Breathing techniques

[Buck Edwards]

 

[Buck Edwards]

 

 

 

[Buck Edwards]

 

[Buck Edwards]

The nine tastes of breath may be practiced with or without the following visualization of the energy-channels. Visualize your body empty like a balloon. If you have received a tantric empowerment for a particular Buddha-figure, you may in addition visualize your form as that of the figure; otherwise, you may not.

Visualize your central energy-channel as parallel to and slightly in front of your spine, hollow, the thickness of a medium-sized bamboo, white on the outside and red on the inside. Its upper end curves like an umbrella handle, passing over the crown of your head and ending between your brows. Its lower end is four finger-widths below your navel. Visualize your right energy-channel (ro-ma, Skt. rasana, pingala) as red in color, the thickness of a stalk of wheat, starting six finger-widths below your navel, running close to the central channel and ending at your right nostril. Visualize your left energy-channel (rkyang-ma, Skt. lalana, ida) as white in color, the same thickness and length as the right one, and ending at your left nostril.

When doing the first three breathings in through your right nostril and out through the left, visualize the bottom end of your right energy-channel inserted into the bottom end of the left. When you breathe in, imagine your breath in the form of white cleansing rays of light passing down your right energy-channel and accumulating in the left, in which the energy-wind of the disturbing emotion of longing desire (‘dod-chags, Skt. raga) is blocked and frustrated. When you exhale through your left nostril, visualize your longing desire leaving you in the form of black rays of light.

During the second three breathings in your left nostril and out the right, imagine the bottom end of your left energy-channel inserted into the bottom end of the right. When you breathe in, visualize your breath in the form of white light passing down your left energy-channel and accumulating in the right in which the energy-wind of the disturbing emotion of anger and hostility (zhe-sdang, Skt. dvesha) is blocked and frustrated. When you exhale through your right nostril, imagine your anger leaving you in the form of black light.

During the last three breathings in and out both your nostrils, visualize the bottom ends of both your left and right energy-channels inserted into the bottom end of the central energy-channel. When you breathe in, imagine your breath in the form of white light passing down both right and left energy-channels and accumulating in your central one in which the energy-wind of the disturbing emotion of naivety (gti-mug, Skt. moha, closed-mindedness) is blocked and frustrated. When you exhale, visualize your naivety leaving you from between your brows in the form of black light.

Once you have completed a round of nine tastes of breath, do not repeat it with further rounds. If the first round fails to eliminate your gross mental wandering, another method is as follows. Breathe in and out both nostrils silently, not forcefully, with your in-breath the same length as your out, and without holding your breath. Concentrating totally on your breathing, count in your mind each round of in- and out-breaths as one for twenty-one rounds. As it is normally difficult to concentrate on even one thing at a time, by concentrating both on breathing and on counting, little room remains for extraneous thoughts.

https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/vajrayana/mahamudra-advanced/commentary-on-root-text-for-mahamudra-geshe-ngawang-dhargyey