7 capítulo Hong So

Chapter Seven: The Breath

From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga

            The ocean tides that heave with the movements of the moon; the ceaseless cycles of day and night; the seasons; the birth and death of nations and of whole civilizations; the creation of stars and planets, and their final dissolution; the burst of power that brought the universe into manifestation, and the ultimate dissolution of all things into the infinite silence: All reveal a universal rhythm of nature, the ebb and flow of duality without which the creative process could not go on; without which all things would cease immediately to exist, leaving only that Final Reality: Satchidanandam, the eternal, changeless bliss of Spirit.

            Spirit, in order to create, divided its one consciousness in two through the law of vibration. By movement in opposite directions from a state of rest, it took on an outward appearance. At the still center of all things rests the unmoving Spirit. All things created must, to maintain their appearance of separate reality, remain in a state of movement. A bar of iron, though outwardly inert, is composed of electrons shooting about in a microcosm so small that only the most sensitive microscope can detect it. The universe is vibration. As that ancient Greek, Heraclitus, put it, “Panta rhe”: “All is flux.”

            The manifested universe itself might be called the respiration of Spirit: the appearance and disappearance of all things, His inhalation and exhalation. Because we think of inhalation as a taking in of breath, we might associate God’s “inhalation” with the drawing of all things back into Himself. On a human level, however, inhalation tends instead to externalize our consciousness. By taking in the air of the world around us we acknowledge its reality, and our identity with it. A newborn baby’s first inhalation marks his entry onto the world’s stage. In the universal rhythms of nature, too, those associated with inhalation are those which affirm outwardness: day, as opposed to night; spring, as opposed to autumn; the rise of nations, as opposed to their decline. Exhalation is associated with withdrawal; it is, in fact, the final movement associated with death. On the stage of daily life, as well, inhalation is associated with an affirmation of outward realities; exhalation, with denial of them. When we greet life joyously, we inhale deeply. We announce regret with a sigh. As a matter of interest, yogis say that, with inhalation, energy moves upward in the spine; with exhalation, downward. Upward movement in the spine accompanies any mood of life-affirmation; downward movement, any mood of depression, of life-rejection.

            To affirm life outwardly is to emphasize Spirit manifested: ego, not the changeless soul within. In the constant flow and ebb of nature there is repeated endlessly, in infinite variations, the underlying truth: “I, the manifested self, am He, the Unmanifested.” Every “inhalation” of nature, every renewed affirmation of objective reality, becomes offered up with “exhalation” into the Spirit, the final essence of all things. The human breath, too, flows in this continuous mantra. In Sanskrit the words of this mantra, universal to all creatures, are Aham saha, or, reduced to mantric words of power, Hong-Sau: “I am He.” Yogis say that on a subtle level this is the very sound made by the breath: Hong with inhalation; Sau with exhalation. To repeat Hong-Sau mentally, particularly in conjunction with the breath, is to affirm again and again the truth that the little human ego is one with Brahma, the infinite Spirit: “Hong Sau! I am He! I am He!”

            Repeat this mantra, while watching the breath. Don’t try to control it. Let it flow naturally, of its own accord. Follow it all the way in with the mental chant, Hong; then all the way out with the mental chant, Sau.

            Perfection in this technique means to pass from breathing to breathlessness. Only in breathlessness can God be fully realized. Elsewhere in these lessons I have pointed out that the breath responds instantly to different mental and emotional states. Even the way in which it flows in the nostrils indicates one’s state of consciousness. The reverse also is true: As the breath flows, so flows the mind. Heavy breathing can make the mind restless. Calm breathing calms the mind. By concentration on the breath, too, the mind becomes calmer. This greater calmness is reflected in increasingly gentle breathing, which in turn induces still deeper concentration and calmness, a process that continues until mind and breathing both achieve perfect stillness.

            There are several explanations for how it is possible to remain breathless for long periods of time without in any way damaging the body or the brain. (Indeed, the rejuvenating effects on the entire being of superconscious breathlessness are truly wonderful.) The fact is, once the yogi attains breathlessness in samadhi, the body is kept alive by the direct flow of energy from the medulla oblongata. It is possible in this state to remain breathless for days, months, even for years. The body appears lifeless, outwardly, but inwardly one is filled with the consciousness of infinite life.

            In 1961 the director of the Zoological Institute in Darjeeling, India, told me of a scientific expedition he had once made in the Himalayas. He and his companions came upon a yogi seated on the ground, well above the snow line, in a state of samadhi. The yogi must have been sitting there motionless for at least six months, for his fingernails, very long by this time, had grown into the bark of a tree beside him in such a way that the slightest movement on his part would have snapped them off.

