Is It Okay To Be Deliberate About Breathing?

[With English interpretation] Ven. Pomnyun Sunim's (법륜스님) Answer to “Is it okay to be deliberate about breathing? ”
A question chosen from the weekly Sunday meditation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(법륜스님).

Peace of mind is only one step away.

Transcript

I am trying to breathe intentionally. I am trying not to try. Am I doing it right? What we're trying to say is that you shouldn't breathe intentionally. Whether that's you're counting numbers or you're trying to breathe slowly or shortly or roughly or what not. That's what we're saying you should stay away from. I'm saying let the breath go as it will. Whether your breath is gentle, Rough, Long, Short, Just let it be. As if you're sleeping and breathing, Right? You can't control, You don't intentionally breathe while you're asleep. Exactly, You just let the breath be. The only thing for you to do is be mindful of that breath. Realize when it's rough, That it is rough. If the breath is long, Know that breath is long. Just realize and be mindful of the situation of the breath. That's the basic principle. However, There are times that without you being consciously aware, You're trying to intentionally control your breath. But you don't have to be distracted by that either. Just realize that you are trying to intentionally influence your breath. Because if you're not consciously trying to influence the breath, And if you're unconsciously trying to influence it, They'll just go back to its own natural state and you'll eventually get to the stage where you don't influence the breath anymore. Because a conscious intention actually needs energy and you can't sustain that focus because you constantly require energy. That's why even if you're trying to shape your breath intentionally, Without you knowing, You go back to its natural state. So the problem isn't that you're trying to intentionally shape the breath. It's that you tend to lose focus when your breath returns to its natural state. Or once you go back to the natural state of breath, You find yourself trying to reshape the breath intentionally. So there's a contradiction for novices like us. And when starting our meditation is that we try to be mindful of the breath without intent. However, We tend to be intentional in our breath to be mindful. So that's a contradiction for novices like us. And when starting our meditation is that we try to be mindful of the breath without intent. However, We tend to be intentional in our breath to be mindful. Then if we allow our breath to be natural, Then we lose that mindfulness. So in short to this question, If you unconsciously try to be intentional about your breath, Just let that go. Do not pay too much attention to it because it will naturally correct itself.