you will be able to do it
without thinking. At this point, not many false thoughts will be arising. Later, when the
intermediate level of "breath" is transformed into the most rarefied level of "respiration," your
mental state will spontaneously become peaceful and still. You will feel your nose breathing in
and out in a most rarefied subtle way. In this type of practice you must not separate your
thoughts and your breath: when you breathe in, know you are breathing in, and when you
breathe out, know you are breathing out. When you breathe in a warm breath, know that it is
warm and when you breathe in a cool breath, know that it is cool. Thoughts and breath must be
joined together from beginning to end: you cannot let them separate. If there is a single moment
when you are not aware of your breath, you are already engaged in false thoughts.
Go on practicing like this very, very slowly. When you really reach the point that for a moment
mind and breath are truly joined as one, this is what the cultivation method of the Esoteric
School calls "mind and wind joining." "When mind and wind join as one, then you attain the
freedom of spiritual powers." At this point, it goes without saying that you can rid yourself of
sickness and prolong your lifespan and become rejuvenated.
When you feel mind and breath are synchronized, slowly over time, it will seem that the
breathing has stopped, and that thoughts have been emptied out. Then, even though there are
a few floating gossamer strands of miscellaneous thoughts, they won't interfere with anything.
This is the easiest method for attaining samadhi and the easiest method for realizing the fruit of
enlightenment.
LU DONGBIN'S HUNDRED WORD INSCRIPTION
養氣忘言守，降心為不為。
動靜知宗祖，無事更尋誰。
真常須應物，應物要不迷。
不迷性自住，性住氣自回。
氣回丹自結，壺中配坎離。
陰陽生反覆，普化一聲雷。
白雲朝頂上，甘露灑須彌。
自飲長生酒，逍遙誰得知。
坐聽無弦曲，明通造化機。
都來二十句，端的上天梯。
To nurture the vital energy, keep watch without words
To subdue the mind, act without acting
Recognize the patriarch in movement and stillness
There is nothing to be concerned about: who else are you seeking?
What is true and eternal must respond to beings
To respond to beings you must not be deluded
If you are not deluded, real nature remains by itself
When real nature remains, vital energy returns by itself
When vital energy returns, the elixir spontaneously forms
In the vessel the fire and the water are matched
Yin and yang are born in succession
Universal transformation rolls like thunder
White clouds cover the peak in the morning
Sweet dew sprinkles down on Sumeru
Drink for yourself the wine of immortality
As you roam free, no one will know
Sit and listen to the tune of the zither without strings
Clearly comprehend the working of creation
It's all in these twenty lines
A true ladder straight to heaven
These twenty lines recount the whole process of going from an ordinary person, through
cultivating eternal ageless life, to the point of transcending the realm of ordinary people and
entering the realm of sages. Every line relates both to seeing truth and to meditation work.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 159-160
Nurturing the ch'i, the vital energy, the breath of life, is the true meditation work of cultivating the
breath as it moves in and out that is part of the teaching of the ten forms of mindfulness.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 158
Why can't you [attain samadhi]? It is because you cannot accomplish what is indicated in the
first line [of the Hundred Word Inscription]: "To nurture the vital energy, the ch'i, keep watch
without words." Who can do the work of nurturing the vital energy to the point that there are no
false thoughts at all? Thoughts are very numerous, and though you try to keep watch over them,
you cannot hold them still. You are even less able to accomplish what is indicated in the second
line: "To subdue the mind, act without acting." If you cannot do this, you can't even talk of what
follows.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 160
VARIOUS NAN HUAIJIN QUOTES RELATED TO ANAPANA MEDITATION
Attaining samadhi and remaining quiet in this way, one will feel the breath moving through his
nostrils becoming weaker and weaker until the breath in the lungs nearly stops. The Tan Tien,
which is within the lower abdomen below the navel, will begin to function like the lungs. This is
inner breathing, or the phenomenon of Tai Hsi. Tai is an embryo and Hsi is breath, and thus Tai
Hsi refers to embryonic breathing or breathing like an embryo.
~ Tao & Longevity, 98
It is easiest for those who think too much or have chaotic thoughts to control the mind through
the breath. If one attains samadhi and reflects carefully on the matter, one will discover that the
mind and the breath are interdependent; each depends on the other.
