Breathe, You Are Alive!: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing

This book is very important for those who wish to explore the practicals of meditation. This will serve as a good introduction as well as a trustworthy guide throughout one's journey. It is well worth the price and the effort. Practice practice practice!

Whether you've been meditating for a week or 25 years, this book provides profound methods for a progressive meditation practice in a very small package. At just over 100 pages, Breathe, You Are Alive, walks the reader through a sixteen part progression of awareness from the physical plane, through the mental and spiritual planes in a clear and concise manner that is easy to implement. Be warned that enlightenment is not just a hundred page book away, but if you want to make real progress on the path, this book is a good investment.

The book is very well written. It's clear, structured, and comes with practical examples. The author recommends using the content in every day life, and guides you to that goal. If practiced, clearly, this book provides a wealth of positive effects.

I myself am not really a Buddhist. I do find myself leaning in that direction, more and more, in a lot of ways -- but Buddhist beliefs are not a prerequisite for benefitting from this book. Whether you are a Buddhist or not, there's a lot to be gained from working through the exercises included herein. The value of this book to me, is the way it combines mindfulness with breathing. Awareness guiding the body to calm, can lead the body to reciprocally calm the mind, in an ongoing cycle. If you wish to make this cycle part of your daily existence, this book can really help.If you come to value this book, and are looking for similar techniques, ideas, etc., I would like to recommend "The Quiet Mind" by White Eagle, or "The Relaxation Response" by Dr. Herbert Benson.

This sutra (along with the four foundations of mindlfullness) is a text on how to utilize mediatation to become enlightened. I keep this book next to my bed so I can read a passage from time to time to reinforce my meditation practice. These days there are so many books on how to meditate, why not read a book on meditation by a a master from 2600 years ago translated by one of the modern day living representation of the same master.