            Periods of breathlessness may come to you, while practicing Hong-Sau, long before you enter superconsciousness. Don’t be alarmed; they can’t possibly hurt you, as long as you let the breath flow naturally, and don’t try to hold it in or out of the lungs by force. When your body needs to breathe again, it will do so. By increasingly deeper calmness, however, you will find that you need less and less fresh air to sustain your body.

            The breathing process, as well as the heartbeat, is regulated by the medulla oblongata. The positive pole of the medulla is the ajna chakra, or Christ center, located between the eyebrows. Stimulation of the medulla by deep concentration at that center can induce complete suspension of the breath and heartbeat by placing one in perfect harmony with the cosmic energy, and drawing this energy into the body in such abundance that impurities in the body are instantly neutralized.  --From Chapter 9:7

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Breath and Life Force

This Lesson teaches the approach to God especially by harmonizing breath, Life Force, and mind. It also teaches that a balanced character is helpful in knowing God and in getting the best results from the practice of Spiritual exercises

The breath is not life, but it is necessary to life because the red blood needs it and the dark blood has to be purified. Breath is the cord which ties the Soul to the physical body One who can live without breath, as Jesus did in the tomb, can separate his Soul from breath slavery and body slavery.

The function of Life Force is to directly supply energy through the medulla and to store it up in the brain, and from there directly to give power to the heart, lungs, and diaphragm, and to every cell in the body. It is direct electric power in the cells which keeps them energized, working and functioning in a living way The Life Force is the electricity of each body cell-battery, and breath, food, sunshine, and so on, are the distilled water of the cell-battery. Food and oxygen stuffed in a dead body cannot bring back life Yet, in the state of suspended animation, the body can be kept alive indefinitely by spinal and mental energy only, without food and oxygen. Hindu saints have been buried alive beneath the ground for several months and have lived without food or oxygen, and after disinterment have regained consciousness and lived again.

The Life Force is the direct power which changes oxygen into Life Energy, but as dry batteries do not require electricity and distilled water, so by higher training the body is known to have been sustained by Life Force only (as in suspended animation).

But, because the Life Force, instead of drawing from its source in Cosmic Energy flowing through the medulla, draws energy from food, in mortal life it becomes sustained by food. Food is not the cause of the Life Force in the body, but it is one of the conditions by which life exists. In the same way, light helps in the reading of a book, and without light, reading is impossible, but the reading matter is not caused by the light Likewise, without food it is hard to exist, yet food is not the cause which creates life Through habit, the body becomes used to depending upon food and breath The more the body lives by Life Force, the less it needs to depend on food and oxygen.

Breath Calmness Is Necessary For Perfect Concentration

The function of breath is to supply oxygen in the body, and to change the venous, or dark waste blood, into vitalizing red blood. It indirectly supplies energy to the body by the explosion of oxygen into atoms of Life Force The great Hindu Masters signify that pranayam (life-controlling exercise) does not consist in holding the breath in the lungs indefinitely, but in controlling the Life Force which controls the heart, sensory motor nerves, and all other functions of the body

If one can stop the accumulation of venous blood by eating less carbonized food and by higher methods of calming himself, he can make the function of the heart useless, for without venous blood the heart does not have to clean the carbon in the blood nor send red blood and oxygen to tissues which do not decay If one can prevent decay in the tissue, he can calm the heart When the heart is completely calm, due to a lack of venous blood and due to the cessation of decay in the body, there is no venous blood to be pumped into the lungs, hence breathing is unnecessary because of the lack of venous blood in the lungs and because of the suspended state of the body tissues, which makes the absorption of oxygen unnecessary.

The ratio between breath and impure venous blood is: The greater the amount of dark blood, the greater the necessity for breath. If there is no dark blood in the body through the prevention of the waste of bodily tissues, as in suspended animation by conscious rest given to the bodily cells, then there is no necessity for breathing For this reason the Hindu Masters taught how to control the Life Force in the heart by stopping decay in the body and producing the resultant breathless state, and not to hold the breath in the lungs indefinitely. Controlling the Life Force in the body enables one to switch off the current from the nerve sense-telephones, thus making it impossible for disturbing sensations to reach the brain and to distract the attention from marching toward its Maker, or toward the Divine Goal The mortal breath, which binds the Soul to the body, cannot be done away with by forcibly holding it in the lungs, but only by stopping decay in the system through developing calmness and practicing Spiritual exercises

--From Praecepta Lesson 21 (1938)

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The  Delicate  Art  Of  Breath  Control

Propaganda by ignorant people has been started against all breathing exercises because our great Hindu Masters warned students not to practice violent breathing exercises with weak lungs and because they asked students to practice breathing exercises under the guidance of a competent teacher, and not after reading about them in books.

