Visuddhimagga breath meditation section

Q & A
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In the breathing meditation section of visuddhimagga it is mentioned that after knowing whole breath body I shall know breath experiencing tranquility and next is I shall breath experiencing happiness, what does that mean ?

How should one experience tranquility and happiness while breathing as the “shall” is used here.

Should one wait for it to arise or one have to make it tranquilize and if yes how to tranquilize it. Thank you.

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3

Hi @Leaf,

In MN18, the Mindfulness of Breathing Sutta, the Buddha describes the step-by-step process for cultivating the qualities of tranquility through analysis of the breath. The Visuddhimagga may be referring to this when it says that you shall experience tranquility and happiness while breathing. It’s an active process of applying insight which leads to the tranquility and bliss, and over time if well-practiced the tranquility and happiness become second nature.

I think that MN18 paired with MN20, How to Stop Thinking, may be helpful for you as well as the MN20 sutta discusses the methods of stilling the mind when it’s being unruly, which I think is most of the time for most of us :slight_smile:.