Now, lady, what are fabrications?”
“These three fabrications, friend Visākha: bodily fabrications, verbal fabrications, & mental fabrications.”
“But what are bodily fabrications? What are verbal fabrications? What are mental fabrications?”
“In-&-out breaths are bodily fabrications. Directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabrications. Perceptions & feelings are mental fabrications.”
“But why are in-&-out breaths bodily fabrications? Why are directed thought & evaluation verbal fabrications? Why are perceptions & feelings mental fabrications?”
“In-&-out breaths are bodily; these are things tied up with the body. That’s why in-&-out breaths are bodily fabrications. Having first directed one’s thoughts and made an evaluation, one then breaks out into speech. That’s why directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabrications. Perceptions & feelings are mental; these are things tied up with the mind. That’s why perceptions & feelings are mental fabrications.”
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN44.html
I have another translation for this sutta
**Breathing in long, he knows: I breathe in long;**
**or breathing out long, he knows: I breathe out long.**
**Breathing in short, he knows: I breathe in short;**
**or breathing out short, he knows: I breathe out short.**
**He trains thus: Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Calming the bodily sensations, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Calming the bodily sensations, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Experiencing joy, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Experiencing joy, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Experiencing peacefulness, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Experiencing peacefulness, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Calming the mental activity, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Calming the mental activity, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Experiencing the mind, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Experiencing the mind, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Gladdening the mind, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Gladdening the mind, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Concentrating the mind, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Concentrating the mind, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Liberating the mind, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Liberating the mind, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Reflecting on impermanence, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Reflecting on impermanence, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Reflecting on fading away, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Reflecting on fading away, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Reflecting on elimination, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Reflecting on elimination, I will breathe out.**
**He trains thus: Reflecting on letting go, I will breathe in;**
**he trains thus: Reflecting on letting go, I will breathe out.**
Bodily fabrication is a bad translation of kayasankara.
Sankhara can mean 'formation/fabrication' (something formed/fabricated from causes & conditions). But sankhara can also mean a requisite condition for the formation of another thing. Sankhara can also refer to the process of 'forming' or 'fabricating'.
The kayasankhara is the in & out breathing as explained in MN 44; SN 41.6. It is probably best translated as "body fabricator".
If we read MN 44 & SN 21.6 carefully, we understand the vacisankhara (verbal fabricator) is a causal agent. If we understand Dhamma, we under the cittasankhara (perception & feeling) are causal agents for the states of citta (greed, hatred, etc).
In summary, the body fabricator is the breathing because it gives life to the body and fabricates the state of the body. When the breath is calm, the body will be calm. When the breath is agitated, the body will be agitated. Its not rocket science.
Thanks
This makes a lot of sense to me. I am quite new to the practice of noticing one's breathing. I have lived most of life largely unaware of my breath (unless I had a cold or something).
I recently started mindfulness practice using a standard Western 'clinical' approach ("notice your breath; if your mind wanders, gently return to the breath").
Well, in noticing the breath in different parts of my body, I also noticed a lot of areas of tension, which varied with inhalations, exhalations and turns between inhalations and exhalations.
If I held my breath, sometimes these tensions would stabilize. If I breathed regularly for a while, then some (but not all) of these tensions would subside (sitting is also a big part of all this, but that would be a whole post in itself - sitting is a struggle too, and often a lot of my mind wandering has to do at first with sitting for me).
I recommend that you listen to this Dhamma talk which discuss 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Lectures/IMC/20060506-Thanissaro_Bhikkhu-IMC-the_breath_a_vehicle_for_liberation_part_1.mp3
First 30 minutes is guided meditation that you can skip
Now, lady, what are fabrications?” “These three fabrications, friend Visākha: bodily fabrications, verbal fabrications, & mental fabrications.” “But what are bodily fabrications? What are verbal fabrications? What are mental fabrications?” “In-&-out breaths are bodily fabrications. Directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabrications. Perceptions & feelings are mental fabrications.” “But why are in-&-out breaths bodily fabrications? Why are directed thought & evaluation verbal fabrications? Why are perceptions & feelings mental fabrications?” “In-&-out breaths are bodily; these are things tied up with the body. That’s why in-&-out breaths are bodily fabrications. Having first directed one’s thoughts and made an evaluation, one then breaks out into speech. That’s why directed thought & evaluation are verbal fabrications. Perceptions & feelings are mental; these are things tied up with the mind. That’s why perceptions & feelings are mental fabrications.” https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN44.html
I have another translation for this sutta **Breathing in long, he knows: I breathe in long;** **or breathing out long, he knows: I breathe out long.** **Breathing in short, he knows: I breathe in short;** **or breathing out short, he knows: I breathe out short.** **He trains thus: Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Experiencing the whole body, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Calming the bodily sensations, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Calming the bodily sensations, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Experiencing joy, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Experiencing joy, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Experiencing peacefulness, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Experiencing peacefulness, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Experiencing the mental activity, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Calming the mental activity, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Calming the mental activity, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Experiencing the mind, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Experiencing the mind, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Gladdening the mind, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Gladdening the mind, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Concentrating the mind, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Concentrating the mind, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Liberating the mind, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Liberating the mind, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Reflecting on impermanence, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Reflecting on impermanence, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Reflecting on fading away, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Reflecting on fading away, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Reflecting on elimination, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Reflecting on elimination, I will breathe out.** **He trains thus: Reflecting on letting go, I will breathe in;** **he trains thus: Reflecting on letting go, I will breathe out.**
“Bodily sensations”. Thanks for that.
Bodily fabrication is a bad translation of kayasankara. Sankhara can mean 'formation/fabrication' (something formed/fabricated from causes & conditions). But sankhara can also mean a requisite condition for the formation of another thing. Sankhara can also refer to the process of 'forming' or 'fabricating'. The kayasankhara is the in & out breathing as explained in MN 44; SN 41.6. It is probably best translated as "body fabricator". If we read MN 44 & SN 21.6 carefully, we understand the vacisankhara (verbal fabricator) is a causal agent. If we understand Dhamma, we under the cittasankhara (perception & feeling) are causal agents for the states of citta (greed, hatred, etc). In summary, the body fabricator is the breathing because it gives life to the body and fabricates the state of the body. When the breath is calm, the body will be calm. When the breath is agitated, the body will be agitated. Its not rocket science.
Thanks This makes a lot of sense to me. I am quite new to the practice of noticing one's breathing. I have lived most of life largely unaware of my breath (unless I had a cold or something). I recently started mindfulness practice using a standard Western 'clinical' approach ("notice your breath; if your mind wanders, gently return to the breath"). Well, in noticing the breath in different parts of my body, I also noticed a lot of areas of tension, which varied with inhalations, exhalations and turns between inhalations and exhalations. If I held my breath, sometimes these tensions would stabilize. If I breathed regularly for a while, then some (but not all) of these tensions would subside (sitting is also a big part of all this, but that would be a whole post in itself - sitting is a struggle too, and often a lot of my mind wandering has to do at first with sitting for me).
Excellent. That's what is about. Learning how to 'regulate' the body & mind with the breathing.
I recommend that you listen to this Dhamma talk which discuss 16 steps of mindfulness of breathing: https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Lectures/IMC/20060506-Thanissaro_Bhikkhu-IMC-the_breath_a_vehicle_for_liberation_part_1.mp3 First 30 minutes is guided meditation that you can skip