The Tibetan Yoga of Breath: Breathing Practices for Healing the Body and Cultivating Wisdom (14 page)

Exercise 8

LIFE IS LIKE A BUBBLE

This metaphor speaks not only to the impermanent nature of life but also to our mind’s insatiable creativity. Each of us is living in
a bubble of our own making. Simply put, we see what we want to see. Even when we see the nature of impermanence in our lives, we ignore it, pretend it is not there, and wish it away.

Think to yourself, “My mind constantly superimposes my own ideas onto everything. Even though things around me are constantly in a state of flux, I see them as being in a state of constancy. Even though phenomena have no true and lasting essence, my mind sees them as having a real and lasting nature. Even though I know that all things will change, I believe that my life and my physical body are the exception.”

The image of a bubble bursting also fits with our experience of life. We have no idea what will cause the bubble to burst, so to speak. We only know that when it does, it can feel like our lives are in ruins. If we had known in the beginning that what we see is a bubble of our own making, and that it cannot be trusted or depended on, the suffering we experience in the wake of its destruction would be so much less.

After reflecting on how the nature of life is like a bubble, return to focusing on the inhalation and exhalation of the breath.

Exercise 9

LIFE IS LIKE A MAGICIAN’S TRICK

As children, we sit before a magician and are thrilled by his tricks. We believe, in part because we want to, that there is no actual trick but that we have witnessed a miracle, something truly magical. As we grow older, we become suspicious of this so-called magician. We buy a book where we can read exactly how the trick was done, step by step. We feel disappointed in not being able to believe in that magic trick—or the magician—any longer.

Life is like a magician’s trick. At first glance, things seem beautiful, even perfect. But as time goes on, we become suspicious of our own illusions; of our belief that things will go according to
our wishes; and that change will not interrupt our well-laid plans. Think to yourself, “For so long, I have believed in the magician’s illusion of permanence. I want to wake up from this illusion and see my life and the world for what it is: the nature of constant change.”

After reflecting on how life is like a magician’s trick, return to the inhalation and exhalation of the breath.

Exercise 10

LIFE IS LIKE AN EVENING PRIMROSE

An evening primrose is a flower that only blooms early in the morning, then wilts in the heat of the sun. Each and every one of us is like an evening primrose. We have good, supportive conditions to sustain life for a time. But when the time comes for us to die, no one can stop it.

Think to yourself, “Wherever there is fullness, decline and decay must come.” We put so much of our energy into avoiding and fending off the process of aging. Yet, like the evening primrose that only likes the early-morning light, even our own lives and our own bodies will wilt in time. Remind yourself that if one moment is happy, sorrow or sadness may come in the next. Once things have gathered together, it is certain that sooner or later, they must part. It is only a matter of time.

After reflecting on how life is like an evening primrose, return to the inhalation and exhalation of the breath.

General Advice on Contemplating Impermanence

Developing a contemplative practice is a process. No one can tell you how long your practice session should be. It is best to choose an amount of time that seems manageable and that you can keep
to on a daily basis without feeling like it is too much. If you choose an amount of time that is too long, you will become discouraged and quit. Instead, you can start with fifteen or twenty minutes, and increase the length of your sitting practice over time. Of course, if you wish for particular guidance in how to develop a practice that is more specific than what is presented in this book, you should seek a teacher who can give you more personal advice.

As you read through these suggested contemplations, some will seem more vivid and evocative to you than others. Start with those. Over time, you may want to use the other contemplations as a way to deepen your practice and reflect on impermanence in a new way. In one practice session, you can work with either one or several of these metaphors to help you contemplate the nature of impermanence. It is up to you to use whatever seems to be most helpful.

You may also want to start keeping a journal where you note down other evocative and personal examples of metaphors, or objects of contemplation that you notice in your own life. In doing so, you make impermanence practice even more personal and applicable to yourself.

Exercise 11

CELEBRATE LIFE

Now that you have taken some time to contemplate the impermanence of life, you should be overjoyed that you have this opportunity to value and use each and every moment for your own good and the good of others. How wonderful!

