A full long deep breath practised until it becomes the normal way of breathing is not only beneficial for the vitality of the physical body, but also for the command of the inner being--the emotional and the mental being. Lao Tzu recommends us simply to sit quietly and to do nothing if we wish to come into harmony with the Tao. Sitting quietly in his view is to be not only physical, but emotional and mental also. It is not that this exercise creates anything new, but rather that it lets the tensions in us die down and prepares one of the necessary prerequisite conditions for a glimpse to happen. Another condition is coming to the exercise with the longing, the strong aspiration, to find the Overself. Otherwise any cat sitting by the fireside for hours would soon attain enlightenment. But the cat has no interest beyond its own physical welfare.
-- Notebooks Category 4: Elementary Meditation > Chapter 2 : Place and Condition > # 243
