Exercise 03: Oneness of Body and Mind

'Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body, 

Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.'

The third exercise is to bring body and mind into harmony. The element used to bring this about is the breath. In meditation practice, the distinction between body and mind dissolves, and we talk of the oneness of body and mind. In this exercise, the object of our mindfulness is no longer simply the breath, but the whole body itself, as it is unified with the breath.

Some practitioners and commentators, because they attach too much importance to the realization of states of concentration of the Four Form Dhyanas and the Four Formless Dhyanas (Pali: Jhanas),ll have explained the term "whole body" to mean the "whole breath body" and not the physical body of the practitioner. The Patisambhida Magga, Vimutti Magga, and Visuddhi Magga, all well-known commentaries, tell us to concentrate on the tip of our nose, the place where the air enters and goes out from the body, as we breathe. We are not told to follow our breath into our body, because the commentators fear that our body may be too large an object for us to concentrate on. This kind of reasoning has led the commentators to interpret the word "body" (kaya) in the sutra as "breath body." But as we read the sutra, we see that the practice of being mindful of the whole "breath body" was already dealt with in the second exercise: "Breathing in a long breath, he knows, 'I am breathing in a long breath.' Breathing out a short breath, he knows, 'I am breathing out a short breath.'" Why then do we need to repeat this exercise?

The first four exercises of the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing (Anapanasati) teach us to focus our attention on the body, so it is natural for the third exercise in the Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (Satipatthana) also to focus on the full awareness of the physical body. Nowhere in either sutra are we taught to concentrate on the breath at the tip of the nose. Nowhere are we taught that we should not concentrate on the whole physical body.

In recent times, the Burmese meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw taught the method of being attentive to the inflation and contraction of the abdomen caused by the in-breath and the out-breath. Using this method, the practitioner can realize concentration easily, but it is not described by the Mahasi as a method of awareness of breathing. The basic reason for doing this practice, according to the Mahasi, is that understanding (prajiia) arises naturally when there is concentration. Perhaps the reason Mahasi Sayadaw does not describe this method as a practice of awareness of breathing is because of traditional prejudice that conscious breathing should not follow the breath into the body and down into the abdomen.

Here it may be useful to say something about the purpose of concentration. "Right Concentration" (samyaksamadhi), one stage of the Noble Eightfold Path, leads to an awareness and deep observation of the object of concentration, and eventually to awakened understanding. The Pali compound word samathavipassana (Sanskrit: shamatha-vipashyana) means "stopping-observing," "calming-illuminating," or "concentrating-understanding."

There are also states of concentration that encourage the practitioner to escape from the complexities of suffering and existence, rather than face them directly in order to transform them. These can be called "wrong concentration." The Four Form Dhyanas and the Four Formless Dhyanas are states of meditational concentration which the Buddha practiced with teachers such as Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, and he rejected them as not leading to liberation from suffering. These states of concentration probably found their way back into the sutras around two hundred years after the Buddha passed into mahaparinirvana. The results of these concentrations are to hide reality from the practitioner, so we can assume that they should not be considered Right Concentration. To dwell in these concentrations for a duration of time for the sake of healing may be one thing, but to escape in them for a long time is not what the Buddha recommended. 

In the third exercise, the practitioner uses his or her breathing to bring body and mind together as one, so the object of concentration is simultaneously body, mind, and breath. This condition, known as "oneness of body and mind," is one of total integration. In our daily lives, we often find our mind and our body separated. Our body may be here, while our mind is somewhere else, perhaps lost in the distant past or floating in a distant future. Through mindfulness, we can realize the oneness of body and mind, and we are able to restore the wholeness of ourselves. In this condition, every practice will take us back to the source, which is the oneness of body and mind, and we open to a real encounter with life.

When body and mind are one, the wounds in our hearts, minds, and bodies begin to heal. As long as there is separation between body and mind, these wounds cannot heal. During sitting meditation, the three elements of breath, body, and mind are calmed, and gradually they become one. When peace is established in one of the three elements, the other two will soon have peace also. For example, if the body is in a very stable position and all the muscles and the nervous system are relaxed, then the mind and breath are immediately influenced, and they too gradually become calmed. Similarly, if we practice conscious breathing in the right way, our breathing becomes more regular, calm, and harmonious with every moment and this regularity, calmness, and harmony of the breathing will spread to our body and mind, and the body and mind will benefit from it. It is only by these kinds of processes that the oneness of body and mind will be achieved. When there is oneness of body and mind, the breathing serves as "harmonizer," and we realize peace, joy, and ease, the first fruits of meditation practice.

~From Transformation and Healing by Thich Nhat Hanh