Here's the second course--a simple addition that nurtures our capacity to bring our minds 'home.' It's the kind of practice that we can do for 3 minutes sitting in front of a computer, stuck in traffic, sitting in the driveway, just before going to sleep--or perhaps longer during spiritually formative times that we set aside every morning or evening.
The payoff is that this increasing capacity to bring our minds home allows us to sustain our attention on...well, on anything. Listening to what somebody's saying, thinking through a problem, savoring time with children or grandchildren. Even something as simple as appreciating tonight's conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.
The instruction is easy--though remembering to do it can be a little dicey! Good luck.
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The second
exercise is that while you breathe in, you follow your in-breath from the
beginning to the end. If your in-breath lasts three or four seconds, then your
mindfulness also lasts three or four seconds. Breathing in, I follow my
in-breath all the way through. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the
way through. From the beginning of my out-breath to the end of my out-breath,
my mind is alwayswith it. Therefore, mindfulness becomes
uninterrupted, and the quality of your concentration is improved.
So the
second exercise is to follow your in-breath and your out-breath all the way
through. Whether they are short or long, it doesn’t matter. What is important
is that you follow your in-breath from the beginning to the end. Your awareness
is sustained. There is no interruption. Suppose you are breathing in, and then
you think, “Oh, I forgot to turn off the light in my room.” There is an
interruption. Just gently return to your in-breath all the way through. Then you
cultivate your mindfulness and your concentration. You become your in-breath.
You become your out-breath. If you continue like that, your breathing will
naturally become deeper and slower, more harmonious and peaceful. You don’t
have to make any effort—it happens naturally.
