What is the best of Jhanas and breathing meditation? I have heard two ways off approaching mindfulness of breathing:


Breath in a inhale-pause-exhale-pause pattern, focusing on the
sensations of the breath at the nostrils and the silences at the
pauses between breaths.You would control your breath in this method.
Quiet your mind and just follow the sensations of your breath as it naturally arises.


Questions are


Should you control your breathing if you want to reach the Jhanas?
Which one is best if you want to attain the jhanas?
At the start of practice, it helps to cultivate concentration, so focusing on one object single-pointedly, whether it's the breath, a sound, or something in the visual field. The manners in which this concentration is developed can give different results for different people, so I'd say to experiment and see which works for you.

I will say though, that focusing on the natural arising and passing of the breath can lead to a subtle realisation that the breath is arising and falling all by itself, utterly disconnected from the noticing of it. It's very interesting to 'catch' your body breathing, independent of your control.