Buddhist scholar and teacher Bhikkhu Anālayo explores the practice of mindfulness of breathing in the sixteen steps of the Ānāpānasati Sutta. This is an authoritative, practice-orientated elucidation of a foundational Buddhist text, useful to meditators whatever their tradition or background. In the first six chapters Anālayo presents practical instructions comparable to his Satipatthāna Meditation: A Practice Guide. The remaining chapters contain his translations of extracts from the early Chinese canon. With his accompanying commentary, these help the practitioner appreciate the early Buddhist perspective on the breath and the practice of mindfulness of breathing. Anālayo presents his understanding of these early teachings, arising from his own meditation practice and teaching experience. His aim is to inspire all practitioners to use what he has found helpful to build their own practice and become self-reliant. The book is accompanied with freely downloadable audio files offering guided and progressive meditation instructions from the author.
Bhikkhu Analayo is a faculty member at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and a professor at the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg. His main area of academic research is early Buddhism, with a special interest in the topics of meditation and women in Buddhism. At the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies he regularly teaches residential study and practice courses, participates in online programs and undertakes research into meditation-related themes. He completed a PhD on the Satipatthana-sutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2000, published in 2003, by Windhorse Publications under the title Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization.