~ Tao & Longevity, 117
The fact that so many of China's eminent monks developed spiritual powers and realized the
fruit of enlightenment is all related to their mindfulness of anapana.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 120
Buddha tells us that the most important thing in cultivating practice is to straighten out our
bodies and make them correct.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 121
If you get no results from sitting in meditation and doing meditation work, ultimately what is the
reason for this? It is because you have not "straightened out your mind and made it correct."
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 122
"Correcting the mind" involves breathing. In Taoism it is the same. In the Taoist Yin
Convergence Scripture there is a line: "Controlling the bird [of thought] is a matter of the breath."
This is an important formula, and it is also a method.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 123
There are many people whose emotions are not good and whose physical bodies are not good:
in reality, the reason is always that their breathing is not good.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 124
Thinking must be matched with breathing: this is called focusing the mind by anapana. How can
you take hold of false thoughts? You must pay attention to your breathing.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 124
If you are able to do quiet sitting "to be aware of all the movements of your breath in and out,"
the result produced will be that your powers of memory will be very good and your brain will be
especially alert.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 125
In our present efforts we do not have enough time to still be fooling around with our legs! There
is not enough time! What is most important is correcting our minds. Any posture will do: when
your meditation work succeeds, your legs will become supple, and you will naturally be able to
sit cross-legged steadily. All you need is for the ch'i to circulate freely in those legs of yours, and
your life span will be extended accordingly.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 128
There is one point you must pay attention to! Your stomach and bowels must be empty during
this practice. The Taoists have a saying: "If you do not want to get old, do not fill your belly. If
you don't want to die, there should be no excrement in your bowels." Of course you still must
take sufficient nourishment. When your bowels and stomach are clean, then it will be easy for
the breath to fill you.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 128
Chinese Buddhism likes to talk about Mahayana, but real Chinese Buddhism is a synthesis of
Mahayana and Hinayana. Moreover, Mahayana has Hinayana as its basis. The methods of
cultivation of the later exoteric and esoteric schools of Buddhism cannot get away from this
basic principle, either. Therefore, I will make a special point of bringing forth the important points
of the ten forms of mindfulness of the Ekottara-Agama Sutra. Before the Sui-T'ang period, those
who studied Buddhism, cultivated the Path, and realized the fruit of enlightenment were
numerous because they emphasized cultivating this aspect. Among the ten forms of
mindfulness, the mindfulness of anapana is the most important.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 131
The Ekottara-Agama Sutra was transmitted to China at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and
the rise of the Three Kingdoms [circa A.D. 220]. In this period, Buddhism emphasized cultivation
of practice. Buddhism was very easily accepted, because once they cultivated its practices,
people got results. [...] Nowadays, on the other hand, people who study Buddhism scarcely
have spiritual powers! All they have are neuroses. If Buddhists today would start with samadhi,
then each and every one of them would have spiritual powers and it wouldn't be anything
special.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 134
From the first step of beginning cultivation, to realizing the fruit and becoming an arhat, and
going beyond to become a buddha, no matter whether Hinayana or Mahayana, none of it
departs from this method of anapana. In the Ekottara-Agama Sutra, by means of Rahula's
report, Buddha has already given us the news. It's just that we have not paid enough attention
to it.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 157
Refining the breath is very important because by refining the breath you can cut off desires and
achieve the stage where you do not let the elixir leak away. By refining the breath, old people
can make their yang energy come back again. Sick people can use this method to get rid of
their ailments, restore their health, and extend their lives. In sum, all the wonders of the
hundreds of thousands of Dharma Gates are all right here in this method.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 161
Knowing whether the breath is cool or warm is the realm of cultivating the ch'i channels. It does
not mean knowing whether the breath is cool or warm in the nose, but inside the body. At this
point, you know where your body is getting warm, and where it is getting cool. This is what the
later generations of the esoteric schools called channels.
~ Working Toward Enlightenment, 177
When all of you do meditation work and cultivate practice without being able to attain samadhi,
the first barrier is the view of the body. The second barrier is that you do not see truth clearly.
