Anapanasati). The original team was Mark Thomas, Kevin Day, Bob Boyton, Nick Revill and Richard Morton. The show's aim was to recapture the political edge that was fostered at the original Comedy Store. Venues. Don Ward dissolved his business relationship with Rosengard in late 1981. Ward remained CEO of Comedy Store interests. In 1982 when the upper floors were sold off, the Comedy Store moved to a series of other venues. In late 1982, The Comedy Store operated from 28a Leicester Square (The 400 Club) for two years, taking over the club in 1985. In 1993, The Store moved to 	The Comedy Store (London)
25805628	a specifically designed stand-up comedy venue, at 1a Oxendon Street, between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. In 1984 Rosengard went on to manage the band Curiosity Killed the Cat. The Comedy Store also has sister venues in Manchester (opened in 2000), and Bournemouth (2006). There was also a venue at the Merrion Centre in Leeds which opened in November 2003 but closed in June 2004. The Comedy Store (London) The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard. History. Since 16 January 1925 David Tennant's Gargoyle 	The Comedy Store (London)
25805629	Anapanasati Anapanasati Ānāpānasati (Pali; Sanskrit ānāpānasmṛti"), meaning "mindfulness of breathing" ("sati" means mindfulness; "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation), is a form of Buddhist meditation originally taught by Gautama Buddha in several suttas including the "Ānāpānasati Sutta". (MN 118) Ānāpānasati is now common to Tibetan, Zen, Tiantai and Theravada Buddhism as well as Western-based mindfulness programs. Simply defined, Anapanasati is to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body as is practiced in the context of mindfulness meditation. Origins in Buddhism. Anapanasati is a core meditation practice in Theravada, Tiantai and Chan traditions of Buddhism  as well as a part of many mindfulness programs. In both ancient and modern times, anapanasati by itself is likely the most widely used Buddhist method for contemplating bodily phenomena. The "Ānāpānasati Sutta" specifically concerns mindfulness of inhalation and exhalation, as a part of paying attention to one's body in quietude, and recommends the practice of anapanasati meditation as a means of cultivating the Seven Factors of Enlightenment: sati (mindfulness), dhamma vicaya (analysis), viriya (persistence), which leads to pīti (rapture), then to passaddhi (serenity), which in turn leads to samadhi (concentration) and then to upekkhā (equanimity). Finally, the Buddha  taught that, with these factors developed in this progression, the practice of anapanasati would lead to release (Pali: "vimutti"; Sanskrit "mokṣa") from dukkha (suffering), in which one realizes nibbana. The practice. Traditional sources. A traditional method given by the Buddha in the "Anapanasati Sutta" is to go into the forest and sit beneath a tree and then to simply watch the breath, if the breath is long, to notice that the breath is long, if the breath is short, to notice that the breath is short. While inhaling and exhaling, the meditator practises: A popular non-canonical method used today , loosely based on Buddhaghosa's commentary the Visuddhimagga, follows four stages: Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośakārikā also teaches the counting of breaths to 10 as does the dhyāna sutras translated into Chinese by An Shigao. This is organized into a teaching called "the six aspects" or "the six means" which according to Florin Deleanu: Section::::"Anapanasati sutta". Anapanasati is described in detail in the "Anapanasati Sutta": If it is pursued and well developed, it is said to bring great benefit: "This is how mindfulness of in-&-out breathing is developed & pursued so as to be of great fruit, of great benefit." As for the  training, the "Anapanasati sutta" states: Modern sources. First, for the practice to be successful, one should dedicate the practice, and set out the goal of the meditation session. One may decide to either practice anapanasati while seated or standing or lying down or walking, or to alternate seated, standing, lying down and walking meditation. Then one may concentrate on the breath going through one's nose: the pressure in the nostrils on each inhalation, and the feeling of the breath moving along the upper lip on each exhalation. Other times practitioners are advised to attend to the breath at the  tanden, a point slightly below the navel and beneath the surface of the body. Practitioners may choose to count each inhalation, "1, 2, 3..." and so on, up to 10, and then begin from 1 again. Alternatively people sometimes count the exhalation, "1, 2, 3...," on both the inhalation and exhalation. If the count is lost then one should start again from the beginning. The type of practice recommended in "The Three Pillars of Zen" is for one to count "1, 2, 3..." on the inhalation for a while, then to eventually switch to counting on the exhalation, then eventually , once one has more consistent success in keeping track of the count, to begin to pay attention to