You have to know that you are breathing in now, or you are breathing out now

Question: In breath meditation, there are different points of focusing ie focusing on different parts of the body like at the tip of the nose, or in the diaphragm or in the throat. How do I chose which point of focusing is suitable for me?

Than Ajahn: Each person might find different focusing point that is more noticeable to him, so you want to find a point which is easy for you to watch because you just want to use the breath to stop you from thinking, so if you concentrate on just at a particular point and watching the breath coming in and out easily then you use that point and focus your attention on just the breath alone to prevent you from thinking about other things. If you keep watching what is the breath is doing then you cannot think about other things.

You have to know that you are breathing in now, or you are breathing out now. If you start thinking about other things then it means you forget whether you are breathing in or breathing out. So you must always watch your breath. You can choose the point that is more easily accessible to you, some people find the breath easily at the tip of the nose, some people can watch their diaphragm. Whichever point of focusing is okay, but just find one point and stay there and don’t move around.

Question: I have some heaviness with some vibrating feeling on the forehead. Do you think it would be better if I practice for instance white kasina instead of meditation on the breath?

Than Ajahn: You can try different methods, may be this method is not suitable for you. You can try to recite a mantra: Buddho Buddho, recite some chanting or some verses to lessen the mental activity. When you still have strong mental activity, it is difficult to focus on something because your mind still wants to think. Instead of letting your mind thinks, you can recite some chanting or recite a mantra. This will slow down your thoughts. Until it comes to the point where you are comfortable, you then will be able to observe your breath. Kasina meditation method is the same thing as the breath, it is just a different object, that’s all. You can use the breath, you can use the white kasina, they are the same things.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto