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Saying Hello to Life: Mindfulness of Breathing and Transformation of Sensations
Today is the seventeenth of May, 2009, and we are at Mouli-ba, in the meditation hall called the Assembly of Stars.
To say hello every morning is to recognize “I know you are there” to oneself, to the life within and around us, and to the present moment as “the door that gives access to life.” By bringing mindfulness to the in-breath:
- “Breathing in, I know that an in-breath is taking place”;
- “I become my in-breath,” uniting subject and object, overcoming the dual grasping (nhị thủ);
- “Breathing in, I say hello to my body,” and “breathing out, I let my body relax,” for healing.
The practice extends to every daily act: walking, turning on a tap, drinking tea, eating a yogurt, celebrating life as an art. The Buddha offers the contemplation of sensations, classified as:
- pleasant: they become more pleasant;
- unpleasant: they become less unpleasant;
- neutral: transformed into well-being through mindfulness.