Paramhansa Yogananda, in his now classic life story,
“Autobiography of a Yogi,” wrote that “breath mastery” is “India’s unique and
deathless contribution to the world’s treasury of knowledge.”
What “knowledge” perchance was he referring to? Knowledge of
the Self. “Know thyself.” (Gnothi Seauton, inscribed in the
forecourt at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece.) Or as Shakespeare said in
the words of Polonius: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not
then be false to any man.
Since ancient times and from the wise in every tradition
comes this counsel to turn within, to introspect, to become self aware and know
the Self.
Yet, so far as I know, only the yogic tradition gives us the
“how” of gnosis, of going within. That, formerly secret, knowledge is the
science of breath and mind: the science of yoga that is spreading rapidly
throughout the world. For yoga is far more than physical movements or static
bodily positions, no matter how beneficial they may be. Far too long has the
word “yoga” represented only the physical branch of yoga (called “hatha
yoga”).
It is no coincidence that our first breath signals our birth
and our last, our death. Only the most unthinking would limit the experience of
life to the simple act of breathing. As Jesus put it (John 10:11), “I came that
they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”
This breath, this life is abundant when we have health and
happiness. But life is rarely, if ever, a static experience. Joys alternate
with sorrows. So if abundance is measured in things, pleasure, human love,
material security, fame or name, few will have it if but fleetingly, while
those who bask in these are haunted by the shadow of loss ever ready to darken
their door.
Breath, taken as the most elemental aspect of being alive,
functions like a river. For daily life appears to flow only in one direction: out
through the senses into the world around. This direction reverses only during
sleep. Following the life-breath inward to its source would seem, therefore,
beyond our conscious control.
But just as a boat with a motor can travel upstream towards
the river’s headwaters, so too, can we, if we are trained in the science of
breath and mind. The legend of the Fountain of Youth has its origins in the
all-but-lost knowledge of this science. The Fountain of Youth, like the Garden
of Eden, has no earthly location. It is, as Jesus put it, “within you.” Every
night in sleep we are refreshed and baptized, at least partially, in the river
of life. But sleep returns us to neutral. It is not life changing.
Long ago, the yogis discovered the methods, the means and the
science of breath mastery. They discovered how to slow the breath and heart
rate so that the river becomes languid and we can “row” upstream. By analyzing
the experience and the psychophysiological attributes of the state of sleep,
the yogis devised methods by which to enter progressively deeper states of
conscious sleep. Conscious, yes: indeed super-conscious; but this state is akin
to “sleep” only in mimicking the brain’s methods of turning off the five “sense
telephones” (as Yogananda put it) and slowing the heart and breath.
In sleep, we enter the dream state which is as real to us (while
dreaming) as the activities of the day. While the reality of the dream state is
as easily dismissed as the stars at night are by the sunrise, reflection upon the
dream state reveals to us how our reactions, using the brain and nervous system
as instruments, create our reality during the day. The introspective mind
gradually realizes that all sensory input is interpreted and filtered by the
senses and by the attitude, memory, and health of the mind. With poor eyesight
we easily mistake one thing, or person, for another. We thus “create our own
reality” largely by our expectations, emotional filters, and past memory
experiences. I don’t mean to espouse solipsism. Rather, I am saying that our
experience of life is largely, as it relates to what is important to us, a
matter of our mental and reactive processes.
The yogis discovered the intimate relationship between inhalation and positive reactions and exhalation and negating responses. By slowing the breathing process we gain control over the reactive process, detaching life experiences from our unconscious reaction. We thus gain control over our life. We become more conscious; more alive; clearer; wiser, happier because no longer a helpless reactionary. We grow in detachment while intensifying
our inner awareness of a silently flowing river of calmness, contentment and
confidence.
The science of breath mastery allows the meditator to enter
a state of conscious sleep. By calming and monitoring the breath and heart rate,
one can turn off the senses (as we do in sleep) while yet remaining conscious. This
is what scientists observe in meditators when the alpha brain waves coincide
with the theta waves: conscious awareness paired with sleep-like
relaxation.
The meditator can observe the mental processes that
otherwise produce the dream state. I am not referring here to lucid dreaming
(which can be interesting and useful to a limited degree), because meditation
has other goals, such as to transcend the body and sense and memory bound
mental processes of the brain. An experienced meditator focuses the mind
one-pointedly in order to eventually strip the mind and its mental processes of
all self-created images.
Ironically, or so it might seem, most meditation methods use
the mind to focus on a single image or object in order to hold at bay, or
pacify, the habit-induced onslaught of subconscious images. There’s a saying in
India: “Use a thorn to remove a thorn.” When this finally occurs, the image or
object of meditation can be released. The meditator then resides in a state of
awareness devoid of objects.
