The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing are at the heart of the teachings offered by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community. They have now been offered in the form of a song by the Plum Village monastic sisters.
Mindfulness of breathing is the great vehicle used by the Buddhas to save beings who are drifting and sinking in the ocean of suffering.
Master Tang Hoi
This quote comes from the preface to the Chinese translation of the sutra “Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing”, an ancient text dating from the third century C.E., written by the father of Vietnamese Zen Buddhism, Master Tang Hoi. In our own time, mindfulness of breathing is becoming more and more widely embraced and practiced. It is not a Buddhist practice alone. It is accessible and of benefit to practitioners of any spiritual path or those who do not identify with any formal or established spiritual path.
The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing is now composed into music by Plum Village sisters with beautiful “The Metta Meditation”.
Words from the sutra “Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing” (Anapanasati Sutta, MN 118,)
Music by Sr. Trang Hieu Duc
Performed by Plum Village sisters
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