Heterodox Practices Can Also Be Adopted for Self-Cultivation

Revised Experience in Observing the Breath

1. The state throughout the entire sitting was much clearer and more lucid than last night. Breathing naturally, the breath entered and exited through the left nostril. Inhalations were deeper and longer, while exhalations were lighter and slightly shorter, with a longer pause after exhaling. The area where the left nostril connects to the throat felt dry. Inhalations produced a louder sound, while exhalations were quieter.

2. Attempted to visualize fire descending on the right side and water rising on the left side. When visualizing this, the breath became very subtle, and the aforementioned characteristics disappeared. When attention was readjusted to the breath itself, the previous breathing state resumed.

3. It's best not to practice seated meditation and observation when tired or sleepy, as it easily leads to muddiness and lack of clarity. However, last night after rising from sitting, while lying down, I naturally and clearly began observing the breath again.

Comment: Here, a Daoist practice based on the Tai Chi Bagua diagram is employed. Since the physical bodies of Buddhist practitioners and non-Buddhists are identical, with no difference in structure, methods from non-Buddhist traditions can be borrowed for regulating the body, especially given their extensive experience. Whatever proves useful for one's own practice can be adopted—after all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Non-Buddhists also cultivate meditative concentration (dhyāna), and since concentration is ultimately beneficial for cultivating the body, mind, and wisdom, we too should cultivate it. There's no need to deliberately emphasize our difference from non-Buddhists as if we were superior. If our meditative concentration falls short of theirs, our afflictions may become heavier than theirs, which would invite ridicule.