CHASING THE BREATH

Although initially the physical body is required to house and carry the soul, with one's yearning, effort, and the divine's grace, the soul grows and begins to bring change in the very body that it dwells in. While we prepare the ground the soul prepares the body for divine's entry. "A human body is capable of divinizing its owner if properly employed in spiritual endeavors," says Swami Rajarshi Muni in his "Yoga, the Ultimate Attainment", Jaico Publishing House, 1995. He adds, "Therefore a human can be said to be potentially divine, provided the individual strives intelligently and sincerely for the final goal of life, God-realization."

While the Brahman is the source of the atman, the atman when embodied in the cosmos comes to be known as jivatma, so too the breath that was a part of the cosmos became compartmentalized when it entered a body. It leaves the body momentarily to touch its home ground and return again to leave again once more. Upon death, it goes out of the body and enters its true home or merges back into its source. Ramalinga Adigal intentionally left the world to enter the source avoiding death that results in rebirth. Just as he "disappeared" to reappear several times before finally stepping into the source never to return, our breath momentarily merges with its source as it leaves and comes to be identified with the body and self as it enters it again, repeatedly.

When we seek reasons for our sufferings the Siddhas look into our past lives and reveal to us the cause and reasons for it. Similarly, for one who seeks to know the reason to take birth, having lived a life as many do only to realize that that is not his true purpose and that there ought to be something greater in life, he comes to those who have had a glimpse of this purpose. Swami Rajarshi Muni explains our purpose clearly. He explains that,

Through the limiting powers of Brahman's illusion, the bound soul succumbs to Nescience. It then loses awareness of its oneness with Brahman and becomes entangled in the material trappings of Prakriti. Its encasement in the three layers of microcosm creates within it a desire to live and cling to its enveloping bodies. Then because of its ego principle and a lack of discriminative knowledge, it takes the unreal to be real. Thus due to its conditioned consciousness, an embodied soul helplessly comes into being again and again trapped within the cycle of births and death. 

Nobody could have explained it better. Having known our purpose in coming here which is also the first tenet of Agathiyar's revelation on human existence, we can then dive straight into what we came for instead of browsing and surfing around aimlessly for aeons. We were blessed to come to Agathiyar who immediately rolled out the masterplan and showed us his mission and our tasks. He mapped out the route, kept us on track and warned us of the possible dangers, often leaving a gift or treasure along the route as a token and to boost our spirits.

He threw the dice while we walked the distance. When we landed at the bottom of a ladder, we moved up to the top of the ladder speedily. But there were times too where we landed on the head of a snake and had to go down to the bottom of the snake. Ramalinga Adigal too warns of such times as an aspirant ascends the spiritual ladder he would occasionally slip down to having to start again from where he landed. For instance, reaching "Parasorpanam, supra-mental dream, places the aspirant in the dream of enjoying the Grace of the Lord.  This feeling of ecstasy leads him to the next stage of Parasuzhuti, supramental unknowing where the majority of the shackles are removed by the Grace of the Lord. This stage may either lead him to the next higher stage of Parathuriyam, supra-mental perfection where he visualizes the sparks of the Divine Grace or as in certain cases may revert him back to Parasakram where he will be searching for something which he has tentatively lost."

I suppose too that this is where we have slacked and fell umpteen times. For we are told that even standing at the doorway to the abode of the divine if one is not careful he might fall through the trapdoor or slip and fall. We are told that walking this path is akin to walking the razor's edge. Then we start the cycle again.

I think we have had enough of going through this cycle, don't you? But as Supramania Swami says we shall keep shining the lamp and as Tavayogi says we shall keep coming back to perfect it, Agathiyar has promised that he would be there for us in all our births. We feel reassured. When Agathiyar reveals to my children that my younger daughter desired to live out another life and asked that both I and my wife accompany her and both my children wanted to be born again having us as parents, we felt elated. Then it is true that Agathiyar told me it was only because of my daughter that I came to his path. The story of the soul and its travels is pretty amazing as expounded by Agathiyar in the many revelations through the Nadi. 

