Breath meditation begins with observing the breath at the nose tip, the solar plexus, or wherever you can notice it.
Settle on one point, such as the rim of your nose or the inside of you nostrils, and keep your attention focused there.
As you concentrate on your breath, interesting sensations occur if the concentration is done correctly.
The first is an awareness of how dominating and out of control your thoughts are.
The mind thinks constantly, and this interferes with your meditation, as your mind drifts here and there.
Eventually, you will be able to remain concentrated on the breath for longer and longer periods, After you accomplish this, the mind becomes very calm, and you will feel liberated from the heavy burden of thought, worry, and fear; so liberated in fact that you will feel surprising sensations in you body.
They might feel like you are floating, or blowing up like a balloon, or very heavy, or even as if your body is suffused with rapture.
These physical feelings are not subtle, but rather gross, and as your practice matures, they will change into a more peaceful, yet powerful feeling of peace to the tenth power! The timing of these stages depends upon how quickly you can detach from the previous feeling.
If you hang on to it, your progress will be slow.
Each stage is surprising and quite incredible, something you have never experienced before, and there will be a temptation to think that you are enlightened.
But the fact is, you are only going through preliminary stages, so let go of each stage as quickly as you can.
Letting go means not becoming attached to a particular stage.
Allow each one to move on by itself by ignoring it and always returning to the focus of your breath.
After the mind becomes calm and unmoving, and void of thoughts and feelings, the next stage many times will be seeing visions and words that will appear in your mind.
There will be beautiful lights, visions of people and things, substantial words that appear as teachings, etc.
You will be tapping into the bhavanga, or the life continuum consciousness, which feeds the subconscious, and which contains all the past information from the totality of existence.
This can be either fun - or scary, if you forget that it is all caught up within existence.
These nimitta, this mara, will only delay you in your goal of freedom, which should be the ultimate goal of all meditators.
When these things occur, immediately go back to your breath, don't attempt to remember them or write them down, just let them go.
Some meditators become stuck at this level because of the wondrous experiences they have, but this is only a stage to work through.
After you learn to let these things go, they will cease on their own, replaced by a particular sign that indicates you are on the threshold of Samadhi, or deep concentration.
The sign is many times a bright light, very bright, and cannot be mistaken.
It can be as bright as the sun, but even so, it is only lighting the passageway that you must eventually make your way through.
Do not get caught up with this bright light, again thinking that this is it: I'm enlightened for sure! The light is merely an impression, an interpretation of your mind of something so tremendous that your mind cannot show it to you, except as brightness.
This light is the ground of all existence, the beginning of all consciousness.
Admittedly, this bright light will change your entire life, as well as future existences, and you will think that you have come face-to-face with eternity.
But it is only the entrance to the passageway.
Now, you must become comfortable with the light, or whatever particular sign arises, to the point of falling through the passageway that your sign is illuminating.
The passageway cannot be entered by entering it willfully.
There can be no volition or effort as such; there can only be an abiding in the great light that suffuses your breath now.
If you try too hard at this point, or become afraid, you will not enter the passageway.
You will have to come back and try later, maybe many times before you can learn to relax into the practice and become accustomed to the light.
It is a matter of becoming confident in your experiences to the point where you can take the next step, but it is never you that takes the step; the step is taken for you when you get your self out of the way.
All the while that these things are happening, you will be concentration on your breathing.
The light will flood your breathing until your breathing and the light become one, but still you must be with the breath.
You will be able to experience your senses; hearing feeling etc.
, at this point and stray thoughts might come in, but will fade quickly before such a powerful presence.
The first time you drop through the threshold of the passageway, you might become afraid, and then you will drop right back out! After some practice with this, however, you will be able to remain there, and then you will be in Samadhi.
You will be afraid because this is the termination of everything you are; your body, your mind, everything.
Now you are touching Reality, a Reality that doesn't exist, just as you are an existence that isn't real.
The chemistry of these two things converging creates tremendous energy, and when that energy is approached, you will intuitively understand what is occurring, and it could be frightening.
This is where it takes the utmost courage, and not all can do this, but for the ones who can, they will be well on their way to enlightenment.
The above is an explanation of developing a calm mind by Buddhist meditation, or by contemplative prayer as practiced by Christian contemplative saints, such as St.
John of the Cross and St, Teresa of Avila.
But this is but a first step to enlightenment.
Sila (discipline), Samadhi (concentration), and Panna (wisdom), are all required.