9 Capítulo Hong So

Chapter Nine: The Technique

HONG SO

The Highest Technique of Concentration

From Yogoda Course, Lesson 4 (1925)

Swami Yogananda

You can practice this lesson anytime, sit erect wherever you are with the spine straight, and relax Close your eyes (or fix the gaze of your half-closed eyes in between the eyebrows). And with the greatest calmness feel your breath as naturally going in and coming out. As the breath goes in, move the index finger of your right hand toward the thumb, and mentally chant without moving your tongue, “Hong.”

As the breath goes out, move the index finger away from the thumb and mentally chant “Sau.” (The movement of the index finger is only to differentiate inhalation from exhalation). Do not in any way use mental willingness or force to let your breath in or out. While practicing, take the calm attitude that you are a silent observer of your natural breath coming in and going out, which you are generally not conscious of. With greatest reverence and attention practice this for at least 10 minutes after the fifth lesson. Each time you will feel the greatest calmness in you, and by and by will realize yourself as soul, superior to and existing independently of this material body.

Always sit on a straight chair with a woolen blanket placed over it and running down under your feet. Face east and sit erect, without touching your spine to the back of the chair This exercise you ought to practice during your leisure periods, either when you are on the bus or train or sitting anywhere doing nothing. Just watch the breath and mentally chant “Hong, Sau,” without moving the finger or closing the eyes or fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, which might attract the attention of people around you. Just keep your eyes open without winking, looking straight ahead at some particular point. Keep the spine and head always in a straight line during practice.

The purpose of the 4^th lesson is conscious passivity. By it you can free the attention from sense entanglements. Breath is the cord that binds the soul to the body. Man lives in and requires the atmosphere of air just as a fish needs water. By rising above breath, man rises into the celestial realms of the angels. By watching the course of the incoming and outgoing breath, the breath naturally slows down and calms the violent action of the heart, lungs and diaphragm. The heart pumps about 12 tons of blood a day and gets no rest at night (as the other organs do). Hence the most overworked organ in the body is the heart, and this 4^th lesson gives the scientific method to rest the heart, thus increasing longevity and liberating a tremendous amount of life current, which is then distributed over the body and electrifies and renews all body cells and prevents their decay. This marvelous  Hong Sau exercise is the greatest contribution of India’s spiritual science to the world, as it lengthens the span of man’s life and shows the practical method to rise above body-consciousness and realize himself as immortal spirit. (Hong and Sau are two sacred Sanskrit chant words.) In sleep we experience sensory relaxation. In death complete relaxation involuntarily takes place, due to the stopping of the heart’s action. By the Hong Sau exercise you can learn to experience the conscious death and rise above the fear and mystery of death. You can learn to leave the body voluntarily, honorably and gladly, and not be thrown out roughly, or be taken by surprise by death.

Inattention during practice of the 4^th and 5^th lessons produces sleep. Concentrated attention will bring a tingling sense of divine life to every body cell.

From Praecepta Lesson 21

Swami Yogananda (1936)

This Technique teaches you how to switch on or off the Life Current from the bulb of the body (muscles, senses, heart, spine, and so forth) at will, and how to bring about perfect relaxation. Inattention during the practice of this Technique produces sleep.  Concentrated attention will bring a tingling sense of Divine Life to every body cell.

Sit erect wherever you are with the spine straight, and relax. Close your eyes (or concentrate the gaze of your half-opened eyes upon the point between the eyebrows). Then, with the greatest calmness, feel your breath as naturally going in and coming out.  As the breath comes in, move the index finger of your right hand toward the palm, and mentally chant “hong” (as in “song”) without moving your tongue.  As the breath goes out, move the index finger away from the palm and mentally chant “sau” (as in “saw”). The movement of the index finger is only to differentiate inhalation from exhalation.  When you can mentally differentiate inhalation from exhalation, then the movement of the index finger is unnecessary.  Do not in any way use mental willingness or force to let your breath in or out.  While practicing, take the calm attitude that you are a silent observer of your natural breath coming in and going out, of which you are generally not conscious. You can practice this technique anywhere, any time, day or night, in your leisure time. By continued proper practice, you will feel a great calmness in you, and by and by you will realize yourself as a Soul, superior to, and existing independently of, the material body.

“Hong” and “Sau” are two sacred Sanskrit chant words with vibratory connection with the incoming and outgoing breath. All sounds of the Universe have a different mental effect and mental correspondence. The mental repetition of “Hong-Sau” has a great calming mental effect and helps the student in this exercise of watching the incoming and outgoing breath.

The more effective way to practice this technique of concentration is to sit on a straight chair with a woolen blanket placed over it and running down under your feet to insulate your body from earthly magnetic influences and disturbances.  Face the East and sit erect, with out touching your spine to the back of the chair. This exercise ought to be practiced during your leisure periods, either when you are on the bus or trolley car, or when sitting anywhere doing nothing. Just watch the breath and mentally chant “Hong-Sau” without moving the finger or closing the eyes, or fixing the gaze between the eyebrows, which might attract the attention of people around you. Just keep your eyes open without winking, looking straight ahead on some particular point. Keep the spine and head always in a straight line during practice.

The purpose of this Technique is Conscious Passivity. It teaches one how to free his attention from sense entanglements. Breath is the cord that binds die Soul to the body Man lives in and requires the atmosphere of air just as a fish needs water. When he learns to rise above breath, man ascends into the celestial realms of the angels. By watching the course of the incoming and outgoing breath, the breath naturally slows down and calms the violent action of the heart, lungs, and diaphragm. The heart pumps about 17 tons of blood a day and gets no rest at night (as the other organs do) Hence, the most overworked organ in the body is the heart, and this Lesson teaches the scientific method of how to rest the heart, thus increasing longevity and liberating a tremendous amount of Life Current, which is then distributed over the body, recharging, revitalizing, and renewing all body cells, preventing their decay. This marvelous “Hong-Sau” exercise is one of the greatest contributions of  India’s Spiritual science to the world, as it teaches one how to lengthen the span of his life, and shows the practical method to rise above body-consciousness and realize one’s self as Immortal Spirit.

In sleep, we experience sensory relaxation In death, complete relaxation involuntarily takes place, due to the stopping of the heart’s action If one can learn to control the heart­beat, he can experience the Conscious Death, leaving and re-entering the body at will, he can “die daily”, like St. Paul, and like many Yogis of India, who have practiced this “Hong-Sau” exercise and have, through it, achieved mastery over the action of the heart Such Yogis have learned to leave the body voluntarily, honorably, and gladly, and are not thrown out roughly, or taken by surprise by death, when their lease on their body-temples expires

When the heart rests, breath becomes unnecessary. The Life Energy is then withdrawn from the heart and sensory nerves, and thus disconnects the telephones of the five senses, which ordinarily keep the Ego perpetually disturbed and the attention scattered by incessant sensory messages from the outside world. Through sensory disconnection through “Hong-Sau”, sensations cease to arouse thoughts, which in turn cease to arouse the subconscious by associated thoughts. The attention thus becomes scientifically free from all distractions, and the student is ready to go on to advanced practice.

From Praecepta Lesson 2

Swami Yogananda (1936)

Ø  Sit erect on edge of bed with feet on floor, or sit on a cushioned chair, or sit on a bed with your legs crossed, facing East, with spine straight, chest out, abdomen in, shoulder blades together, chin parallel to the ground, and up-turned, cup-shaped palms resting at the junction of the abdomen and thighs.

Ø  Then precede the actual practice of the “Hong-Sau” Technique with an awakening prayer, which coincides with your desire or purpose of concentration; as, for example, for Wisdom, Peace and Contentment, repeat the following prayer:

“Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Saints of all religions, the Spirit in my body temple, Supreme Master Minds of India, Supreme Master Babaji, Great Master Lahiri Mahasaya, Master Swami Sri Yukteswar Giriji, and Guru-Preceptor, I bow to you all. Lead me from ignorance to wisdom; from restlessness to peace; from desires to contentment.”