It is said that a guru comes along when we are ready. But at times he comes ahead of his time if there is a need. A story is told by Dharmalinga Swamigal of Kollimalai who moved to Tiruvannamalai later, in an audio of his, of a potential, soon-to-be disciple, identified and approached by a Siddha asking if he was ready to leave all behind and follow him. But the young man was so engrossed in the worldly things that attracted him much and he could not bring himself to sever his attachment to it. The Siddha left to come again later. If earlier he had given the reason that his mother wished to see him married, now the married man told the Siddha that his mother wanted to see her grandchild. The Siddha left. The Siddha came again to the man in his mid-life. The man told the Siddha that he had a responsibility to get his child married off. The Siddha left to return many years later. This time before the man could give more reasons not to follow him, the Siddha asked for some fresh coconut to quench his thirst. When the man was up the tree the Siddha shouted out "Stop!", and asked him whether he was holding on to the branch or the branch was holding on to him? Immediately the man realized the truth of the statement and how foolishly he had held on to the material world. He left with the Siddha that instant.

Just as the Siddha comes by to remind us of our responsibility to their cause too, and lead us on various practices, techniques, mantras, meditation etc, the Siddhas could come along in many forms to stop, halt or divert us to another platform as they see deemed fit for our soul to progress. Supramania Swami who had just begun on the groundwork to start a temple was stopped by a stranger questioning him why he took a step back into Bhakti? If Tavayogi started me on a wonderful practice based on a beautiful combination of asanas and pranayama, praised by Agathiyar as a treasure and equating it to a treasure-house, Agathiyar came later to stop me from furthering the practice. When it was seen and deemed to have served its purpose, in opening the chakras and energizing them he made known that further practice would only accentuate the results bringing discomfort and pain. The masters come along to break our dependence on things. They come along to break a routine for spiritual evolvement means moving on to new frontiers. Hence the need to move away from tried methods and procedures that were initiated in the very first place, even by the Siddhas.

A story is told in "I Am That", Syda Foundation, 1978 by Swami Muktananda of how Ashtavakra helped King Janaka drop a practice. Janaka who was initiated into the mantra Japa or repetition of a mantra used to practice it on a nearby riverbank daily. As Ashtavakra came along one day, he could not help but notice the king chant the mantra at the top of his voice. Ashtavakra was asking himself the reason for King Janaka to carry on the practice as he was known as "a Videhi Janaka, the one who had gone beyond body consciousness. Although he ruled his kingdom he did so from the state beyond identification with the body. So Ashtavakra wondered why Janaka was repeating the mantra in this manner. Ashtavakra watched Janaka for a while, wondering how he should instruct him."

He sat beside the king with his water bowl and yoga danda and began to chant loudly, "This is my water bowl, this is my yoga danda", repeating it loudly to the annoyance of the king. The king chanted his mantra even louder. Now Ashtavakra raised his voice further. After a while, the king opened his eyes and looked towards Ashtavakra asking him angrily what he was doing? Ashtavakra asked him in return, "What are you doing?" The king replied that he was repeating a mantra. Ashtavakra said he was repeating a mantra too. The king apprehended him asking, "Are you mad. Who told you the bowl and yoga danda were not yours? Why do you need to keep shouting that it belongs to you? Ashtavakra replied to the king, "It seems to me that you are the one who lacks understanding. Who told you that you are not That? Why do you have to go on shouting that you are That?

When Agathiyar says that we have been initiated at birth we understand it to be the breath and prana that supports the whole universe, comes within us for the very first time carrying his seed, his mantra. Later a physical guru ignites it in us, followed by other gurus and upagurus who nurture it. As we begin to move into watching the breath, the following advice from Patanjali might clarify our intention and method in going within.

Meditation does not mean holding a certain object in the mind. Meditation should happen very naturally. It should be completely spontaneous. This space that you attain when the prana goes out and dissolves and when the apana comes in and dissolves, this space where there is no thought, no object, is true meditation. It is natural meditation, the higest meditation.

We now understand pretty well that everything else is an attempt at meditating.

Jnaneshwar Maharaj says of this space, "Once a person is established there, meditation goes on continually, whatever he is doing."

As a kid, I used to go to the theatres early to catch a glimpse of the trailers of the upcoming movies, those coming soon and next change. So let us take a peek at what is instore next if we manage to excel this stage.

Reading "I Am That", we come to understand the nature of the dormant power or energy within us. We are told that the dormant inner kundalini, once activated it begins to unfold its beauty. Until it awakens it is all purely our effort, putting in hours of sadhana. Upon awakening "naturally", yoga takes place according to the inspiration of God. It goes on spontaneously, rising, traveling, traversing and moving within the body, akin to pent up energy that has been unleashed. But its effects are not standard. Neither are they uniform. They need not apply to all. It varies from person to person depending on their temperament and nature, fitness and readiness in their existing state of body and mind. It does create havoc in many.

