Questions and Answers on the Contemplative Practice of the Four Establishments of Mindfulness 9

Question: When raising the thought to engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), the mind always has an object of attention, focused on the breath. However, the flow of the breath is intermittent; moreover, the route of the breath's movement is not clear, and its speed is very fast, so the form of the airflow cannot be seen clearly—it passes by in an instant. What should be done about this? 

Answer: When the mind attends to the breath, at the beginning an involuntary breath-holding phenomenon will occur, and when holding the breath, one feels as if the flow of breath has stopped and been interrupted. When meditative concentration (samādhi) is still insufficient, the mind is still somewhat coarse and cannot observe more subtle dharmas and phenomena; one does not know where the breath has traveled to, and one easily loses mindfulness, unable to keep up with the speed of the breath's movement. At this time, one needs to continue deepening meditative concentration and the power of contemplative practice. Do not be anxious or eager for quick results; an impatient mind will become agitated, which will obstruct the arising of meditative concentration. The skill of meditative concentration needs to be gradually fulfilled and increased—only through quantitative change can qualitative change occur. When meditative concentration reaches a certain level, the mind will become somewhat more refined, and the dharmas observed will also become deep and subtle.