时间：07/05/2025 07/06/2025
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法知识
呼吸观修行
呼吸观，是佛教禅修中最朴素、也最深远的方法之一。它之所以被广泛采用，并不是因为它简单，而是因为它直指身心当下的真实运作。呼吸并非外加的对象，而是生命本身的节律。以呼吸为所缘，不是为了操控生命，而是为了在最贴近生命的地方，学习清醒地觉知。
呼吸观修行的核心，并不在于改变呼吸，而在于如实地知道呼吸。许多初学者误以为修行呼吸观需要刻意调慢、调深或调匀呼吸，结果反而制造紧张。事实上，呼吸观并不要求任何形式的控制。呼吸快，就知道它快；呼吸慢，就知道它慢；呼吸粗，就知道它粗；呼吸细，就知道它细。修行的重点在“知”，而不在“改”。
呼吸之所以适合作为修行对象，是因为它始终存在、自然发生、且与身心状态紧密相连。情绪波动时，呼吸会改变；心安定时，呼吸会细微。透过持续觉知呼吸，修行者并不是在追求某种状态，而是在学习观察因缘的变化。当呼吸变化被如实看见，心对变化的抗拒便开始减弱。
在实际修行中，呼吸观通常从安静地坐下开始。身体安稳之后，将觉知轻轻放在呼吸最明显的部位，例如鼻端、上唇、胸腔或腹部。并非寻找最“正确”的位置，而是选择一个自然、清楚、不费力的觉知点。觉知不需要紧盯，只需温和陪伴。
修行过程中，走神是不可避免的。当发现心离开了呼吸，跑到念头、回忆或计划中时，不必责怪自己，也不必急于拉回。只需知道“走神了”，然后轻轻回到呼吸。这种反复觉察与回归，正是呼吸观修行的核心训练。不是不走神，而是不被走神带走。
随着练习的持续，呼吸会逐渐变得细微，觉知也会变得连续。这时，常见的误区是对宁静产生贪著，害怕扰动破坏状态。实际上，呼吸观并不以宁静为目标。宁静出现时，只需如实知道；扰动出现时，同样如实知道。真正的修行，是在变化中保持觉知，而不是抓住某一种体验。
呼吸观修行并不局限于坐禅。行走时，可以觉知呼吸与步伐的配合；工作时，可以觉知呼吸在紧张或放松中的变化；情绪生起时，可以觉知呼吸如何收缩或紊乱。如此，呼吸观从形式上的练习，转变为贯穿生活的觉知能力。
在更深的层面，呼吸观会引导修行者体会无常。每一次吸气都不会重复，每一次呼气都无法挽留。呼吸自然地生起、变化、消失，没有一个“我”在控制它。当这种体验逐渐清楚，修行者不再只是理解无常，而是直接经验无常。由此，对执取的松动，便不再只是道理。
呼吸观修行，也会逐渐显露无我与苦的层面。呼吸并不听从命令，身心也不总是如愿。越想控制，越容易紧张；越能允许，越容易安住。这种体会，让人开始理解：苦并非来自变化本身，而来自对变化的抗拒。呼吸观，正是在最微细的层面，揭示这一点。
需要强调的是，呼吸观修行并不是为了成为“会呼吸的人”，而是为了培养一种不被牵引的觉知力。当觉知稳定，呼吸只是所缘；当智慧生起，所缘可以放下。最终，呼吸观会引导心从依所缘而定，走向自然安住。
因此，呼吸观修行的价值，不在于它带来多少安静或专注，而在于它如何改变人与经验的关系。它教人如何在变化中不迷失，在简单中见真实，在当下中松开执取。正是在这样持续而朴素的修行中，呼吸不再只是生命的功能，而成为通向清醒与解脱的入口。
Date: 07/05/2025 07/06/2025
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Knowledge
The Practice of Mindfulness of Breathing
Mindfulness of breathing is one of the most fundamental and profound practices in Buddhist meditation. Its widespread use is not due to simplicity alone, but because it directly engages the living process of body and mind. Breathing is not an external object added to experience; it is the rhythm of life itself. To take the breath as the focus of practice is not to control life, but to learn clear awareness at the very point where life unfolds.
The core of breathing meditation lies not in changing the breath, but in knowing it as it is. Beginners often assume that they must regulate the breath—making it slower, deeper, or more refined—which easily creates tension. In truth, the practice does not require control of any kind. When the breath is fast, it is known as fast; when slow, known as slow; when coarse, known as coarse; when subtle, known as subtle. The emphasis is on knowing, not adjusting.
Breathing serves as an ideal object because it is always present, naturally occurring, and closely connected to mental states. When emotions shift, the breath changes; when the mind settles, the breath becomes subtle. By continuously observing the breath, practitioners are not seeking a particular state, but learning to witness conditionality. As changes in breathing are seen clearly, resistance to change begins to soften.
In practical application, mindfulness of breathing usually begins with sitting quietly. Once the body is settled, awareness is gently placed on the most noticeable aspect of the breath, such as the nostrils, upper lip, chest, or abdomen. There is no need to search for the “correct” location; what matters is choosing a place that feels natural, clear, and effortless. Awareness rests lightly, without fixation.
Mind-wandering is inevitable in this practice. When the mind drifts into thoughts, memories, or plans, there is no need for self-criticism or forceful correction. Simply recognizing “the mind has wandered” and gently returning to the breath is sufficient. This repeated cycle of noticing and returning constitutes the heart of breathing meditation. The practice is not about never wandering, but about not being carried away.
With continued practice, the breath often becomes subtle and awareness more continuous. At this stage, attachment to calmness can easily arise, along with aversion to disturbance. Yet mindfulness of breathing does not aim at preserving tranquility. Calmness is known when it appears; disturbance is known when it arises. True practice lies in maintaining awareness amid change, not in holding onto pleasant experiences.
Mindfulness of breathing is not confined to seated meditation. While walking, one can notice how breathing accompanies movement. While working, one can observe how the breath responds to pressure or ease. When emotions arise, one can feel how the breath contracts or becomes irregular. In this way, breathing meditation evolves from a formal exercise into a continuous mode of awareness throughout daily life.
At a deeper level, mindfulness of breathing reveals impermanence. Each inhalation is unique, each exhalation unrecoverable. Breathing arises, changes, and ceases without a controller. As this is experienced directly, impermanence is no longer merely understood conceptually, but known experientially. With this knowing, clinging naturally loosens.
The practice also exposes dimensions of non-self and suffering. Breathing does not obey commands, just as body and mind do not always comply with desire. The more one attempts to control, the more tension appears; the more one allows, the more stability arises. This insight clarifies that suffering does not stem from change itself, but from resistance to change. Breathing meditation reveals this truth at the most intimate level.
It is important to emphasize that mindfulness of breathing is not about becoming skilled at breathing, but about cultivating awareness that is not driven by habit. When awareness matures, the breath is merely a support; when wisdom arises, even the support can be released. Ultimately, breathing meditation leads the mind from dependence on an object to natural settling.
The true value of mindfulness of breathing does not lie in how calm or focused it makes one feel, but in how it transforms the relationship with experience. It teaches how to remain present amid change, how to see reality in simplicity, and how to loosen grasping in the immediacy of now. Through this steady and unadorned practice, breathing ceases to be merely a biological function and becomes a gateway to clarity and liberation.