Once harnessed and subdued, by the divine hands working in liaison with it, it does many wonders we are told. It purifies the fluids in the body; It strengthens the body; Meditation occurs naturally; Knowledge arises on its own; The inner world is revealed as seeing pictures within, seeing the entire universe within; Traveling to different inner worlds; Clairaudience happens; New colors from the spectrum are seen; Scintillating inner lights are seen; Divine sound and music is heard; the senses are enhanced; subtle flavors not of this world are tasted; celestial fragrances abound and yoga postures and pranayama take place spontaneously.

Pandit Gopi Krishna who had the first-hand experience in this energy having activated spontaneously without his knowing, in his book "Kundalini - Path to Higher Consciousness", Orient Paperbacks, 1976,  reminds us that raising the Kundalini is not for the faint-hearted.

Considering the colossal nature of the physical and mental metamorphosis that has to be effected as a prelude to spiritual unfoldment, I do not wonder at the accompanying trials and tribulations since the mystic state represents the last and most arduous lap of the journey which began with man's ascent from dust, it terminates with his tasting, after suffering and travail the incomparable bliss of unembodied existence, not after death but within his span of life on earth.

Studying the yoga systems he says,

Living bodies owe their existence to prana, an extremely subtle immaterial substance pervading the universe which is the cause of all organic phenomena controlling the organisms by means of the nervous system and the brain, manifesting itself as the vital energy.

The existence of a subtle life element prana, the cosmic life energy and its subtle biological conductor in the body which pervades each cell of every tissue and fluid, that sustains the activity of the brain and nervous system. The prana has a biological component in the brain, an extremely fine biochemical essence of a highly delicate and volatile nature extracted by the nerves, generating subtle radiation.

He adds,

Normally the work of extraction of prana to feed the brain is done by a limited group of nerves, but with the awakening of Kundalini, other and more extensive groups of nerves are stirred to activity, leading to the transmission of an enormous and enhanced supply of a more concentrated form of pranic radiation into the brain drawn, from a vastly increased area of the body.

The Pandit clarifies that oxygen is not prana but rather a vehicle for prana to travel and transverse throughout the body. The air we breathe is permeated with prana and this vital current flows through us along with the air we breath. Breath and prana are not identical. Prana utilizes oxygen as the main vehicle for its activity.

Prana is an inseparable part of the cosmic energy or Shakti. Shakti, when applied to inorganic matter, is a force and when to the organic plane is life. In yoga parlance, prana is life and life is prana. Life and vitality in the sense used here do not mean soul or the spark of the divine in man. Prana is merely the life energy by which divinity brings into existence the organic kingdom and acts on the organic structure as it creates and acts on the universe by means of physical energy.

He says the earth has its own supply of prana, pervading every atom and molecule. Similarly, the sun constantly sends out "an enormous supply of pranic radiation on earth." The moon too is a big supplier of prana for the earth, and so are all the other planets and stars, all inexhaustible stores of prana.

Walking barefoot and grounding oneself with Mother Earth, gives abundance prana. Moving into the sunshine provides additional prana. Taking long dips in rivers, lakes, seas and other sources of water, even in our bathtubs and during showers, increases prana. Rapidly inhaling and exhaling brings more prana within that can be felt expanding to the verge of the body bursting and rupturing. Sitting in front of an open fire provides more prana. A walk in the open through the woods or green meadows energizes us thanks to the prana.

Pandit Gopi Krishna who "had aroused this physic energy in his life" speaks about the result of that sudden outburst one day after putting in years of meditation, his first encounter with the serpent energy where "he had his first glimpse into the superconscious state and saw fabulous Kundalini in action."

He felt himself slipping out of the body.

I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, appeared to have receded into the distance. I became all consciousness. I was no longer myself or to be more accurate no longer as I knew myself to be a small point of awareness confined in a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point.

He explains,

There had been an expansion of my own self, my own consciousness and the transformation had been brought about by the vital current that had started from below the spine and found access to my brain through the backbone.

He states that the ancients considered Kundalini as "the queen of the nervous system, controlling all the thousand of nadis or nerves in the body and for the same reason have designated her as Adhara Shakti on which depends the existence of the body and the universe, microcosm, and macrocosm."

The journey and travel of this energy culminate in "Divine Effulgence."

But it all has to start somewhere. Since the breath helps unite us with the self from which we have become separated, now we understand the reason why we are continuously reminded to go within for we are told that there is much bliss within compared to what the world and mankind have to offer. If earlier we seeked darshan of the Lord externally, as we move up on the spiritual ladder, the focus is turned within and tuned in on the breath. With darshan of the breath comes darshan of the Lord and the Light.