The 17th Karmapa, head of one of the Tibetan Buddhist lineages, is touring the US, visiting sites such as Google, Facebook, and a number of colleges and universities. He's also meeting with Tibetan Buddhists, and in one of his appearances
offered detailed commentary on meditation:
He noted that one of the most widely known forms of meditation
involves focusing one’s attention on the breath. “One of the reasons for
this,” he commented, “is that we are breathing all the time. Because
our breath is an ongoing, pre-existing thing, it does not have to be
created for the purpose of meditation.” This underscores the fact that
meditation is not aimed at seeking out new experiences or reaching some
new state. Rather, he stated, we notice the breath by directing our mind
to what is already present, without altering or fabricating anything.
“We are simply using the awareness of breathing as a focus for
developing the mind’s ability to be aware of a chosen object,” the 17th
Karmapa said.
“I think there is another particular reason for focusing the mind on
breathing,” he added. “The breath is critically necessary for us to
remain alive — after all if we stop breathing we stop living. We normally
pay no attention to it but take it for granted. Therefore when you focus
your mind on the breath, this also instills in you a greater
appreciation of being alive, a sense of delight or rejoicing in the fact
that your life is continuing.”
He then reflected on the methods used for meditating on the breath,
noting that one way is to count the breath. “But,” he observed,
“counting can be difficult and actually become a distraction. This
depends on the individual, but for many people, using the counting
breath technique is problematic. There are other traditions in which one
does not count the breath. One simply observes the in-breath and the
out-breath, allowing one’s mind to be merely aware of the breathing,
allowing one’s mind to rest on or in the exhalation and inhalation. I
think this may be better than counting.
“As for how one breathes when directing the mind to the breath,” he
continued, “one should breathe naturally as one does usually. There is
no special manipulation or control of the breathing. You do not try to
breathe in and out with more force or slow down the breathing or speed
it up or anything like that. I mention this because sometimes people
expect that a technique where the mind is focused on the breathing would
involve some kind of special manipulation or control of the breath, but
in this case it does not. The breathing is ordinary. No special effort
is needed.”
“The point of this,” he said, “is that while we breathe tens of
thousands of times every day, we usually pay no attention to it and are
often completely unaware that we are breathing. We continue to breathe,
but we do not notice that fact. Here what we are trying to do is notice
the breath by directing our mind to it.”
Commenting on posture, he said, it should be straight and erect posture, either cross-legged or in a chair. "The point of posture is that the breathing be easy and relaxed.”
“The aim of meditation practice,” he said, “is to return
to our own nature and to sustain the natural state of our mind. It is
like returning home from a journey. We want to be able to come to rest
and relax in that. Therefore meditation is not the alteration of the
mind’s natural condition, nor is it the superimposition or exaggeration
of anything. Especially in the practice of shamatha meditation, this is
the most important point. We are trying to come to rest in our ordinary,
natural state of mind.”
