Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 32-minute teaching, Choedak walks through the foundational technique of calm abiding meditation, with sustained emphasis on the body as the basis for practice. He opens by describing the clarity and stillness that arise after mindfulness of breath practice, then shifts to the critical role of physical posture: spending ten to fifteen minutes each session attending to spinal alignment, leg position, and hand gesture. The hands in equilibrium teach balance; the upright back teaches awareness and energy; the stable legs teach steadiness—each becomes an internal meditation instruction. He addresses common obstacles like drowsiness and restlessness by returning to the body rather than forcing the mind, stressing that the body, when listened to kindly, becomes an ally. Only after this foundation does he introduce breath work: first noting full breath cycles, then dividing inhalation, retention, and exhalation into three phases each, then counting rounds (one to seven, one to fourteen, one to twenty-one) at the inhalation point, and finally moving the count point to exhalation to balance awareness. He emphasizes balanced breathing as healing elemental imbalance and introduces the mathematical possibility of seven thousand two hundred positive thoughts in twenty-four hours through mindful breathing. The timeframe for achievement is six to seven months minimum: weeks one to three on posture, weeks four to eight on breath, and only then moving to external objects of meditation. Suited for serious practitioners beginning a formal calm abiding practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 TtT.mp3
UUID: baa90bf1-c328-43b7-bcbe-b51af5caf9ad
Teacher: Choedak
Collection: Calm Abiding (Choedak)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~4,948
It very well in the meditation after watching the rounds of breath just as we said. The benefit is enormous, not only in the meditation. You really felt that that was so sharp and and lucid mind. Your mind is like sparkling clean. As a result of that, everything that you expose yourself to post meditation becomes completely a different picture.
An insight is there. An insight. Meaning, usually, we have an outside. We have a perception of the outside, and we have no inside. But now, the every reality manifests as a bare minimum.
You know? Barest minimum. None of this none of the labels that we usually associate with reality manifest themselves with them because they have dropped away. They no longer is there because mind is is isn’t projecting them anymore, You know? Because of that, the post meditation perception of those people who have done the mindfulness breathing are also so conscious about what meaning they may make of themselves to feel.
It’s very nice to have control over what they feel. The importance of correct body physical posture of meditation, which in each session one spends good ten to fifteen minutes correcting and focusing on the physical posture itself right from the at the very beginning. Even you become very familiar and advance as a practitioner, it’s always good to get back to the body, spend a good deal of time in the body. Because body is the basis in which your mind is going to reside. And the body is not well, I would say, calmed or nurtured by your own carefulness.
Even though you delegate the body to do different things to the legs, to as far as your tip of tongue, and give them all to pose in the correct posture in a complete synchronicity, you still have to convince the body that each of their task has great meaning, collectively beneficial for the body and for oneself doing the meditation. So it is always important to reiterate that because in the middle of the meditation sometimes one finds all of a sudden a little dull or drowsy or tired or bored or you may wonder why it is happening. Did you work on the body? Did you talk to the body? Do you before that those feelings sets in, one should be able to warn oneself when there are early signs of that happening.
Working with your lower part of your back and work your posture and then you will find a lot easier that will prevent the build up of boredom, the build up of tiredness, the build up of lack of energy or whatever it is, you know. Because the physical body is amazing amazing thing. If you just pay attention to it, it’s a little sort of attention that you play, place on the relevant part of the body, or one part of the body could synchronize the rest of the body. Mainly they like to keeping the back straight. And instead of thinking, oh, I can’t I can’t sit like this anymore.
Oh, what can I do to one part of body that can improve this? Oh, let’s look at the positive thing what the body can do. Rather than collectively thinking, I am tired. I can’t sit this anymore. You know, this is this I.
Where is this I? Talk to the body. Maybe it’s got some fixation. It might say, oh, if you if you pull my pull the back up, I’ll be okay. You didn’t do that and you just you just you just said, I can’t sit.
So it’s important to get back to the body all the time because this body is amazing, miraculous machine that that the length it has been with us and and holding us together is quite amazing. You know, we got to be able to talk to our body. When the Buddha did his meditation and many lifetimes of practice working with the body, as an accomplishment of his enlightenment, the body was adorned with hundred and twelve marks of enlightenment, Distinctive marks of enlightened one. When a meditator is constantly talking with his or her body, you can see the the gracefulness. You can see the person is completely in harmony with the body.
It’s not having trouble with the body. It’s not really I’m proud of the body. It’s it’s not as the body is really making a lot of nagging that the mind has to give in. It’s not happening when you pay enough mindfulness to the body. So that’s why it’s very important because primarily you have to rely on how well you sit and the body doesn’t have a mind of its own to sit because it hasn’t been taught so long to sit so long.
