Breathe in; breathe out!

ONLY Breath



Not Christian or Jew or Muslim,

not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural
system.



I am not from the East or the West,

not out of the ocean

or up from the ground,

not natural or ethereal,

not composed of elements at all.



I do not exist,

am not an entity in this world

or the next,

did not decend from Adam or Eve

or any origin story.



My place is placeless,

a trace of the traceless.



Neither body or soul.



I belong to the beloved,

have seen the two worlds as one

and that one call to and know,

first, last, outer, inner,

only that breath breathing human being.



from "The Essential Rumi" translations

by Coleman Barks"


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to feel the movement of breath/life within you....is this not joy! Is this not paradise enough?
And if not, what might joy be?

Meditation on one's breath enables one to remain grounded and centered in the face of all life's challenges! Whatever difficulty one encounters, one simply breathes through it!

Breath warrior: meditating on one's breath is like shielding oneself with the armor of God!
Focusing on one's breath brings one's awareness into the present moment ...,wch after all is the only moment that we can ever be assured of!
All we ever really have is our current breath!

Give me a firm place to stand and I will shift the world
--Archimedes
We each have such a place!
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Are You Looking For Me? (Kabir Poem in 4 Different Translations)

"The Kabir Book -- Forty-Four of the Ecstatic Poems of Kabir",
Robert Bly:

Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine
rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding
around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but
vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me
instantly --
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.

"Kabir -- Songs of the Divine",
Jagessar Das:

Seeker! Why do you seek me?
I am already with you.
You will not find me in pilgrimages or idols,
Nor in isolated retreats and withdrawals.
You will not find me in temple or mosque,
Nor in what you call holy cities and sacred mountains.
You will not find me in recitations or austerities,
Nor in the observances of fasts and deprivations.
You will not find me in rites and rituals,
Nor in yoga and renunciations.
You will not find me in air or matter,
Nor in the vast expanse of space.
You will not find me,
Inside the void of meditation.
You will find me,
In the breath within all breaths.
Seek me there,
And you will find me instantly,
As immediately as the blink of an eye.
Kabir says, "Friends listen!
I am wherever you are."

This one is from "Says Kabir...
A Collection of One Hundred and Ten Poems of Kabir,"
Sushila Mahajan:

Where do you look for me, dear?
I am closer than close to you.

Neither in temple-mosque am I,
nor in Kaba-Kailash,
nor in rituals, nor in yoga-ways.

Neither in goat-sheep am I,
nor in axe-knife,
nor in skin-tail,
nor in flesh and bone.

He who yearns, finds at once,
far from the crowd,
I live in a quiet refuge.

Listen to me in the void, says Kabir,
in between all the breaths.

"Songs of Kabir",
Rabindranath Tagore:

O SERVANT, where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am inside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque:
I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies,
nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker,
thou shalt at once see Me:
thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."

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Always Remember To Be Who You Are

Absorbed in the Breath
Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
Jhana means to be absorbed or focused in a single object, as when we deal with the breath.

THE FIRST JHANA has five factors: (a) Directed thought: Think of the breath until you can recognize it clearly without getting distracted. (b) Singleness of object: Keep the mind with the breath. Don’t let it stray after other objects. Watch over your thoughts so that they deal only with the breath until the breath becomes comfortable. (The mind becomes one, at rest with the breath.) (c) Evaluation: Let this comfortable breath sensation spread and coordinate with the other breath sensations in the body. Let these breath sensations spread until they all flow together. Once the body has been soothed by the breath, feelings of pain will grow calm. The body will be filled with good breath energy. These three qualities must be brought to bear on the same stream of breathing for the first jhana to arise. This stream of breathing can then take you all the way to the fourth jhana. Directed thought, singleness of object, and evaluation act as the causes. When the causes are ripe, results will appear. (d) Rapture: a compelling sense of fullness and refreshment for body and mind, going straight to the heart, independent of all else. (e) Pleasure: physical ease arising from the body’s being still and unperturbed; mental contentment arising from the mind’s being at ease on its own, unperturbed, serene, and exultant. Rapture and pleasure are the results. The factors of the first jhana thus come down to two sorts: causes and results.

As rapture and pleasure grow stronger, the breath becomes more subtle. The longer you stay focused, the more powerful the results become. This enables you to set directed thought and evaluation (the preliminary ground-clearing) aside, and—relying completely on a single factor, singleness of object—you enter the second jhana.

THE SECOND JHANA has three factors: rapture, pleasure, and singleness of object. Rapture and pleasure become stronger in the second jhana because they rely on a single cause, singleness of object, which looks after the work from here on in: focusing on the breath so that it becomes more and more refined, keeping steady and still with a sense of refreshment and ease for both body and mind. The mind is even more stable and intent than before. As you continue focusing, rapture and pleasure grow stronger and begin to pulsate. Continue focusing on the breath, moving the mind deeper to a more subtle level to escape the motions of rapture and pleasure, and you enter the third jhana.

THE THIRD JHANA has two factors: pleasure and singleness of object. The body is quiet, motionless, and solitary. No feelings of pain arise to disturb it. The mind is solitary and still. The breath is refined, free flowing, and broad. A radiance—white, like cotton wool—pervades the entire body, stilling all feelings of physical and mental discomfort. The breath fills the body. Mindfulness fills the body.

Focus on in: The mind is bright and powerful, the body is light. Feelings of pleasure are still. Your sense of the body feels steady and even, with no slips or gaps in your awareness, so you can let go of your sense of pleasure. Singleness of object, the cause, has the strength to focus more heavily down, taking you to the fourth jhana.

THE FOURTH JHANA has two factors: equanimity and singleness of object, or mindfulness—solid, stable, and sure. The breath property is absolutely quiet and still, free of ripples and gaps, like an ocean free of currents or waves. The mind, neutral and still, lets go of all preoccupations with past and future. The present is neutral and still. This is true singleness of object, focused on the unperturbed stillness of the breath. All aspects of the breath energy in the body connect so that you can breathe through every pore. You don’t have to breathe through the nostrils because the in-and-out breath and the other aspects of the breath in the body form a single, unified whole—even and full. Mindfulness and alertness converge into one, giving rise to great energy that can dispel all inner darkness.

From Keeping the Breath in Mind, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

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Extricating oneself from the snares of illusion

Vast and vicious is the maze of illusions
whose intricate tentacles suck us dry



<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< The life/soul of the body is the breath!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Breathe


by Marie Bennett

from "Worship"



This is the air I breathe

This is the air I breathe

Your Holy presence living in me

This is my daily bread

This is my daily bread

Your very Word spoken to me



And I'm desperate for You

And I'm lost/dead without You

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To those who say "when there's nothing left but breathing , there's not much quality left,.." let them try to live without breathing.
To those who say "one ought to want more out of life than simply breathing..".they have not realized all that breathing has to offer!  There is no greater treasure!