Breathing Buddha: Science and Dzogchen on the Interconnectedness of Breath
Breathing Buddha: Science and Dzogchen on the Interconnectedness of Breath
In Dzogchen and Vajrayana practice, the breath is not merely a physiological process but a bridge to the entire cosmos. Through tonglen, practitioners consciously inhale the suffering of all beings and exhale compassion. A remarkable synergy arises when we consider the science of oxygen atoms: each breath we take contains atoms that have literally passed through the lungs of every sentient being that has ever lived, including the Buddha and Padmasambhava.
The Science of Shared Breath
From a purely scientific perspective, this is not metaphorical:
1. Atoms in a Breath
o Average human breath: ~0.5 liters of air.
o Air is ~21% oxygen.
o Each breath contains ~5.6 × 10²¹ oxygen atoms—over five sextillion atoms.
2. The Oxygen Cycle
Oxygen atoms are never destroyed; they simply form different molecules like O₂, H₂O, and CO₂. Through photosynthesis, respiration, and atmospheric mixing, oxygen atoms are recycled constantly.
3. Probability and Historical Figures
o There are ~1 × 10⁴⁴ oxygen atoms in Earth’s atmosphere.
o Every exhalation releases ~10²¹ atoms, which disperse globally in months.
o Across thousands of years of human activity, the probability that atoms in every single breath of ours were once breathed by Buddha or any other historical figure is irrefutable.
Thus, each inhalation is a literal communion with every being who ever lived. Science confirms what spiritual teachings have intuited for millennia: we are not separate from the lives and breaths of those who came before us.
Tonglen and the Breath of All Beings
In Tonglen practice, inhalation is an act of embracing suffering; exhalation is offering relief and compassion. Now let us consider: with each inhalation, we are literally drawing in the same atoms that once filled Buddha’s lungs. Every exhale returns those atoms, now imbued with your intention, back into the world.
This gives a profoundly literal interpretation of the Dzogchen terma: the teaching that at our last breath, we should “mount all beings upon the breath.” We already mount all beings with every breath, participating in the endless cycle of giving and receiving life, breath, and energy.
The Visual Journey of an Oxygen Atom
An oxygen atom exhaled by Buddha in 500 BCE has:
1. Mixed in the global atmosphere.
2. Entered a river or cloud as water.
3. Been absorbed by a tree or a human.
4. Travelled through hundreds of cycles of respiration and photosynthesis.
5. Returned to our lungs right now, with our very next inhalation.
The same is the case with the oxygen atoms of every single being that has ever lived. With each breath, we are inhaling some atoms once inhaled by every being who ever lived. This is not metaphorical: It is a matter of probability and planetary physics. The numbers are staggering: each breath contains sextillions of oxygen atoms, and over thousands of years, these atoms have been redistributed countless times through respiration, photosynthesis, and chemical cycles. In effect, with every inhalation, we are physically connected to all life that has ever existed, and every exhalation contributes to the ongoing circulation of life itself.
Each breath we take is thus a living repository of all beings who ever lived, connecting past, present, and future in the most intimate way.
Integration: Science Meets Spirituality
Dzogchen Insight: The indivisible nature of mind mirrors the indivisible journey of atoms.
Tonglen Practice: Each inhalation literally carries the essence of all beings who ever lived on earth, enhancing compassion with scientific truth.
Terma Perspective: The “last breath” teaching becomes daily reality: every breath is participation in all life.
By seeing breath through both lenses—scientific and Dzogchen—we cultivate not just mindfulness but a literal awareness of our unity with all beings, past, present, and future.