Previously it became too much too soon. And so everybody said, oh, what are you doing with me here today? Usually you just either and either, doing all sorts of things, all of a sudden you put me here put. Yeah. So you have to keep reminding reminding reminding about tell the body what what you have recently discovered the meaning of this posture and therefore allow.
And and the body will slowly listen. It’s like you need to talk enough to somebody to persuade, don’t you? Our mind, our body needs that. Constantly reminding oneself. So that’s, this is a very important technique though.
They’re always going back to the, back to the back to the basics when you feel a little bit agitated, a little bit dull and feeling this, I wouldn’t mind sitting in another session, but I don’t think I really can take it anymore. You know? And that sort of you go, oh, what is this eye? Can can can you can you show me? You just check which is this eye?
Who’s really talking here? You know? We didn’t consult the body. Body is much more stronger than your mind. Mind worries more about the body without talking about asking the body whether you can do it or not.
Buddhist says, yes, you can. And if you really look at the body, it’s only one small part of body that might be a little bit, the rest of the body says, no no, I’m fine. Who’s the problem? This body talking is very important. And when you develop these various qualities of almost you are able to listen to different parts of body, you’re not listening to this habitual, I don’t know, restless self anymore.
Because body body is much more, I would say, willing to adapt to changes. Adapt to changes. The mind tend to tend to tend to be much weaker at times. So it’s it is important that you got it. Body is not an obstacle.
It’s best friend you have. It’s the it’s the stick you have to walk with. And if you lean on the stick for a while even though you think you can’t stand on, that shows how stick, how good stick is. And then later on when you walk you can walk better. So that’s that’s very important.
Going back to the body in the middle of the session or middle of the day or after six, seven days of the retreat, you feel that. And how do you resuscitate your your motivation? Your motivation to give the body back some energy without thinking that it has lost most of it and hasn’t gotten stamina to left. We’ve got to remotivate what, why I’m doing this practice for. And that’s why it’s very good when you start the practice with the motivation prayers.
You take the blessings of the triple gem. In the Buddha, Dhama and Sangha, I take refuge until enlightenment is reached. You said that very clearly at the very beginning. It’s important to take that blessings and make the blessings just come to you. In the morning session you do the refuge and prostration during which you request and all the blessing come.
You can do that, a shortened version of that at each time you do the refuge prayer. It means in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, you visualize all the enlightened beings there. I take refuge until enlightened reach. By the merit of giving, may I achieve Buddhahood to aid all beings. When you say that and after you say that three times, then imagine all the blessings just come to you by the result of saying this, and give your body become completely energized, you know.
When you’re looking at the time, it’s eight thirty, it’s another session again. But once you did the prayer, it completely changed. The prayer just completely changed, animated you with that kind of motivation. So it’s important to call call it to important to see, make relevant to everything you do, posture, the prayer. And then you might, okay, what’s next I’m supposed to do?
And straight away the bodily posture. After a good ten, fifteen minutes of engaged, exerted, engaged, concentration on the mindfulness of body, with your legs and your feet, and the meaning of the lotus posture, what it really means, what are you trying to tell yourself to do, what is the symbol thereof. It’s a constant, it’s the notebook at your, on your body, you know, you don’t need the notes to read. You just look at the body, it reminds you all the techniques of meditation. It says be stable.
When you think of the seat, it teaches you, it reminds you the importance of be stable, don’t get agitated. Whatever it is, just look at them very kindly and very very proactively and and instead of being very very erratic about it. Don’t alarm about anything. Things are all transient. Everything will just change within within a second as long as I don’t make it worse, as long as I don’t freeze it and push it away.
What you push, it tends to come back quicker. But what you allow it to come, it kinda cannot come back. And when when you have that understanding of stability means means you don’t react unwisely. You just see what it does to you, see what it can do to you, anything or not. As long as you’re stable it can’t because you’re aware of it and therefore it just it just it just it just can’t do much.
It increases your awareness. The more stable you are, whatever irritable, whatever provocation there is, it increases your awareness. So think about the legs. That’s the mindful reminder to have stability throughout the meditation session. Your hands are put on the lap.
Constantly reminds you to be harmonious, balanced, equanimity. You know, I know, and don’t be too rigid, you hurt yourself. Don’t know, be too lax. Try to apply all the techniques and antidotes moderately, not too much too soon, not too little when it’s called for. And we’ll be very cautious, be exact in terms of application of antidotes.
