The Advantages of the Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation
From the Diipa Sutta (the Discourse on the Lamp), SN 54.8
"… I too, monks, before my awakening, when I was an unawakened
bodhisatta, frequently remained with this abiding. When I
frequently remained with this abiding, neither my body was fatigued
nor were my eyes, and my mind, through lack of clinging/sustenance,
was released from fermentations.
"So if a monk should wish: 'May neither my body be fatigued nor
my eyes, and may my mind, through lack of clinging/sustenance, be
released from fermentations,' then he should attend carefully to
this same concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May my memories & resolves related
to the household life be abandoned,' then he should attend
carefully to this same concentration through mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I remain percipient of
loathsomeness in the presence of what is not loathsome,' then he
should attend carefully to this same concentration through
mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I remain percipient of
unloathsomeness in the presence of what is loathsome,' then he
should attend carefully to this same concentration through
mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I remain percipient of
loathsomeness in the presence of what is not loathsome & what
is,' then he should attend carefully to this same concentration
through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I remain percipient of
unloathsomeness in the presence of what is loathsome & what is
not,' then he should attend carefully to this same concentration
through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I — in the presence of what is
loathsome & what is not — cutting myself off from both — remain
equanimous, mindful, & alert,' then he should attend carefully
to this same concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I — quite secluded from sensuality,
secluded from unskillful qualities — enter & remain in the
first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion,
accompanied by directed thought & evaluation,' then he should
attend carefully to this same concentration through mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the stilling of directed
thoughts & evaluations, enter & remain in the second jhana:
rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of
awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal
assurance,' then he should attend carefully to this same
concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish, 'May I, with the fading of rapture,
remain equanimous, mindful, & alert, sense pleasure with the
body, and enter & remain in the third jhana, of which the noble
ones declare, "Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant
abiding,"' then he should attend closely to this very same
concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish, 'May I, with the abandoning of pleasure
& pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation &
distress — enter & remain in the fourth jhana: purity of
equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain,' then he
should attend closely to this very same concentration through
mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the complete transcending
of perceptions of (physical) form, with the disappearance of
perceptions of resistance, and not heeding perceptions of
diversity, (perceiving,) 'Infinite space,' enter & remain in
the dimension of the infinitude of space,' then he should attend
carefully to this same concentration through mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the complete transcending
of the dimension of the infinitude of space, (perceiving,)
'Infinite consciousness,' enter & remain in the dimension of
the infinitude of consciousness,' then he should attend carefully
to this same concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the complete transcending
of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, (perceiving,)
'There is nothing,' enter & remain in the dimension of
nothingness,' then he should attend carefully to this same
concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the complete transcending
of the dimension of nothingness, enter & remain in the
dimension of neither perception nor non-perception,' then he should
attend carefully to this same concentration through mindfulness of
in-&-out breathing.
"If a monk should wish: 'May I, with the complete transcending
of the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, enter
& remain in the cessation of perception & feeling,' then he
should attend carefully to this same concentration through
mindfulness of in-&-out breathing.
"When concentration through mindfulness of in-&-out
breathing is thus developed, thus pursued, then if he senses a
feeling of pleasure, he discerns that it is inconstant, not grasped
at, not relished. If he senses a feeling of pain, he discerns that
it is inconstant, not grasped at, not relished. If he senses a
feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he discerns that it is
inconstant, not grasped at, not relished. If he senses a feeling of
pleasure, he senses it disjoined from it. If he senses a feeling of
pain, he senses it disjoined from it. If he senses a feeling of
neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it disjoined from it. When
sensing a feeling limited to the body, he discerns that 'I am
sensing a feeling limited to the body.' When sensing a feeling
limited to life, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling limited
to life.' He discerns that 'With the break-up of the body, after
the termination of life, everything that is experienced, not being
relished, will grow cold right here.'
"Just as an oil lamp burns in dependence on oil & wick; and
from the termination of the oil & wick — and from not being
provided any other sustenance — it goes out unnourished; in the
same way, when sensing a feeling limited to the body, he discerns
that 'I am sensing a feeling limited to the body.' When sensing a
feeling limited to life, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling
limited to life.' He discerns that 'With the break-up of the body,
after the termination of life, everything that is sensed, not being
relished, will grow cold right here.'"
- The Buddha, in the the Diipa Sutta, SN 54.8