[Images or objects of meditation vary widely but for the
sake of clarity can include focusing on a mantra, the flow of breath, energy in
the body, especially certain channels and places (chakras, e.g.), the feeling
of peace and related states, the image of one’s deity or guru, or various
subtle phenomenon experienced in meditation such as sounds or images of light.]
The science of meditation encompasses a large knowledge base
of techniques and instructions on how to use the breath to achieve what has
been called, somewhat incorrectly, “altered states” of consciousness.
“Incorrectly,” I aver, because the actual experience of true meditation is so
elemental and so refreshing that anyone who has “been there” with any
consistency says that it is our natural state. All else is just details and the
busy-ness of daily life. It is like finding the pure headwaters of the river of
life that, as it runs to the sea of outward activity, becomes polluted by the
debris of involvement, limitation, and identification! It is like bathing in
pure water or being “born again.”
So life altering are the higher states of meditation that
healing and health consequences are inescapable. In fact, different yoga
teachers and traditions are resurrecting the health benefits of breath control
techniques (traditionally called “pranayams”). The field of yoga therapy, for
example, though still focused primarily on physical postures, is one sign of
the application of yoga science to healing. Use of pranayams for various health
cures is also being rediscovered and subjected to field tests.
A blog like this is not the place for a long string of
health references but they can be easily found. I just typed in this question
in my search engine: Can pranayams help the body? I got 394,000 results!
But when our purpose for meditation is towards higher states
of being, we find steadily that the importance of technique wanes in relation to
motivation and will power. In fact, in any given meditation sitting, we are
taught to leave a portion of our sitting time for inner silence after techniques.
Real meditation begins only as techniques dissolve into the sought after higher
states.
[Don’t be fooled, as some meditation seekers fool themselves,
in thinking, “Therefore, forget the techniques.” That might work once in a blue
moon but such dilettantes rarely stay in the game very long.]
Techniques function much like the motorboat that takes us
upstream; or, the training needed by an astronaut before lift off. Once we are
in space, well fine, that’s when the training pays off. Once we bathe in the
pure headwaters of the river of life, we don’t need the motorboat (we can float
back down the river without it!)
People sometimes ask why kriya initiation requires almost a
year of training and, when given, requires a pledge of silence, an agreement
not to reveal the technique to anyone without prior permission! The reasons for this are, in part, because it
takes training and development to get used to the rarified oxygen-less
atmosphere of inner stillness. The brain and nervous system require refinement.
Like climbing Mt Everest without oxygen, we have to get used to the thin atmosphere
where thoughts subside, the body is left behind, and the emotions have vanished
like clouds beneath the intense summer sun.
You may think you want all this but your entire body,
nervous system, and reptile brain and ego want nothing to do with being asked
to step aside. So far as they are concerned, they are being dismissed and
dissolved into nothingness. Who in their right “mind,” would accede to this
without a fight! “The soul loves to meditate; but the ego hates to meditate.”
So counseled Paramhansa Yogananda.
One needs not only to get used to meditation but also to
demonstrate by will power and motivation the necessary “right stuff” to stick
with it long enough to get results. Otherwise it’s “pearls before swine.” Not
calling anyone here a pig, but what would diamonds be if they were ten cents
each? They wouldn’t be diamonds. It takes will power to learn the science of
yoga and to go deep into the Self.
If given too soon and one gives up in frustration, rebellion
or restlessness, the seed of rejection and doubt is sown. It can take more than
one lifetime before that vasana, impression, or vritti, karma, weakens
sufficiently so that one’s interest and desire to try again might be
re-awakened. One doesn’t give a child a gun or a hammer.
But that’s kriya yoga: an advanced pranayama given to us by masters
of the yoga science for dedicated seekers of Self-realization. Only when by
sincere self-effort one seeks the “pearl of great price” and knows the
obstacles ahead does one accept the pure and grace-bestowing guidance of an
enlightened One.
But for most new meditators, there are many pranayams and meditation techniques well
suited to stress reduction, health and healing. You can use breath techniques
to warm or cool the nervous system; to help you sleep; to still the mind and,
as the internet search suggests, heal, help or cure lots of ailments.
Technique, therefore, is a good starting point. Motivation
relative to our needs and wisdom is the fuel of our pranayama rocket. With
self-effort we can accomplish much. With grace, we leave the “we” behind lest
our victories revert and yield, in time, to the grinding wheel of samsara
(duality).
Start where you are. Learn to breathe consciously, deeply.
Try to be conscious of your breathing throughout the day as well as in
meditation. Detective stories say “Follow the money.” Sages say “follow the
breath.”
Namaste,
Swami Hrimananda
