From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rApLUA0Ur7I

Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.

it is a real good idea that anytime

anyone is using a commentary to take

that commentary and compare it with what

it says in the sutras themselves if the

commentary does not agree with what the

suit does say it's best not to use that

commentary very much it might have some

great points in it but if by and large

there are mistakes when you compare it

with the original teaching then it will

only cause confusion and cause more

misunderstanding about what the emphasis

of the practice is so if you take the

suit if you take the commentaries and

you put them on the shelf

where they belong just as reference to

see and go to the original teachings you

might find that the kind of practice

that you've been using for however many

years doesn't really agree so well with

what the suit does for teaching an

example of this is the sati katana suta

and the directions in the mindfulness of

breathing in this

and I'll read to you what the sati

putana suit that says this is not my

interpretation this is what the suit

that says it says contemplation of body

mindfulness of breathing this is section

number four in suit to number ten in the

middle mixing and how monks does a monk

abide contemplating the body as a body

here a monk gone to the forest or to the

root of the tree or empty Hut sits down

having folded his legs crosswise set his

body erect and establishes mindfulness

in front of him ever mindful he brings

in mindful to breathe out breathing in

long hand or stands I breathe in long or

breathing out long he understands I

breathe out mom breathing in short he

understands I breathe in short breathing

out short he understands I breathe out

short now this the first two sentences

here are talking about understanding

that you know what the breath is doing

it's nothing to do with breath body it

has to do with the breath itself you

understand when you take a long breath

you understand when you take a short

breath it does not say to focus only on

the breath it does not mention your

nostril your nostril tip your upper lip

or your abdomen it just says you know

when you take a long breath then when

you take a short break now we get into

the actual instructions on

the meditation he trains thus these are

key words because this is how you train

yourself I shall breathe in experiencing

the whole body he trains thus I shall

breathe out experiencing the whole body

this is not body of breath this is the

entire body now he trains thus I shall

breathe in tranquilizing the bodily

formation he trains thus that shall

breathe out tranquilizing the bodily

formation so it's saying that on the

in-breath you tranquilize the bodily

formation on the out-breath you

tranquilize the bodily formation what

does that mean it means that there is if

there is any tension or tightness

anywhere in your body you relax it on

the in-breath and you relax it on the

out-breath this step has been forgotten

not used with a lot of people that are

practicing meditation today

this step is a very very important part

of the meditation there is a tightness

that is very subtle that occurs in the

head around your brain there's a

membrane around your brain that kind of

hold your brain all together every time

there is any kind of distraction it

contracts and with that contraction

there's a tension or tightness that

arises on the in-breath you relax that

tension with

on the out-breath you relax that tension

tightness

when your mind becomes distracted you've

noticed that your mind is distracted

you let that distraction be there by

itself and relax the tension or

tightness caused by minds attention

moving to that distraction the more you

become familiar with how that tension or

tightness of rises the easier

is to see that now what is this tension

or tightness that arises this tension or

tightness that arises is craving and

every time you let go of craving you

feel your mind expand and then become

comb every time you let go of craving

your mind is pure at that time your

awareness and very sharp there are no

thoughts there's just as pure awareness

and you bring this pure awareness back

to your object of meditation so every

time you let go of tension and tightness

you are letting go of craving which

happens to be the second noble truth the

cause of suffering is craving when you

let go of that craving that purity of

mind at that moment is the cessation of

suffering

and do this on the in-breath you do this

on the out-breath there's a distraction

you let the distraction be relaxed bring

that pure mind back to your object of

meditation and relax some more

you

it is a real good idea that anytime

anyone is using a commentary to take

that commentary and compare it with what

it says in the sutras themselves if the

commentary does not agree with what the

suit does say it's best not to use that

commentary very much it might have some

great points in it but if by and large

there are mistakes when you compare it

with the original teaching then it will

only cause confusion and cause more

misunderstanding about what the emphasis

of the practice is so if you take the

suit if you take the commentaries and

you put them on the shelf

where they belong just as reference to

see and go to the original teachings you

might find that the kind of practice

that you've been using for however many

years doesn't really agree so well with

what the suit does for teaching an

example of this is the sati katana suta

and the directions in the mindfulness of

breathing in this

and I'll read to you what the sati

putana suit that says this is not my

interpretation this is what the suit

that says it says contemplation of body

mindfulness of breathing this is section

number four in suit to number ten in the

middle mixing and how monks does a monk

abide contemplating the body as a body

here a monk gone to the forest or to the

root of the tree or empty Hut sits down

having folded his legs crosswise set his

body erect and establishes mindfulness

in front of him ever mindful he brings

in mindful to breathe out breathing in

long hand or stands I breathe in long or

breathing out long he understands I

breathe out mom breathing in short he

understands I breathe in short breathing

out short he understands I breathe out

short now this the first two sentences

here are talking about understanding

that you know what the breath is doing

it's nothing to do with breath body it

has to do with the breath itself you

understand when you take a long breath

you understand when you take a short

breath it does not say to focus only on

the breath it does not mention your

nostril your nostril tip your upper lip

or your abdomen it just says you know

when you take a long breath then when

you take a short break now we get into

the actual instructions on

the meditation he trains thus these are

key words because this is how you train

yourself I shall breathe in experiencing

the whole body he trains thus I shall

breathe out experiencing the whole body

this is not body of breath this is the

entire body now he trains thus I shall

breathe in tranquilizing the bodily

formation he trains thus that shall

breathe out tranquilizing the bodily

formation so it's saying that on the

in-breath you tranquilize the bodily

formation on the out-breath you

tranquilize the bodily formation what

does that mean it means that there is if

there is any tension or tightness

anywhere in your body you relax it on

the in-breath and you relax it on the

out-breath this step has been forgotten

not used with a lot of people that are

practicing meditation today

this step is a very very important part

of the meditation there is a tightness

that is very subtle that occurs in the

head around your brain there's a

membrane around your brain that kind of

hold your brain all together every time

there is any kind of distraction it

contracts and with that contraction

there's a tension or tightness that

arises on the in-breath you relax that

tension with

on the out-breath you relax that tension

tightness

when your mind becomes distracted you've

noticed that your mind is distracted

you let that distraction be there by

itself and relax the tension or

tightness caused by minds attention

moving to that distraction the more you

become familiar with how that tension or

tightness of rises the easier

is to see that now what is this tension

or tightness that arises this tension or

tightness that arises is craving and

every time you let go of craving you

feel your mind expand and then become

comb every time you let go of craving

your mind is pure at that time your

awareness and very sharp there are no

thoughts there's just as pure awareness

and you bring this pure awareness back

to your object of meditation so every

time you let go of tension and tightness

you are letting go of craving which

happens to be the second noble truth the

cause of suffering is craving when you

let go of that craving that purity of

mind at that moment is the cessation of

suffering

and do this on the in-breath you do this

on the out-breath there's a distraction

you let the distraction be relaxed bring

that pure mind back to your object of

meditation and relax some more