Breathing R

Breathing R is the Buddhist meditation on mindfulness of breathing (Pāli: ānāpānasati), one of the ten recollections (anussati) that form part of the classical forty meditation subjects (kammaṭṭhāna). The letter R in the Liber 777 notation identifies it as a Recollection, a class of contemplations that includes the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, morality, generosity, the devas, death, the body, peace, and the breath itself. Unlike the Kasina (K) devices or the repulsive (P) and corpse (I) meditations, the Recollections are reflective and devotional in character, though the breath meditation is also the foundation of insight practice.

Position on the Tree of Life

Breathing R occupies scale step 31 bis, an intermediate station between Path 31 (Fire, attributed to Shin in Yetzirah) and Path 32 (Quiescence, attributed to Malkuth). This placement is not part of the standard 32 paths but appears as an extra step in the expanded scheme of the Forty Buddhist Meditations. The step bridges the dynamic, heating quality of fire—breath as a living, moving force—and the stillness of quiescence, the goal of breath stilling in the fourth jhāna. In this sense, Breathing R is a transitional practice: it uses the fire-like motion of inhalation and exhalation to lead the mind into settled peace.

Historical Context

The practice of mindfulness of breathing is among the oldest recorded Buddhist meditations. The Ānāpānasati Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 118) describes sixteen steps, beginning with awareness of long and short breaths and culminating in the relinquishment of all conditioned phenomena. The Buddha himself is said to have used this method during his enlightenment and to have recommended it as a universal subject suitable for all temperaments. In the later commentarial tradition, especially Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification), the forty meditation subjects are systematically classified. Breathing is placed under the Recollections but is also treated as a separate, comprehensive system. Crowley’s Liber 777 draws on this tradition, likely via the Pali texts or Theosophical summaries, and assigns each subject a place on the Tree of Life. The choice of step 31 bis may reflect the breath’s role as a bridge between the elemental fire of life and the quiescence of formless attainment.

In Liber 777

In the table of the Forty Buddhist Meditations (row XXIII), Breathing R appears at scale step 31 bis. Its sibling correspondences in other columns at this step are not explicitly listed in the standard 777 tables, but the pattern of the row shows that the step is an insertion unique to this system. The meditation is thus a specific, named object in the column, representing the recollection of breath as a direct path to concentration and insight.