The "Connected Discourses on Mindfulness of Breathing" contains discourses focusing on the practice of mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati). These teachings explore the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing, which fulfill the four foundations of mindfulness and lead to the seven factors of awakening. By cultivating this practice, one develops collectedness and insight, leading to liberation.
Ānāpānasaṁyutta - Connected Discourses on Mindfulness of Breathing
Ekadhamma vagga - The Chapter on One Thing
The first chapter of the Connected Discourses on Mindfulness of Breathing, containing discourses 1–10.
Cultivating mindfulness while breathing in and out yields great fruit and benefit. This sixteen-step practice guides a meditator from foundational breath awareness to calming bodily and mental constructs, ultimately culminating in the profound observation of impermanence and complete relinquishment.
The Buddha explains that mindfulness while breathing in and out yields great fruit when integrated with the seven factors of awakening.
Following a tragic incident in which monks, overwhelmed by disgust after meditating on the body’s unattractiveness, take their own lives, the Buddha presents mindfulness of breathing as an alternative. He describes the collectedness born from breathing as a peaceful, sublime, and pure dwelling that, like a sudden rain settling dust, immediately stills any arisen unwholesome states.
Dutiya vagga - The Second Chapter
The second chapter of the Connected Discourses on Mindfulness of Breathing, containing discourses 11–20.
Emerging from a three-month seclusion, the Buddha reveals his primary meditative dwelling: collectedness born from mindfulness of breathing. He elevates this practice as the “Tathāgata’s dwelling.” For a trainee, it leads to the wearing away of defilements, and for an Arahant, it offers a pleasant dwelling in this life.
The Buddha details how collectedness born from mindfulness while breathing in and out fulfills the four establishments of mindfulness. These four establishments then arouse the seven factors of awakening, which, when fully cultivated, culminate in true knowledge and liberation.