Practise in the Thai Forest style: “buddho” with the breath, and letting go

Join the meditation word “buddho” to the breath, make the breath comfortable, and let go of what the mind grasps — the way Ajahn Chah and Ajaan Lee taught.

Pourquoi ça marche

The Thai Forest tradition is a Theravāda monastic lineage that grew around Ajahn Mun, who taught Ajahn Chah, and whose monks practise strict Vinaya in forest monasteries. Two of its best-known teachers give closely related instructions. Ajaan Lee pairs “bud-” with the in-breath and “dho” with the out-breath, then asks the meditator to adjust the breath until it is comfortable and let that comfortable sensation spread through the whole body, with awareness kept broad. Ajahn Chah, speaking to an aging lay disciple near death, teaches the same breath with “buddho” and adds the forest tradition’s central move: “to know, and having known, let go.” A comfortable, broad sense of the body steadies the mind; letting go keeps that steadiness from becoming one more thing to cling to.

Comment faire

1. Pay respect to the Triple Gem and take the refuges and precepts, as Ajaan Lee’s manual begins, or simply settle with a few long breaths.
2. Think “bud-” with each in-breath and “dho” with each out-breath, keeping the word as long as the breath.
3. Notice whether the breath feels comfortable; if not, try breathing longer or shorter until it does.
4. Let the comfortable breath sensation spread through the body, and keep your awareness broad rather than pinned to one spot.
5. When thoughts, images or sensations arise, know them and let them go, returning to the breath and the knowing — Ajahn Chah’s instruction is not to grasp at visions or sounds.
6. If you get headaches, Ajaan Lee advises not to focus above the base of the throat; never force the breath.

Données probantes

The instructions come from Ajaan Lee’s Keeping the Breath in Mind (Method 2) and Ajahn Chah’s talk “Our Real Home,” both freely published by the tradition; the biography on ajahnchah.org records Ajahn Chah’s training with Ajahn Mun. A systematic review of slow-breathing studies in healthy people reports autonomic changes such as increased heart rate variability, alongside changes in brain activity and psychological state, which is a plausible mechanism for the breath side of the practice; the forest method itself has not been trialled. (mechanistic)

The slow-breathing review is about breathing techniques generally, not this method. Ajaan Lee’s manual also makes claims about health and special powers that come from the tradition and have not been tested. The forest tradition expects serious practice to be guided by a teacher.

Sources

• Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo. Keeping the Breath in Mind: Method 2. Trans. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. dhammatalks.org.
• Ajahn Chah. Our Real Home (Dhamma talk to an aging lay disciple). In The Teachings of Ajahn Chah. Wat Nong Pah Pong.
• Biography of Ajahn Chah. The Teachings of Ajahn Chah. Wat Nong Pah Pong.
• Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353.

Erreur fréquente

Hearing “let go” as pushing experience away or forcing the mind blank — Ajahn Chah’s instruction is to know a thing clearly first, and the letting go follows from seeing it, not from suppressing it.