Ø  Inhale slowly, counting l to 20. Hold the breath, counting 1 to 20. Then exhale slowly, counting l to 20. Repeat this 6 to 12 times. Tense the whole body, clenching the fists. Relax the whole body, throwing the breath out. Repeat 6 times.

Ø  Then exhale quickly, and remain without breath as long as it will stay out without discomfort, and mentally wait for the breath to come in. When the breath comes in of itself, mentally say “HONG”, and when the breath goes out of itself, mentally say, “SAU”. Keep the eyes closed or open without winking or gazing, and gently fixed upward on the point between the eyebrows.

Ø  After practicing this Technique deeply for ten minutes to one-half an hour, exhale slowly and completely. Blow all the breath out of the lungs which you possibly can, and enjoy the breathless state as long as you can without discomfort. Repeat three times. Then forget the breath and pray, or sit in Silence.

Follow these Instructions

            Long concentration must be preceded by 15 minutes’ practice of Exercise I of the Technique of Rejuvenation, as given in Praeceptum Lesson 8. By faithfully practicing this Technique, along with more advanced exercises that will be taught in future Praecepta, and by longer meditations in the morning and at night, and also a three-hour meditation once a week, on any day suitable to you, you will find that you will be well advanced in the Spiritual Path.

            In the morning, this Lesson should be practiced after the Rejuvenating and Recharging Exercise as taught in Praeceptum Lesson 8. You must get used to the practicing of this Technique with your eyes gently concentrated upon the point between the eyebrows. Do not strain the eyes. However, if you are not used to holding the eyes in this position, practice some of the time with your eyes half open, but most of the time with eyes closed. You can practice with eyes closed, and in leisure hours lie down on your back, and watch the breath, mentally chanting “HONG-SAU”. The more you practice in your leisure hours, the greater will be the results. Work overtime and you will gain still better results.

            When you consciously watch the breath, what happens? The heart, the lungs, and the diaphragm gradually calm down and their muscles ultimately, during a long deep silence, refrain from constant motion. Thus, decay is stopped throughout the system, and then no more venous blood has to be pumped by the heart into the lungs. When the heart does not pump blood, the lungs do not expand any more to receive more oxygen; then you do not breathe any more. When this happens, decay is stopped entirely. When decay is stopped, you no longer are in need of new, red blood, oxygen, nor food — but can live directly from Cosmic Energy running through the medulla, and not by the energy distilled from food only.

            It is always a good plan to exhale and drive away the poisons before beginning deep breathing. By practicing the inhalation and exhalation exercises, the carbon in the venous blood is burned out and partial decay is stopped in the body. You will notice that when you throw the breath out after practicing this Technique for a long time and deeply, that you have no desire to breathe for a long time. You can remain longer in the breathless state than if you tried breathlessness immediately after restlessness.

The Attention Becomes Free

            Death is nothing but involuntary complete relaxation. The heart is controlled by the medulla, which is the only part of the human body which cannot be operated upon. The tiniest pin-prick in it will cause instant death. The heart, in turn, is the switch which controls all the five sense-telephones of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Sensations cannot reach the brain of their own accord, but the messages of sensations in the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue are carried to the brain by the telephone wires of sensory nerves. When the sensations are quieted, thoughts do not arise, and when thoughts do not arise, associated memory-thoughts do not bother the brain. Thus, in practicing this Lesson, when you sit upright, relaxed in the meditation posture, the production of decay and waste is slowed up in the outer muscles and limbs.

            As soon as, by the practice of this Lesson, energy is withdrawn from the sensory motor nerves, muscles, limbs, and the heart, no sensations can register on the switchboard of the brain to disturb the operator's attention and coax it to rouse thoughts. This is the time your attention is free to be concentrated upon any problem or idea, or upon God.

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From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga

As you chant Hong mentally with the incoming breath, feel that you are affirming not so much the little ego—the John Smith or Mary Green who is unique among human beings—but rather the Universal Man of which you are one expression.

As you chant Sau mentally with the outgoing breath, feel that you are offering this self into the infinite Self or Spirit. Imagine your awareness expanding toward Infinity.

Then as you chant Hong again, visualize the little self becoming infused with the consciousness of Sau, the Spirit, which you have just affirmed. Indeed, some yogis take this concept as their mantra, So-Hum (Hong-Sau reversed becomes So-Hum), practicing it instead of the one I have given, Hong-Sau. But Paramhansa Yogananda explained that one can legitimately reverse the Hong-Sau mantra to So-Hum only after Self-realization has been attained.

When concentrating on the breath, keep your mind focused not so much on the mechanism of breathing (the movement of the navel, lungs, etc.) as on the breath itself. In this way, your mental identification will become at last with air, with space, not with a merely negative cessation of physical movement. But if at first you find that the physical mechanism of breathing intrudes itself too much on your attention, begin by mentally watching the breathing process, the movement of lungs, navel, and diaphragm; gradually only, as you grow calmer, shift your attention to the breath itself. At this point, feel it as it enters the nostrils. And even here you may find it natural to go through a transition from physical to more subtle awareness. Than is, as the breath becomes finer, feel it gradually higher and higher in the nasal passage.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna gives the counsel to concentrate on “nasikagram, the beginning of the nose.” Commentators often interpret this passage to mean “the tip of the nose”, since agra means “front” as well as “beginning.” But no subtle chakra, or nerve plexus, exists in the tip of the nose, waiting patiently to be awakened by yogic concentration It is at the other end of the nose that yogis concentrate. Here is the seat of spiritual vision.

            Normally, to make it easier to locate, this seat is spoken of as being located at the point between the eyebrows. But where the breath is considered as part of the concentrative process, it is more appropriate to think of this seat as being located at the origin of the nose In fact, the real Christ center as situated in the frontal lobe of the brain. For in fact the real point that is stimulated by concentration is situated in the frontal lobe of the brain, and not literally at the point between the eyebrows. The breath, as it enters and leaves the nasal passage, passes very close to this point. To visualize the breath passing this point helps to stimulate the Christ center.

As you watch the breath in the nose, then, and find it becoming gradually calmer, begin to feel it at the origin of the nose Relate that feeling to the Christ center. In this way you will find that yoga’s two principal techniques for developing concentration-attentiveness to the breath, and stimulation of the Christ center-become one.

Watch the breath as an impartial observer. You don’t care whether it flows in or out, or remains stationary. Simply remain attentive to whatever it does naturally.  As your practice deepens, however, particularly enjoy the pauses when the breath is not flowing, use them to become more fully identified with the thought: “I am He! I am infinite space!”

Paramhansa Yogananda said that if one wants to be a master in this life, he should practice Hong-Sau two hours daily, he great guru himself, as a boy, used to practice it as much as seven and a half hours at a stretch.  Really, though in the beginning fifteen to thirty minutes may be enough, there is no limit to how long you may practice this technique.

Never end your meditation with techniques. These are like finger exercises on the piano, which enable one to play fluently but are no substitute for actual playing. Once your mind has become focused and quiet through the practice of Hong-Sau, offer yourself calmly up to God. Hong-Sau leads naturally to that kind of concentration in which the will, no longer engaged busily in outward planning, is united to the intellect, and uplifted in a single, pure act of becoming.  Concentration directed in this way becomes ecstasy And the twofold meaning of Hong and Sau combines ultimately in the single-because omnipresent-vibration, Aum.                                        --From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 9:7

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Key Points

1.       Throughout the practice of this technique, look upward so as gradually to raise your consciousness.  Do not, however, concentrate at the Christ center until it becomes natural for you to feel the flow of the breath at that point.

2.       Sit very still throughout your practice of the technique. Any physical movement (and also any unrelated movement of thought or emotion) will further excite the breath.