Just as you hold the hands in the middle without extreme right or left, so should all your techniques of how long or how hard. You know, body should never be allowed to be stiff, the hands. Body should be really relaxed and happy. Posture is something new for you but it looks like a little bit hard or awkward, but that’s due to unfamiliarity. Slowly you’ll get used to it.
Yeah. Just like riding a bicycle. You know, first you you could have you couldn’t believe how anybody could ride on such a piece of wood. And then you ask, come on push me, come on, please close close eyes, and hopefully you’ll just you might even fall, yeah, I nearly got there, come and do it again. Balance, the intention is about balance.
It’s sitting, if not as a precarious of riding a bike, it’s sitting. Mindfulness. This is just if you exert the mindful importance of riding a bike, then we we usually can ride a very narrow footpath, there’s cars coming this way, cars coming this way, not good. Mindfulness, just if you just exert the same kind of importance, level of importance in sitting, you’ll find you’ll find that that degree of concentration coming in you. And therefore the hand gesture becomes really, really important.
Really, really important. Constantly reminded to have balance and not not sort of react too hard, too harshly or not to sort of treat it, you know, not become too callous, not become complacent about some things, you know. Hand gesture constantly, that’s a good day. The instruction is there. The instructions, just remember the hands, what are you trying to tell yourself.
You’ll find yourself a bit more calm and harmony. The more you cultivate those two meanings, then your awareness increases and that’s the really function of the back, posture of the back, Posture of the back. Not only can you learn to stay on your back, but not only that, but it comes with some kind of an energy that rises to become sharper and sharper. Tingling energy rises through your backbone, and your mind seems to be completely focused on that, and in many ways, glued on that. And it’s very slow, it’s constantly rising, and your mind, therefore your back and the rest of the body is just lifted up.
It’s not a heavy, not upper part of the body is not getting heavy on the lower part, but the upper part is so lighter and lighter. It’s even pulling you up like an ascension, like a practice of some ascension happening, but mere sharpening of concentration. So keeping your back, your back or the person sitting in front of your back. When you look at it reminds you of awareness. The awareness that you need to be sharpening in doing calm abiding, meditation.
It’s important to get back to the basics in calm abiding. calm abiding is simply being able to locate oneself in the most peaceful and secure situation to be doing. Because you’re simply sitting, it’s good to know how you’re sitting with what what are the different parts of body doing to make your sit possible. And then only you can keep the mind, then only you can sort of, you can mind the mind. Because otherwise the mind seems to sneak out quickly.
When you keep it very engaged with the body, the mind is minded by the bodily mindfulness. If it collects, it’s got something to do with the body. And because of that, it induces that awareness through the back. And when you have all those three main parts of the body, leg and hand and back posture all synchronized, it gives the right kind of gaze for your eyes. You know, a gaze of eyes is very much the insight of doing those things.
Insight of knowing exactly the purposes of the hands and legs and the back. And then eyes, the gaze is just so sharp and penetrating, and it’s not blinking or or or the eyes tells it. Meditators mind is transfixed with the gaze of the eyes. All the discursive knowings has been halted, paused for a good reason. Because of that, there’s no really vibrant air flowing in this discursiveness.
You have completely put a stop. And then that causes rest of the facial, your jaws, your neck, your mouth, your teeth, your tongue, and the whole synchrony of your bodily meditation is realized. Then you have the container of the meditation. Supporting basis for your mind to sit in calmness is ensured. That’s the body.
Body is the basis in which the mind is trying to abide in calmness. But the body has to be really really well, I would say, one has to totally convince the body, rally the support of the body, mutual understanding, and constantly keeping in contact. Is, are you okay knee? Are you okay legs? Are you doing the right thing?
Hand says, Yes, but it’s getting a bit sort of sweaty but I think I’m doing okay. Shoulders saying the same thing. Oh, getting heavier but I’m sure I’m okay. Pull up please. So it’s good to have that happening because then you are within your body.
You’re so engaged bodily mindfulness. And then once you achieve that, good ten-fifteen minute span than that, then you’re really ready to focus on the breath. As I said, breath becomes very very, what do you call, legible object to focus upon. It is noticeable, you know. It becomes a knowable object.
It’s become just as vivid as as in anything in front of you. You have become very such you have become attuned so much that you can find the station of your meditation. And that is your breath. And then do a couple of rounds of, you know, a couple of rounds of qualified round of breathing as we discussed. Maybe a good five minutes at least.