the breath without counting. There are practitioners who count the breath all their lives as well. Beginning students are often advised to keep a brief daily practice of around 10 or 15 minutes a day. Also, a teacher or guide of some sort is often considered to be essential in Buddhist practice, as well as the sangha, or community of Buddhists, for support. When one becomes distracted from the breath, which happens to both beginning and adept practitioners, either by a thought  or something else, then one simply returns their attention back to the breath. Philippe Goldin has said that important "learning" occurs at the moment when practitioners turn their attention back to the object of focus, the breath. Active breathing, passive breathing. Anapanasati is most commonly practiced with attention centered on the breath, without any effort to change the breathing. In the throat singing prevalent amongst the Buddhist monks of Tibet and Mongolia the long and slow outbreath during chanting is the core of the practice. The sound of the chant also serves to focus the mind in one-pointed concentration  samadhi, while the sense of self dissolves as awareness becomes absorbed into a realm of pure sound. In some Japanese Zen meditation, the emphasis is upon maintaining ""strength in the abdominal area"" (dantian or "tanden") and slow deep breathing during the long outbreath, again to assist the attainment of a mental state of one-pointed concentration. There is also a "bamboo method," during which time one inhales and exhales in punctuated bits, as if running one's hand along the stalk of a bamboo tree. Pranayama, or Yogic breath control, is very popular in traditional and modern forms of Yoga . Scientifically demonstrated benefits. The practice of focusing one's attention changes the brain in ways to improve that ability over time; the brain grows in response to meditation. Meditation can be thought of as mental training, similar to learning to ride a bike or play a piano. Meditators experienced in focused attention meditation (anapanasati is a type of focused attention meditation) showed a decrease in habitual responding a 20-minute Stroop test, which, as suggested by Richard Davidson and colleagues, may illustrate a lessening of emotionally reactive and automatic responding behavior. It has been scientifically demonstrated that ānāpānasati enhances connectivity  in the brain. Stages. Formally, there are sixteen stages – or contemplations – of "anapanasati". These are divided into four tetrads (i.e., sets or groups of four). The first four steps involve focusing the mind on breathing, which is the 'body-conditioner' (Pali: "kāya-sankhāra"). The second tetrad involves focusing on the feelings ("vedanā"), which are the 'mind-conditioner' (Pali: "citta-sankhāra"). The third tetrad involves focusing on the mind itself (Pali: "citta"), and the fourth on 'mental qualities' (Pali: "dhamma"). (Compare right mindfulness and satipatthana.) Any anapanasati meditation session should progress through the stages in order, beginning at the first, whether  the practitioner has performed all stages in a previous session or not. In the Theravada tradition. According to several teachers in Theravada Buddhism, anapanasati alone will lead to the removal of all one's defilements ("kilesa") and eventually to enlightenment. According to Roger Bischof, the Ven. Webu Sayadaw said of anapanasati: "This is a shortcut to Nibbana, anyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbana." Anapanasati can also be practised with other traditional meditation subjects including the  four frames of reference and mettā bhāvanā, as is done in modern Theravadan Buddhism. In the Chinese tradition. In the second century, the Buddhist monk An Shigao came from Northwest India to China and became one of the first translators of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. He translated a version of the "Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra" between 148 and 170 CE. This version is a significantly longer text than what appears in the Ekottara Āgama, and is entitled, "The Great Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra" (Ch. 大安般守意經) (Taishō Tripiṭaka 602). At a later date, Buddhacinga, more commonly known as Fotudeng (佛圖澄) (231-349 CE), came from  Central Asia to China in 310 and propagated Buddhism widely. He is said to have demonstrated many spiritual powers, and was able to convert the warlords in this region of China over to Buddhism. He is well known for teaching methods of meditation, and especially ānāpānasmṛti. Fotudeng widely taught ānāpānasmṛti through methods of counting breaths, so as to temper to the breathing, simultaneously focusing the mind into a state of peaceful meditative concentration. By teaching meditation methods as well as doctrine, Fotudeng popularized Buddhism quickly. According to Nan Huaijin, "Besides all its theoretical accounts of emptiness and existence, Buddhism also  offered methods for genuine realization of spiritual powers and meditative concentration that could be relied upon. This is the reason that Buddhism began