When you breathe, keep your attention on the breath.

This is important because in that way you get centered,

It helps you to stay ‘being centered’,

While the breath works with your state.

Initially you may use the body,

It helps you to move the breath.

It happens initially with most people –

In fact with almost everybody.

But ultimately the idea is –

When you are open within,

Where you see the body and the breath as different,

It is of course easily done –

To be able to not join the body to the breath.

And even if you join the body to the breathing to help the breathing,

You still remember to experience no identity with the body.

Because what happens is that you just go along with moving the body,

You just take it that it is the way to go about:

When you are breathing you move the body with the breath.

If the breath can happen without the body moving –

Of course the breath will move the body,

Because the movement of the breath will move the body,

But you do not join in to that,

You as the being –

That is the idea.

So when you have the attention on the breathing,

You become aware of this.

 

(G. starts vigorous breathing to demonstrate)

Now the body is moving,

But I am still not with the body.

Otherwise what happens is this kind of thing:

(G. again starts to show by breathing vigorously, the whole upper body moving).

It is fine, but basically you are just the body.

Ultimately you have to get to this:

(Again breathing vigorously, but with less movement)

And you see the body moving with the breath,

But you are different than the body.

You are in the body,

But you are not the body.

Initially it is fine to use the body,

To get the momentum,

But it is best,

If you can disengage yourself from the body while breathing,

Then that is your centre,

While you keep your attention on the breath.

Basically you are passive,

Compared to what the body and the breath are doing.

You move the breath,

And the breath moves the body,

You do not move the body.

You must be able to see that.

 

So the vigorous breathing is to lighten up, to energize.

Follow it up with the rhythmic breathing.

Which creates the rhythm.

The equal in-breath and equal out-breath is the rhythm.

That helps to harmonize and to centre,

While you stay with the attention on the breath.

 

And why is it important,

That there should be equal force out and in,

Is that it harmonizes,

And gives balance to your Being.

This quietens your mind and centres you.

So let us try it.

 

The first step is to bring the attention to the breath,

And then push the breath out and pull in,

Push out and then pull in,

Gradually increasing in vigour.

Vigorous breathing.

 

Yes you are getting it.

Push out and pull in.

You see you cannot do without first pushing out,

So you will automatically pull in.

That comes automatically,

Because there is the natural tendency in us,

Not to loose anything,

And breath is something that is your life.

 

You see the tendency in us is always to possess,

And not to give up,

And breath is life!

You definitely do not want to lose it.

So when you push it out first,

You automatically pull it back in.

This is the trick.

But when you begin with breathing in first,

You do not emphasize the pushing out as much,

For the breath is already in your possession,

And somehow you want to keep it that way,

And not lose it! (Laughs)

 

Then ultimately, in the final process,

When it starts to move inside,

Up and down,

That is when it becomes pure energy,

Pure force, Prana.

Through all this we hope to awaken the process.

So let us try again.

 

You know how our steam engine starts,

You travel by Indian train so much,

You should know.

Start slowly and then pick up on the speed.

You have to push it out first,

You still favour the inner to the outer.

Begin with the outer,

Keep the emphasis on the outer,

Inner will follow automatically.

Use some force,

The emphasis is still on the inner,

You are putting it out as a reaction to the more inner force.

But the idea is to begin with more force outside,

It will balance out with the inner.

Begin slow and long.

If you begin slow and long,

Then gradually speed it up.

You will catch the rhythm.

 

Watch me. (G. demonstrates)

You can make use of the body.

It is not dropping of the breath,

It is going all the way with the breath.

Then you will see,

That the inner pull and effort will come automatically,

As a consequence of the outer breath.

Then it takes a different rhythm.

As if the breath is happening on its own,

And the effect happens, lightness.

Then when you follow it up with the rhythmic long breath,

It becomes quiet and centring, and intoxicating.

I am already gone, intoxicated.

That is the effect.