3.       Every now and then, mentally check the body (especially the nose) to be sure it is relaxed

4.       While chanting Hong-Sau, be sure that you are chanting only mentally. Often, the mere thought of a word will produce an involuntary movement of the tongue or lips, or a slight tension in the jaw or throat. Be sure these parts of your body, too, are completely relaxed.

WATCHING THE BREATH

            In meditation, concentrate at a point midway between the eyebrows.  Raise your gaze upward—not crossing the eyes, but focusing them on a point somewhat beyond the forehead at about the distance of your thumb when you hold your arm extended above you.  Don’t be too exact in this matter, however.  The important thing is that your attention be focused at the point between me eyebrows.

--From Meditation for Starters

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When concentrating on the breath, keep your mind focused not so much on the mechanism of breathing (the movement of the navel, lungs, etc.) as on the breath itself. In this way, your mental identification will become at last with air, with space, not with a merely negative cessation of physical movement. But if at first you find that the physical mechanism of breathing intrudes itself too much on your attention, begin by mentally watching the breathing process, the movement of lungs, navel, and diaphragm; gradually only, as you grow calmer, shift your attention to the breath itself. At this point, feel it as it enters the nostrils. And even here you may find it natural to go through a transition from physical to more subtle awareness. Than is, as the breath becomes finer, feel it gradually higher and higher in the nasal passage.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna gives the counsel to concentrate on “nasikagram, the beginning of the nose.” Commentators often interpret this passage to mean “the tip of the nose”, since agra means “front” as well as “beginning.” But no subtle chakra, or nerve plexus, exists in the tip of the nose, waiting patiently to be awakened by yogic concentration It is at the other end of the nose that yogis concentrate. Here is the seat of spiritual vision.

            Normally, to make it easier to locate, this seat is spoken of as being located at the point between the eyebrows. But where the breath is considered as part of the concentrative process, it is more appropriate to think of this seat as being located at the origin of the nose In fact, the real Christ center as situated in the frontal lobe of the brain. For in fact the real point that is stimulated by concentration is situated in the frontal lobe of the brain, and not literally at the point between the eyebrows. The breath, as it enters and leaves the nasal passage, passes very close to this point. To visualize the breath passing this point helps to stimulate the Christ center.

As you watch the breath in the nose, then, and find it becoming gradually calmer, begin to feel it at the origin of the nose. Relate that feeling to the Christ center. In this way you will find that yoga’s two principal techniques for developing concentration-attentiveness to the breath, and stimulation of the Christ center-become one.

Watch the breath as an impartial observer. You don’t care whether it flows in or out, or remains stationary. Simply remain attentive to whatever it does naturally.  As your practice deepens, however, particularly enjoy the pauses when the breath is not flowing, use them to become more fully identified with the thought: “I am He! I am infinite space!”            --From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 9:7

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            1. 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.

            2. 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, wait 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.

            4. 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.

            5. Concentrate upon the intervals when the breath does not flow, without forcing this quiet breathless state.

            6. 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.                                                --From Praecepta Lesson 23 (1936)

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Q. Should one concentrate on the breath and also at the point between the eyebrows?

A. Not until the attention focuses itself naturally on the flow of breath at the beginning of the nose-that is, the point at which the breath enters the nasal cavity in the head To do so otherwise would constitute a division of concentration which would be self-defeating.

Q. Sometimes I find that my breath, instead of pausing longer and longer at the rest points between inhalation and exhalation, continues its normal rhythm, but becomes shallower and shallower to the point where it virtually disappears. Is this all right?

A. Yes, it is quite all right. In any case you should let the breath follow its own course, instead of deciding for it what rhythm it ought to follow. But such extremely light breathing indicates a satisfactory state of concentration.

--From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 10:7

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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 the 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 the 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)The 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).

• This practice teaches the body cells to be bridged over with Cosmic Consciousness .
• It destroys the slavery of the body to breath.
• It stops decay in inner and outer organs.
• It makes the heart action and breathing unnecessary and insures longevity in the body-house when one wants to remain there longer.

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

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.

--From Pracepta, Lesson 23 (1936)

THE PAUSES

Watch the breath as an impartial observer. You don't care whether it flows in or out. or remains stationary. Simply remain attentive to whatever it does naturally. As your practice deepens, however, particularly enjoy the pauses when the breath is not flowing; use them to become more fully identified with the thought: "I am He^! I am infinite space!"'

            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, wait 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.

            Concentrate upon the intervals when the breath does not flow, without forcing this quiet breathless state.

            Be particularly aware of the rest points between the breaths. Enjoy the peace, and the feeling of inward release and freedom that you feel when your body is without breath.

            Particularly concentrate on. and enjoy, the pauses between the breaths. Dwell on the sense of freedom from the tyranny of constant breathing. Beyond enjoying this sense of calmness and freedom, however, do not try to prolong the breathless state by an act of will.

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

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Question: You mentioned "rest points. " Are there such points also in the way the body functions, comparable to those in objective Nature?''

Answer: There are of course, for we are inextricably a part of Nature. That is why we resonate with outer events in Nature.  Between every breath, for instance, and the next there is a rest point.  A rest point occurs between the exhalation and the inhalation, and again between the inhalation and the exhalation. You will find it a good practice to watch the breath during meditation.  Concentrate especially on those pauses between the breaths.  Enjoy them.

Be aware also of the pauses at other rest points in your life: at the end of a sequence of thoughts or of feelings, at the moment of a shift in your activities: at the moment of waking or of going to sleep.  Learn to live more at these pauses.  Don't drown your awareness in a vortex of constant activity.

A good technique for changing directions in your life that you don't like—a bad mood, for example, or a fit of jealousy, anger, or despair—is deliberately to create a pause, both physically and mentally—then use that pause to affirm the change you want. Here's how to do it:

Inhale, and tense the body; throw the breath out, and relax. Then hold the breath out for as long as you find it comfortable to do so.  Keep the mind free from all thoughts for the time being. When you need to inhale again, inhale with the breath the thought of an opposite energy to the one you want to change.  At the same time, fill your mind with happy and constructive thoughts; kindness and acceptance toward all. If your problem is jealousy: calm non-attachment and good humor; if it is anger: courage; and so on."

--From Meditation for Starters Chapter Four

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            A technique for attaining this inner stillness is mentally to watch your breath. Concentrate on the stillness at the center of the breathing process. Don’t control your breathing, but particularly enjoy the pauses between the breaths. Be aware of the eternal stillness, of the Christ consciousness at the center of this gentle movement, until the pauses, like a pendulum slowly coming to rest, are united in breathlessness. In this way, you will deepen your attunement with the Only Begotten, in which, you will discover, you live and have your eternal being! --From The Promise of Immortality, Chapter Five, Swami Kriyananda

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AFTER HONG SAU

Never end your meditation with techniques. These are like finger exercises on the piano, which enable one to play fluently but are no substitute for actual playing. Once your mind has become focused and quiet through the practice of Hong-Sau, offer yourself calmly up to God. Hong-Sau leads naturally to that kind of concentration in which the will, no longer engaged busily in outward planning, is united to the intellect, and uplifted in a single, pure act of becoming.  Concentration directed in this way becomes ecstasy And the twofold meaning of Hong and Sau combines ultimately in the single-because omnipresent-vibration, Aum.                                        --From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 9:7

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Q. What if, during one's practice of this, or of any other, technique, one is suddenly lifted into a divine state of consciousness? Assuming that it was the technique that induced this state, should one continue his practice, or abandon it to deepen one's enjoyment of this state of consciousness?

A. That depends on whether the technique actually induced the state you refer to, or only prepared you to receive it. Certain divine states, if actually caused by the practice of a technique, may be deepened by continuation of that practice.  Otherwise, and generally speaking, the technique should be abandoned in order that you might deepen your enjoyment of, and identification with, the divine experience.