Remember, just as oranges cannot be tabooed for all people because some people with ulcerated stomachs cannot eat them, so also, proper breathing exercises should not be forsaken because some people with extremely weak or infected lungs cannot practice proper breathing exercises.  Laugh at anybody who tells you that all breathing exercises are dangerous.  Everybody must properly perform Nature’s breathing exercises, no matter whether he has good or bad lungs. Only remember that violent breathing exercises are dangerous, for they may cause trouble even to apparently strong but inwardly weak lungs. Cast out all fear when you practice simple, but physically and spiritually extremely beneficial breathing exercises which the Praecepta teachings recommend.

When You Need To Breathe Deeply

If you are starving for oxygen because of improper body posture, you need to breathe deeply and to breathe properly. Those people who sit with a bent spine, and walk with a caved in chest, squeeze the diaphragm and lungs and prevent them from properly opening and receiving the amount of oxygen necessary to clean all the dark blood in the lungs. When the lungs and diaphragm do not open properly, there is a lack of oxygen brought to the blood and the poisonous venous blood in the lower openings of the lungs remains unpurified and is poured back into the system in this condition.

 If you sit and walk with the chest out and the abdomen in, you will take in the proper quantity of oxygen, and all your dark blood will be changed into red blood, and fresh blood and vitality will be poured into your system. It is better to lie on your back on a hard bed than to sit with a crooked spine and squeezed lungs, moving back and forth in a rocking chair. Use planks on your bed and put a spring mattress on top. This insures a straight and soft bed without being dangerous to your health by bending the spine, as a too soft bed does.

            Food is necessary if you are starved; deep breathing is necessary if you are oxygen-starved. But as over-eating is unnecessary when you have food in your system, so is over-breathing unnecessary if your blood contains less carbon due to the right habit of eating fresh fruit and little starch. If you are calm and mere is less motion in the body, there will be less decay in the body and you will need to breathe very little, most of the time remaining breathless. That is why calm people breathe less, and the animal type of people, who eat starch and meat all the time, have to breathe like bellows and have to keep their Life Force and mind constantly busy with the physical functions of breathing and with the heaviness and motion of the flesh. Breathlessness and calmed internal organs free the mind, so that it can concentrate upon the Soul

Do  Not  Hold  Breath  Too  Long

It is extremely unwise to hold the breath in the lungs to the point of discomfort. Holding the breath forcibly in weak lungs is injurious Weakness of the lungs must be cured before it is advisable to breathe deeply. People with weak lungs should breathe properly by keeping the body straight. Deep breathing is unnecessary for such persons until their lungs become strong We must learn to breathe correctly by keeping the spine straight always. The suffocating pain felt when holding the breath in the lungs too long results from the constant pouring of venous blood into the lungs. When the oxygen is used up, the carbon dioxide in die lungs wants to get out and the thick dark blood, unable to be purified, keeps on accumulating and expanding the lungs, which are ready to burst.

Although you cannot kill yourself by holding the breath too long in the lungs, you can injure the lungs and heart. Therefore, you must never listen to any charlatan or ignorant teacher who tries to teach from book knowledge only. Do not follow any teacher who tells you to hold your breath in the lungs for a long time, or tells you to practice violent breathing exercises.

When the lungs are filled to capacity with dark venous blood, the blood tries to push back through the pulmonary arteries into the heart. This may result in pains in the heart or leakage of valves, or may injure the over-expanding lungs. Nature made a good provision so that no one can kill himself by holding the breath in the lungs, because when venous blood strikes back in the heart from the over-filled lungs, the heart palpitates and fitfully shoots its current back to the medulla. The medulla becomes shocked and produces unconsciousness. When unconsciousness comes, breathing automatically starts again.

Be Conscious Of Inhalation And Exhalation

• In doing the above do not force the breath in and out. Breathe naturally, only watch the course of the incoming and outgoing breath, mentally chanting Hong and Sau . If the breath naturally stops in the lungs or outside, wait until it flows again of itself.

·    Remember that the purpose of this practice is to increase naturally the intervals when the breath does not flow. If the breath goes in of itself and does not flow out immediately, wart and enjoy the state of breathlessness. When it comes out again, say Sau. If the breath goes out and stays out, wait and enjoy that state of breathlessness, until the breath wants to flow in again.