Out first, just keep the emphasis on the out,

Inner will follow.

Initially do not emphasize on the inner,

You do not let go the breath,

You do not drop the breath.

And first out rather than in.

Stop and begin again.

Begin with the outer.

 

You have again begun with the inner.

It seems to be a habit and mechanical with you.

When you change the way you breathe,

It brings a change in your whole outlook,

For it changes your whole rhythm,

The whole rhythm of your being.

It changes your whole feeling of your self.

That is why the alteration.

To break with the usual pattern brings changes,

See, for you it is automatic to pull in.

Now when you change that,

It will change the patterns in and of yourself,

So you will have to remember this.

Now bring the attention on the breath,

And then remember to push out first,

Rather than naturally go with your habitual rhythm of pulling in.

Pushing the breath out is the weaker side for you.

So begin with that,

Give the emphasis there,

The inner will follow automatically.

 

(G demonstrates)

It is really like the steam engine.

Begin slowly,

Then when you speed up,

It will be the right rhythm.

Do not worry about the body,

Now that we are not going with the body.

First you must get used to this rhythm,

And then you get used to being able to,

Let the breath do it all.

Go in a fluid manner.

Ultimately you will see,

It is a rounded movement really.

It is not that the breath is gone,

When it is out,

It is a rounded movement,

A circular motion that happens.

This is when you start to understand,

What they mean in Yoga, in Tantra,

By ‘Prana – your life breath’.

It can never go,

Until the moment of death comes,

The moment for your life to end.

It is only a circular motion that happens.

You will see this.

It is a force in itself,

It is your life.

So what you are doing really,

Is just giving it a new movement,

And that is what energizes.

That is why it is called prana, energy,

Pranic force, the force of life.

And that is what energises you.

And that invigorates you.

Otherwise normally we hardly make use of it.

If you emphasize only one side, either in or out,

Then it does not energise you as it should,

It does not balance you out.

There should be equal emphasis,

Equal in-breath and equal out-breath.

There is a point when you start to see it,

As one breath, prana, moving in and moving out,

The breath is moving,

And yet you are a witness.

 

In The Gita,

Krishna gives this as one of the meditations,

The offering of the in-breath in the out-breath,

And the out-breath in the in-breath

And ultimately it takes this rhythm,

It starts to move on its own.

When it does that,

It is taken over by the force that is asleep in us.

Then it becomes prana, the life force.

From life-breath to life-force.

So this you have to remember,

You push out,

And push out not as if you are letting go the breath,

But going with it all the way.

In a sense you never let go of the breath.

But move it like the steam engine.

You stay with the movement,

You stay with the breath.

Then it becomes meditation.

And you are offering your pranams,

To the breath, your life-force.

 

(Breathing going on)

 

You are offering your pranams,

To your own Self,

Which is Divine,

And the force is Divine,

And is seen and looked upon as Divinity.

That is the Force, the Shakti,

The Goddess that abides in all,

The creative force,

Without which there would be no life.

All that which you see,

All that which moves,

All that which is at rest,

Is this creative force.

That same force is working in you,

And that when it awakens, opens you out,

To tremendous realizations and discoveries,

That is now potential in you.

So it is the most basic,

The most powerful,

The most effective transformation.

So through your working of the breath in this way,

You will see that you come to meditation.

It is a very effective means.

 

(Breathing going on)

 

And this itself is the rhythm,

And the body is taking it up,

And joins to the rhythm of your breath,

The rhythm of your life-force.

So the breath is never stopped,

It is the rounded movement that is happening.

The in-breath moving into the out-breath,

And the out-breath moving into the in-breath.

This is what is called the ‘yagnya’,

The offering of in-breath into the out-breath,

And the out-breath into the in-breath.

These are only two positions of one breath.

It is not two breaths.

So it is one breath just going in and out.

There is no end to it.

Ultimately this is what you start to observe,

That the in-breath never ends.

