Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

There are many types of meditation methods. It is hard to say which is superior since it depends on the practitioner’s personal temperament and disposition. Even so, one method stands out as easily accessible and acceptable regardless of a practitioner’s religious leaning: breathing meditation. Previous studies on breathing meditation can be largely divided into four types: A traditional Buddhist method, a brain breathing method, breathing practice in yoga, and traditional Taoist breathing meditation (abdominal breathing). Among these, studies on traditional Buddhist breathing meditation may be examined from the three perspectives of literature research, test of medical effects, and test of psychological effects. In this paper, we will examine breathing meditation methods of early Buddhism, which is among the most popular research subjects in this field. To set it apart from earlier studies, we collected all the data on breathing meditation found in an early Buddhist script, Nikāya, and classified them. Our research covers topics ranging from the origin of breathing meditation, to specific methods, practical characteristics, benefits of breathing meditation, and psychological therapeutic effects. Some of the key findings on characteristics of breathing meditation are:What sets Buddhist breathing meditation apart from other breathing meditation is ‘sati’ or mindfulness. Breathing meditation is a method that Buddha practiced even before enlightenment, apart from meditation on impurity. Breathing meditation is a method that was widely practiced by novices and Arahat alike, even by Buddha. Breathing meditation is a useful method of attaining Samādhi. Simply put, breathing meditation is a method of calming down a distracted mind to enable immersion in practice, and at the same time, it is an effective meditation method that helps to achieve a stage of realization by developing one’s wisdom.