Question
Hello,
I discovered meditation partly through you, and I continue practicing, trying to guide myself with Zen and other texts that inspire me.
There often seems to be an emphasis on deep, slow breathing, especially for beginners. When I bring my attention to my breathing, I very often feel discomfort, sometimes a pain around the sternum, and I don't feel I am doing the right exercise. Yet I am intrigued and attracted by the symbolism of breathing in my reading.
When my meditation begins and I don't focus on my breathing, I feel I truly experience a dimension unique to meditation and want to deepen that sense of calm. But in this situation, my breathing is almost nonexistent.
I feel as if I am caught between two stools.
Sylvain108
Answer from Master Kosen
It is very difficult, even impossible, to explain a Buddha's breathing in words. Traditionally, this breathing was explained only after receiving Dharma transmission, after many years of practice. First, you must keep your attention on the vital point located between four and seven centimeters below the navel, called the ocean of energy and the cinnabar field.
By keeping your attention on this area, you gather energy there and develop a ball of energy the size of a tennis ball. Then breathe through this ball, gathering it (yin) during exhalation, collecting and gently pressing the energy downward, then expanding and releasing it (yang) during inhalation, which is the opposite of ordinary breathing.
There you are. If you understood nothing, that's normal.
Kosen