The in-breath becomes the out-breath,

And the out-breath becomes the in-breath.

It is one breath just moving in and out.

This you start to see actually.

That is when you start to understand the roundness of the reality,

And roundness indicates immortality, eternity –

There is no end.

So the breath never ends,

Life never ends.

This breath immortalizes you,

It is immortal and so are you.

Otherwise in-breath – and finish,

Out-breath – and finish.

There is no finish, no end,

That is what you start to see.

It is the two forms and,

Two positions of the same immortal breath.

And this is the life-force,

And when that is realized,

And that becomes the awakening,

You will have achieved to immortality.

And that brings the rejuvenation at all levels ultimately,

This is the secret of immortality even in the body.

 

Meditation is the outcome,

It becomes the whole of your life.

That is why you will see ‘rounded’ as it were,

The earth is round.

If the earth had been flat,

You would fall off the edge.

It is round so you never fall off the edge.

You can go round and round,

And never come to an end.

So with the breath also,

In-breath, out-breath,

Never-ending movement,

Never-ending life.

So this is what we do with the breathing.

 

Ordinarily you tend to fix one in opposition to the other.

But through this yagnya,

Self-offering of breath meditation,

You start to see that in one,

The other exists as the potential.

So when the breath is out,

The in-breath is present there in potential,

It will become the in-breath,

And when the in-breath is there,

You can see the out-breath is potential there.

The difference is only in terms of time and space,

This is creation.

Same entity is named differently,

In different positions, time and space.

Ultimately it takes you therefore beyond time and space.

In-breath, out-breath,

You transcend finally,

You see really it is one.

Then that brings you to meditation,

And takes you beyond both,

To the Great Breath, Maha Prana, the Great Force.

That is why they say,

‘That which is the origin of all forces,

Of all forms of energy has become all forms’.

That Great Breath which is beyond both,

In-breath and out-breath,

Has become in-breath and out-breath.

This comes through watching,

And observing the breathing,

While you practice,

This brings you to meditation,

Because that is the nature of your being.

So what you are doing through breathing,

Is to initiate the meditation.

It then becomes spontaneous.

But initiation is required,

So the initial effort is required,

And so this working,

This ‘kriya’, the technique.

 

Then you see the breath taking to its own movement.

That is what is meant when you start to see,

The breath moving on its own.

And when that happens,

It enters your spine,

And becomes the Great Breath, Maha Vayu, Maha Prana,

Awakening the Great Force, Goddess Kundalini,

Moving now in the spine.

Then tremendous sense of upliftment follows,

And the process of enlightenment.

So this is to be remembered,

To begin in this way with the breathing kriya.

Otherwise it is not easy to meditate.

And anyway meditation would come on its own then,

When you bring about this awakening of the force.

Our first objective is to awaken this force.

This is called ‘Maha Yagnya’.

‘apane juhvati pranam’,

The out-breath offered into the in-breath,

‘Prane juhvati apanam’,

And in-breath offered into the out-breath.

And through that rhythm,

To become more and more consciously present,

That is why when we say,

‘Attention there’,

It means you have to be consciously there,

The appreciation of what you do.

So the attitude of worship,

The appreciation of it,

The respect and the reverence to what you do.

So when you do that,

All that what you do,

To all that which you do,

It is paying respect to your own self.

 

So when we talk about keeping our attention on the breath,

It means to be consciously present,

Agree to be consciously present,

And therefore we have our appreciation,

In totality with what we do.

When we do that,

It centres you,

Because you have become committed.

So complete and total commitment,

To what you are doing is important,

Especially in a dynamic way.

Therefore breathing helps,

Otherwise it can become passive.

But we energize that commitment,

By consciously, actively being present there.

 

When this special type of breathing takes over,

Breath becomes rounded,

And you will see,

That moment comes,

When it comes to a stop,

You feel as if everything stops,

The thoughts, the breath.

That is a very important state.

That state is called the state of ‘kumbhak’,

In yoga, in tantra.

