Just One Breath

A student went to his teacher one day. They had been working together for some time, and he decided he finally wanted a straight answer; he wanted to finally understand how to quiet his mind. He decided he wouldn’t accept any of that “no method” nonsense he usually nods along to. “I won’t leave without a clear answer,” he thought.

So he went to his teacher and asked the question.

Student: “How do I quiet the mind?”

Teacher: “We’ve gone over this.”

Student: “I want a clear answer this time.”

Teacher: “Have I not been perfectly clear with you?”

Student: “Hardly. Usually you just say there’s no method and that’s the end of the conversation.”

Teacher: “That’s true.”

Student: “Well I’m not leaving until you answer my question.”

Teacher: “Alright. If you really want to quiet your mind, take two breaths. But only when you really want to. Don’t be flippant about this.”

Student: “Are you serious? You’re saying this is actually the trick?”

Teacher: “I am saying if you want to quiet your mind, take two breaths. Your mind will become quiet.”

The student naturally wanted to try it immediately, but stayed himself. “Only when you really want to,” he thought. So he slept on it. The next day a moment came when he knew it was time. He took two breaths. Sure enough, there was nothing. Not a single thought arose. Pure, intelligent silence. After a minute of it he laughed, unable to contain his joy and surprise that it had been so easy this whole time. Just two breaths! He went on doing this for weeks. The next time he saw his teacher he had to ask about it.

Student: “I’ve been able to quiet my mind every time I’ve tried. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Teacher: “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think of it.”

Student: “You didn’t think of it? I’ve been trying to learn how to quiet my mind for years. You know this. How could it not occur to you to tell me how to actually do it?”

Teacher: “Well, truth be told, I made it up.”

Student: “What do you mean? It isn’t just two breaths?”

Teacher: “No.”

Student: “I don’t understand. It literally worked. My mind went quiet every time I did it. How could that not be the method?”

Teacher: “It actually requires only one breath. I told you two so that the first would get you ready. But now I think you are ready as you are. You can do it with only one.”

The student went away and, quite frankly, didn’t think anything of the conversation. Maybe he didn’t know what to think of it, or maybe it was something else. But he didn’t wait a whole day to try this new method like he did before. That night, as he was walking in his garden, he took a single, conscious breath. Immediately his mind went silent. His attention was freed just as before, unburdened by unbidden things. He laughed as he laughed before, admiring how much simpler it was than what he had previously thought. Just one breath! How he had searched for years to find the secret, only to learn it took the simplest of actions to bring about silence.

He stayed with this for many weeks. Admittedly it was quite satisfying, and, even though a doubt began to naw at him, he didn’t want to leave his new reality. And deep down he knew that’s what this doubt would lead to. But eventually it demanded his attention, as all doubts do, and so he faced it. And it demanded of him that he return to confront his teacher once again. So he did.

Teacher: “I’m surprised it took you this long to come.”

Student: “Why are you surprised?”

Teacher: “You’re right, I suppose I’m not.”

Student: “You didn’t tell me everything.”

Teacher: “No, I didn’t.”

Student: “I think I know what you are going to say. I think I knew the last time I was here. But I wasn’t ready to hear it. And I think that now I need to hear it, even though I already know it.”

Teacher: “Yes, I think you do. It doesn’t take one breath to quiet the mind. Surely you know that now.”

Student: “Yes.”

Teacher: “Then surely you know why I told you that?”

Student: “It was never the breath that silenced the mind. The breath was just to get me ready.”

Teacher: “Yes. But now you are ready as you are, aren’t you?”

Student: “Yes.”

Teacher: “Then you know what really quiets the mind?”

Student: nods

Teacher: “And you understand why I couldn’t tell you?”

Student: nods

The teacher smiled, and the two of them went out for a beer.