Ānāpānasati Sutta
Introduction
The Ānāpānasati Sutta — "The Discourse on Mindfulness of Breathing" — is a text from the Pali canon attributed to the Buddha Śākyamuni (Majjhima Nikāya 118). It presents the practice of mindfulness of the breath in sixteen steps, divided into four groups of four.
This text is the direct ancestor of the practice of zazen. Dōgen, in his Shōbōgenzō, places himself within this continuity: mindful breathing is not a simple relaxation exercise, but the very path of awakening, with body and mind uniting in attention to the breath.
The sixteen steps cover four dimensions: contemplation of the body (breathing long, breathing short, feeling the whole body, calming bodily formations), contemplation of feelings, contemplation of the mind, and contemplation of phenomena — culminating in detachment and liberation.
The sixteen steps (excerpts)
First group — The body:
1. Breathing in long, he knows: "I am breathing in long"; breathing out long, he knows: "I am breathing out long".
2. Breathing in short, he knows: "I am breathing in short"; breathing out short, he knows: "I am breathing out short".
3. He trains thus: "I will breathe in feeling the whole body".
4. He trains thus: "I will breathe in calming bodily formations".
Second group — Feelings:
5. He trains thus: "I will breathe in feeling joy".
6. He trains thus: "I will breathe in feeling happiness".
7. He trains thus: "I will breathe in feeling mental formations".
8. He trains thus: "I will breathe in calming mental formations".
Third group — The mind:
9. He trains thus: "I will breathe in feeling the mind".
10. He trains thus: "I will breathe in gladdening the mind".
11. He trains thus: "I will breathe in concentrating the mind".
12. He trains thus: "I will breathe in liberating the mind".
Fourth group — Phenomena:
13. He trains thus: "I will breathe in contemplating impermanence".
14. He trains thus: "I will breathe in contemplating detachment".
15. He trains thus: "I will breathe in contemplating cessation".
16. He trains thus: "I will breathe in contemplating relinquishment".
如是修行安那般那念。則能成滿四念處。四念處成滿。則能成滿七覺分。七覺分成滿。則能成滿明解脫。
Thus, by practicing mindfulness of breathing, one fulfills the four establishments of mindfulness; by fulfilling these, one fulfills the seven factors of awakening; by fulfilling these, one fulfills knowledge and liberation.