Breathing

Breath is important (Shākyamuni Buddha speaks of it in the Ānāpānasati Sutta). In Zen Sōtō practice, breathing is natural and abdominal, with a gentle movement felt in the belly (hara).

This allows thoughts to sink and melt into the hara, like the silt in a choppy pond sinks from the surface to the bottom when the water is calm again. The brain's usual activity quiets, and a vast, objectless awareness can unfold through the whole body.

The breath enters and reaches the dantian [hara], yet it comes from nowhere. Thus, it is neither long nor short. The breath comes from the dantian [hara], yet it goes nowhere. Therefore, it is neither short nor long.

Dōgen, Eihei Kōroku.

**Breath, movement of life itself.