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Awakening Noble Silence with the Bell and Eight Mindful Breaths
We just finished the Summer Opening in Plum Village about five days ago with young people and children from fifty nationalities enjoying Sitting Meditation, Walking Meditation, Dharma Talk and deepening together in Noble Silence. Children practiced mindful walking and breathing, generating “the energy of peace, of joy” without TV or games. One young mother breastfed her baby in the hall, and both mother and child were nourished by mother’s milk and by “living Dharma” in the Noble Silence created by over a thousand people breathing together.
Listening to the bell invites every cell in the body to practice deep listening, creating Noble Silence for collective peace and joy. As a Bell Master you:
- Wake up the bell with a half-sound
- Offer time for “one in-breath and one out-breath”
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Invite the first full sound with three in-breaths and three out-breaths while reciting:
– I listen, I listen
– This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home - Repeat for the second and third full sounds
- End with bowing to the Sangha
The Buddha’s first eight exercises of mindful breathing are:
- Identification of the in-breath as in-breath and the out-breath as out-breath
- Following the in-breath and out-breath from beginning to end
- “Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.”
- “Breathing in, I release the tension in my body.”
- Bringing in a feeling of joy
- Bringing in a feeling of happiness
- Recognizing the pain, the sorrow, the distress, the despair in us
- Releasing the tension in painful feeling
Practicing these steps generates mindfulness, concentration and insight, enabling us to touch the miracles of life, embrace our suffering and cultivate lasting peace and joy.
