[Soresbox]

Then there is no indication how one knows the breath, is it by feeling it? imagining it? noting it? labelling it?

by ignoring it. it is the same as playing 'hard to get' by ignoring a man or woman you are keen on. by play hard to get, they come to you. the Tao Te Ching states a woman lures a man by lying low in stillness. meditation is the same, which is why the Tao used such a apt metaphor

when we need to see a sight or hear a sound, do we use a technique to facilitate that seeing or hearing? or does the seeing or hearing occur automatically?

buddha taught relinquishment of craving. that is all that was required to be explained

regards