At the end of the wind energy training session, spend a few moments using the breath to channel this attitude of rejoicing. As you inhale, you can think, “How fortunate! My life lasted long enough to take this breath.” As you exhale, you can think, “May
I use the remainder of my life wisely.” You may also want to apply this thinking as you fall asleep at night, rejoicing that you lived another day before you fall asleep, and as you awaken in the morning, aspiring to use what time you have left wisely.

6

Unlocking Old Patterns through Wind Energy Training

BECOMING AWARE
of our own emotional tendencies is an important part of wind energy training because through this awareness, we notice the connection between our state of mind, how we feel, and the breath. This, in turn, helps us to break old habits and patterns, and develop new responses to inner and outer stimuli. These stimuli are constantly surfacing—and so is the breath. As a result, it is no coincidence that the breath is the perfect tool to use on a moment-to-moment basis. Whether we are eating, sleeping, sitting, working, engaging with others, or driving, we can cultivate awareness of the breath throughout them all. In this chapter, we will explore the emotional tendencies that tend to dominate our minds, and how to release that emotion or train in a new response through wind energy training.

H
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Each one of us has developed unhealthy habits and patterns over the course of our lifetimes. In saying this, we do not mean to denigrate or judge ourselves, implying “That part of me is good, and that part is bad.” We do not help ourselves by feeling inferior, inadequate, or incapable. We are who we are, and that is what we have to work with.

At the same time, there is no use denying our imperfections. All of us act in ways that we know are not healthy. We make choices, conscious or subconscious, to do things that are not in our best interest. At times, we even see ourselves acting out these patterns of unhealthy behavior, yet we are unable to stop ourselves from doing the very thing we know we should avoid. We do not need to have an addiction to have an unhealthy behavior that seems to perpetually fuel itself. Being imperfect is simply part of being human.

Reflecting on these most difficult aspects of our personalities, we should not give up hope. None of us is trapped into being someone we do not want to be. Our lives are totally new and fresh in the moment. Even more importantly, now we are learning about wind energy training. We are learning to be more flexible by working with the energy that lies underneath old patterns of unhealthy behavior. And, as we already know, life is impermanent and change is imminent! Where we want to go is up to us.

Seeing Our Own Habitual Tendencies

In the Buddhist teachings, we describe every pattern of behavior as a “habitual tendency.” There is no judgment in the use of this term. We may have habitual tendencies toward healthy behavior as well as toward harmful or unhealthy behavior. From the point of view of the Buddhist teachings, all sentient beings have developed their own individual habits, both positive and negative, over
time. If we accept the idea of past lives and karma, it makes sense to say that based on the strength of the karma and habits we developed in past lives, certain habits and emotional tendencies have been carried into this lifetime. Even if we do not accept the idea of past lives, it still makes sense to think that during this lifetime, we have developed our own distinct ways of relating to others and the world around us. Each of us reacts strongly to certain things and passively to others. Our reactions have to do with our habitual outlook, the lens through which we perceive the world.

According to the Buddhist teachings, the five poisons are the basis for all of our emotional responses. Of course, all types of emotional responses can develop based on our basic disposition and our life experiences. Our habitual tendencies are expressed through body, speech, and mind. However, as we reflect on these patterns in the context of wind energy training, we will start to see our personal tendencies as the food for wind energy practice. Our emotional tendencies are the most powerful energies we have to work with, because they color everything we do, say, and think. If we can start to work directly with our emotional habits and reactions, we can make real and lasting changes in our own lives and behavior by developing more emotional stability, kindness, flexibility, and appreciation.

Purifying Our Deepest Habits

We now know that our emotional tendencies are an expression of the wind energy in our bodies at any given moment. And we all bear witness to the habits and cycles of our emotional lives. Taking this understanding to a deeper level, we can see that our wind energy must be a mirror image of these habits and cycles. Otherwise, it would not be possible for these habitual emotional reactions to rise up upon the wind energy. So we are not only working on making behavioral changes on the surface, we are working to purify the habits and impurities in the energy that fuels these patterns.