More if necessary. And once you have that, then go on counting that, counting the rounds of breath. As yesterday we talked about counting the rounds of breath, Mindfulness breathing to reinforce your mindfulness, the feeling of breathing, you count the rounds of breathing into three three three segments. They’re in the what do you call that? The the the gentle inhalation to begin with and the climax of inhalation and the conclusion, gentle conclusion of inhalation which turns into a gentle beginning of retention.
Climax of retention and gentle conclusion of retention. And that gentle conclusion of retention turning into gentle beginning of exhalation. And gentle beginning of exhalation then turns into climax of exhalation, and climax of exhalation turns into gentle conclusion of exhalation which then in turn becomes gentle inhalation. So when you do that there’s an amazing process. Your mind becomes almost like you’re elasticizing your round of breath.
It’s not so much you can prolong your round of breath. You’re not doing that. You don’t control that. You just when you show up in your concentration, you can see. You can see the length of breath is that much.
Even if it’s, say, maybe only ten seconds, so be it, but your mind is sharp enough to follow all the different segments of that. Now you’re making it interesting to watch the round of breath because it’s very difficult for the complete beginners to all of a sudden have one point of meditation. So you’re making interest, oh, what’s the round of breath? Inhale, retain, exhale. Now, little bit more interesting that there’s three segments to that.
Are they? What are they? Oh gentle one at the beginning. Oh, do I have my gentle beginning? You know?
And then you you when you when you carefully pay attention to it, yes, there is a there is a gentle beginning. It has to have been be gentle beginning. Because if there is no beginning there wouldn’t be a continuation. So gentle beginning however short that is and there is then inhalation itself. Then before it ends, it turns before it becomes retention, there should be a gentle conclusion.
And that’s what increasing awareness is. When you do that again and again, then you count the rounds. Yeah, if you are able to go to one, two, three, until, you know, it’s said in the Abhidharma, Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, counting the rounds of breath is the first point of meditators task to achieve calm abiding. Yeah, because before you you’re focused on one object alone, the rounds is a bit more interesting, at least it gives you something to do About which we are, which I mentioned yesterday about how counting from one to ten is quite a wide known practice to get through some difficulties. But here in calm abiding you’re not, you’re not doing that you’re you’re rehearsing yourself to have a much long lasting capacity to induce your wisdom and clarity by doing this practice.
So if you can count from one to seven and then the one to fourteen and then one to twenty one, try to do that from one to seven and one to fourteen and one to twenty one. If you get interrupted, do all over again from one and if you succeed very well in doing many rounds of one to twenty one by counting at the point of inhalation. Inhalation one, retention, exhalation. Inhalation two, like that. And then seeing the three segments within that.
If you’re able to do that, then move on to doing the same thing, but change the place of your counting just to increase awareness. Place the place time you count is when you do the exhalation. So now you do inhalation, retention, exhalation one, Inhalation. Inhalation. Retention. Exhalation two.
So you’re simply shifting the place you count from inhalation point to exhalation. Why are you doing this? Why are you transferring the exact point where you do the count, mental counting, is to increase your awareness of exhalation as much as you are of, you have achieved that of inhalation. Because right now our breath is very unbalanced. We all have very poor breathing.
Every day we are losing our lifespan. We are hardly able to increase them. But with mindfulness breathing, you may be able to change that. Particularly if you have balanced breathing. Balanced breathing meaning your inhalations aren’t that long, your exhalations aren’t that short, and the retention are non existent.
Because sometimes some people seem to have only a whole lot of breath, but they can’t be holding breath all the time. But that seems to be the only predominant thing they seem to be doing. Others seem to be really long sighs all the time, but really poor in inhaling. Others have inhaler inhale, but the exhalation is very short, and the tension is hardly noticeable. So there’s no harmony or no compatibility between the length and quality of inhalation with the exhalation and with the retention.
So why are we doing this is we’re trying to improve, yeah, improve our capacity to breathe equally for all of these three. Because the breathing, therefore if your breathing is very balanced and deep, then you are able to ensure the harmony of your five elements in the body. When your elements are very much in conflict, in a disharmony, that’s where all the breathing difficulties are. Breathing difficulties are all caused by some elemental imbalances in the body. And so when we talk about feeling yesterday, whether pleasant feeling or an unpleasant feeling or neutral feeling, the pleasant and unpleasant feeling are largely created or caused by lack of balance Due to lack of balance, imbalance of our elements, then causes a disorder in breathing.
Disorder in breathing therefore becomes symptomatic of the illness that we have or unhappiness we have. So by learning how to increase your awareness of not only one round of breath first of all, and then breaking the one round of breath into three segments, inhalation, retention, exhalation. Once you are able to know the three segments of around one round of breath, you then learn to sub classify the gentle climax and gentle of one segment of the, like inhalation and retention, exhalation. So therefore, you’re increasing your reality of the breath world, if you like. And once you have that, then you try to now increase your awareness of the exhalation, even though you’ve been doing for each round exhalation as much as you have been doing inhalation.
