Okay, the following is from the booklet "Meditation of Breathing" by the monk Balangoda Anandamaitreya, (August 23, 1896 – July 18, 1998), published in 1986 by the Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara of Los Angeles. Opposite the frontise is printed "For Free Distribution". I asked one of the elder monastic students of Ven. Anandamaitreya, also a scholar today, if this could be re-printed on the Internet and he thought so, in view of the "For Free Distribution" note.

I did buy this booklet online a few years ago; I think it is out-of-print. The language and references may not be modern, but he was a highly regarded teacher and scholar, so here is his guide.


__________________________
"MEDITATION ON BREATHING


"There are two kinds of meditation, namely, the one that leads to full concentration, stillness, peace and ease of mind, and the other that leads to Realization of Enlightenment and thereby to perfect peace of mind. Out of these two, the one that leads to full concentration consists of forty methods that lead to higher stages of concentration. Out of these forty methods, I shall deal here with the method of concentrating on one's breath.

"A person who expects to achieve success in his spiritual development must, first of all, be of morally good character. At least he must develop the five precepts (panca-sila):
1. He must refrain from hurting and taking life;
2. He must refrain from possessing others' things illegally;
3. He must refrain from sexual misconduct;
4. He must refrain from wrong speech;*
5. He must refrain from taking intoxicants.

"In addition to keeping these five precepts, he must refrain from the wrong means of earning his livelihood.

"If he expects to attain higher states of concentration, he should have sense-control and lead a pure, celibate life.

"The person who expects to practice the meditation on breathing should find a suitable place for his practice. It must be free of any inconvenience, secluded, with no disturbances whatsoever. Meditators of olden days used to spend their time mostly in forests or remote areas of groves, in an isolated shelter under a shady tree, or in an empty house, and there they practiced their particular systems of meditation. In a society which is noisy and full of disturbances, it is impossible to carry out such practices in the daytime. But at night, after all have gone to bed, when silence reigns, it is not difficult, I believe to practice any kind of meditation. One may choose any posture that is convenient and comfortable, but at the start, it is much better if one is able to sit with the legs crosswise or to sit in a chair with one's upper body erect, with one's vertebrae resting end to end.

* The four types of wrong speech are: falsehood, slandering, harsh speech, and idle gossip."



______________________________
"THE FIRST STAGE OF PRACTICE"

"At the start of practice, the meditator should sit down in a comfortable way and make a strong resolution to carry out his practice for his spiritual development. Then he may dedicate himself to his spiritual teacher. At this point he is ready to start his practice.

"He may watch his inhalation and exhalation at the start. By no means should he force breath in or out. He should just be aware of his breath as it passes in and out while letting the breath go in and out automatically in its own way. He has only to be watchful, mindful, and attentive to it. If he is a long-nosed person, the breath will touch the tip of his nose first, and if his nose is a short one, the breath will touch his upper lip first. He should fix his mind and attention on the spot the breath first touches, the tip of the nose or the upper lip, as the case may be. He should carry out this practice at least twice a day for one full hour each time. As for meditators who have devoted their whole lives to such practices, they may practice for the whole day, except when they attend to their bodies' needs.

"To be conscious and mindful of, or attentive to, one's breath is the preliminary step to this practice. If the meditator has not yet fully developed concentration, his mind might wander at times towards some experience in the past or some design for the future. In order to avoid this lapse in concentration, the meditator should follow the process of counting his breaths as described in the following paragraphs. How it is to be done will be given below.

"He should start counting either at inhalation or exhalation according to his wish. When the breath touches the tip of his nose or his upper lip, he should mentally count one. Until the next breath touches the spot, he should mentally count one, one, one on and on. When the next breath touches the spot, he should count two, two, two on and on. He should continue counting in this way until he comes to the fifth breath. When he counts five, he has completed the first round and he should begin the second round with counting one and go forward as in the first round, but up to the number six in this second round. (...)"

[to be continued]