‘Kumbhak’ means rounded, pot-like,

That is also so with the domes,

They have in the architecture,

It is meant to represent that.

You feel like a ‘kumbha’, pot.

That is why they use kumbha all the time,

There is a kumbha on the top also.

You feel complete, collected,

Kumbha represents completeness.

That is why in all Indian puja ceremonies,

The pot is very important.

They will have a pot with a coconut on top,

Both representing ‘rounding completion’.

 

So round represents immortality,

Eternity, infinity,

The reality in its completeness.

So when you approach this movement,

You start to feel complete,

That is the beginning of a tremendous sense of well being.

You are complete in yourself.

Then your interactions,

Your inter-relations come from completeness,

There is harmony.

 

So when you make a circle it represents creation.

And the symbol of a serpent with the tail in its own mouth,

Is a very beautiful representation of it.

That is what it means,

Round breath, in-breath and out-breath.

That is what it is saying,

Serpent represents energy, life-force, life-breath.

The science therefore now agrees,

That energy can never be destroyed.

It is indestructible,

As symbolized by the ‘rounded’ figure,

Of the serpent with the tail in its mouth.

It just changes forms.

So if you find this secret in yourself,

Then you can even in the body be immortal.

Through the breathing,

Through the modifications,

You can change the structure and the nature of your body,

From time to timelessness.

 

So if the breath is only on the surface,

It keeps you on the surface.

When the breath is deep,

It deepens you, it does.

So where your breath is,

There you are in a sense.

Through the modifications of the breath,

You can make changes in yourself,

And in your states.

That is why in all the ancient books of meditation,

‘Vigyan Bhairav’ included,

It always begins with the breathing techniques.

They are different types of meditations.

You can call it that,

But they are an advancing course.

You begin with the breath,

Then you move to the next level,

And so on.

Each is as important as the other,

In taking the next step that you have to go to,

Reaching to the complete meditation.

It is not that you can keep aside the breath,

And take to any meditation in the middle.

But is a step by step advancement of your meditation,

From the beginning to the end,

Reaching to the greater realms of meditation.

It is like school,

You have to begin from the nursery,

Something you cannot do without,

Beginning from there till your Ph.D.

So it is not that this one somebody likes,

Or that this one is more effective for somebody.

They are all important,

For discovering the whole realm of meditation.

So it is meant for all.

You have to begin from the nursery.

That is what the significance is of the books.

It is a chronicle for the complete meditation.

Like we emphasise on the breathing,

And then we have the other meditations,

Like ‘kapalika’, watching.

Now you begin with the breathing,

Watching is added to it.

Even if you manage a meditation through that,

You only come to an aspect of the reality.

In this way when you begin,

You awaken the force,

And from there you begin to add to your meditation.

So it is not as if they are different meditations,

Leading you to the same thing,

Rather they are steps that bring you to a complete meditation.

So it is a whole structure,

A whole sequence of different forms of meditation,

In which each one is important.

You have to begin from the beginning.

It is a complete continuity.

They cannot be taken in isolation from each other.

Even when they are worked in isolation at a given time,

You will require the rest to reach to a complete meditation.

 

So the breath centres you,

And from there,

When you have the centre,

We do Kapalika for example,

Or turning the gaze to the middle of the eyebrows.

That is why in our Jagriti and Abhishek meditation,

We are starting from the breathing Kriya first.

For example there are meditations,

Where you have listening as a technique,

Sitting by the stream and listening,

Listening to the sound of the stream.

Or gazing, gazing at the movement of the stream.

Now these are only aspects of a complete meditation.

One could arrive at transcendence through each of them,

But not necessarily come to the whole reach of meditation,

Through any particular technique,

Because they each deal with different senses.

That is why they were put down in the books in a sequence.

But the awakening of the force,

Brings you to these meditations spontaneously,

Which is really the complete book of meditation.

 

Pushkar

3 January, 2002