But the point of the fact of the matter is that when you’re counting inhalation point, concentration on inhalation will be better than the point of retention or exhalation. Now you try to change it over to focus on the exhalation while you will be doing inhalation anyway. And then see how you can count, keep counting from, like I was saying, from one to seven, one to seven, one to seven, now numerous times and it gets interrupted, start again, one to seven, one, and it’s going on quite a few times very well, then double that from one to fourteen, one to fourteen, one to fourteen. And if that goes very well, then one to twenty one, one to twenty one. Now if you if you think that your mindfulness of counting the breath at the exhalation point is just as good as it was in inhalation, in fact your exhalation duration is just as, you know, exhalation duration and inhalation duration is almost balanced, almost like you can notice them just equally.
Now, next point is changing the place of your counting at the retention point. So you do always start with inhalation. Inhalation, retention one, exhalation, inhalation, retention two, and so on, and so on. Now when you’re able to do that, when you’re able to do that, you will slowly notice as you get become, become, do this again and again session after session, you’ll slowly notice that your in your retention period has increased. Previously there wasn’t much of a time for you to divide into, you know, gentle beginning and climax and gentle end, you know.
Just quickly, when you start gentle gentle beginning, all of a sudden exhalation has taken over. And now it’s no longer that because your concentration has increased. You’re focused on that attention. You’re not holding breath until it becomes uncomfortable though. That’s not the suggestion.
This isn’t the exact suggestion that you have to hold breath until as long as you can hold up a thing. It has to be very natural, but your only thing what you’re doing is you’re paying attention, you’re concentrating on it, you’re not controlling the breath. Most people think it is. Normally we don’t allow the mind to focus on the breath so therefore there is not a lot of coordination between the two at all. Now we are trying to develop this coordination.
The mind just watch the mind is breath becomes has the object of observation and mind has become the observer. And it is beginning to see different things as it reinforces its concentration. But later on, by the sheer part of your mind concentration will harmonize the actual quality of your breath quality of breath. Because when you’re particularly when you retain when you’re able to increase the duration of retention, you know what happens is actually it’s increased the retention of memory, retention of knowledge. And everything will improve as a result of that.
Similarly, as the exhalation, quality of exhalation improves, you tend to get rid of and let go things that are unconstructive to be holding in you because you know benefit of releasing. And likewise, you know the benefit of inhalation is there one positive thought could be brought in any one inhalation without any restriction or hesitation, full stop. So therefore there’s one positive thought with every inhalation. And all round there’s twenty one thousand six hundred rounds of breath we do every twenty four hours. So the one third of that is, you know, quite a lot.
Know, seven thousand two hundred by the way. Seven thousand two hundred by the way. So if you’re mindful for twenty four hours, have seven thousand two hundred positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. And seven thousand two hundred opportunity to to assimilate that.
And if you have that many negativities, they will also go. You might not have one. You know? And this, you can see how our mindfulness of breathing could increase a lot of calm abiding. Now, there is so you do that, you do that again and again and again.
In terms of proper way of developing calm abiding, I would say achieving calm abiding, a person traditionally they give about a good six to seven months minimum to achieve calm abiding. So good three first two three weeks will be just on the body. And then you go on to this breathing good, good another four five weeks and to this level of the breathing we were talking about. And then only on the third month, on the third month then you start getting an object to meditate upon. Now you’re ready for one pointed concentration, one pointed concentration.
So it is important. So that one point of concentration also before you jump into any object of observation, an external tangible object of observation, they still give you, okay, now don’t count the breath. Don’t count the breath. Don’t think of anything. Don’t think what is inhalation, what is exhalation, how long they are.
Just simply see whether you can just keep your mind anchored on the breath itself. Just do the breathing, normal breathing, and just see your mind can just stay on that breathing. Just breathing becomes object of observation without counting, without doing the qualified round of breathing. You do the breathing as you know continuously as it is, but just see whether you can focus your mind on the breathing. Just breathing itself.
Not counting how many rounds, not focusing necessarily on exhalation, not focusing on inhalation, overall focus on that. Once you have that, you will actually feel a sense of calmness just around you. Everything you do is an expression of that calmness, the way you walk, how you open the door, and how you see things, how you hear things, everything is has has has an awe, a feeling of that calmness. Once this is developed, then you’re ready for for for what you call the external object to meditate, calm abiding meditation.