--From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 10:7

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU MEDITATE?

Q. How long should the Hong-Sau technique be practiced?

A. As long as you enjoy practicing it This is one technique (unlike many other yoga practices) that cannot be overdone in the sense of putting a strain on the nervous system. Yoganandaji used, as a boy, to practice it as much as 7-1/2 hours at a time. He once told a disciple that if one wants to become a master in this life, he should practice Hong-Sau two hours daily No technique, however, should be practiced to the point of boredom or fatigue. Beginners, especially, may do better to practice only half an hour at a time, perhaps even less. For others, let enjoyment be your key, lest you slip gradually into the pernicious habit of meditating mechanically, without that keen sense of blissful anticipation which is so necessary to any real meditative progress. When your enjoyment of the technique begins to lessen, cease your practice at least for that session. When your enjoyment of meditation itself lessens, stop meditating, or take a break (you might rest in Savasana (The Corpse Pose) before making another effort.

Q. When the Master said to practice Hong-Sau two hours a day, did he mean at one sitting?

A. Yes, if possible. But if not, I am sure he would have agreed to your dividing this time into two or more shorter periods. Remember, no fixed time can guarantee success in yoga practice. Suggested times should be taken only as general guidelines.

Q. May one practice this technique in idle moments as well, apart from one's prescribed periods for meditation?

A. Indeed, yes! Anywhere, practically: sitting at your desk in the office, or in public places, or at a party when you are not involved in the conversation. Before others, however, don't be obvious about what you are doing. Sit back, and close your eyes as if you were resting them, or look straight ahead, as if reflectively.

Q. What proportion of one's meditation should be devoted to the practice of this technique?

A. It is difficult to advise in this matter, except to say that this is one of the most important techniques of yoga. The longer and more deeply you practice any technique, the sooner you will become proficient in it. It is for you to decide how long, in proportion to other techniques, you want to watch the breath. Regardless what techniques are practiced, however, at least the last quarter of one's meditation time should be devoted to simple meditation, without any practice of techniques. As my guru put it, intuition (which he defined as the soul's power to know God) is developed by prolonging and deepening the peaceful after-effects of one's practice of the meditation techniques.

--From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 10:7

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How long should you meditate? The first rule is, Don't be ruled by what others do. What works well for them may not work for you. Accept that in certain ways you are unique.  Here are a few general guidelines:

            Intensity of effort is far more important than the time spent in meditation.

Never meditate to the point of mental fatigue, strain, or boredom.  Enjoy what you do.  Enjoy every aspect of your life—not an easy thing to do if one thinks about the aspects individually, but not so difficult if you concentrate on enjoying the inner Self.  If you feel joy in meditation, stop meditating when the joy begins to diminish. One rule for right eating is to leave the table a little hungry. Apply this rule to meditation. In that way, you'll always look forward to your next time for meditation.

On the other hand, make an effort to meditate a little longer at least once a week. Four to six hours, even, is not exaggerated. And once a week won't kill you! Gradually you'll break the habit of thinking you can meditate only for short periods.

In longer meditations, imitate the ocean tides in their ebb and flow. Let periods of intense concentration alternate with periods of relaxed effort and peaceful receptivity. Like waves coming in to shore, high intensity will alternate with low intensity in long meditations, and there may be pauses when no waves come at all. Until you can transcend body-consciousness in superconsciousness, it is unlikely you'll be able to meditate deeply for very long. Think of your thoughts as dirt that has been stirred up in a glass. Stop stirring it, and it will gradually settle

The greatest difficulty, in long meditations especially, is physical tension.  Make an extra effort to keep your whole body relaxed, by following the relaxation methods taught in this book.

As a general guideline, I suggest you try to meditate at least half an hour twice a day—in the morning after you get up, and in the evening before going to bed. An hour and a half twice a day is better.  But if you are a beginning meditator, more than one hour a day may be extreme.  It is better to meditate a few minutes with deep concentration than a whole hour absentmindedly.  Moreover, I don't mind bargaining with you!  For although five minutes, let's say, isn't much for anyone who has developed a taste for meditation, it may be all you feel you can spend in the beginning. So be it! Think of meditation, if you like, as daily spiritual hygiene. You brush your teeth, bathe, and brush your hair every day: Why not add to that routine five minutes of meditation?

You'll come to enjoy meditating, in time. Then you'll find yourself meditating longer because you want to, and not because someone is nagging you to do so. But if you think you're too busy, here's something to think about: You can always find the time for something you enjoy doing, can't you? In time, you'll wonder how you ever lived without meditating daily. And the answer, of course, will be: You didn't. What you did, that is, wasn't really living.

Be natural in your efforts. Make haste slowly, as the saying goes. Don't force yourself to meditate when you'd very much rather be doing something else.

At the same time, don't stop meditating altogether with the excuse that you have other things to do. Remember, there's only one direction to go that makes any lasting sense: toward your own Self, in superconsciousness. No substitute will ever work for you, it's never worked for anyone No appointment is more important than your appointment with—not death: life.

Be a little stern with yourself. Success won't come to people who never try. Only bear in mind that tension is counterproductive. In meditation, concentrate first of all on relaxation.

Remember this also: The more you meditate, the more you'll want to meditate, but the less you meditate, the less you'll enjoy doing it.

Another rule: As soon as you sit for meditation, get "down to business." Don't dawdle, as if telling yourself, "Oh, I have a whole hour, so what's the rush?"

Be regular in your hours and practices of meditation. Saying that reminds me of a typewriter I bought when I was seventeen. At the time I also bought an instruction manual that explained the touch system. For a week or two I practiced the exercises in the manual assiduously, mastering the system to the point where I finally learned to type quite rapidly At that time, however, I was so eager to begin using the touch system that I ignored the exercises for learning the numerals "I'll learn them," I told myself, "as I go along." The result? Today, more than fifty years later, I still need to look at the number keys when I want to use them.                                                                 --From Awaken to Superconsciousness, Chapter Seventeen

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            Don't push your meditative efforts. Meditate with enjoyment.

A good rule is to meditate only as long as you enjoy doing so. When the enjoyment begins to diminish, get up.  An act remembered happily will be repeated enthusiastically.  Never let your meditations become a chore.

On the other hand, we've all experienced times when peace, though recognized by us as the one thing we need, is the one thing we most fear. Our feelings are tense, and we imagine, wrongly, that we'll only rid ourselves of them by tensing them further — to the point of emotional desperation.

            Truly, every state of mind is like a vortex; it draws all the energy it can to itself.

At such times, don't fight against your mind's rebellion. Let it fidget for a while It will calm down, if it sees that you mean no disrespect for its restlessness

If, then, you try to meditate despite your mind's  Declaration of Independence (signed, possibly, with the heart's blood’), don't try too hard. Meditate less, just to keep the meditative habit alive.

A good rule in all your meditations, in fact, is: Don't try too hard.  Relax.  Enjoy.  Don’t "fight it out."  Instead, love.                                                           --From the article, Meditation for Starters, Swami Kriyananda

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Paramhansa Yogananda said that if one wants to be a master in this life, he should practice Hong-Sau two hours daily, he great guru himself, as a boy, used to practice it as much as seven and a half hours at a stretch.  Really, though in the beginning fifteen to thirty minutes may be enough, there is no limit to how long you may practice this technique.       --From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 9:7

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From Meditation for Starters

Chapter Seven

            Spiritual practices have been identified for centuries with ego-active concepts, such as acquiring merit, working off bad karma, and propitiating God. Holiness has been gauged by the amount of time a person spends in prayer and meditation, or by the number of beads he tells and mantras he utters, or by whether he has suffered—or, according to certain schools of thought, not suffered.

