What is Buddhism? Practice, faith, meditation, a way of living?
I’ll tell you what you can give us.
It’s a good answer.
Education in the West teaches to look outward, towards the world: biology, geography, physics, history…
Isn’t that teaching and learning?
…but it does not teach them to learn to know themselves by looking inside themselves.
Can’t we discover ourselves in the universe?
But if you don’t look inside yourself, you will believe that you are only what others think of you, and thus you will lose control of your own being.
We live, it is true, in the era of narcissism.
Because this lack of education for self-knowledge leaves our young people at the mercy of others and, even worse, of social networks…
If only it were the young people!
…and, lacking security and maturity, instead of focusing on improving themselves, they seek the approval of others with a like or by displaying their vacations on the networks, always paying attention to what they say about them.
How to start getting to know each other?
Start by learning to breathe.
Man, if you’re reading us, you already know.
They breathe, but they don’t know how, and if they don’t know how to really breathe, they will not learn to control their emotions and, thus, to know themselves until they stop having to depend on others to know who they really are.
Can you teach us a little how to breathe?
Clear! Let’s see: just exhaust all inhalation and exhalation now.
Inspiration… Ahhhrffff.
That is. Deep through the nose… Continue… More!
And I breathe out through my mouth: buffffffffff.
It’s not enough like this, Lluís. Exhale through your mouth, yes, but not only: in addition, you have to exhale even more with your entire stomach and all your guts.
Buf… Aggh…
Take a breath, come on, now from your stomach and, now, now… attention…
So? Buffffff.
Like this, like this… Now, tighten the ortho…!
Do you mean… the anus?
Yes, the anus. Tighten the anus. End the exhalation by contracting the belly, intestines and rectum… Like me. Tighten your anus!
I’m on it, yes.
And, before you start to exhale, hold the air in your lungs for thirty seconds.
Here, “squeeze your ass” is a very popular Catalan expression…
Don’t talk to me: focus on breathing.
Bufffffffffffff.
Better, Lluís, better. Human emotions are connected to breathing, which, as you know, accelerates or relaxes at the pace they set, but can also modify them.
And if I’m depressed, I’ll breathe worse?
Or you get depressed because you breathe worse. Just by breathing well you will feel better.
Will I feel better now?
Relax the anus as you finish exhaling after squeezing it. Now you can.
I relax it.
And don’t expect anything from this breath. Avoid the anxiety of expectation. Don’t think about it: just breathe.
Do you teach breathing at school?
We learn to meditate, which is not difficult, because to begin with it simply consists of learning to breathe.
Without great physical exercises?
Just breathing correctly will give you control over your emotions and your body, and you will soon realize that either you had lost it or you were never taught to have it. They never taught him to breathe.
Those who run, swim, exercise… don’t they learn to breathe so as not to drown?
It is one of the reasons why exercise is so popular here today, because it restores awareness of breathing and calms them; but now imagine that you can progress a little more in controlling your breathing, your emotions, your mind…
Is it an everyday endeavor?
And available to everyone. That’s why meditation, mindfulness, yoga, all those great exercises are becoming more and more popular: they try to calm your breathing, your body, your emotions, your mind…
GOOD.
That is controlling yourself until you know who you are, and to find out if you are happy and successful without having to ask, because they have told you that your success depends on them.
Is success knowing yourself?
Success is something invented by those who want you to depend on them to achieve it: to be famous, superior, rich, handsome… And it is only decided by others, if you are. Everything is ego.
How do you avoid falling into that temptation?
If all your effort is directed towards surpassing others, it is of no use. If you think you are the best and you are always measuring yourself against others, you have not improved. And if you don’t improve, you’ll never know who you are.