The physical body is just a moment of thought. If you cannot transform the physical body,
naturally you will not be able to succeed in attaining samadhi.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 85
The most important factor in life is the wind element. The first necessary condition determining
whether or not we can attain samadhi is that we must attune the wind element in our bodies so
it becomes light and peaceful. The opposite of light and peaceful is coarse and heavy. When we
are doing meditation work and we feel the ch'i channels moving, this is being coarse and heavy.
When we really open up the ch'i channels, then we reach the state where the entire body is light
and peaceful and we spontaneously forget the body. Though the physical body composed of the
four elements still exists, there is no trace of a feeling of any barrier.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 86
In tempering and refining the breath, this "breath" is not the breath that moves in and out
through the nostrils. This method only makes use of this breath, and sets it in motion. It is like
using a match: after the fire is lit, you do not need the match anymore. There is warmth in every
person's body and life, and the body itself also has breath. We must take this and directly
experience it: only then are we doing anapana.
~ To Realize Enlightenment, 184
What the Buddhist sutras didn't elaborate clearly, as was lacking in Tibetan Buddhism and
Taoism literature, is this: the fetus does not breathe through the nose or pores; its life is
sustained by a continuous movement of expansion and contraction, or how energy functions.
The goal of Anapana meditation is to cultivate that "movement," not to cultivate the in-and-out of
the respiratory breathing. This has to be clear from the outset.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 15
During a sitting meditation if one can fill his lower body and then the four limbs with Qi, followed
by the cessation of breathing in the nose, one will then experience the state of Xi.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 18
Mind moves, so the Qi moves. Samadhi is attained only through the union of the mind and Xi.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 19
To be aware of the Xi is to be aware of the interval during which one neither inhales nor
exhales. In the beginning, the interval, or the Xi, is brief. With correct practice, the duration will
gradually extend and the mind will settle down as well. When the mind arises in tandem with the
Xi, you will feel the Qi, that energy, all over your body.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 19
So, when you are practicing just be aware of the length of the in-and-out breathing. Do not pay
attention to the thoughts in your mind. It's like observing a child running around in the room. You
are aware where the child is but you don't go and help him. Also, it's like watching a fish
swimming in the water. You are aware where the fish is but you don't touch it. You continue to
watch the long-and-short, in-and-out of the breathing until it gradually becomes longer and
deeper and finally stops, reaching cessation, or Xi.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 23
When the breathing in the nose stops completely, as if you are reverted to the state of a fetus,
you will then come to know the "Primordial Qi." Genuine Dhyana meditation begins when one
can recognize the Primordial Qi, which will enable one to control this life, and to transform it.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 39
When the mind is absolutely pure and silent, the cessation of Xi can be reached. Your very
attempt to seek cessation of the breathing is a thought in itself. Naturally you cannot reach the
cessation this way. Therefore, the key to cessation of the Xi is the cessation of the mind. It's not
the breathing that's creating the problem.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 56
Don't hang on to any thought when it arises. You only need to remain loosely aware of the flow
of the breath. This is the practice of Anapana. When the mind is completely free from any
noises of thoughts, is completely pure and empty, the Qi will slowly fill up and breathing will
come to a stop on its own. This is the cessation of Xi.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 58
In practicing meditation, your mind has to be cleared of all thoughts and your attention lightly
placed on the breathing. You should remain aware of the breathing all the time, without forcing it
and without any stress. Gradually the breathing will slowly come to a stop until it becomes one
with the mind. This is what a real practice is like. No one can be considered an accomplished
meditator if this level is not reached.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 58
This is to answer your question on how to reach Samadhi through breathing methods. In doing
your practice, do not tie your mind rigidly to the breathing. Only if you want to, then observe the
exhaling only, not the inhaling. A big mistake commonly committed by those practicing Qigong
is to focus on the inhalation and to try to hold on to it. The truth is just the opposite. For correct
practice, one should pay attention to the exhalation, if only for improving the health of the body
and mind. The more one releases, the more one relaxes. This is the best practice.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 59
The real secret practice common to all Buddhist schools, be that Zen or Tantric, is the practice
of Anapana.
~ Nan Huaijin and Peter Senge, 95