            There is nothing wrong with the idea that you get good karma for performing actions. Nor is there anything wrong with wanting to please God. Quite the contrary. It is well also to remember, however, that good karma alone will not get you God, who is beyond all karma. God, moreover, is always pleased! He lives in eternal bliss. It is absurd to think of Him (or Her) as an angry Deity waiting gloatingly for the chance to vent His (or Her) displeasure on poor, perennially confused humanity.

            Religious teachings, if they are true, are divine. Many religious beliefs, however, are little better than superstitions. In the case of judgment, it is people who judge themselves through their uneasy conscience when they offend against higher laws of their own nature. God loves them no matter what they do. His love is infinitely greater than ours for our own children. Even if our child errs, the sorrow we feel, if our love is pure, will be for them and not for ourselves. Our lament will be for the potential they've neglected for true happiness and understanding.

            Soul-freedom, however, is not attained by good deeds alone. Spiritual progress is not a matter of winning brownie points. Even though tests are a part of the spiritual path—as they are of life generally—spirituality is determined by the wisdom we acquire as a result of those trials, and not by the trials themselves. The way out of our trials is by calm acceptance and a spirit of inner joy. We demonstrate no inner gains if we allow those trials to pull us down into ego-consciousness, with its attendant sorrows.

            Keep this thought, therefore, firmly in mind: The way to advance through meditation is not grimly to force yourself to sit as many hours as possible every day. To meditate to the point of mental exhaustion is counter-productive.  Don't push yourself  beyond your own natural abilities. To meditate five minutes may sometimes be more effective than to meditate hours, if during those five minutes you meditate with full concentration and heart-felt dedication.  Always try to meditate with enthusiasm—calm, never restless.

            In the beginning you may not derive much actual joy from meditating, though you should at least be able to feel peace.  In any case, concentrate on the positive results you anticipate from meditation, and not on the arduousness of the effort involved.  Later, as you begin to experience joy within, make it a practice to meditate only as long as that joy lasts.  When it begins to diminish, stop, and get up.  An act that is happily remembered will be returned to with enthusiasm. Never let your meditations become a chore for you.

            On the other hand, we've all experienced times when peace, though it is something we long for, seems to be the one thing we most fear.  During periods of emotional tension, we may imagine that the only way to rid ourselves of that tension will be to increase it to a fever pitch until it falls away, like an over-ripe fruit, of its own weight.

            Truly, every state of mind is a vortex: It sucks into itself any energy that is available to it.

            When the mind resists your efforts to calm it, don't squash its rebellion. Let your thoughts strut for a while. Meanwhile, simply watch them—pleasantly, if you can, even good-humoredly, as you might watch a fractious child. They will calm down once they find that you respect them no less for their unruliness.  During periods of restlessness, when the mind is concerned with busily declaring its independence, don't discipline it too sternly. Meditate some, of course, if only to keep the meditative habit alive, but otherwise divert the mind.  Don't punish yourself for your inadequacies.

            A good rule in meditation generally is to keep always relaxed. Don't “tough’ it out” when you feel restless. Instead, work at loving God more deeply.

            It isn't easy to formulate a single rule that will fit everybody's needs. There are many gradations of spiritual commitment. The person who longs intensely for God may want to devote every waking moment to his spiritual life. For another person, even one hour a day may seem exaggerated. The “path of moderation,” so often recommended by great masters, is always meant to signify that one shouldn't strain.  Balanced progress demands ever deeper relaxation. On the other hand, a sincere seeker will always devote much time to meditation. It is only by worldly minds that “moderation” is taken to mean, “Be as restless as you like, as long as you spend a little time also in meditation.”

            Whatever your own definition of moderation, try to make daily meditation a pleasure, not a chore.  Start, if you like, with five minutes a day.  Don't worry if others, beginners like yourself, sit for half an hour or even an hour. It is always risky to compare yourself with others.  Find your own natural rhythms.  First of all, get accustomed simply to sitting still for a while; it is better to meditate a little bit than not at all. A better length for beginners, however, would be fifteen minutes—enough time, in other words, to give the mind an opportunity to “simmer down” a little.

            Gradually, after a few days or weeks, see if you can't double your meditation time. Then double it again. Once you begin really to enjoy meditating, you'll find it natural to sit longer.

            Ideally, I'd suggest meditating twice a day, half an hour at each sitting.  Don't force yourself, but try to reach the point where you realize that what you are doing is important to you.  From then on, you'll be safely on your own! At that point, I would say to meditate at least an hour and a half a day—an hour, perhaps, in the morning, and half an hour in the evening. At Ananda Village, and in the branch Ananda communities, I recommend that our members try to meditate a minimum of three hours a day.

            Apart from these few guidelines, the matter is up to you. What seems “moderation” to one may strike another as fanatical excess. And what seems “moderation” to that other may strike the first as a sure indication of tepidity.

            Above all, be steadfast.  It is better to meditate regularly for a few minutes every day than to make heroic efforts for a week, and then, one's will power exhausted, collapse into a state of spiritual paralysis.

            Remember, finally, this simple rule; it was stated by Paramhansa Yogananda: “The more you meditate, the more you'll want to meditate.  But the less you meditate, the less you'll want to meditate.”

Questions and Answers

            Question: Why is my mind so resistant?  I find sometimes that my very resolution to do better is enough to inspire an in-house rebellion!

            Answer: Habit can be a potent adversary, as I've pointed out before. The good thing is that habit can also become a powerful ally. Develop the right habits and they'll pull you safely through many a fierce storm.

            It takes time, usually, to uproot bad habits—even as much time as five to eight years, in the case of deeply rooted ones. The way to uproot them is not so much by fighting them as by working all the harder at developing opposite good habits.

            Restlessness, for example, is overcome by developing a taste for calmness. A tendency to talk excessively can be overcome by developing a liking for silence. Paramhansa Yogananda used to say, “You can't get rid of darkness by beating at it with a stick.  Instead, turn on the light! The darkness will then vanish as though it had never been.”

            Question: You raised the subject of opposition from outer circumstances. What can I do if family members, friends, or co-workers try to keep me from meditating?

            Answer: This kind of opposition often comes in reaction to proselytizing efforts on the new meditator's part.  It is better, in the beginning especially, to keep your spiritual practices to yourself, or to share them only with those whom you know to be sympathetic.  As Yogananda put it, “If you pour milk on water, it will mingle with the water.  But once the milk has been churned to butter, it will float naturally and not become diluted.”

            No one will protest if you spend more time than most people in brushing your teeth.  If you sleep longer than necessary, those closest to you may not like it, but most people will simply think it might be better if you didn't.  They’d actively oppose you only if you insisted that everyone do likewise.

            Keep your spiritual practices to yourself. They are no one's business but your own.

            Question: Another thought arises with the suggestion of outside opposition. In reading the lives of saints, it seems they were often subjected to satanic influences. Do such influences really exist? And if so, ought we to be concerned about them in our spiritual life?

            Answer: A satanic influence, so called, is anything that obstructs your efforts toward self-improvement. It could be a hostile co-worker who thrives on disharmony, and can't stand to see you peaceful. The negative influence, in other words, needn't be an imp with a tail! But one would have to be blind not to see that obstructive influences do exist in our lives.

            So then, could more be involved in such opposition than the resistance of other people to your spiritual efforts? Is there a negative force that can pursue you even past the door that you close to ensure meditative privacy?

            Well, there are of course your own thoughts. What door could shut them out?

            But is there also something else—a malign influence, perhaps on a cosmic scale?

            It wouldn't hurt ’o be aware that human thoughts are expressions of states of consciousness that are universal. For instance, we don't create love: We manifest it. We don't create inspiration: We receive it. The same must be said of negative thoughts and emotions. We attract the states of consciousness that come to us.

            As for being concerned about such negative influences, don't invite’ them by your excessive anxiety. I think that much of the “satanic” influence that people experience comes in response to their own preoccupation with the subject. Be positive. Reach upward in your aspirations, not downward in your fears. If negative thoughts enter the mind, don't accept’ them. The thoughts are not yours, and don't define you as you are. They are foreigners, no matter how many years you've housed and fed them in your mind. Tell yourself, “I am a child of God.  From now on I define myself in terms of my strengths, not of my past weaknesses.”

