How to Regulate Body and Mind to Quickly Enter the State of Contemplating the Breath

After sitting down, join your palms and recite "Namo Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha" three times. Recite slowly while visualizing the Buddha's light shining upon your entire body. After reciting, let the mind settle down and then adjust your breathing. For some people, once they sit down the mind is already quite calm, so there is no need to adjust the breathing; they can proceed directly into the state of meditation. 

If at the beginning the mind is rather scattered and you cannot contemplate the breath, you need to first recite the Buddha's name or recite a mantra. When reciting the Buddha's name, you also use the breathing method to recite; reciting in this way is actually also a way of regulating the breath, gradually opening up the air passage so that the breath can descend to the dantian. Once the breath descends to the dantian, the mental attention will follow to the dantian; or conversely, when the attention reaches the dantian, the breath follows it there. At this point, the dantian area will feel warm and heated. With fewer wandering thoughts, it is easy to attain meditative concentration (samādhi); when the body becomes quiet, the mind also becomes quiet. Note that when reciting the Buddha's name, the pace should be slowed down—recite slowly. The slower you recite, the better the breath is regulated, and the more concentrated and less scattered the mind becomes. Only then will the next step of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) be effective. 

When you take deep breaths while reciting "Amitābha Buddha," because the recitation is very slow and the concentration is very intense, attaining samādhi comes very quickly. At this time, wandering thoughts are less likely to arise, because all of your attention is focused on reciting the Buddha's name and listening to it. This helps reduce wandering thoughts and still other discursive thoughts, leaving only the thought of the Buddha's name. As the recitation continues and samādhi is attained, you can no longer produce the sound aloud; at this point, body and mind become still. When still, transfer this mental focus to contemplating the breath, and continue to contemplate the state of your own breathing. This method is helpful for contemplative practice. 

Another method for regulating body and mind is deep breathing. The duration of deep breathing should be determined according to each person's specific condition. If your physical state is fairly good, one or two breaths, or three to five breaths, may be enough to attain samādhi; for some people, it may take ten breaths. Once you have entered the state, begin contemplating the breath. Since the breathing has already been regulated beforehand, at this point the circulation of qi and blood is normal and the mind can concentrate, so you can begin entering contemplation. The specific methods of contemplative practice should follow the methods and sequence taught in the Buddhist sūtras, deepening the contemplation step by step. In this way, sitting in meditation will not fall into drowsiness, because there is a profound object of contemplation upon which you can focus, making drowsiness unlikely.