Jim Grisanzio

A few images from Zenkoji recently. I always feel peaceful in this place.

It’s remarkable how just an hour of breathing mindfully each day can change your entire physiology. Try it. Sit in a chair for an hour and just breathe. Don’t think. That wrecks everything. Just breathe and focus your mind on your breath. In. Out. In. Out. See how subtle you can get. Now, the self discipline needed to actually do this is a big deal. In fact, most people can’t. They give up after a few minutes. For instructions, listen to Thich Nhat Hanh. He knows all about breathing. See the 16 exercises of mindful breathing (starting at the 56:45 mark). Also, after a while you’ll realize that in addition to sitting meditation you can breathe mindfully all day long. Sound silly? Not at all. Breathing is unconscious. People pay it very little attention. Make it conscious and things change. A lot.

Focus. Step by step. Master each task. Do not multitask. Just watch the Shaolin monks in China training (here, here, here) for a jarring lesson in focusing. I can’t find a better example anywhere. Or go on being distracted and flitting from thing to thing while mastering nothing.

Here are three sessions from Thich Nhat Hanh in Vancouver recently. As usual he’s talking about life, death, mindfulness, and breathing. Do you have the ability to slow down and just breathe? Right here. Right now. Nothing else. No thinking! Just breathe. Try it. Thich Nhat Hanh: “You don’t need to die to go to the kingdom. In fact if you wait until you die it may be too late. The kingdom is available in the here and the now. And if you can bring your attention to your in-breath and your out-breath and breathe mindfully you enter the kingdom right away.” Sounds easy, eh?