            Question: You've discussed how long to meditate on a daily basis.  How long will it take me to reach the goals of meditation—to attain superconscious awareness, for instance, or to find God?

            Answer: The time varies with the individual, of course.  If a nail is partly embedded in a board, can you say how long it will take to extract it?  It depends on the length of the embedded portion, on how tightly set it is, and on the amount of force you apply to pull the nail.

            How long, then, does it take to achieve the goals of meditation?  It depends on the number and fixity of the bad habits that are buried in the subconscious, which work against your present meditative efforts.  It depends on how fervently you apply yourself.

            Finally, it depends on the grace of God. But grace is not whimsical. It is poured into that bowl which has been made clean. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” Jesus said, “for they shall know God.”

            There is another important point to consider:  Time, in the last analysis, is a delusion.  If the spiritual path requires time, it is partly because of our belief, born of past conditioning, that time is a reality to be reckoned with. Yet the truth we seek lies beyond time, in eternity.  If we could only banish the delusion of time from our minds, our spiritual journey might be ended even now! The path is a process of realizing—of remembering —that which we are already. Our soul's perfection can never be lost. We have hypnotized ourselves, merely, with the thought of limitation. We have told ourselves, falsely, that our limitations define us as we are.

AFTER MEDITATION

We develop intuition, Paramhansa Yogananda said, by prolonging the peaceful aftereffects of the meditation techniques.

After meditation, don't strip your mental gears by plunging hastily into outer activity. Try to carry the meditative peace into everything you do To develop this habit, it may help to begin with outward activities that don't involve your mind too much. While doing them, chant inwardly to God The walking meditation is an excellent practice for bridging the gap between meditative peace and outward busyness.  If you can't devote time to walking calmly after meditation, try doing things slowly for a bit, consciously bringing peace and energy into your muscles and bodily movements.

--From Awaken to Superconsciousness, Chapter 17

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If time allows, practice the lessons longer than mentioned. Aside from the inward experiences there also comes the greatest calmness. Hold to that calm effect of the concentration lessons during and after the practice as long as it is possible for you. Apply the calmness in practical situations of life—in dealing with people, in studying, in business, in thinking, in controlling yourself, in getting rid of any fixed mental or physiological habit or condition that is considered unnecessary or harmful, and so forth.

Whenever situations demand, recall immediately in mind the calmness felt during and after concentration, and fall right into that mood, and meet situations from that calm center. Remember, while practicing concentration deep intensity of mind is necessary, but that does not mean that there should be any strain or strenuousness present. Practice it with reverence, and feel that in calmness, and in listening to the vibration, you are contacting the Great Spirit who is present within you as soul, and whose expression is vibration. Results you will positively feel. Calmness you will most certainly have. The highest intuitions come after a prolonged practice. Further, this technique puts you, by and by, in touch with the unexplored reservoir of power. Do not be impatient. Keep on. Get the lessons into your regular routine, so much a part of your day as eating and sleeping. The most beneficial effects flow silently over the whole mental and physiological constitution. Highest results, as in everything else, cannot be attained in one day.  Practice, practice and apply.  We are talking from experience. Our students all over the country write us about their contact with the Great Spirit as a result of their faithful practice.  Everyone can have the same glorious experience if he perseveres in his practice.    --Yogoda Course, Lesson 4 (1925), Swami Yogananda

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Learn To Go Into Ecstasy At Will

(First in a quiet place and then in a noisy place) Inhale, exhale twelve times. With half-open eves look up at the point between the eyebrows — expel breath, forgetting it entirely.  Dissolve your body consciousness and thoughts and sleepiness, if any, at once into the superconscious, ever-increasing joy of deep inward concentration.  By closing the eyes and forgetting breath you have learned to go to sleep instantaneously — dissolving body consciousness.  Now by keeping eyes half open, pointed upward at the point between the eyebrows, you must instantaneously enjoy and be intoxicated with the cocktail of the joys of many sleeps — consciously.

With half-open eves learn to remain half-awake and half asleep, and you will learn to go into ecstasy, or the state of consciously sleeping at will.

Sleep is a negative way of knowing you are not a man or a woman, but an invisible, joyous Soul — made in the image of blissful God. When you sleep you are not unconscious but semi­conscious, for when you wake up you can always tell whether you were sleeping lightly or soundly, or sleeping in a disturbed way or joyously. In sleep you are forced to know every night that you are not so many pounds of flesh and bones, but a Iappy Invisible Soul, sleepiIg in space.

By learning to sleep at will consciously with half-open eyes, you will feel a greater and greater joy or ecstasy or superconsciousness and intuitively sense your Soul.            --From Praecepta Lesson 26 (1938)

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Q. What if, during one’s practice of this, or of any other, technique, one is suddenly lifted into a divine state of consciousness? Assuming that it was the technique that induced this state, should one continue his practice, or abandon it to deepen one’s enjoyment of this state of consciousness?

A. That depends on whether the technique actually induced the state you refer to, or only prepared you to receive it. Certain divine states, if actually caused by the practice of a technique, may be deepened by continuation of that practice. Otherwise, and generally speaking, the technique should be abandoned in order that you might deepen your enjoyment of, and identification with, the divine experience.

ROUTINE

So—be specific in your practices. Don't tell yourself they'll just sort themselves out someday by some process of osmosis.

It is a good practice to meditate at the same hours every day. Routine conditions the mind. You'll find yourself wanting to meditate whenever those hours return. It will be much easier, then, to set all distractions aside.

Stick to your routine as best as you can. To help you in creating one, here are a few suggestions:

Ø  Do the energization exercise in chapter 10. If you learn this entire system of exercises, practice it daily—either before or after meditation. (Paramhansa Yogananda recommended doing them before.)

Ø  As soon as you sit to meditate, pray for depth and for guidance in your meditation. Pray also for peace for all humanity. Don't isolate your sympathies from others; embrace all in your divine love

Ø  Chant and/or repeat affirmations, according to your personal predilection.

Ø  Tense and relax the whole body two or three times Inhale before tensing, exhale with relaxation. This practice will help relax you mentally, as well as physically.

Ø  Expand your consciousness by following one of the visualization exercises in this book.

Ø  Practice navi kriya.

Ø  Practice Hong-San for a time—not less than half an hour, if possible.

Ø  After practicing the techniques, and for at least a quarter of your total meditation time, practice devotion, or listen to the inner sounds, or raise your energy from the heart center to the point between the eyebrows Practice again one of the visualization exercises.

--From Awaken to Superconsciousness, Chapter 17

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Concentration Routine

Praecepta Lesson 21 (1938)

Ø Sit erect on edge of bed with feet on floor, or sit on a cushioned chair, or sit on a bed with your legs crossed, facing East, with spine straight, chest out, abdomen in, shoulder blades together, chin parallel to the ground, and up-turned, cup-shaped palms resting at die junction of the abdomen and thighs.

Ø Then precede the actual practice of the "Hong-Sau" Technique with an awakening prayer, which coincides with your desire or purpose of concentration, as, for example, for Wisdom, Peace and Contentment, repeat the following prayer:

Ø  "Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Saints of all religions, the Spirit in my body temple, Supreme Master Minds of India, Supreme Master Babaji, Great Master Lahiri Mahasaya, Master Swami Sri Yukteswar Giriji, and Guru-Preceptor, I bow to you all. Lead me from ignorance to wisdom, from restlessness to peace; from desires to contentment ."

ØInhale slowly, counting 1 to 20. Hold the breath, counting 1 to 20 Then exhale slowly,
counting 1 to 20. Repeat this 6 to 12 times. Tense the whole body, clenching the fists. Relax
the whole body, throwing the breath out. Repeat 6 times.