·    3.The breath is first thrown out so that you may know when to begin mentally chanting Hong, when the breath goes in. In ordinary breathing you are not aware whether the breath is in or out.

• Do not force the breath in and out in order to chant. Let the mental chant follow the natural desire of the breath to flow in and out.
• Concentrate upon the intervals when the breath does not flow, without forcing this quiet breathless state.
• By watching the breath, you metaphysically destroy the identification of the Soul with the breath and the body. By watching the breath, you separate your Ego from it and know that your body exists only partially by breath.
• By watching the breath, what happens? When you first tense and relax the outer body and throw out the breath, you have removed motion and decay from the outward muscles, but not from the internal organs — heart, lungs, diaphragm, and so on By watching the breath, breathing becomes rhythmic and calm. Watching of the breath calms and quiets the heart A restless and worried mind increases heart action, and a quiet mind calms the heart action A heaving breath also increases heart action and quiet breath calms die heart By watching the breath calmly, both the breath and the mind become calm A calm mind and breath slow down and quiet the motion of the heart, diaphragm, and lungs.

When the motion is simultaneously removed (1) from the muscles by relaxation and by casting out the breath, (2) and from the inner organs, heart, lungs, diaphragm, and so on, then the Life Energy, which is used to pump 18 tons of blood through the heart in 24 hours, retires to the spine and becomes distributed in the billions of body cells This energy electrifies the cells and prevents their decay, making them self-sustained dry batteries. In such a state die cells do not require oxygen or food chemicals to sustain life It is in this state that the vitalized cells do not need to repair decay, because when decay is removed from outer and inner organs the venous blood does not become impure and it does not need to be sent to the heart to be pumped into the lungs to be purified by the incoming oxygen in the breath.

This condition (prevention of the creation and increase of venous blood in the system, by doing away with outer motion and inner motion by watching the breath) does away with two things:—

                        1. Necessity of living by the human breath.

                        2. The necessity of heart action.

When man can live by “the Word of God” (Cosmic Energy) and not by bread or breath, and can control the heart, his body battery will be internally charged with Cosmic Energy, and it will not need to depend upon the outer sources of life (Food, liquid, and gases).

v  This practice teaches the body cells to be bridged over with Cosmic Consciousness .

v  It destroys the slavery of the body to breath.

v  It stops decay in inner and outer organs

v  It makes the heart action and breathing unnecessary and insures longevity in the body-house when one wants to remain there longer.

v  The calming of the heart switches off the energy in the five sense-telephones of touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight, for die heart is the second switchboard of die senses (The medulla is the main switch.)

v  When the Life Force and the consciousness are withdrawn from the five sense-telephones, the sensations of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch cannot reach the brain through the nerve-telephone wires. When sensations stop registering in the brain, the conceptions and associated ideas, resulting from them, cease. It is then that the mind or the attention becomes free to contemplate any particular object, or God.

Special Exercises

If you are starved for oxygen and have good lungs, first exhale the poisonous breath quickly, then draw fresh air through your nostrils, counting 1 to 12 slowly, hold breath, counting 1 to 12, or 1 to 25. Then slowly exhale, counting 1 to 12.  Repeat the above exercise 12 times, 3 times a day in the open air, or more if you find it beneficial.

People breathe like bellows because they have waste material in their systems. The higher you go into the study and practice of Praecepta Instructions, the more slowly you will breathe.  Decay in the cells of muscles and other organs can be partially arrested by getting the body still, but activity and the throwing off of waste matter still goes on in the internal organs.  If you breathe quickly, the heart beat will be very fast. When you run, you breathe quickly, and your heart beat accelerates. Breath is the cord which ties the Soul to the flesh. When you “die daily” and come back to life at will by rising above breath, as is taught in this “Hong-Sau” Technique, you can prolong life indefinitely.

Think of all the restless, searching people there are in the world! They are all seeking the way. O, that only all of them could be told that whenever they can do completely without breathing, then, and then only, will they establish a symphony of peace, an altar of Bliss in their hearts, where Cosmic Consciousness will come without coaxing.                                                           --From Praeceta Lesson 23  (1938)

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The breathing process, as well as the heartbeat, is regulated by the medulla oblongata. The positive pole of this medulla is the ajna chakra, or Christ center, located between the eyebrows. Stimulation of this medulla by deep concentration at that center can induce complete suspension of the breath and heartbeat by placing one in perfect harmony with the cosmic energy, and drawing this energy into the body in such abundance that impurities in the body are instantly neutralized.

--From the Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 9:7