In the early Buddhist tradition the term “kasina” refers to a visual meditation object, usually in the form of a circular orb. Kasina is connected to the Sanskrit term krtsna, meaning 'all, complete, whole'. This seem appropriate as the quality of attention we're aiming for is a complete & whole one.
A famous 1,500 year old meditation manual, The Path of Purification, describes 10 such kasinas, each suitable for deep meditation:
“Now as to the kasinas, there are ten: the 🌎 earth kasina, the 💧 water kasina, the 🔥 fire kasina, the 💨 air kasina, the 🔵 blue kasina, the 🟡 yellow kasina, the 🔴 red kasina, the ⚪️ white kasina, the 💡 light kasina, and the ✨ limited space kasina.”
— Visuddhimagga, Chapter IV (emojis added for effect 🙃)
I think that kasinas are massively slept on as meditation objects. The beauty of these kasinas is that they tap into our hugely developed visual sense, allowing us to play directly to one of species greatest strengths: sight.
But let’s not forget the breath, which is also an incredibly dynamic meditation object! As we settle, so does it, inviting us into a more subtle & precise mode of attention. On the exhalation we relax (parasympathetic mode) and on the inhalation we are energized (sympathetic mode), so the breath is self-regulating. Finally, the breath has the added benefit of continually bringing us back to our embodied experience. Given that modern life is often dominated by both screens and abstractions, focusing on the breath-in-the-body can offer a good counter-balance to the modern tendency to dissociate from the body.
Building the Breath Kasina
Around 10 years ago, while doing a good bit of kasina practice, I realized that I wasn't able to maintain a sense of embodiment–of being in my body–while also pouring all of my attention into a visual orb or candle flame. It was extremely important to me that I not lose the felt sense of my body, having only recently discovered it, and having been disembodied for so long in my life. But I was also really interested in working more with visual meditation objects, which I found to be naturally compelling, and relatively easy to get traction with.
My solution, which was purely theoretical at the time, was to synchronize a visual kasina with the movements of my breath. “Then,” I thought, “I'll be able to maintain an awareness of my body while watching the kasina change with it.”
The breath kasina is built for embodied concentration
Now, largely due to advancements in AI, I've been able to realize this original vision of the breath kasina by building the KASINA application, which now has a fully functional (though yet unreleased) Breath mode.
From my point of view, the breath kasina really works! Just as good, if not better, than I could've imagined a decade ago. In technical terms, the Breath Kasina provides excellent somatovisual biofeedback in service of deepening concentration in an embodied way.
The Breath Kasina works so well that I've decided to share it with others by launching an experimental Breath Kasina training cohort in July. If you're interested in joining this inaugural/experimental cohort, and have the resources to do so–which really supports me & the project at this early juncture–please give me a hollar, or feel free to register directly here:
📅 Breath Kasina: A Live Training
Breath Kasina: Inaugural Training Cohort
Meets for 10 consecutive weeks
Beginning Thursday, July 3rd
3:00 – 4:00pm ET
Cost: $595
During this inaugural Breath Kasina training–open to 12 people max–we’ll combine a small group learning format with the development of the Breath Kasina function in the KASINA app.
When you register for this training I’ll ship you a Contemplative Technology Breath Kit, which will contain a bluetooth-enabled Respiration Belt. I can ship this anywhere in the world (so far as I know), so feel free to sign-up so long as the weekly live group time above works for you. Each of the participants will receive a breath sensor + access to the breath feature of KASINA, so that we can practice with it together over the course of 10 weeks.