Ø Then exhale quickly, and remain without breath as long as it will stay out without discomfort, and mentally wait for the breath to come in. When the breath comes in of itself, mentally say "HONG", and when the breath goes out of itself, mentally say, "SAU". Keep the eyes closed or open without winking or gazing, and gently fixed upward on the point between the eyebrows.

Ø After practicing this Technique deeply for ten minutes to one-half an hour, exhale slowly and completely. Blow all the breath out of the lungs which you possibly can, and enjoy the breathless state as long as you can without discomfort Repeat three times. Then forget the breath and pray, or sit in Silence.

Follow these Instructions

Long concentration must be preceded by 15 minutes' practice of Exercise 1 of the Technique of Rejuvenation, as given in Praeceptum Lesson 8.  By faithfully practicing this Technique, along with more advanced exercises that will be taught in future Praecepta, and by longer meditations in the morning and at night, and also a three-hour meditation once a week, on any day suitable to you, you will find that you will be well advanced in the Spiritual Path.

In the morning, this Lesson should be practiced after the Rejuvenating and Recharging Exercise as taught in Praeceptum Lesson 8. You must get used to the practicing of this Technique with your eyes gently concentrated upon the point between the eyebrows.  Do not strain the eyes.  However, if you are not used to holding the eyes in this position, practice some of the time with your eyes half open, but most of the time with eyes closed.  You can practice with eyes closed, and in leisure hours lie down on your back, and watch the breath, mentally chanting "HONG-SAU" The more you practice in your leisure hours, the greater will be the results Work overtime and you will gain still better results.

When you consciously watch the breath, what happens? The heart, the lungs, and the diaphragm gradually calm down and their muscles ultimately, during a long deep silence, refrain from constant motion. Thus, decay is stopped throughout the system, and then no more venous blood has to be pumped by the heart into the lungs. When the heart does not pump blood, the lungs do not expand any more to receive more oxygen, then you do not breathe any more. When this happens, decay is stopped entirely. When decay is stopped, you no longer are in need of new, red blood, oxygen, nor food — but can live directly from Cosmic Energy running through the medulla, and not by the energy distilled from food only.

It is always a good plan to exhale and drive away the poisons before beginning deep breathing. By practicing the inhalation and exhalation exercises, the carbon in the venous blood is burned out and partial decay is stopped in the body. You will notice that when you throw the breath out after practicing this Technique for a long time and deeply, that you have no desire to breathe for a longtime. You can remain longer in the breathless state than if you tried breathlessness immediately after restlessness.

The Attention Becomes Free

Death is nothing but involuntary complete relaxation. The heart is controlled by the medulla, which is the only part of the human body which cannot be operated upon. The tiniest pin-prick in it will cause instant death. The heart, in turn, is the switch which controls all the five sense-telephones of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Sensations cannot reach the brain of their own accord, but the messages of sensations in the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue are carried to the brain by the telephone wires of sensory nerves When the sensations are quieted, thoughts do not arise, and when thoughts do not arise, associated memory-thoughts do not bother the brain. Thus, in practicing this Lesson, when you sit upright, relaxed in the meditation posture, the production of decay and waste is slowed up in the outer muscles and limbs

As soon as, by the practice of this Lesson, energy is withdrawn from the sensory motor nerves, muscles, limbs, and the heart, no sensations can register on the switchboard of the brain to disturb the operator's attention and coax ft to rouse thoughts. This is the time your attention is free to be concentrated upon any problem or idea, or upon God

After scientifically freeing the attention from objects of distraction, learn to concentrate it upon any one thing or upon God. That form of concentration in which you disengage your attention from the sense-telephones and apply it upon God, is called meditation You can concentrate upon money or upon God, but you never meditate upon money Meditation is only upon God.

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Preparation

1  So as to decarbonizes the blood stream, and thereby to calm the body, inhale, tensing the whole body, throw the breath out and relax. Repeat two or three times.

2.       Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply several times, making the period of inhalation, holding, and exhalation the same (Suggested counts 20-20-20, or 12-12-12.) Don't strain. Repeat six or twelve times.

3.       Mentally check the body to make sure it is relaxed. Periodically, check the body again during your practice of the technique.

4.       Begin your actual practice of the technique by first exhaling, slowly and deliberately.

The Basic Technique

1. When the breath flows in of its own accord, follow it mentally with the sound, Hong. Imagine that the breath itself is making this sound.

2.      When the breath flows out of its own accord, follow it mentally with, and imagine that it is itself making, the sound, Sau (to rhyme with "saw").

3.      If at any time the breathing stops naturally, accept the pause calmly, identifying yourself with it until the breath flows again of its own accord.

4.      To keep your mind on the breath (or, when you are more interiorized, to differentiate between inhalation and exhalation), it may help you to bring the forefinger towards the palm as the breath flows in, and away from the palm as the breath flows out.

First Phase

1.        If your breath is still restless, you may be more easily aware of the physical movement of your lungs and diaphragm than of the flow of breath in the nostrils.  In this case, let the mind follow its natural inclination:  Concentrate on the purely physical aspects of breathing-the movement of the rib cage, the diaphragm, or the navel.

2.        Gradually, as you grow calmer, transfer your attention from the breathing process to the breath itself.

Second Phase

1. As your attention begins to focus on the breath itself, watch the breath at the point where it enters the nostrils.

2.       Gradually, with the progressive calmness of the breath, center your awareness of it higher and higher in the nose To raise this center of awareness, you may find it helpful if you make a special effort inwardly to relax your nose

3.       As it becomes natural to do so, center your awareness of the breath at the point where it enters the nasal cavity. Feel it in the upper part of this passage, and visualize its movement gently fanning and awakening the Christ center in the frontal lobe of the brain.

Third Phase

1.       Become more and more identified with the breath, less and less with your body's need for it to flow in and out.  Remember, especially as you grow very calm, that this need may be as much imaginary (the result of deeply ingrained subconscious habit) as actual.  Therefore:

2.       Particularly concentrate on, and enjoy, the pauses between the breaths.  Dwell on the sense of freedom from the tyranny of constant breathing.  Beyond enjoying this sense of calmness and freedom, however, do not try to prolong the breathless state by an act of will.

3.       Direct the will, rather, toward the thought of becoming the air that is flowing in the nose, or of becoming boundless space at the Christ center.

4 As the pauses become prolonged, you may want to engage your attention in chanting Aum mentally at the Christ center.                                                --From The Art and Science of Raja Yoga, Chapter 10:7

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Practical Hints for Meditation 
From Yours the Universe

By Swami Kriyananda

            1.  What you must strive for is not to reach out towards anything that you are not, but only to realize what you are already, even now.  Long ago the Indian sage, Patanjali, referred to this realization as smriti or memory.  Worldly man sees all things as a becoming, as reaching out from what is to what has never been, to what might still, despite all his efforts, never be.  Hence the struggle, the exhaustion that accompany his labors.  But in yoga it is not so much by effort that one advances as by a gradual elimination of the sense of effort.  Tensions are dissolved in ever deeper relaxation–physical first, then emotional and mental.  God need not be shouted to in the distance.  He is already here, behind the press and sway of our restless thoughts.  He awaits only our notice. Remember the words of Jesus:  "Lo, I am with you always."   Does not a sense of strain in one's search for the Divine imply a subtle doubt?

            2.  If you have the time, exercise a little before meditation.  Unless the body has been freed of toxins and sluggishness, it will resist your meditative efforts.  The exercises one performs before meditation, however, should calm, not excite, the nervous system.  A few Hatha Yoga postures, such as those described in our booklet, Yoga Postures for Self-Awareness, or the energization exercises that Paramhansa  Yogananda originated, are an excellent preparation for meditation.

