Hong-Sau Meditation
Preparation
1. To calm the body, inhale, tensing the whole body; throw the breath out and relax. Repeat two or three times.
2. Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply several times. Make the period of inhalation, holding, and exhalation the same. (Suggested counts: 8-8-8, or 6-6-6.) Don’t strain. Repeat six or twelve times.
3. Mentally check the body to make sure it is relaxed. Periodically, check the body again during your practice of the technique.
4. Begin your actual practice of the technique by first exhaling, slowly and deliberately.
The Basic Technique
1. When the breath flows in of its own accord, follow it mentally with the sound,Hong. Imagine that the breath itself is making this sound.
2. When the breath flows out of its own accord, follow it mentally with Sau, and imagine that it is itself making, the sound, Sau (to rhyme with “saw”).
3. If at any time the breathing stops naturally, accept the pause calmly, identifying yourself with it until the breath flows again of its own accord.
4. To keep your mind on the breath (or, when you are more interiorized, to differentiate between inhalation and exhalation), it may help you to bring the forefinger towards the palm as the breath flows in, and away from the palm as the breath flows out.
First Phase
1. If your breath is still restless, you may be more easily aware of the physical movement of your lungs and diaphragm than of the flow of breath in the nostrils. In this case, concentrate on the purely physical aspects of breathing — the movement of the rib cage, the diaphragm, or the navel.
2. Gradually, as you grow calmer, transfer your attention from the breathing process to the breath itself.
Second Phase
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