to develop so vigorously in China with Fotudeng." As more monks such as Kumārajīva, Dharmanandi, Gautama Saṃghadeva, and Buddhabhadra came to the East, translations of meditation texts did as well, which often taught various methods of ānāpānasmṛti that were being used in India. These became integrated in various Buddhist traditions, as well as into non-Buddhist traditions such as Daoism. In the sixth century, the Tiantai school was formed, teaching the One Vehicle (Skt. "Ekayāna"), the vehicle  of attaining Buddhahood, as the main principle, and three forms of śamatha-vipaśyanā correlated with the meditative perspectives of emptiness, provisional existence, and the mean, as the method of cultivating realization. The Tiantai school places emphasis on ānāpānasmṛti in accordance with the principles of śamatha and vipaśyanā. In China, the Tiantai understanding of meditation has had the reputation of being the most systematic and comprehensive of all. The founder of the Tiantai school, Zhiyi, wrote many commentaries and treatises on meditation. Of these texts, Zhiyi's "Concise Śamatha-vipaśyanā" (小止観 "Xiǎo Zhǐguān"), his "Mahāśamatha Vipaśyanā" (摩訶止観 "Móhē Zhǐguān"), and his  Six Subtle Dharma Gates (六妙法門 "Liù Miào Fǎmén") are the most widely read in China. Zhiyi classifies breathing into four main categories: panting (喘 "chuǎn"), unhurried breathing (風 "fēng"), deep and quiet breathing (氣 "qì"), and stillness or rest (息 "xi"). Zhiyi holds that the first three kinds of breathing are incorrect, while the fourth is correct, and that the breathing should reach stillness and rest. Venerable Hsuan Hua, who taught Chan and Pure Land Buddhism, also taught that the external breathing reaches a state of stillness in correct meditation: In the Indo-Tibetan tradition. In the Tibetan Buddhist lineage , ānāpānasmṛti is done to calm the mind in order to prepare one for various other practices. Two of the most important Mahāyāna philosophers, Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, in the "Śrāvakabhūmi" chapter of the "Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra" and the Abhidharma-kośa, respectively, make it clear that they consider ānāpānasmṛti a profound practice leading to vipaśyanā (in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha in the Sutra pitika). However, as scholar Leah Zahler has demonstrated, "the practice traditions related to Vasubandhu's or Asaṅga's presentations of breath meditation were probably not transmitted to Tibet." Asaṅga correlates the sixteen stages of ānāpānasmṛti with the  four smṛtyupasthānas in the same way that the Ānāpānasmṛti Sutra does, but because he does not make this explicit the point was lost on later Tibetan commentators. As a result, the largest Tibetan lineage, the Gelug, came to view ānāpānasmṛti as a mere preparatory practice useful for settling the mind but nothing more. Zahler writes: Zahler continues, Stephen Batchelor, who for years was monk in the Gelukpa lineage, experienced this firsthand. He writes, "such systematic practice of mindfulness was not preserved in the Tibetan traditions. The Gelugpa lamas know about such methods and can point to long descriptions of mindfulness  in their Abhidharma works, but the living application of the practice has largely been lost. (Only in "dzog-chen", with the idea of 'awareness' ["rig pa"] do we find something similar.) For many Tibetans the very term 'mindfulness' ("sati" in Pali, rendered in Tibetan by "dran pa") has come to be understood almost exclusively as 'memory' or 'recollection.'" As Batchelor noted, however, in other traditions, particularly the Kagyu and Nyingma, mindfulness based on ānāpānasmṛti practice is considered to be quite profound means of calming the mind to prepare it for the higher practices of Dzogchen and Mahamudra. For the Kagyupa , in the context of mahāmudrā, ānāpānasmṛti is thought to be the ideal way for the meditator to transition into taking the mind itself as the object of meditation and generating vipaśyanā on that basis. The prominent contemporary Kagyu/Nyingma master Chogyam Trungpa, echoing the Kagyu Mahāmudrā view, wrote, "your breathing is the closest you can come to a picture of your mind. It is the portrait of your mind in some sense. . .The traditional recommendation in the lineage of meditators that developed in the Kagyu-Nyingma tradition is based on the idea of mixing mind and breath." The Gelukpa allow  that it is possible to take the mind itself as the object of meditation, however, Zahler reports, the Gelukpa discourage it with "what seems to be thinly disguised sectarian polemics against the Nyingma Great Completeness [Dzogchen] and Kagyu Great Seal [mahāmudrā] meditations." In the "Pañcakrama" tantric tradition ascribed to (the Vajrayana) Nagarjuna, ānāpānasmṛti counting breaths is said to be sufficient to provoke an experience of vipaśyanā (although it occurs in the context of "formal tantric practice of the completion stage in highest yogatantra"). International Anapanasatti Day. Many countries are following 20th June to celebrate Anapanasatti day world wide. Anapanasati Ānāpānasati