            3.  Meditate sitting down.  Any of the classic sitting positions of yoga may be recommended, but an armless, straight-backed chair will do if your legs cannot adapt themselves to a cross-legged position.  (It is God, after all, not your aching knees, that should be the object of your meditation!)  Yogis say that one should sit on a deer skin or on a woolen blanket, facing east or north.  If you sit on a chair, let the blanket run under your feet and up over the back of the chair.  The purpose of this covering is to insulate you from certain currents in the ground that tend to draw the life force downward.  The direction in which you face helps to put you in harmony with certain magnetic currents that circle the earth.   

            If you sit in a chair, keep your feet flat on the floor.  Especially important is the position of your upper body.  The spine must be kept straight, the body in an attitude of alertness.  If you sit on a chair, try not to lean back.  Keep the body erect, the chest out, the shoulder blades drawn gently together, the chin parallel to the floor.  Place your hands palms upward on the thighs at the juncture of the abdomen.

            Sitting erect will induce a positive mental attitude.  It will also make it easier for you to breathe properly.  (The breath plays an important role in yoga practice.)  Above all, an erect posture will facilitate the awakening of certain subtle energies in the spine.  (A discussion of this aspect of the subject belongs properly to more advanced yoga teachings than to the present, basic instructions.)

            4.  Having assumed the correct posture, begin your meditation.  Throw out of the mind all thought, all plans for the morrow, all attachments to the outer world.  Chants, such as those in Yoganandaji's book Cosmic Chants, or the repetition of certain Sanskrit mantras (word formulae), are particularly helpful.  The simple repetition of the syllable, AUM,  is often recommended.  Westerners may find chanting easiest to learn from a sound-recording.  Several such recordings are available through Ananda Inner Life and Ananda Sangha,

            The main purpose of chanting is twofold:  to awaken fervor in the heart, and to concentrate the mind.  Yogis claim that certain chants and mantras have power to influence the inner man, calming and centering him in himself.  "Chanting," Yoganandaji often said, "is half the battle.

            5.  Inhale, counting mentally to 12; feel that you are filling your whole body with air.  Hold the breath, counting to 12; exhale, counting to 12. If you prefer, make the count 6-6-6 or 20-20-20, according to your own lung capacity.  Never strain.  Repeat this breathing exercise six to twelve times.  Then inhale, tense the whole body, throw the breath out and relax; repeat two or three times.  (The practice of tensing and relaxing the whole body will help to relax even those muscles which are tensed without your conscious knowledge.)

            6.  You should now be relatively relaxed.  Hold the body still.  Mentally check it from time to time to see that no part becomes tensed again inadvertently.  Remember, most of the difficulty experienced by beginners in meditation is due simply to physical tension. 

            7.  Meditate on the concept of space–space surrounding your body, space inside the body.  Feel that you have become weightless.  Bear in mind that the soul cannot soar in the vast skies of Spirit so long as the mind is weighed down with body-consciousness.

            8. When thoughts come, release them into the space surrounding you.  Watch them drift away into nothingness.  Be free of the impulse to think constantly!

            9. If plans and projects disturb your concentration, meditate on the concept of timelessness.  If you can persuade yourself that no future exists, what purpose can remain in planning for it?

            10.  Now, concentrate at the point between the eyebrows.  Yoganandaji called this the Christ Consciousness Center, or Christ Center.  Yogis call this the seat of concentration.  Why?

            Different states of consciousness are associated with different areas of the brain.  Fear stimulates one area; hunger, another.  When energy becomes focused in sufficient strength, in any area, appropriate physiological reactions occur.  In the case of fear, there is, among other things an increase in the pulse rate and in the flow of adrenalin.  In the case of hunger, digestive juices are secreted.  Psychologists have recently found that even by stimulating these areas of the brain artificially, the associated physical reactions can be induced.            According to the teaching of yogis, a deeply concentrated, uplifted, or ecstatic state centers one's awareness in the frontal lobe of the brain.  And physiologists tell us that this area is the most advanced part of the brain.  It is particularly interesting, in the light of recent psychological research, that yogis should always have taught that by concentrating on, and thus stimulating , this frontal lobe, one may enter more easily into an uplifted state of consciousness. 

            Nor is such concentration lacking in its physiological effects.  In ecstasy, for example, the heart beat and breathing are calmed, the nervous system is made peaceful.  Even by deliberate concentration at the Christ Center the heart can be slowed, the breathing calmed, the whole nervous system harmonized.  While one is outwardly immobile, one's inner awareness is intense.

            To concentrate at this Christ Center, look upward gently with half-open or with closed eyes.  The direction of one's gaze influences the state of one's mind; an upward gaze has always been associated with an upliftment of consciousness.  One's main effort, however, should be directed towards centering his consciousness at the point between the eyebrows.  Don't strain, therefore, in looking upward.  Let the gaze follow the inner absorption of the mind.

            11.  Meditate with joy, with devotion.  Don't wait for God' joy to make you joyous.  To know Him as Love, reach out to Him with love.  To know Him as Joy, be joyous first yourself.

            12.  Once you are very calm and concentrated, meditate on the thought of an expanding light and joy.  Watch this light extend outward from your body in all directions, encompassing your city, your country, your continent, the world, then expanding beyond this world to include the solar system, our galaxy, the entire universe.  Feel that all things are contained in this infinite light and joy.

            A couple of recordings that we have prepared of this and of another visualization exercise, with a background of music, may be helpful to you. Paramhansa Yogananda's book, Metaphysical Meditations, contains many such exercises, the fruit of his own deep realizations.  Yoganandaji used to say that, although the actual techniques of yoga are of prime importance, visualization exercises such as these come close to the techniques in effectiveness  They do so because they help to accomplish what Patanjali taught:  They awaken smriti, the hidden memory of a state native to us, but long-forgotten.

            If your worship takes a more personal turn, however, you may prefer simply to practice Bhakti Yoga (devotion), repeating constantly, with your mind centered at the point between the eyebrows, any heart-felt prayer such as "Reveal Thyself, reveal Thyself!" or, "Come, Spirit, come!" or, "I am Thine, be Thou mine!" or some Sanskrit mantra such as, "Sri Ram, jai Ram, jai, jai Ram, Om!"  (O Lord God, victory to God!  Victory, victory to God!"–that is to say, "May Thy light be victorious over darkness (in me and in others), Thy love over hatred, Thy joy over sorrow.")

            13.  How long should one meditate?  Five minutes is better than none.  Fifteen minutes is better still.  Half an hour is  bare minimum if one wants to achieve more than a fleeting touch of inner peace.  But in fact, the sincere seeker  should begin with half an hour in the morning, and--if possible-- an hour at night, or with an hour in the morning and half an hour at night.

            It is better to meditate deeply for a short time than absent-mindedly for hours.  But the longer you can meditate deeply, the more rapid your spiritual progress will be.

            14.  It is best to meditate at the same time every day.  Reflect on Pavlov's experiments with dogs.  Pavlov rang a bell every time he placed food before the dog.  In time, the association of the bell with food grew so strong in the dog's mind that the bell-ring alone, even when no food was given, sufficed to stimulate the digestive juices.  Such is the power of habit!    In meditation it is difficult enough to become calm, so conditioned is the human mind to restlessness.  But if one can sit to meditate at the same hour every day, an association will soon be formed.  Thereafter, whenever the hour of meditation approaches, one will feel a hunger for the peace he has come to associate with that time of day.  It will be easier, then, to put aside for the time being the cares and distractions of daily life.

            15.  If you set one place aside strictly for meditation, you will gradually build up vibrations in that sanctuary that will help you to go deep.  If it is not possible for you to set aside a whole room, then perhaps you can screen off a portion of your bedroom.

            16.  Pause occasionally during the day and recall the peace and joy that you felt that morning in meditation.  Yoganandaji told me once, "Live in the Self."  It may help you to imagine a halo of light and joy surrounding your body–to feel that from it you are drawing your sustenance.